Opening Arguments

Liz Dye joins us to break down the J6 bombshell news that Cassidy Hutchinson's own lawyer was apparently... not her lawyer. It's some extremely unethical stuff. Possibly criminal? Listen in! For full links and show notes, click here!

So much more from the Jan. 6th committee is out, and that means our esteemed Andrew Torrez stole away from holiday cheer to read hundreds and hundreds of pages of documents. What do they reveal? If Trump is indicted, who will actually make a good witness against him? The answers MAY surprise you. For full links and show notes, click here!

Calling all Uncles Frank for a frank but respectful breakdown of how your right wing media sources are simply not telling you the truth. A laughably terrible "Supreme Court Petition" is going to "Rewrite the History of American Politics." Except... it will do no such thing. So if you've got an Uncle Frank in your life who you are seeing over this holiday break, point them to this episode and maybe we can start finding a tiny bit of common ground! For full show notes and links, click here.

Andrew gives us that signature OA approach, having read every case relevant to the law Trump has potentially violated. What does the case law tell us about how to convict him? For full links and detailed show notes, go here.

Alright look we forgot it was episode 666. But Trump has sued the Pulitzer committee and it is HILARIOUS. And... satanic? Ok no but we can pretend. Liz Dye is here with the breakdown!

Andrew breaks down several lawsuits that threaten Democracy, albeit incredibly ineptly and feebly. They are hilariously terrible. Links: Kari Lake's Lawyers Lose Election Suit, Win Sanctions, Lake v Hobbs, Lake v Hobbs.... again, Christina Bobb, Trump Lawyer Christina Bobb Promises Kari Lake Lawsuit Is First Step Back To White House For Trump - Wonkette, This Pro-Trump Lawyer Was a Rising 'Stop the Steal' Star, His Firm Erased Him, New Documents Show Trump Repeatedly Pressed DOJ to Overturn Election, Kurt Olsen complaint, ARS 16-672, Rupert Murdoch to be deposed in $1.6 billion Dominion defamation case, nutjobs v dominion

Andrew untangles the vast web of Alex Jones's bankruptcy and uses it as an opportunity to educate us on bankruptcy law! Chapter 7 vs 11 vs... 5? Find out what it all means and why no one is buying Alex Jones's maneuvering. Links: The Small Business Reorganization Act: Big Changes for Small Businesses, Understanding the Purpose of the Subchapter V Trustee – NCBarBlog, Jones arguments, US Trustee, subchapter V trustee, Alex Jones personal bankruptcy and motion

and does other totally normal things that indicate everything is completely awesome with him. Why is he offloading so much stock? And he isn't the only one. What does it say about Tesla? (btw we recorded this before he started banning journalists on Twitter for... sharing publicly available info about his flights.) Also, Trump replies to the Tish James injunction in Florida, and NBC files its answer to the Devin Nunes v Rachel Maddow suit! Links: Trump reply in Tish James suit, NBC Answer in Nunes/Maddow defamation case, SEC Form 4s - November 4, 2022, November 7, November 8, December 12-14, original CMO Dearie

It's another Lizisode! Liz Dye takes us through the very insidious lying nonsense that is the Twitter files. It's infuriating.

Once upon a time, there was a company that sold incredibly overpriced cables... When that well went dry, they moved onto patent trolling. This is the story of when they attempted to patent troll the wrong guy... Links: Monster Cable - Wikipedia, Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff: 80% Markups – Consumerist, Do Coat Hangers Sound As Good Monster Cables? – Consumerist, HDMI cable scam used to fool in-store customers? | Engadget, Monster "HDMI Difference" scam still kickin' in Fry's Electronics | Engadget, Monster patent C&D, exhibits, Blue Jeans Cable response, Blue Jeans Cable Strikes Back - Response to Monster Cable | Audioholics

We here at Opening Arguments enjoy documenting just how many different ways Alex Jones is financially f@cked. He added another bankruptcy to his collection, and like the previous ones, this one is likely part of a devious plan to get out of paying people stuff. Will it work? Links: Derkach Charged with Fraud and Money Laundering, Jones Bankruptcy, personal bankruptcy and motion

So many good news episodes lately! The Trump Org found guilty on like a lot of counts, No 11th circuit appeal on the special master bullsh, more classified docs found, Jack Smith issues subpoenas... so much! in the first segment we talk about the likely disaster that is Moore v. Harper, but Andrew thinks oral arguments suggested a less bad outcome. Get the breakdown! Links: Matt Taibbi Twitter thread, Moore v. Harper, Trump org convicted, New York Consolidated Laws, Penal Law - PEN § 155.40, PEN § 175.35, PEN § 175.10, Trump Org Guilty Of Criminal Tax Fraud, Trump lawyers found items with classified markings in his storage unit, Bobb certification

Hey folks, The auto ad tehcnology is what makes the 4 episode a week schedule possible. However, it's also something that I have no control over. There seems to be some issue on the server side. The episode was cut off at the place where the second ad slot was supposed to go. There is absolutely nothing I can do beyond submitting a support ticket, which I have. Apologies for this. As always, the patron feed has no ads and therefore this episode was obviously fine over there. In the meantime, I'm just releasing it without ads so that people can still listen. We'll give up ad revenue for this one, no big deal! Thanks for your understanding and sorry for the inconvenience! Thomas.

Yikes... We're once again joined by the great Liz Dye! This time, she's here to breakdown the absolute shellacking Dershowitz and co. recieved for being horrible lying pieces of sh!t and terrible lawyers. They're not sending their best!

Everyone's favorite 1st Amendment understander Devin Nunes has sued cow after twitter cow and it obviously has all gone nowhere. BUT, his defamation lawsuit against Rachel Maddow has survived a motion to dismiss... So... HOW?!?! Is this a big deal? What happened? Did Maddow f up? Andrew T's got the full breakdown! Links: Nunes complaint, Devin Nunes’ Cow Account Won’t Quit, Andrii Derkach Wikipedia

Wow it's almost like there really was an armed coup on January 6th on our nation's Capital. Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Megs have been found guilty of sedition. But when it comes to their sentencing... it's actually not very clear how much time they will do. That's because there really isn't much precedent for this. Andrew has the breakdown! Before that, though, we have a follow-up on the music episode. We share further thoughts inspired by some of the response we got. And we got a lot... Links: 18 U.S. Code § 2384 - Seditious conspiracy, 18 U.S. Code § 3553 - Imposition of a sentence, Sentencing_Table.pdf, trump-lawyers-sanctioned.pdf, Trump sanctions stayed?

It's a bit of a good news show! The Respect for Marriage Act has passed the Senate! Justice Alito was ratted out by a Rev. Schenck. And, the 11th Circuit delivered a whopper of a decision putting an end to the Judge Cannon Naro Lago nonsense. Links: Respect for Marriage Act (HR 8404) passes, 42 U.S. Code § 416 - Determination of Family Status, NY Times Schenck-Alito story, Former Anti-Abortion Leader Alleges Another Supreme Court Breach, response from Supreme Court Legal Office, Gift Regulations (Guide to Judiciary Policy, Vol. 2C, Ch. 6), Trump motion for disclosure, Media motion for access

We're once again joined by the incredible Liz Dye to update us (and remind us of the backstory...) on the E. Jean Carroll suit. Or now, SUITS! She has been able to file another suit against Trump due to a new law that has been passed. It's good news for justice, bad news for Trump!

What happens when Thomas preps a music law episode but Andrew also preps a music law episode? You get basically 2 episodes in 1! Given that we just moved to our more frequent schedule, we definitely did not intend to create such a behemoth, but there was just too much to cover! In the first half, Andrew sketches out the legal landscape in music copyright law and it's pretty severe limitations. We analyze the Blurred Lines/Got To Give It Up lawsuit, and the Sam Smith/Tom Petty case, complete with clips! Then in the second half, we FINALLY get to the actual case at hand, which is Grigson v Lopez. Thomas takes Andrew on a bit of a musical tour discussing different elements of the songs with even more clips!

... and his terrible f*cking attorneys. You love to see it.