This week, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Democratic National Committee, which had alleged that the Russian Federation engaged in a RICO conspiracy with Donald Trump, the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort, Julian Assange, Roger Stone and others. RICO, of course, is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (as you ATPL listeners already know). It’s a law designed to allow prosecutions and lawsuits aimed at the mafia and others who operate criminal enterprises.

Of course, there really was a Russian government-backed hack of DNC email servers and the information obtained in the hack really was released in an effort to benefit the Trump campaign. So why didn’t this lawsuit work?

Plus: California Governor Gavin Newsom signs into law a requirement candidates release their tax returns to get on the ballot. Let the legal arguments begin. President Trump continues to preemptively fight Congress seeking his tax returns under a New York state law. Jerry Nadler has a weird press conference about seeking grand jury materials from the Mueller investigation. Is this the beginning of an impeachment inquiry? And, is Larry Klayman a good lawyer?