Now that Congress has voted overwhelmingly to require the release of the Epstein files, we discuss what’s likely to be in those files, what the administration might do to undermine the intent of the law requiring release, and whether we really ought to learn so much about this case. That conversation is for free subscribers.

Paying subscribers get much more this week — a look at the rapidly increasing number of problems with the James Comey indictment, an update on the National Guard cases, and an interesting question from the Supreme Court about the meaning of a law restricting the president’s ability to deploy it over a governor’s objection. We look at a really, really intemperate dissent in the Texas redistricting case, an update on Tina Peters, and we look at two defamation cases, one where Trump has again lost to CNN, and one brought by rapper Megan Thee Stallion against a Twitch streamer who, in the eyes of the state of Florida, does not count as a media outlet.

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Sandwich Guy is free! Sean Dunn was acquitted of simple assault by a jury of his peers. Meanwhile, Lindsey Halligan continues to face difficulties in her case against James Comey, and the Justice Department generally is having trouble finding a sufficient number of qualified attorneys. That’s all in this week’s free show.

There’s much more this week for paying subscribers, including:

* A look at why Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson chose to delay a ruling that would have forced the Trump administration to pay SNAP benefits.

* U.S. Senators voted themselves a legal right to sue if the government obtains their phone records, and the House grudgingly went along. The provision might get repealed after an outcry. But if it doesn't, does that violate the 27th Amendment? And even if it does, is there any recourse?

* The adventures of Bill Pulte.

* Federal pardons for participants in fake elector conspiracies (who really mostly need to worry about state charges anyway).

* Another victory for Ann Selzer.

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On this week's show for everyone: two court decisions direct the Trump administration to continue sending SNAP (food stamp) funds to states and the administration has chosen not to appeal these orders — likely not relishing the politics of withholding SNAP funds — but the legal situation may get more complicated if the shutdown does not end soon. Plus: more motions from James Comey.

For paying subscribers: legal wrangling over federal immigration enforcement in Chicago; some AUSAs who were placed on leave for daring to call January 6 a “mob” “riot” in a sentencing memo; a Tennessee man who spent a month in jail on the extremely thin claim that a political meme he posted was a terroristic threat; and the strange scandal of now-former FDA official George Tidmarsh and Aurinia.

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This week, both James Comey and Letitia James continue to seek dismissal of the criminal charges brought against them, and one argument they’ve both made will be considered by a judge from another state. We talk about why that's happening, we also discuss a lesson from the Barry Bonds steroids case that could be relevant for Comey, and we look at a complaint James has made about Halligan’s communications about grand jury proceedings to a reporter. That, plus a look at Ninth Circuit action in the national guard cases and a look at a sloppy defamation lawsuit from Paul Ingrassia, constitutes this week’s free show.

Beyond the paywall, we talk about an effort from the D.C. bar to impose new burdens on law firms that might, theoretically, enter into settlement deals with the government, an dwhen a state could prosecute an ICE officer for breaking state law (not never, is the short answer), and our discussion of how some judges are now getting in trouble for their misuse of AI in drafting opinions.

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This week in the free episode: the indictment of John Bolton and how it's pretty different from the Comey indictment, plus Trump's apparent demand that the Justice Department pay him $230 million for the indignity of being prosecuted.

Paying subscribers also get to hear a dive into two wild NBA-related indictments that came down this week in the Eastern District of New York. One indictment alleges that conspirators, including an NBA coach and members of four of New York’s Italian mafia families, ran rigged poker games to fleece unsuspecting players out of millions of dollars. The other alleges a conspiracy to fraudulently bet on NBA games — or more specifically, on propositions about NBA games — through the use of inside information. Both of these cases have crazy factual details, and the NBA betting one also involves some interesting, novel legal issues.

Also: an update on lawsuits over National Guard deployments (and some theories about why an unfavorable ruling for Gavin Newsom did not get a rehearing en banc), a look at the case demanding that Speaker Mike Johnson hurry up and seat the Democrat who won a special election in Arizona several weeks ago, and an update on Hunter Biden-related litigation.

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Letitia James has been indicted, as President Trump’s retribution campaign continues. (So has John Bolton, but that happened after we recorded.) While the Bolton indictment has a forbidding, professional feel, the James indictment does not, and is likely to be vulnerable to some of the same attacks James Comey is raising against his own indictment. But then, is the point even to get a conviction? Plus: another US Attorney has been forced out for insufficient eagerness to investigate the president’s enemies, and the Wall Street Journal reports that Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrival to the Club Fed in Texas has made life less pleasant for the other inmates there.

For paying subscribers, we look at Drake’s humiliating loss in his defamation lawsuit against his own record label, in which a federal judge had to explain to him how a rap battle works; a discussion of a split decision by a panel in the Sixth Circuit, saying schools may prohibit clothing with implied vulgarities (such as two students’ sweatshirts that declared “Let’s Go Brandon"); ICE enforcing a little-known law that green card holders must actually carry their green cards (apparently just with fines, so far); and the State Department bragging that it’s revoking visas held by non-citizens who said mean things about Charlie Kirk.

There's also a preview of Josh's new podcast Central Air, a weekly politics chat from the center.

James Comey has been arraigned and has a trial date of January 5. Both his lawyer and the judge appear set on moving rapidly to trial, and the government is rushing to be ready. We discuss the motions it sounds like Comey's legal team will file, which likely will be helped by the message from the president demanding Comey’s prosecution that does really appear to have been intended as a private message for Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Plus: we discuss Sean Combs' sentence and how to lobby for a lenient sentence when your client is very fortunate and prominent, without sounding like you’re saying the rich and famous deserve to get off easy.

Paying subscribers get that and much more (upgrade your subscription at serioustrouble.show):

* A look at an unexpected criminal complaint about the highly destructive Palisades Fire, in which federal prosecutors allege that an Uber driver set a smaller fire that begat the major fire.

* Temporary restraining orders in the case over Trump’s effort to deploy national guard troops to Portland, and what appeals courts are likely to do with them.

* What to make of Supreme Court’s choice to finally take on the Lisa Cook case, and the procedural split it is likely to emphasize among the court’s conservative justices as they ponder what to do with the special, unique, quasi-private institution in a long historical tradition that is the Federal Reserve.

* A lengthy and forceful appeals court ruling upholding birthright citizenship.

* Another vindictive prosecution claim that has legs, this time from Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

* And a Kardashian-Jenner-Ray-J RICO-defamation case. Wow!

We know more this week about indictment of James Comey. Maybe the grand jury vote was weak, but an indictment is an indictment, right? Maybe not. We discuss how Comey’s attorneys are likely to seek dismissal of the indictments. Meanwhile, we have some more detail on how the FBI came to be conducting a public corruption investigation into Tom Homan when he wasn’t even a public official. That — plus a discussion of Jeanine Pirro’s unusual use of a local grand jury to obtain a federal indictment in Washington D.C. — is this week’s free show. For paid subscribers, we also discuss:

* The Trump administration’s novel use of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to sue pro-Palestinian activists who ended up in a brawl outside a New Jersey synagogue;

* Judge William Young’s righteously angry ruling holding that the Trump administration has violated immigrants’ First Amendment rights by revoking their visas over their protest activity;

* Google’s high-dollar settlement of a case about YouTube that Donald Trump already lost, which will be used to finance the grand new ballroom at the White House;

* Smartmatic’s partial summary judgment win against Mike Lindell over his stolen election claims; and

* Harvard’s countersuit against former Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino, whom they de-tenured over research fraud, most famously including a fraudulent paper about dishonesty.

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James Comey has been indicted, charged with making a false statement and obstruction of justice. Now, the government will try to prove he lied to Congress when he said he never “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports” about the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails, even though he had, in fact, authorized “Person 3” to do this. But — who will prosecutors say Comey did authorize?

That’s our conversation for free listeners. Paying subscribers also get our conversation about:

* The Trump administration’s motion for the Supreme Court to issue a stay letting them kick Lisa Cook off the Federal Reserve Board for now, and the ways the court may try to avoid having to weigh in on the exact special, unique historical nature that makes the Federal Reserve special, unique, and not subject to the decision it’s surely about to issue overturning Humphrey’s Executor;

* The guilty verdict against Ryan Routh and a judge’s admonishment of prosecutors in the case against Luigi Mangione;

* What legal exposure Tom Homan could have faced if he really accepted $50,000 cash in a Cava bag; and

* Updates on Trump’s try-hard defamation litigation against the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

Disney has “indefinitely” ceased airing Jimmy Kimmel Live under pressure from FCC chairman Brandon Carr and from Nexstar and Sinclair, two major owners of ABC affiliate stations, which themselves faced significant pressure from Carr. It is illegal for federal officials to “jawbone” private actors into punishing other private actors for their speech, but for relief to be possible, there has to be a pretty clear connection between the jawboning and the speech restriction. Listen for our analysis, and who could even sue here.

Paying subscribers, there’s much more this week including:

* Our look at the first criminal charges against Tyler Robinson, who faces the death penalty in Utah.

* A look at Donald Trump’s new defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, and Nina Jankowicz’s loss on appeal in her suit against Fox News (about which she is incensed).

* Why Lisa Cook remains on the Federal Reserve Board, for now (it has to do with the Fed being a special, unique entity in a long historical tradition).

* The reason for the dismissal of terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, and a look at why, in New York, a trial court is “Supreme” but premeditated murder is merely “second degree.”

* And why Judge Tanya Chutkan found there was nothing she could do for migrants whose removals to Ghana sure appeared designed to get them back to their home countries, despite having court orders prohibiting their removal to those countries.

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