On this week’s Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason look at a new lawsuit by D.C. claiming that Trump's inaugural committee overpaid for space at the Trump Hotel and thus "wasted" at least $1 million in charitable funds. Spoiler alert: the lawsuit seems convincing. They also discuss the latest developments in the Bolton saga.

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

Notes

• CNBC has this useful article describing the lawsuit and linking to the Complaint.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s Versus Trump, Charlie and Easha take a deep dive into two recently granted Supreme Court cases that go to the heart of the systems that we use to elect the President. (We chose this week to cover this topic because our Fearless Leader, Jason, was unavailable and he is counsel on both cases.) The discussion takes us deep into questions of political accountability, free choice, and constitutional history. A classic Versus Trump cat's-away-mice-will-play episode chock full of fun analysis of, among other things, Jason's work. Listen now! (I mean right now.)

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason, Easha, and Charlie discuss the Trump Administration's new legal opinion regarding the legal status of the Equal Rights Amendment, also known as the ERA. They consider what will happen now that Virginia has become the 38th state to ratify the ERA since 1972. Is it too late, or can Congress do anything to add this amendment to the Constitution? Note that when this was recorded, Virginia was expected to ratify it shortly, and the State in fact ratified it just before the episode was posted.

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

Notes

• The Trump Administration's opinion called Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment is here.
• News that Virginia ratified the Amendment is here, at NPR.
• Strangely, the 1977 OLC opinion regarding whether the three-year extension was constitutional is very difficult to find online. We've posted it here. The James Madison quote Jason mentioned is at the top of page 19.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason, Easha, and Charlie consider a new lawsuit by Amazon, in which the company claims that it was illegally denied a $10 billion Pentagon contract because of President Trump's stated dislike of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. And the return briefly to the question of Bolton's potential testimony at the Senate impeachment trial.

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

Notes

• The complaint in the Amazon case is here.
• The Jonathan Chait piece discussing this case and calling it perhaps his most egregious abuse of power yet is here.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie dive deep into two impeachment-related questions. First, what is the formal role of the Senate in an impeachment trial, and what power does the Chief Justice have? (Hint: Senators have all the power; the Chief Justice has basically none.) Second, what did the House say in its impeachment report about why it chose not to go to court or otherwise force recalcitrant Administration officials to testify—and does it make sense? 

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

Notes

• A terrific analysis of the Chief Justice's role in an impeachment trial is here, by Jane Chong at The Atlantic.
• The House's impeachment report is here.
• We also relied on Chapter 4 of To End a Presidency, by Matz and Tribe.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie answer listener questions about impeachment, bribery, sanctions, and more! Thanks again for another great year. Remember to email any questions to [email protected] to be on the next mailbag.

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s Versus Trump, Easha and Charlie discuss the Trump Administration’s efforts to resume federal executions after a decade-and-a-half hiatus. We talk about the district court ruling enjoining those efforts, the Supreme Court’s decision to keep the executions on hold while litigation plays out (and a snippy concurrence from three of the justices), and why the whole concept of a federal death penalty is a little bizarre.

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha respond to Rep. Matt Gaetz's shoutout to this podcast during the Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearings. They then discuss their reactions to the Democrats' strategy with their public hearings and articles of impeachment.

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

Notes

• A YouTube video of our show being mentioned in the impeachment hearings is here.
• The articles of impeachment are here.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

First, real talk: yes, Versus Trump really did get a shoutout at the impeachment hearings on Wednesday! More on that next week, and there's a link to the exchange in the shownotes. We recorded this episode before that happened, but rest assured that we'll respond to the Committee next week.

Meanwhile, on this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss two guns cases. First, we discuss a court's definitive rejection of the Trump Administration's bizarre decision to try to permit the online publication of plans for 3d printed guns, and then we discuss the Supreme Court's Monday argument in the first Second Amendment case in a decade. We also have quick hits on a few other matters.

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

Notes

• A YouTube video of our show being mentioned in the impeachment hearings is here.
• The district court's decision in Washington v. Trump is here.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha discuss the definition of "bribery" for impeachment purposes, since Nancy Pelosi claimed that's what the evidence is showing at the impeachment hearings. They talk about how Congress and citizens should think about this notoriously slippery idea.

You can find us at @VersusTrumpPod on twitter, or send us an email at [email protected]. You can buy t-shirts and other goods with our super-cool logo here. 

Notes

• The excellent Lawfare post to which we were referring is here.

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.