A Trump legal problem becomes a Biden administration problem
Jun 10, 2021
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The podcast discusses the Department of Justice's decision to represent President Trump in a defamation suit, Giuliani pressuring Ukrainian officials, challenges of serving court papers, and a lawsuit filed by MyPillow founder against Dominion and Smartmatic.
The Department of Justice under President Biden will continue defending former President Trump in a defamation lawsuit, maintaining the arguments made by the previous administration.
A recording of Rudy Giuliani pressuring Ukrainian officials supports previous accusations of a quid pro quo and may not have significant legal relevance to his ongoing federal investigation.
Deep dives
Biden DOJ continues to defend Trump in defamation lawsuit
The Department of Justice under President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland has chosen to continue defending former President Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll. Carroll accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s, and when she sued him for defamation, Trump's DOJ argued that his denial was made in his official capacity as president. The Biden DOJ, in a brief critical of Trump's words, has maintained essentially the same arguments as the previous administration.
Rudy Giuliani's Ukraine lobbying caught on tape
A recording has been obtained by CNN in which former President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, can be heard pressuring Ukrainian officials to announce investigations into Joe Biden regarding his dealings with Ukraine and alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The recording, in which Giuliani can be heard discussing the matter as a lawyer, may not have significant legal relevance to Giuliani's ongoing federal criminal investigation but does provide strong evidence to support previous accusations of a quid pro quo.
Mike Lindell files defamation lawsuit against Dominion and Smartmatic
Founder of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, has filed a defamation lawsuit against voting machine companies Dominion and Smartmatic. Lindell accuses the companies of defaming him by calling him a liar for his claims that they stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump. While the lawsuit is extensive and attempts to argue that the election was indeed stolen, it is ultimately up to the court to decide whether the claims hold any legal weight.
Before the election, the Department of Justice under President Trump was at work defending him in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit, arguing that when Trump denied Carroll’s accusation that he had raped her, he did so in his official capacity as president, and therefore he couldn’t be sued. It’s customary for the Department of Justice to represent the president in situations like this, though a federal judge rejected it. The Trump DOJ appealed, but after he lost the election, there was a question about whether the DOJ under Biden would continue the appeal. Carroll and her lawyers were strongly opposed. Well, now the Department of Justice under President Biden has spoken: they will continue to represent the former president in this case. Why? Was this unexpected?
Ken and Josh discuss that, plus the audio of Rudy Giuliani pressuring Ukrainian officials to announce investigations into Joe Biden’s work in Ukraine and whether Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election, if it’s a sweet gig to be a special master, how you go about searching through millions of documents anyways, messing up a PDF and hurting the opposing party, serving subpoena realness and more.
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