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Opening Arguments

Latest episodes

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Jul 8, 2022 • 1h 9min

OA611: Cipollone to Testify! Andrew Called It! Here's What To Expect.

Today's episode pays off a bet Andrew made last month that the January 6 Committee would eventually secure the testimony of White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. Find out why that's such a big deal! In addition to explaining how the J6 Committee came to secure Pets of Belonging's testimony, Andrew answers your questions regarding whether this is some kind of elaborate con (No), how Cipollone's answers are likely to interact with executive and attorney-client privilege (frequently), and the likelihood that he will help round out the successful case for prosecuting Donald Trump for crimes in connection with the 1/6 Insurrection (EXTREMELY!). It's a big deal! After the main breakdown, we share a thoughtful and informative letter from a listener who helps put the Supreme Court's recent (atrocious) decision in Carson v. Makin (that we broke down in Episode 608) permitting direct government aid to expressly religious schools into a fuller context. It's an Andrew Was Wrong (About Rural Maine) and an important object lesson that you can never trust the fact section in a SCOTUS case involving religion these days. Links: The brilliant and hilarious Merrill Markoe captured the live-captioning of Pat Cipollone's name as Patsy Baloney (and others) on Twitter. For the background for the crime-fraud exception, check out Rule 1.2 and Rule 1.6 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. You can check out the Senate Judiciary testimony of Jeff Rosen as well as Richard Donohue for all sorts of new goodies, some of which we covered on the show! Click here to read the Supreme Court's opinion in Carson v. Makin., which we previously broke down in Episode 608 with Andrew Seidel. Finally, secret link! CLICK HERE to read the Kurt Olsen draft complaint for the DOJ, which we discovered in all its madness after the end of the record. Remember you can still donate to the Opening Arguments Foundation at OAfund.org!
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Jul 5, 2022 • 1h 6min

OA610: Elon's Twitter Deal Was a Complete Blunder. It's Not Happening.

As Andrew flagged for us before any other sources (that I saw), Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter was never a guarantee. Well, now it's moved from not a guarantee to very unlikely. Today, we look at what happened. Also, there are two interesting possibilities being debated online. For one, that he'll be able to get out of it because of the "bots," and on the other side, that he may be forced to buy Twitter by a judge. Are either of these possible or even likely? Find out! In the first segment, we talk about our amazingly successful fundraiser ($160,000+ raised!) and what's going on in Texas right now. hint: it's not good. Links: Interactive Map: US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe, 1925 Texas abortion law, ACLU TRO, Ken Paxton Writ of Mandamus, TX supreme court says no, Twitter agreement 4/22, Twitter 10-Q 3/31/22, Musk SEC letter, IN RE IBP INC. v. TYSON FOODS INC
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Jun 30, 2022 • 1h 9min

OA609: Surprise Jan. 6 Hearing – Bombshells Within Smocking Guns Within More Bombshells

Wow. What a hearing! BUT FIRST!!! We have an incredibly exciting announcement which we spend the first 11 minutes talking about! Feel free to skip it if you would like to be dead to us, it's completely up to you. But we worked our butts off to get you this episode an entire day early to give you a little more heads up that you need to... Join us Friday for the Aiding and Abetting Abortion fundraiser, presented by our friends, Cognitive Dissonance! The event starts at 5pm Pacific/8pm Eastern, but our time slot is 6:30! Here's the link to sit there and wait for it to start streaming! To donate, head to OAfund.org! And after all that, we still have an amazing breakdown of the hearing, and lordy there are tapes!
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Jun 28, 2022 • 1h 13min

OA608: Forget Church-State Separation, SCOTUS Mandates Christian Favoritism

The hits just keep on coming with this disgraceful, illegitimate Supreme Court. Andrew Seidel joins us to break down Carson v. Makin, and explains why precedent is meaningless, and the only thing that matters to this court when it comes to Church/State cases is: Christians win. Then, Ace Associate Morgan Stringer joins us to explain why the entire internet is wrong about Biden "banning Juuls and cigarettes."
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Jun 24, 2022 • 1h 9min

OA607: Will There Be Justice for Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman? and Bye Bye Miranda Rights!

If you watched Tuesday's hearing, you saw the heartbreaking story of how these two amazing women were viciously slandered by Rudy Giuliani and other members of the big lie insurrectionists. Their lives were absolutely turned upside down by complete racist fabrications. Do they have recourse? What will happen? Then, Andrew breaks down the complete breakdown of the legal fabric of our society. Say goodbye to any meaningful sense in which you have the right to remain silent! The Supreme Court has gutted Miranda rights, because why the f not, apparently. Oh but they make up for it by eroding states' ability to restrict open carry of guns. So that's cool. Links: environmental lawyer quote, Freeman and Moss v Giuliani, Giuliani idiot motion to dismiss, Maryland Code, Public Safety § 5-306, Vega v. Tekoh, 42 US Code § 1983 - Civil action for deprivation of rights
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Jun 21, 2022 • 1h 9min

OA606: How Egbert v. Boule Portends Shocking US Fascism – with Matt Cameron

You may have recently seen people posting about a disturbing Supreme Court decision (what else is new) with images of how much of the US is within 100 miles of a border, and how federal agents can basically get away with anything in most of the country. What was that about? Was it overblown? Welp. Attorney Matt Cameron is here to tell us no, actually. It was underblown, if anything. Not blown enough. Listen for the full breakdown, including classic Bivens. Before that, Andrew does a quick refresher on pocket pardons and why they... are not a thing.
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Jun 17, 2022 • 1h 17min

OA605: GEICO to Pay $5.2m for Car Sex?! and MORE Jan 6 Bombshells!

Today is two entire show's worth of things somehow crammed into one! First, Jan 6 hearing #3 is in the books. Some amazing bombshells! Also, I grill Andrew on intent and how it could possibly be that we have to prove what Trump had going on in his dumb brain. It's an extended cross examination but hopefully it will provide more understanding! THEN, you've likely seen the headlines: GEICO has to pay $5.2m for car sex? Really? Well, we might have another McDonald's coffee lawsuit on our hands! Get the break down! Links: Geico ordered to pay $5.2 million for STD in a car, RMCo 537.065, GEICO opinion
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Jun 12, 2022 • 1h 7min

OA604: The Jan 6 Hearings

Surprise! An early episode for everyone! Here's why: the first Jan 6 hearing is in the books. The next one is Monday AM. Listen for Andrew's breakdown of hearing 1, and what to look for in hearing 2!
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Jun 10, 2022 • 1h 6min

OA603: California Court Rules That... Bees are Fish?

Given that the Jan 6 hearing is AFTER we record, we're doing a little switcheroo! Today is a Tuesday-esque deep dive! What's with this California court ruling that bees are fish? Is Elon Musk right to mock it? Find out all about it and how it relates to when Reagan designated ketchup as a vegetable! Links: Reagan cuts eat into school lunches - CSMonitor.com, 46 CFR 44452, California Endangered Species Act, § 2070, State and Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California, Forestry Ass’n v. Fish & Game Commission
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Jun 7, 2022 • 1h 22min

OA602: New Eastman Docs Set Stage for Jan 6 Hearings

About a week ago, there was yet another smoking gun document trove delivered to us by the Jan. 6 Committee in relation to the Eastman trial. Andrew gives us the full breakdown, including a couple new insurrectionist characters we haven't yet been introduced to. All of this, plus the first primetime Jan 6. Committee hearing is this Thursday! Listen and be primed for what's coming.

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