

Opening Arguments
Opening Arguments Media LLC
Opening Arguments is a law show that helps you make sense of the news! Comedian Thomas Smith brings on legal analysts to help you understand not only current events, but also deeper legal concepts and areas!
The typical schedule will be M-W-F with Monday being a deep-dive, Wednesday being Thomas Takes the Bar Exam and patron shoutouts, and Friday being a rapid response to legal issues in the news!
The typical schedule will be M-W-F with Monday being a deep-dive, Wednesday being Thomas Takes the Bar Exam and patron shoutouts, and Friday being a rapid response to legal issues in the news!
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 15, 2023 • 56min
OA742: Twitter Can't Violate the First Amendment, But Fox Can Definitely Defame a Gov't Official
In light of Linda Yaccarino being named CEO of Twitter, Liz and Andrew break down Trumpworld's never-ending lawsuits against social media, and yet another defamation suit against Fox News, this one by Nina Jankowicz. Happy Mother's Day! For the Patreon bonus, we discuss beer, the Superbowl, and Rule 62.1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, because of course we do. Notes OA 551 https://openargs.com/oa551-trump-may-out-of-office-but-his-federal-judges-are-not/ Donato dismissal Trump v. Twitter https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.387133/gov.uscourts.cand.387133.165.0_6.pdf Trump v. Twitter, Motion for Indicative Ruling https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.387133/gov.uscourts.cand.387133.191.0.pdf FRCP 62.1 https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_62.1 Jankowicz federal docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67365497/jankowicz-v-fox-news-network-llc/ Jankowicz complaint https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23809394-jankowicz-v-fox-complaint -Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law -Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ -For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed! @oawiki -And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

May 12, 2023 • 1h 1min
OA 741: It's a Derp-Off! Trump vs. Santos vs. Dersh
Liz and Andrew break down the latest developments in Fulton County, GA; some truly terrible takes on the E. Jean Carroll verdict by Alan Dershowitz; and the indictment of Congressman Astronaut Rabbi George Santos. Be there, will be wild! NotesOA 738 https://openargs.com/oa-738-trump-flops-proud-boys-drop/ Surveillance footage of Cathy Latham https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/09/20/coffee-county-georgia-cathy-latham/ SPGJ report sections made public http://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/View/1706/EX-PARTE-ORDER-OF-THE-JUDGE-2-16-2023-Report Willis Modification of Motion to Disqualify Debrow http://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/View/1918/SPGJ--STATES-MODIFICATION-OF-MOTION-TO-DISQUALIFY-5-10-23 Shafer letter Fulton County https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23800972/shafer-final-march-26-letter-to-da-willis-w-exhibits.pdf FEC Complaint - Santos https://campaignlegal.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/Campaign%20Legal%20Center%20-%20Santos%20Complaint%20%28Final%29.pdf Santos indictment https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-05/santos.indictment.pdf 18 U.S.C. § 1343 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1343 Federal Sentencing Guidelines https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/guidelines-manual/2021/GLMFull.pdf -Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law -Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ -For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed! @oawiki -And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

May 10, 2023 • 1h 9min
OA740: BREAKING - E. Jean Carroll, $5 Million; Trump, ZERO (feat. Mitchell Epner)
Liz and Andrew bring on former sex crimes prosecutor and New York attorney Mitchell Epner for a discussion of the breaking civil verdict awarding E. Jean Carroll $5 million for Trump's assault and subsequent defamation. We go WAY beyond the regular media coverage; you won't want to miss this episode! This episode is a paid post on Patreon and was released early to supporters. Notes Carroll verdict form (blank) https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23808239/carrollvtrumpverdictform.pdf Screenshots of actual verdict form (Pagliery tweet) https://twitter.com/Jose_Pagliery/status/1656020932031389697?s=20 Trump depo testimony - full video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkU49iYkw2A -Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law -Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ -For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed! @oawiki -And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

May 9, 2023 • 59min
OA739: $5 Million Says Mike Lindell Is Full Of Stuffing
Today, Liz and Andrew interview Cary Joshi and Brian Glasser of Bailey Glasser, who successfully won a $5 million arbitration award against Mike Lindell for claims of election fraud data. Notes Prove Mike Wrong Challenge Official Rules https://openargs.com/wp-content/uploads/Prove-Mike-Wrong-Challenge-Official-Rules.pdf Arbitration Award https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/a68b42f4-d5dc-4ff9-b34e-84d52fa3fc32.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_11 -Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law -Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ -For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed! @oawiki -And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

May 8, 2023 • 60min
OA 738: Trump Flops, Proud Boys Drop
Today, Liz and Andrew check in on three stories we've previously covered: the conclusion of the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit against Donald Trump; the recent convictions of the Proud Boys in connection with the January 6 insurrection; and what's going on in Fulton County, Georgia. It's a whirlwind and you don't want to miss it! In the Patreon bonus, Andrew and Liz discuss what really happened in Hawaii in 1960 and why it doesn't help the insurrectionists no matter what John Eastman tells you. NOTES OA 728 https://openargs.com/oa728-fox-blinks-first/ Wikipedia on Georgia post-election lawsuits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_lawsuits_related_to_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election_from_Georgia Fake electors transmittal https://www.archives.gov/files/foia/ga-full.pdf Fulton County docket http://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/Index/94?Grid-orderBy=LastModifiedDate-desc July 2022 Motion to Quash subpoenas http://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/View/1222/MOTION-TO-QUASH-AND-DISQUALIFY---Copy Oct. 2022 1st Motion to Disqualify Debrow and Pierson http://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/View/1430/SPGJ-MOTION-TO-DISQUALIFY-ATTORNEYS-HOLLY-A-PIERSON---KIMBERLY-BOUROUGHS-DEBROW-10-3-22 April 18, 2023 2nd Motion to Disqualify Debrow http://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/View/1905/SPGJ-MOTION-TO-DISQUALIFY-ATTY-KIMBERLY-BOURROUGHS-DEBROW Opposition to Motion to Disqualify Debrow http://www.fultonclerk.org/DocumentCenter/View/1917/EX-PARTE-FILING-5-5-23 Barr Jan 6th testimony https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000083860/pdf/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000083860.pdf 3 USC 12 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/12 -Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law -Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ -For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed! @oawiki -And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

May 5, 2023 • 57min
OA 737: Bad Judges, Bad Judges, Whatcha Gonna Do?
Today, Liz and Andrew discuss the latest ethical lapse from Clarence Thomas, as well as the horrible activism of the next Republican Supreme Court nominee, Stu Duncan. In the Patreon bonus, Liz and Andrew break down the latest sanctions issued against Donald Trump in New York. -Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law -Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ -For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed! @oawiki -And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

May 4, 2023 • 43min
OA736: SCOTUS Tees Up Rancid Herring Case to Gut the Administrative State

May 2, 2023 • 1h 6min
OA735: Will a Plea Bargain Keep Trump Out of the White House?

May 1, 2023 • 56min
OA 734: Disney v. DeSantis: YOU MESS WITH THE MOUSE, YOU GET THE EARS
Liz and Andrew break down the just-filed lawsuit by Disney with respect to Ron DeSantis and his Republican buddies' shenanigans in Florida. Who will prevail? Listen and find out! This photograph of a Famous Mouse was taken 21 April 2009 by Marcus Quigmire of Florida and originally posted to Flickr. It was downloaded by Opening Arguments Media, LLC on April 27, 2023 from Wikimedia Commons and is used without modification under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) license, which is linked below. No endorsement by any other party than Opening Arguments Media, LLC is implied. CC License of Famous Mouse https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode Original source for Famous Mouse (Wikimedia Commons) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Famous_mouse_%283463764209%29.jpg Notes OA 717 https://openargs.com/oa717-lock-him-up-4-trump-gets-indicted-desantis-gets-spanked/ Disney v. DeSantis complaint https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23789600/file-stamped-disney-complaint1.pdf Disney-RCID Feb. 8, 2023 Contract https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23734248/disney-board-covenant.pdf CFTOD 4/26 meeting minutes https://www.rcid.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CFTOD-4-26-23-BOS-Packet-FINAL-revised-4-24-23.pdf RCID Comprehensive Plan Approval https://www.rcid.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2032-RCID-Comprehensive-Plan.pdf Florida HB 9B https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h0009Ber.docx&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=0009B&Session=2023B Florida SB 1604 https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1604/BillText/e1/PDF -Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law -Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ -For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed! @oawiki -And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com

Apr 28, 2023 • 1h 1min
OA 733: Trump Phones A Friend As Document Indictment Looms (feat. Kel McClanahan)
Liz and Andrew take a look at a letter sent by Donald Trump's lawyers to House Republicans and bring back expert National Security Lawyer Kel McClanahan to help answer all their questions about Trump's dubious assertions about how the National Archives should have handled the Mar-a-Lago documents. Notes In re Sealed Case (Pence-Boasberg) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67164305/in-re-sealed-case/?order_by=desc Parlatore Trump letter https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23789802/read-trump-lawyers-letter-to-congress-reveal-foreign-leader-briefings-may-be-among-classified-documents-taken-from-white-house.pdf Less-redacted search warrant https://openargs.com/wp-content/uploads/Reinhart-Mar-a-Lago-less-redacted-affidavit.pdf NARA Oct. 11, 2022 statement https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2022/nr22-001#october-11-2022 Debra Steidel Wall 1/17/23 letter to Jim Comer https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23575130/nara-response-to-rep-james-comer.pdf 18 USC §793(e) https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793 -Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law -Follow us on Twitter: @Openargs -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ -For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed! @oawiki -And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com


