The Adams and Trump Cases Should Be Open and Shut. But Due to Awful SCOTUS Rulings, They May Not Be...
Added 2024-10-04 08:27:45 +0000 UTCOA1074: We begin with a quick look at JD Vance’s cringiest moment during this week’s VP debate. Does the junior senator from Ohio know anything about immigration law--let alone vice presidenting?
In our main story: Two of last term’s worst U.S. Supreme Court decisions surrounding “official acts” have been playing out in real time this week in two of the most important criminal prosecutions in the US. First, special counsel Jack Smith has just filed a monster of a brief in the DC case against Donald Trump for his responsibility for the events of January 6th, 2001. Why is this filing so unique, and what can we learn about the evidence against Trump and DOJ’s strategy going forward? Meanwhile, New York Mayor Eric Adams has filed a motion to dismiss his pending bribery charge on the grounds that bribery is pretty much legal now. Could the SCOTUS decision in Snyder v. US actually make a difference here?
Finally, Matt drops a rare animal law footnote to explain how the fate of one adorable little beaver became the single most important issue facing the Massachusetts government this week.
Video of JD Vance badly mansplaining immigration law during the VP debate
Special counsel Jack Smith's Motion for Immunity Determinations (10/3/24)
Eric Adams’s motion to dismiss Count V of his pending indictment (9/30/24)
Governor Maura Healey’s late-breaking announcement re: the fate of Nibi the Beaver
Comments
Matt & Thomas, thanks for the Nibi coverage. I was worried that she was going to end up on a bus to Florida if this wasn't resolved. Also appreciate that no one has made the obvious jokes about our beloved lesbian governor meeting a beaver even if we thought them. And if anyone wants to hear a good Masshole accent from the source, here's the local news after Nibi's amnesty https://youtu.be/3VBhY8gjODM?feature=shared
beebah in boston
2024-10-05 01:27:59 +0000 UTCI also have a tech friend (aus by nationality, indian by birth) who is 10+ years in still waiting for green card/residency and i'm starting to hear him focus on the border/migrant 'problem'. thanks for giving me some words to keep pushing back with.
lauren
2024-10-04 23:15:16 +0000 UTCIn light of your discussion about the shifting legal definition of bribery, I'd like to ask that you keep an eye on the criminal trial of Michael Madigan (former speaker of the Illinois house). According to Capitol News Illinois, in light of Snyder the prosecution has "pursued a so-called 'stream of benefits” legal theory'". CourtListener link here (although few documents are available): https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63130513/united-states-v-madigan/
Why do podcasters say moron that later
2024-10-04 20:40:28 +0000 UTCThis SCOTUS is happy to execute people who the STATE says was most likely corrupt but they sure won’t hesitate to have DOJ drop charges against any Republican Office Holder. AG’s would do it everywhere, if they don’t. Or so they presume or something. Also: what if international law is suddenly respected by the USA and if ALL countries lost dominance of the UNSC ?
dddebz
2024-10-04 20:38:21 +0000 UTCthat's a fair guess, but in context I took it as the usual lazy "why don't they do it the right way" rhetoric which continues to have people believing that there is some general "line" that everyone could be waiting in if only they properly registered. (I certainly have met asylum seekers who might otherwise be eligible for tech visas! But only a few.) Most categories of non-immediate-relative family visas are also taking that long (especially from India and China) so there has been an intentional effort to turn people who are waiting on those against asylum seekers. But as I'm sure you know it's not a zero-sum thing: the long wait for visas is because of the statutory formula which distributes them (not administrative delays as people often seem to think) and the asylum system is a completely different division of USCIS which is not competing for those resources anyway.
Matt Cameron
2024-10-04 16:59:48 +0000 UTCRight, and I agree with that. But his comment - quoted above - rubbed me wrong. Because, YES, they come and buy houses, or they rent for more than long-term residents could afford... He made it sound like they couldn't have an impact. Yes, if you took the Haitians out of Springfield, and didn't replace them with other much-needed factory workers, housing prices would plummet. Case in point, a family was interviewed that had been in a rental unit for decades, paying only $600/mo for a relatively low-end unit. It was just right for their $45k/y family income. With the influx of workers, the housing market shot up, the owner sold the place to take advantage of the market, and the new owners more or less tripled the rent. The family had to move out, replaced by several new residents sharing the rent. I love Thomas, but sometimes he goes on a rant and becomes.. I guess flippant is the right word.
Timothy High
2024-10-04 16:59:28 +0000 UTCyeah, maybe we should get into it another time but the way they are talking about CBPOne right now as it if is some kind of magical backdoor hack of our immigration system is laughable. My friend Lindsay in San Diego sees it in action much more than I do here in Boston, and this was her reaction: https://x.com/L_Toczylowski/status/1841289635193848014
Matt Cameron
2024-10-04 15:55:29 +0000 UTCVideo footage of Nibby: https://youtu.be/_klDWIeibuE?si=DmmLNuyD4jcxlR_L
Gmork
2024-10-04 15:31:45 +0000 UTCThis is too long to be an intro quote, but let's not forget - let's *not* forget, Dude - that keeping wildlife, an amphibious rodent, for uh, domestic, you know, within the city - that aint legal either. https://youtu.be/oovqYtMy1BI?si=o0c91jaZIzkKfeXH
Gmork
2024-10-04 15:14:44 +0000 UTCYou're not doubt right that Hatian immigrants -- like literally everyone who buys housing -- have a non-zero effect on housing prices. But I think Thomas' ultimate point is correct that it's absolutely absurd to blame them as the primary driver of the problem as if housing prices would plummet but for immigrants from Haiti looking for a roof over their heads.
Gmork
2024-10-04 15:10:28 +0000 UTC"I've got a bad case of beaver fever." Please tell me that was Matt's go-to pick-up line.
Gmork
2024-10-04 14:21:47 +0000 UTCThomas has been covering Trump cases for so long, he immediately thought of a way to slow walk the Nibby Beaver case.
KeepingThePlatesSpinning
2024-10-04 14:08:59 +0000 UTCSo if I'm following correctly, I need to get a permit before I click on one of those ads about finding cougars in my area?
Why do podcasters say moron that later
2024-10-04 13:44:03 +0000 UTCAlso for the DC motion. I know theyre easy enouch to guess but heres a cheatsheet for the redacted names https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/2/2274391/-First-draft-identifying-all-the-redacted-players-based-on-public-records-and-Gemini-Pro
Reese
2024-10-04 13:30:57 +0000 UTCI love you guys, but Thomas, I though you got a little too flippant with your comment about Haitian refugees: "You think a Haitian migrant is gonna come in and buy all the houses??" I know it sounds absurd, but along the same lines as "immigrants are here to do the jobs Americans don't want to do", immigrants are also willing to accept conditions that American citizens aren't - like sharing affordable housing with multiple people or families. The truth is housing prices have gone way up in the last 4 years, outpacing salaries (https://www.zillow.com/home-values/34103/springfield-oh/). That's only to be expected when the population goes up by 20% in such a short time. Conservative news will place the blame solidly on the Haitians (and call them "illegal", which of course is your main point), but even left-wing papers agree with the premise - they only shift the blame to "greedy" property owners - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/01/haitians-springfield-ohio-housing - Personally, I'd blame the "invisible hand", and in the end government, which hasn't done enough to keep up with increased demand.
Timothy High
2024-10-04 13:28:48 +0000 UTCThe whole app thing is ridiculous (the way he framed it) it seems he has zero idea of how complicated and long it takes to get citizenship.
Reese
2024-10-04 13:26:11 +0000 UTCI think the "10 years" Vance was taking about is the amount of time Chinese and Indian H1B immigrants have to wait for a green card due to how many apply from those countries. I have a lot of co-workers in this situation. It's crazy how long that process is
Bear The Bull
2024-10-04 13:02:30 +0000 UTC
