Ep 232 — The Vindictive DOJ

DOCKET ALERTS:   Joe Dye begins a series on the second phase of the redistricting wars at his Substack.    Multiple states are threatening to tax payouts from Trump's slush fund at 100 percent.    The Trump Administration is suing Massachusetts for failing to give "confidential," hard to trace license plates to ICE and CBP.   A panel of federal judges in Alabama once again rejected the state's congressional map as an illegal racial gerrymander. The state has appealed to SCOTUS.   Don Lemon moved to unseal the grand jury transcript in the Cities Church protest prosecution. He cited the recently unsealed magistrate's docket, showing the government's wild overreach — not to mention incompetence — in its warrant applications, along with the many cases where courts have said the DOJ is currently lawless and entitled to no presumption of regularity.   The New York Times had a wild story this week about the Justice Department's total loss of credibility with grand juries, including in Wyoming, where the US Attorney's total violation of grand jury rules led to the dismissal of nine indictments.   MAIN SHOW:   The US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois is reportedly investigating E. Jean Carroll for perjury. In a deposition in 2022, Carroll misspoke and said that her litigation was not being funded by anyone else. She later corrected the record to say that some of her fees were being paid by a nonprofit associated with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. The government is trying to do to that nonprofit what it's done to the Southern Poverty Law Center, alleging that it somehow conspired to hide its activities by getting Carroll to lie under oath.   Meanwhile, the SPLC is moving to dismiss its case based on vindictive prosecution. Luckily it has eleventy-seven clips of Trump officials declaring that they're on a revenge mission to take out the civil rights organization.   In non-political news, a drag queen named Pattie Gonia is in a trademark dispute with the brand Patagonia.    SUBSCRIBER BONUS:   Trump is making NDAs great again.   How Democrats Can Take Back the Redistricting Wars Pt. 1 https://josephdye.substack.com/p/how-democrats-can-take-back-the-redistricting   US v. Massachusetts [Confidential License Plates] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73400637/united-states-v-the-commonwealth-of-massachusetts/   Milligan v. Allen https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/61494291/milligan-v-allen   US v. Levy-Armstrong [Cities Church/Don Lemon] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72212459/united-states-v-levy-armstrong/   In re Search Warrant [Cities Church/Don Lemon magistrate docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72323660/in-re-search-warrant/   As Trump Politicizes Justice Dept., Prosecutors Struggle With Grand Juries https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/us/politics/trump-justice-department-grand-juries.html DOJ probes Democratic-allied nonprofit that helped fund E. Jean Carroll's legal bills https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/05/28/doj-probes-reid-hoffmans-nonprofit-funding-e-jean-carrolls-legal-bills/   US v. Southern Poverty Law Center [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73223865/united-states-v-southern-poverty-law-center-inc/   Patagonia, Inc. v. Entrepreneur Enterprises, Inc. ("Patty Gonia") [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72169060/patagonia-inc-v-entrepreneur-enterprises-inc/   Pattie Gonia Instagram responding to lawsuit https://www.instagram.com/p/DY2L725tVow/   Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod