Episode summary
Jessica Tarlov interviews Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket and one of America's leading Democratic election attorneys, about recent Supreme Court decisions, ongoing Republican efforts to restrict voting access, and President Trump's intervention in the World Cup. The conversation reveals the breadth of legal challenges facing American democracy as Elias describes his firm's battles against voter suppression efforts across multiple fronts. In a significant revelation about campaign finance, Elias explains how the Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent by allowing unlimited coordinated spending between political parties and candidates, a decision the RNC pursued unsuccessfully in the 1990s and 2001 before prevailing with the current conservative majority. Despite winning a 5-4 Supreme Court victory protecting mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day, Elias warns that Republicans continue attempting to weaponize federal agencies, including the Postal Service, to restrict ballot access. The episode captures Elias's frustration with what he characterizes as two types of Republicans: "proud MAGA and scared MAGA," the latter being officials who privately acknowledge the absurdity of Trump's positions but publicly fall in line. Elias advocates for Supreme Court expansion and ethics reform, arguing the justices have entered a "YOLO phase" where they no longer care about institutional legitimacy. The conversation concludes with discussion of Trump's unprecedented call to FIFA requesting review of a red card in World Cup competition, which Elias frames as emblematic of Trump's inability to tolerate anything "pure" or "on the level." Throughout, Elias maintains his firm remains undefeated in eleven lawsuits defending state voter files from Republican access attempts.
