Episode summary
Brian Tyler Cohen and former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner discuss a bombshell 56-page ruling by Federal Judge Katherine Williams finding that President Donald Trump fraudulently manipulated the judicial system through a self-dealing lawsuit. The case involved Trump suing his own IRS for $10 billion, with the Department of Justice never filing a response during the suit's 109-day existence before Trump dismissed it and negotiated a settlement with himself. The settlement included $1.776 billion in taxpayer funds intended as what Kirschner calls a "cop beaters fund" for January 6th defendants, plus permanent immunity from IRS audits and tax prosecutions for Trump, his family members, and his businesses. Judge Williams found there was no actual adversarial relationship between the parties since Trump controlled both sides, violating constitutional requirements for federal jurisdiction. The judge took the extraordinary step of referring one of Trump's attorneys to the Florida State Bar for ethics investigation, barring another from practicing in federal court for one year, and suggesting Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche should be investigated for unethical conduct. Kirschner explains that the judge's findings that there was no case or controversy and no true adversarial relationship may prevent the ruling from being appealed, though Trump will likely attempt to escalate to the Supreme Court. Despite this case, Kirschner maintains optimism that the federal judiciary is largely holding strong as a check against executive overreach, pointing to consistent rulings against Trump from trial judges appointed by presidents from both parties, though he identifies the Supreme Court as the primary wild card.
