Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner

The Donald Trump gag orders are beginning to cross-pollenate. After Trump posted attacks on Judge Engoron's law clerk in New York, hundreds of threats poured in from Trump's supporters. Special Counsel Jack Smith packaged up the evidence of those threats and filed the information with the appellate court in DC that is deciding the constitutionality of the gag order imposed by Judge Tanya Chutkan i...

In today's longform weekend podcast - Glenn runs down the legal recap of the week. He begins by discussing: a tale of two presidents: Joe Biden's holiday message for the American people versus Donald Trump's message for the American people. Glenn illustrates the stark contrast. Then, in the legal recap, a Colorado judge finds that Donald Trump, in fact, engaged in an insurrection against...

Last week, Colorado Judge Sarah Wallace entered a finding that Donald Trump engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021. However, Judge Wallace went on to rule that the 14th Amendment does not disqualify a president who engaged in an insurrection from again serving as president of the United States. Both parties have now filed appeals in the case. Trump has appealed the judge's finding that he e...

A three-judge appellate court panel heard arguments regarding the constitutionality of the gag order Judge Tanya Chutkan placed on Donald Trump in an attempt to prevent him from endangering witnesses, court staff, prosecutors and their family members. In a very spirited 2.5-hour argument, the judges had pointed questions for both the prosecution and the defense. Glenn reviews the appellate court's...

A Colorado judge has ruled that the evidence presented during the course of a trial proves that Donald Trump engaged in an insurrection against the United States. Judge Sarah Wallace spends 95 pages of her 102-page ruling meticulously detailing the evidence supporting her findings that Trump did indeed engage in an insurrection. But in the last pages of her ruling, she says that while there "are p...

In today's longform weekend podcast - Glenn begins with some good news and tells us why the color ORANGE used to be a favorite but now gives him the creeps. He explains the silver lining hiding behind the big dark cloud and talks about Judge Chutkan's determination to start Trump's election interference trial on march 4th. She set a date for Jury selection to begin on February 9th in Trump's trial...

One of the two gag orders judges have imposed on Donald Trump in attempts to protect witnesses, court staff and prosecutors, has been stayed or paused by the DC appellate court pending an oral argument scheduled for November 20th. As the reporting indicates, each of the three appellate court judges who will sit on the panel for the gag order appeal was appointed by a democrat president. In the age...

Donald Trump and his lawyers have filed an unprofessional, irresponsible, and entirely inappropriate motion "demanding" that Judge Tanya Chutkan allow his federal election trial to be live on TV. The defense court filing reads like an extended, 2 a.m., unhinged Trump social media post. Glenn says he has filed many briefs and this one is unlike any filing he has ever seen in his 30 years as a feder...

Recent court filings by Special Counsel Jack Smith show that prosecutors will present a sweeping case against Donald Trump for his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. As Politico's Kyle Cheney wrote, "Echoes of Jan. 6 committee as Jack Smith foreshadows plan to tie Trump to Capitol riot." Glenn reviews the many criminal threads of Trump's multi-pronged attack on the...

In today's weekend longform podcast Glenn gives us the latest updates in the Trump Trials. He begins with his review of the recent election. Then, Ivanka Trump has testified in the New York family fraud civil case. Glenn says it appears amnesia runs in the family. Then he talks about Special Counsel Jack Smith who has responded to a set of motions filed by the Trump legal team asking to dismiss th...

Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team of prosecutors have filed several motions responding to Donald Trump's attempts to convince Judge Tanya Chutkan to dismiss the case against him. In one of Smith's court filings, he directly and definitively knocks down Trump's incessant lies about President Joe Biden "directing" the prosecution against him. Glenn reviews some of Trump's claims and also Smith...

Donald Trump testified in his New York fraud trial and attempted to turn the proceedings into a circus with combative, non-responsive, insulting, and absurd testimony. Glenn says this is precisely what defendants do when they know they can't win on the facts: they attack the prosecutors, the judge, and the process that is trying to hold them accountable for their wrong-doing. The type of testimony...

Just days after the January 6 insurrection - Donald Trump's Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, signed a book deal to write a memoir about his time in the white house and the events surrounding the 2020 election. Now, Meadows' book publisher is suing him, alleging that the book is full of lies about non-existent election fraud. These lies parroted the ones that were being told (and are still being told)...

In today's longform weekend podcast - Glenn recaps some GOOD NEWS stories of the week - starting off with a fresh new story about DC Judge Tanya Chutkan - who is already preparing for Donald Trump's trial on March 4th. As just reported by the Washington Post, Judge Chutkan will now begin jury selection in Trump's DC case on Feb. 9. This reinforces that Chutkan's trial "will not yield to...

A trial has kicked off in a Colorado state court which is seeking to disqualify Donald Trump from being placed on the 2024 presidential ballot. The case was brought by "CREW" - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - on behalf of Colorado voters. Glenn reviews some of the testimony from day one of the trial and lays out the facts that support, indeed compelling, the conclusion that...

Judge Tanya Chutkan reimposed her original gag order on Donald Trump in his Washington DC case for trying to overthrow the 2020 election. Glenn explains she read to him some of his recent posts on his social media Truth Social to helpfully "spoon-feed" him some examples of what would and would not violate the gag order. Glenn says "Of course, the only remaining questions are: how long before Trump...

Former Vice President Mike Pence announced that he's suspending his bid for the presidency, but vows to keep working to help "principled Republicans" get elected. At a campaign stop, Donald Trump mentioned that Pence dropped out, and laughed when someone in the crowd yelled, "Traitor!" Trump then said that Pence "could have done what he could have done," an obvious reference to Trump's continued l...

In today's longform podcast - Glenn talks about the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine: He says it's time to vote out every single politician who worships at the altar of unrestricted access to assault rifles, and stands in the way of gun reform. With our nation averaging 1.9 mass shootings A DAY, we can wait no longer.  Then Glenn does the legal recap and says "Accountability" is the...

ABC news reported that Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, was granted immunity and compelled to testify in the federal grand jury about the crimes of his former boss - Donald Trump. Glenn does a deep dive into the ins and outs, and the pros and cons of immunity. He also discusses why immunizing a person like Mark Meadows is the least favorite way to obtain evidence about Trump's c...

As the dominos continue to fall, yet another former lawyer for Donald Trump, Jenna Ellis, pleaded guilty in the Georgia state RICO case. Ellis flipped, agreeing to testify truthfully against her co-defendants, including Donald Trump. But, given her statements in court during her guilty plea hearing, it's clear that the person she threw under the bus is another former Trump lawyer - Rudy Giuliani....

Two of Donald Trump's criminal associates/co-conspirators - Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro - have pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Donald Trump, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, Jenna Ellis, and the other co-defendants in District Attorney Fani Willis's Georgia state RICO prosecution. Glenn gives us his top 5 takeaways from this blockbuster legal developmen...

In our longform weekend podcast this time - Glenn gives us a rundown of this week's legal news and talks about his appearance tonight in L.A. First, Glenn takes apart Donald Trump's lies in the hallways outside his New York fraud trial. Trump is continuing to use his New York fraud trial as a way to grab media attention for his campaign and to fundraise. Glenn says it's only a matter of time befor...

DC federal district court Judge Tanya Chutkan has imposed a gag order prohibiting Donald Trump from saying or posting anything about the witnesses, prosecutors, or court staff. But within hours of her order, Trump was already making inflammatory statements at a rally in Iowa and putting reckless posts on his social media platform. Glenn reviews Trump's statements and posts to see if any of them vi...

DC federal court Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed a gag order on Donald Trump to prohibit him from threatening, intimidating, or harassing witnesses, court staff, and prosecutors. Just as he predicted - Glenn bet $1 dollar this would happen! Judge Chutkan also had some harsh words for Trump and his attorneys about his incendiary posts and threatening speech. Glenn was there to describe what he saw and...

As all of the world saw on January 6th, 2021; Donald Trump inspired, incited, and engaged in an insurrection. Moreover, Trump continues to give aid and comfort to insurrectionists by (among other things) promising to pardon those who attacked the US Capitol if he is re-elected. Now, a Colorado judge has ruled that a lawsuit seeking to disqualify Trump's name from appearing on the presidential ball...