Opening Arguments Media LLC

Opening Arguments

News EN ↓ 1258 episodes

Opening Arguments is a law show that helps you make sense of the news! Comedian Thomas Smith brings on legal analysts to help you understand not only current events, but also deeper legal concepts and areas! The typical schedule will be M-W-F with Monday being a deep-dive, Wednesday being Thomas Takes the Bar Exam and patron shoutouts, and Friday being a rapid response to legal issues in the news!

Author

Opening Arguments Media LLC

Category

News

Podcast website

openargs.com

Latest episode

Jul 10, 2026

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Episodes

OA469: The Batshirt Crazy 'Latinos for Trump' Lawsuit 02.03.2021

Hooooo boy, have we got some legal craziness for you fine listeners! Disgraced lawyer who Instagramed his participation in an insurrection has filed a lawsuit that is essentially Latinos for Trump and a few other groups v. EVERYONE. Andrew had way too much fun diving into it! Before that, we have quite the deep-dive on hearsay related to a recent T3BE question. Turns out you can't kill witnesses t...

OA468: SCOTUS News! Trump's Taxes, Affirmative Action, and Title X 26.02.2021

Normally we're bracing ourselves every time there's SCOTUS news, but this time there's actually some good! Cy Vance HAS TRUMP'S TAX RETURNS. Ok that's pretty much the end of the unambiguously good news. But listen in as Andrew gives us the expert analysis on the anti-affirmative action case and the Title X case! Before that, we talk about what elections actually would have looked like under Lessig...

OA467: Demolishing the Electoral College, with Lawrence Lessig 23.02.2021

Harvard Law Professor and activist Lawrence Lessig joins us to talk about his ongoing efforts to get rid of the Electoral College. It's a war being fought on multiple fronts, but Professor Lessig's current effort is to force states to assign delegates proportionally. The all or nothing system we have now is not actually written into the Constitution. Listen in for the full breakdown! Links: Rodrig...

OA466: Opening Arguments Blocked in Australia?! 19.02.2021

Why is the OA Facebook page blocked in Australia? Well, it's not just us, it's every news page! We've got the deep dive into why Facebook is blocking us and why Google isn't, even though they were targeted by the same law. Before that, we take a look at a truly terrible bill out of South Carolina that is going to be model legislation in a post-Roe America. It's every bit as anti-choice as you thin...

OA465: The Fight to Unionize at Amazon 16.02.2021

Today's show is a fascinating deep-dive into one Amazon facility's efforts to unionize, and the implications it has on the entire company! After that, we have an update on the Senate power sharing agreement. Committee assignments galore! Links: Amazon workers begin voting in landmark US union push , Amazon Workers in Delaware Reject Union Effort , Amazon has avoided unions for 25 years , Amazon 18...

OA464: Impeachment 2 Secret of the Ooze 12.02.2021

In case you missed it, our 45th president led a violent insurrection about a month ago and now it's up to Democrats to convince a bunch of Republicans... who were there... that it happened. Andrew is here to break it all down for us! Also, some other criminal president updates as the Georgia Sec of State opens an investigation into Trump's election meddling there. Links: NYT Georgia Officials Revi...

OA463: Why Cases Against Robinhood Will Fail 09.02.2021

Ace Associate Morgan Stringer is here to throw some cold water on the cases against Robinhood in the GameStop fiasco. Why are they doomed? Find out! Before that we cover a grab bag of good news items including the DOJ dropping the Yale lawsuit, federal student debt cancelation, and Virginia abolishing the death penalty. Are you tired of positivity yet? Links: OA219: Harvard and Affirmative Action...

OA462: Rittenhouse Team Commits Perjury; DC Statehood and Impeachment! 05.02.2021

This is a jam-packed, extra-length show that covers as many of the pressing stories in the news that we could cover! We begin with the breaking news that Kyle Rittenhouse's lawyers perjured themselves by filing a fraudulent address in defiance of a court order; we tell you why that's bad and what's next for the domestic terrorist. After that, it's time for a lengthy breakdown of the DC Statehood B...

OA461: SO MUCH WINNING! 02.02.2021

Today's episode focuses on two major victories that many on our side have maybe been afraid of cheering on -- first, the agreement between Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell on a power-sharing arrangement that will enable legislation to come out of equally-divided Senate committees, and second, the impeachment vote of 55-45 that the Senate has jurisdiction over Trump's impeachment. We'll tell you w...

OA460: Did the Courts Really "Refuse to Hear Trump's Evidence" of Voter Fraud? (No.) 29.01.2021

We're very proud of this show, in which you can sit down your Uncle Frank who's repeating the kind of nonsense Rand Paul spouted this weekend -- that "all the court cases just dismissed Trump's lawsuits on standing and never evaluated the evidence" -- and show that it is an out-and-out lie . It's not true. And we think even Uncle Frank will have to reluctantly concede that by the end of the episod...

OA459: Trump's 143 Pardons - the Good, the Bad, the WTF? 26.01.2021

Andrew went through the ENTIRE list of 143 people pardoned by Trump in his final act as president, and he's got the full breakdown for us! He also answers some questions on a lot of people's minds - Can pardons be revoked? And could Trump have 'secret pardoned' himself? Listen and find out! Links: Legal Eagle Can Pardons Be Revoked or Rescinded? , 1937 Fordham article The Pardoning Power , Rose's...

OA458: Biden's Amazing First Day 22.01.2021

In case you missed it, we have a president now! Andrew gives us the full deep dive on his first day in office and all the harm reduction the administration has already achieved! Links: All the Biden Executive Orders , Trump's stupid Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs and Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda and Evaluating and Improving the Utility of Federal Advisory Committees...

OA457: Lin Wood Smacked Down by Judge; Interview with Jamil Favors! 19.01.2021

More consequences! This time it's for Lin Wood, absolute clownhorn and terrible attorney responsible for some of the worst election suits. A judge in Delaware issued him quite the smackdown, by lawyer standards. Then we talk with Jamil Favors, who you will remember from our Georgia Election Fundraiser! Jamil was the Deputy Voter Protection Director for the DSCC. We talk about how election night we...

OA456: Insurrections Have Consequences 15.01.2021

Due to recent political victories and incredible hard work, consequences DO exist! First, Andrew breaks down that viral tweet which really misrepresented what the results of an impeachment conviction would be. While there will be consequences if Trump is convicted, the viral tweet doesn't capture it correctly. But that's not all! Many people have been talking about using the 14th amendment to expe...

OA455: Trump is Going to Prison in Georgia 12.01.2021

Just when you think shows can't get any more positive, we've got another happy one for ya! It's perfect phone call #2 (that we know about) and Andrew thinks there is a rock solid case for Trump for prison! Before that we discuss Marcus's motion to withdraw. He wrote a conspiracy BS article in the Federalist that we can't even link on Twitter because it gets blocked. Links: Trumps full phone call ,...

OA454: GEORGIA!!! (oh and a fascist coup) 08.01.2021

We are SO happy about the election results in Georgia that not even that fascist scum who invaded our nation's capitol can keep us down! Today Andrew gives us a refresher on the 25th Amendment , we also discuss the timing of the Senate seats and when they take effect. On the treason side of things, the Gohmert lawsuit was dismissed. Then we gush about the Georgia news and share some tear-jerking s...

Sedition Special with Andrew Torrez and Allison Gill 07.01.2021

This has been a truly disgusting day in American history and we felt the need to do an emergency live stream special. Here's the audio!

OA453: Treason's Greetings 05.01.2021

Nearly a dozen Republican Senators including Hawley and Cruz are still planning on trying to overthrow the results of the election. The exact same election results that, you know, elected many of them. Andrew gives us the quick breakdown of that and explains why it isn't going to work. We also discuss comparisons to 2004 and 2016. Our main segment is a classic OA Signature Deep-Dive (tm) on litiga...

OA452: Another "Expert" Witness Unmasked; Bernie's Filibuster Explained 01.01.2021

Tons of info in today's New Year's show! First we take a look at Trump's horrendously corrupt pardons, focusing on his attempt to pardon Paul Manafort's money back to him! Then we give you the breakdown on the latest Sidney Powell "expert" to be unmasked. Hope you're sitting down... she's NOT qualified in any way. Finally we talk about what's going on with the COVID relief bill and the National De...

OA451: Section 230 and Tulsi's Transphobia 29.12.2020

Today's show involves two bills that Tulsi has introduced... BUT NOT BOTHERED TO WRITE. For real. They are entirely for vice-signaling purposes and contain no substance. However, Andrew is here to give us a deep dive on what the implications and background are. One involves Section 230 (which Andrew has been dying to tell us about!) and the other is about trans-women and sports. It's... no good. W...

Bonus: Andrew and AG QnA! 27.12.2020

Andrew and AG from Mueller She Wrote teamed up for a QnA to test a new platform and we thought it would be fun to share here! Note: because Thomas wasn't involved, the audio quality is terrible. Yes this is Thomas typing this. But, it's workable and who doesn't love listening to Andrew and AG! They discuss Trump's corrupt pardons, the NAACP suing Trump for violating the Ku Klux Klan Act, and more!

OA450: A Christmas Deep-Dive into the COVID Bill 25.12.2020

HO HO HOOOOOOOOOrribly inadequate stimulus checks! The omnibus spending bill is still in limbo as a result of Trump's veto, but Andrew still has the deep dive on what's in this 5600 page monstrosity! It's not great, but there are reasons to be positive on the improvements made over the last bill. Also Andrew tells us what's going on with the "Red Slime" lawsuits against some Fox News personalities...

OA449: OA vs. Randall Eliason, Part 2! 21.12.2020

Recently, friend of the show Randall Eliason published an opinion piece for the Washington Post that got a ton of pushback. We voiced our strong disagreement to it on OA443: The (Terrible) Case Against Indicting Trump . We're very pleased to have Randall on the show to have a lively debate on the topic! Make sure to listen to part 1 if you haven't heard it yet! Appearances Andrew did QnA on my new...

OA448: Secret Expert Witness "Spyder" is Dude Named Josh 18.12.2020

COME WATCH OUR LIVESTREAM TO "GRAB 'EM BY THE GAVEL" AND TAKE BACK THE SENATE! Sunday at 4pm eastern ! Donate here ! In what will surprise no one who listens to this show, Sidney Powell's double secret expert military intelligence witness on election theft is.... a dude named Josh who is actually none of those things. Andrew takes us through the latest from the top notch legal team trying to overt...

OA447: OA vs. Randall Eliason on Indicting Trump 14.12.2020

Recently, friend of the show Randall Eliason published an opinion piece for the Washington Post that got a ton of pushback. We voiced our strong disagreement to it on OA443: The (Terrible) Case Against Indicting Trump . We're very pleased to have Randall on the show to have a lively debate on the topic! We went so long that there is a part 2 airing next week! Make sure to become a patron and gain...

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