He Went to Prison for Bribing Susan Collins. She's... Totally Fine Somehow?
Release Date: 09/25/2026
John Yoo Wrote the Torture Memos and Never Paid for It. At All.
Opening Arguments
VR45 - Today on Vapid Response: 25 years after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, we look back on the Forrest Gump of monstrously bad legal takes: former DOJ lawyer and current UC Berkeley law professor (!) John Yoo. We go back to the primary sources to show how the Office of Legal Counsel explicitly authorized torture, indefinite detention in Guantanamo Bay, and warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens before giving Secretary of State Marco Rubio a chance to explain why the world should never hold the United States accountable for any of it. Cases and sources discussed: Jonathan...
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From Toga Guy to John Hinckley: A History of Pleading Insanity
Opening Arguments
OA1300 - The “insanity defense” might sound like a relic of a time when mental illness was viewed through the lens of demons and witches, and it turns out it is… but also maybe it’s kind of woke? Jenessa walks us through the history of Old English and Early American iterations of the defense, various tests that are applied today, and what happens afterwards that most people don’t get to see. Cases and sources discussed: Chris Liberati-Conant “” Legal Information Institute of insanity defenses NY Criminal Procedure Law § “” Check out the OA for all the places to...
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He Went to Prison for Bribing Susan Collins. She's... Totally Fine Somehow?
Opening Arguments
OA1299 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: what crimes might Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) have been complicit in, and why won't she ever be prosecuted for any of them? We go deeper into the law behind the facts exposed in ProPublica's outstanding investigation into her SuperPAC's coordination of illegal campaign contributions from a naval defense contractor. We then take a closer look at another damning investigation, this time of the Florida state-run immigration facility formerly known as "Alligator Alcatraz" from a surprising source: the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the...
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The Real Reason Coyote v. Acme Was Buried (It's So Much Worse Than a Tax Write-Off)
Opening Arguments
Coyote vs. Acme is such a fun movie. Thomas and Lydia saw it with the kids, Matt tried to borrow some kids to see it with, and has some fun legal observations for us. BUT! Before that, it's a special series premiere of ACCOUNTING'ed AWFUL MOVIES! Because there is some real financial shenanigans with this movie. Everyone says it got shelved for tax reasons. But that's wrong! It's actually so much worse than that... $2+ Patrons already have the full episode at . Check out the OA for all the places to go and things to do!
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The USPS Ballot Scheme Was Even Worse Than You Thought
Opening Arguments
OA1298 - Voting rights attorney Jenessa is back with a sprawling tour of election chaos, starting with the Supreme Court's unsigned order in : nobody knows the vote count, and the real fight on the merits waits for 2028. Then: the reveals a system built on oral-only instructions and batch ballot rejection for any single problem, from a mismatch to a misscanned barcode. Meanwhile, a district court in adds another layer: an injunction that even bars states from volunteering. Next, a exposes an unlawful voter-fraud investigation targeting naturalized citizens, built on private corporate...
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Kash Patel Screws the Pooch
Opening Arguments
OA1297 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: SCOTUS once again confirms the color of the sky, the latest failures in DOJ’s attempts to prosecute Trump’s political opponents, why the most important immigration agency you’ve never heard of has decided as a matter of law that Trump fixed Venezuela by illegally kidnapping its president, and how NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani is trying to stop Trump 2.0 from bringing new life to one of the worst failed immigration policies of 1.0. Finally, in today’s footnote: Kash Patel screws the pooch while trying to explain the FBI’s bizarre new...
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Manosphere's Favorite Juror Had Active Restraining Order During Clancy Trial
Opening Arguments
VR44 - This week on Vapid Response: we survey some of MAGA’s worst takes on the recent mistrial of Lindsay Clancy, all the way from “women are too woke and emotional to be on juries," to “the man who acted out of emotion to ignore the law is the true hero.” Also: the manosphere’s casual endorsement of domestic violence against women who want to talk about their own mental health, and a quick refresh on the incredibly nuanced reality of a mental health defense in Massachusetts. You can watch the episode ! , delivered August 26, 2026 Jordan Boyd, The Federalist...
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A Blizzard of Lies - Dave Wedge on the Karen Read Trial
Opening Arguments
OA1296 - Dave Wedge is a veteran Boston reporter and New York Times bestselling author who covered (among many other things) hundreds of murder trials as a reporter for the Boston Herald and other local outlets. Dave joins OA to discuss his new book Blizzard of Lies, the definitive account of the prosecution and two unsuccessful attempts to prosecute Karen Read for the still-unexplained death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Beyond its excellent coverage of one of the most infamous prosecutions in modern Massachusetts history, Dave’s book takes an objective look at the case for a...
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The 5th Circuit Says You Have No Right to Clean Water
Opening Arguments
OA1295 - Today on Rapid Response Friday: your questions about the Lindsay Clancy mistrial, actual justice for the Tate brothers, Trump’s mystery meat, and the Fifth Circuit’s extremely normal holding that there is no cognizable Constitutional right to clean water and/or honest government. Finally, today’s footnote recognizes the 60th anniversary of the original Star Trek series with a five-minute mission to boldly go where no podcast has gone before: the strange new world of a poorly-drafted clause in creator Gene Roddenberry’s divorce settlement which was more trouble than a...
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Milo Yiannopoulos Lied About His Immigration Status (And We Can Prove It)
Opening Arguments
VR43 - Today on this special edition of Vapid Response: ICE boot enthusiast Milo Yiannopolous is not a particularly interesting person, but his recent unexpected removal to the UK makes for quite a teaching moment. Matt brings 20 years of instincts and experience as a deportation defense attorney to some of the more mysterious questions surrounding Yiannopolous’s recent encounter with the realities of immigration enforcement and ensuing swift removal to the UK. How did someone on an “extraordinary ability” visa (lol) who was married to a US citizen end up with a removal order? How did he...
info_outlineOA1299 - This week on Rapid Response Friday: what crimes might Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) have been complicit in, and why won't she ever be prosecuted for any of them? We go deeper into the law behind the facts exposed in ProPublica's outstanding investigation into her SuperPAC's coordination of illegal campaign contributions from a naval defense contractor.
We then take a closer look at another damning investigation, this time of the Florida state-run immigration facility formerly known as "Alligator Alcatraz" from a surprising source: the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General. We already knew this place was an illegal black site polluting a delicate Everglades ecosystem on tribal lands, but this report documents something much worse. If a Trump loyalist is willing to put some of this stuff into writing how much worse must the truth be?
Finally, in this week's footnote: yet another dismal milestone for AI in the law as a New Mexico attorney is forced to defend an appellate brief in which ChatGPT made up the law and the facts.
Cases and sources discussed:
- “The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way,” William Turton, Avi Asher-Schapiro, Molly Redden, and Kristen Berg, ProPublica (9/22/2026)
- Indictment in U.S. v. Kao et al (2/10/2022)
- “Unannounced Inspection of ICE’s Florida Soft-Sided Facility (“Alligator Alcatraz”) in Ochopee, Florida,” Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (9/11/2026)
- In Re Stephen Aarons, New Mexico Supreme Court #S-1-SC-40845
- Show Cause Hearing: State v. Sandoval, S-1-SC-40845 (8/21/2026)
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