PODCAST

Serious Trouble

Josh Barro and Ken White

An irreverent podcast about the law from Josh Barro and Ken White. www.serioustrouble.show

news news commentary

All Episodes

21:42

Welcome Home, Michael

Serious Trouble ·

2026/04/12

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week Ken and Josh discuss updates on three of their favorite characters: Michael Avenatti, Pam Bondi, and Ed Martin.That's for all subscribers. Paying subscribers will also hear their conversations about:* Trump’s emergency motion to lift the stay on construction of the “desperately needed” White House ballroom, and a discussion of why the plaintiffs’ claims to standing are stronger than we gave them credit for

21:18

Strictly Prohibited Ballroom

Serious Trouble ·

2026/04/05

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week Ken and Josh discuss Anthropic's big win, the injunction on Trump's ballroom construction, and what to make of the block on Trump's executive order defunding PBS and NPR since Congress has rescinded their funding.That's for all subscribers. Paying subscribers will also hear our conversations about:* Covington & Burling warned its client, ActBlue, that some statements ActBlue made in a 2023 letter to

24:09

Pro Se Exam

Serious Trouble ·

2026/03/27

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week Ken and Josh discuss Judge Lewis Kaplan losing some patience with Sam Bankman-Fried, and not just because Bankman-Fried’s mom tried to communicate with him ex parte. SBF has been making purportedly pro se filings, at least one of which appears to have been dictated to and FedExed by his mother, and he simultaneously has an appeal proceeding in the appeals court with real lawyers. Kaplan says he has to

24:40

Pound Cake for Everyone

Serious Trouble ·

2026/03/20

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week Ken and Josh discuss the Afroman trial and also look at a rough hearing for AUSAs in New Jersey, as the Trump administration decides it will hire candidates straight out of law school to work in US Attorneys’ offices.That’s for all subscribers. Paying subscribers will also hear our conversations about:* Judge James Boasberg’s order quashing subpoenas to the Federal Reserve, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s

19:33

You Can't Stop the Computer

Serious Trouble ·

2026/03/13

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week Ken and Josh discuss the Customs Service saying its computers won't let it refund IEEPA tariffs, more situations where courts are telling the Trump Administration it can’t just ignore the need to get officials confirmed by the Senate, and another decision about ICE.That's for all subscribers. Paying subscribers will also hear our conversations about a number of additional lawsuits, including some

19:07

Actually, I Would Like to File The Opposite Thing,...

Serious Trouble ·

2026/03/06

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week Ken and Josh discuss how The Trump Administration surprised observers by withdrawing its efforts to appeal its losses against all four law firms that challenged its legal orders against them. Then, it surprised observers again by changing its mind and asking to appeal the cases after all. We discuss why, whether you’re allowed to do that, and what happens to the nine firms that didn’t fight when the other

21:56

But Are the Wings Wild?

Serious Trouble ·

2026/02/26

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week Ken and Josh discuss more on tariffs — what awaits litigants like FedEx who seek refunds of payments they made under President Trump’s now-invalidated tariffs, and what courts might do with his efforts to reconstruct the tariffs under non-IEEPA legal authorities that come with their own difficulties. We discuss news that Jeanine Pirro has given up on indicting the Democrats who made the “you must refuse

35:08

IEEPA, You EEPA, We EEPA

Serious Trouble ·

2026/02/21

This week Ken and Josh discuss the Supreme Court's ruling in Learning Resources v. Trump, throwing out the massive country-specific tariffs the president purported to impose under the Nixon-era International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The opinion was messy: 6-3, but with the six-justice majority not agreeing on exactly why the tariffs were illegal. Also this week, we look at a contempt order from Judge Laura Provenzino, putting a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in contempt over the government’s

19:41

Hell No Bill

Serious Trouble ·

2026/02/13

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week Ken and Josh discuss a D.C. grand jury declining to indict Democrats in Congress, Don Lemon's new high-profile lawyer, and Trump's lawsuit against the IRS.That’s for all subscribers this week. Paying subscribers get more conversation:* A look at a highly consequential ruling from the Fifth Circuit, upholding the Trump Administration’s novel and very aggressive views on what aliens it may detain pending

24:01

Court Therapy

Serious Trouble ·

2026/02/07

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week, Ken and Josh discuss Julie Le, the DOJ lawyer who vented in court that it "sucks" to represent this government. They cover what you should do if you’re a lawyer whose client is frustratingly non-compliant and taking actions that bother you; venting to the judge is the wrong course of action, but there are other options available.That’s for all subscribers. Paying subscribers will also get our takes on

43:33

Lemon Law

Serious Trouble ·

2026/01/31

This week Ken and Josh discuss how the Feds got an arrest warrant for Don Lemon after all. Before prosecutors got the grand jury indictment, they tried through some really irregular channels to get Lemon arrested more quickly. When a magistrate judge rejected an arrest warrant application for Lemon last week, rather than applying again or proceeding to the grand jury, prosecutors asked Judge Patrick Schiltz to overrule the magistrate, then asked an appellate panel to force Schiltz to rule on their

19:20

120 Days

Serious Trouble ·

2026/01/23

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week, Ken and Josh discuss the end of Lindsey Halligan's purported reign in the Eastern District of Virginia, and news reports that ICE is relying on a secret legal memorandum asserting that it can enter homes to search for aliens subject to final orders of removal, even if there’s no warrant from an Article III judge authorizing them to do so. That's for all subscribers. Paying subscribers also get: * A look

27:17

You Are Not Jay Powell

Serious Trouble ·

2026/01/16

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showFed Chair Jerome Powell dropped a bombshell on Sunday: a video disclosing the Fed had been subpoenaed in a criminal investigation related to his congressional testimony about cost overruns in the Fed’s headquarters renovation. Powell said bluntly that the investigation is an effort to use the DOJ to assert control over the Fed and its interest-rate setting apparatus. Did this make Ken scream "shut up!!!!" at

24:36

Cartel De Los Soles

Serious Trouble ·

2026/01/09

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week’s episode starts with the arrest and indictment of Nicolas Maduro, and the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of an ICE agent in Minneapolis. That’s for free subscribers. Paying subscribers also get a look at a shadow docket ruling from the Supreme Court that curtailed Trump’s ability to deploy the national guard, and the surprising statutory reading that got a majority of the court there. We

36:39

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛

Serious Trouble ·

2025/12/23

Some of the Epstein files have been released, but there's a lot of blacked-out text and pictures. The Justice Department is supposed to redact certain information but of course there’s the ever-present question of whether all redaction “errors” are errors, or whether this administration has its thumb on the scale for the president.Also in this episode: the Pulitzer Board requests President Trump's medical, financial and tax records, an LA man who towed an ICE vehicle around the block during a raid

22:10

What Part of 'No Bill' Don't You Understand?

Serious Trouble ·

2025/12/16

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showA grand jury has refused to indict Letitia James — no, this isn’t a repeat of last week’s email; it just happened again since we last recorded. This time, it’s a different grand jury, and we discuss further impediments to the resurrection of the cases against her and James Comey. That, plus a discussion of the unlikely-to-matter pardon of former Colorado election official Tina Peters, is for free subscribers this

41:35

You Can Take the Girl Out of New Jersey

Serious Trouble ·

2025/12/10

This week: more news in the Letitia James and James Comey cases. DOJ tried to re-indict James, but they got a no-bill, and in the Comey case, the government is a bit held up by a motion from Comey's sometime-lawyer and friend. Meanwhile, Lindsey Halligan is still running around, acting like she’s the U.S. Attorney (even though the fact that she isn’t is why these cases got dismissed), but Alina Habba has thrown in the towel, moving to main Justice to advise Pam Bondi and declaring “you can take the

23:21

Cases Dismissed

Serious Trouble ·

2025/12/05

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThe criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James were both dismissed, without prejudice, on the grounds that former insurance attorney Lindsey Halligan was never properly appointed as an interim US Attorney. Trump’s Justice Department has options, and we talk through them. That conversation is for free listeners. For paid subscribers this week, we also address:* A rare favorable ruling for the Trump

18:02

Here Come the Epstein Files

Serious Trouble ·

2025/11/21

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showNow that Congress has voted overwhelmingly to require the release of the Epstein files, we discuss what’s likely to be in those files, what the administration might do to undermine the intent of the law requiring release, and whether we really ought to learn so much about this case. That conversation is for free subscribers. Paying subscribers get much more this week — a look at the rapidly increasing number of

18:31

Sandwiches For All

Serious Trouble ·

2025/11/14

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showSandwich Guy is free! Sean Dunn was acquitted of simple assault by a jury of his peers. Meanwhile, Lindsey Halligan continues to face difficulties in her case against James Comey, and the Justice Department generally is having trouble finding a sufficient number of qualified attorneys. That’s all in this week’s free show.There’s much more this week for paying subscribers, including:* A look at why Justice Ketanji

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