Not Paid for By the US Government

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.show

President Trump said he’d stop using taxpayer money to air what certainly look like campaign ads, but then he kept doing it, so now, the Democratic National Committee is suing. Also this week: a Minnesota teenager arranged to buy an assault rifle to carry out an ISIS-inspired attack on the Mall of America — of course, it turned out the seller of the rifle was an undercover FBI agent, and the teen was arrested. Also in Minnesota, the government is mad at Patrick Schlitz and other federal judges for their public remarks criticizing the government’s disregard for their orders.

That’s for all listeners this week. Paying subscribers also hear about some particularly weird cases:

* A manslaughter case in Arizona where the victim was allowed to give an impact statement despite being dead — his sister wrote a script for an AI-generated avatar to read in court.

* An IRS whistleblower who says the IRS maliciously leaked the fact that he paid his taxes late once, and an FBI whistleblower who says the government opened an unconstitutional investigation into anti-ICE protestors because the president saw a TikTok he didn’t like.

* The UK’s explanation of why it wants the Tate brothers extradited.

* A fight over Dolly Parton’s estate, and

* The “Shrek’s penis” trial.

To hear the whole episode, upgrade your subscription at www.serioustrouble.show.