Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner

Pam Bondi did all of Donald Trump's lawless, unconstitutional, and unethical bidding. She tried to prosecute Trump's perceived enemies, she violated federal law by refusing to publicly release all of the Epstein files, she weaponized and misused the power of the Department of Justice in all ways large and small in service to dear leader. But clearly it wasn't enough. Trump just introduce Bondi to the undercarriage of a bus, firing her after little more than a year as his attorney general/consigliere.Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As you may know, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are opening their new US tour today: the Land of Hope and Dreams tour. Bruce describes the tour as follows: "The tour will be a celebration and defense of the US Constitution, freedom, and the sacred American dream, which is under attack." In celebration of opening day of the tour, I want to share this on the podcast. I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the original and longest members of the E Street Band, Garry W. Tallent - the bass player and OG of the E Street Band. I talked with Garry about this history with Bruce and the band, and about the upcoming tour.Along with Garry, I had the incredible good fortune to interview photojournalist extraordinaire Nicki Germaine. Back in 1974. Nicki had the amazing opportunity to document, in photographs, the now-legendary Liberty Hall shows, right before the album Born to Run hit. Those photos remained buried for nearly 50 years - until now. Nicki has published a remarkable book, "Bruce Springsteen - Liberty Hall." And friends, let me tell you - it is a treasure! But don't take my word for it. Let me quote E Street drummer, the mighty Max Weinberg, who said, "From the first picture, I felt like I was breaking into Tutankhamen's tomb and finding the treasure."I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed interviewing Garry and Nicki.To purchase Bruce Springsteen - Liberty Hall: www.springsteenlibertyhall.comFind Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Do you think it's time to flip the House? Do you think it's time to elect representatives to Congress who are prepared to go scorched earth in the direction of accountability - accountability for the crimes that Trump and company have committed, and accountability for the crimes that are still in progress? Me too.I just sat down with Ed FitzGerald. Ed is running to represent the people of Ohio's seventh congressional district. Ed is a former prosecutor and a former FBI special agent who understands that the need for accountability is non-negotiable. Find Ed at: www.fitzgeraldforcongress.com Find Glenn on Substack; glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey - it's Glenn. I sure hope you got to participate in a No King's rally near you. It was so energizing, reinforcing the reality that millions of Americans ARE standing up against the aspiring dictator, the orange autocrat, the wannabe king.I was really fortunate, in that I had the privilege of addressing the crowd right before we marched into DC. And when I looked out over that sea of people, I was inspired, I was energized, and I was humbled. In addressing the crowd, the biggest challenge for me was that the event organizers told me I had just 3-to-5 minutes to talk. If you watch my daily Justice Matters videos, you know I can be really long-winded. But I did my best to stick to the time limit and, as you'll see, I managed to keep it just under 5 minutes. Another thing about the rally that was really special for me: I got to meet so many of our community members. What do I mean by community members? Well, you may not know but every night on Substack we go live for a community meeting at about 8:30 pm ET, give or take. We spend about 30 minutes each evening talking about the legal issue of the day, talking about what we can do to engage in this fight for democracy, the fight for the rule, and the coming accountability. Can I invite you to join one of our nightly community meetings? It's a great, vibrant, terrific group of people. And it's completely free. I don't put anything behind a paywall on Substack or anywhere else. Our community meetings are easy to find. You can just go to glennkirschner.substack.com. Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Epstein survivors have filed a class action lawsuit against Donald Trump's Department of Justice for re-victimizing them by unlawfully publishing the names and identities of more than 100 victims, outing them, and causing them the following, according to the lawsuit, "survivors now face renewed trauma. Strangers call them, email them, threaten their physical safety, and accuse them of conspiring with Epstein when they are in reality Epstein's victims."Glenn discusses how, in the age of Trump, the Department of Justice has become an institution of injustice. Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Trump and his DOJ's abuse of the American taxpayers continues, unabated.After Mike Flynn pleaded guilty - twice - for lying to the FBI, and later being pardoned by Trump, the Department of Justice just paid Flynn more than $1,000,000 in taxpayer money after he complained that he was treated unfairly by the DOJ previously. As independent journalist Scott MacFarlane reported: "Michael Flynn becomes latest MAGA ally to get taxpayer-funded payout."This video reviews the history of Flynn's legal entanglements and highlights why this latest payout is nothing more than a continuation of Trump's grift and corruption. Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Here's something I'll bet we can all agree on: no one can accuse the current batch of congressional Republicans of showing any courage. They won't stand up to President Donald Trump. They won't stand up for the rule of law or the Constitution. They won't even stand up for their own constituents. It's almost like we need a congressional courage campaign. Here's some good news: there's a great nonprofit organization called Represent Us that has launched, and it's pushing and promoting, the Congressional Courage Campaign and I just sat down with the CEO of Represent Us, Maria McFarland Sanchez-Moreno to discuss the non-negotiable need for courageous members in Congress. Link Represent Us: https://represent.us/Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New reporting presents a real inconvenient development for Pam Bondi. Law enforcement officials in the United Kingdom want the unreacted Epstein files so they can hold wrongdoers accountable. In fact, London's top cop, Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the following, "there's a big body of that evidence in the United States in all those (Epstein) files, and at some stage we're going to need the unreacted evidence . . . we need the original copy and where did it come from and that's going to be necessary if we get to the stage of court cases" Now we already know that Pam Bondi won't disclose the full unredacted Epstein files to the American people, in violation of federal law - the Epstein Files Transparency Act - so the question becomes: will she disclose the unreacted Epstein files to law enforcement authorities in other countries so THEY can pursue justice?Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's crystal clear, if we want to keep our republic, accountability must come for Donald Trump and his criminal associates. One sure way that we can move in the direction of accountability is to elect former federal prosecutors to Congress.My friend and former colleague J.P. Cooney is running for Congress to represent the people of Northern Virginia. J.P. served the American people for 18 years as a federal prosecutor, as a homicide prosecutor, as a public corruption prosecutor, and, as Special Counsel Jack Smith's principal deputy - the number two guy on Jack Smith's team - J.P. and his team undertook to prosecute Donald Trump for the crimes for which he had been indicted. I recently sat down with J.P. to talk about his candidacy for Congress, and discuss how accountability for Trump and company is non-negotiable.Find J.P. Cooney at: www.cooneyforcongress.com Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we lost an American hero, Robert S. Mueller III, or "Bob", as we called him when he was Chief of the Homicide Section at the DC US Attorney's Office, and we were his homicide team. He was our boss.As I have said publicly many times over the years, Bob Mueller was the single best leader and supervisor I ever had the honor to work for.We lost a lion of justice, a warrior for accountability, and an American hero.Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A federal judge just delivered a huge win for the rule of law, for the American people and - not hyperbole - for global security, and a huge loss for Donald Trump, and one of his flunkies, Kari Lake.DC Federal District Judge Royce Lamberth just ordered 1000 federal employees to be allowed to return to work at Voice of America, ruling that Kari Lake had been unlawfully trying to dismantle the agency. This headline from The Washington Post: "Judge reinstates 1,000 Voice of America employees, deems wind-down illegal. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth called Kari Lake's lack of cooperation in the case a 'Hallmark production in bad faith.'"Glenn discusses this important legal development. Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A republican-controlled congressional committee has subpoenaed Pam Bondi to testify before Congress about "mismanagement " of the DOJ's release (or failure to release) - the Epstein files. Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kristi Norm has been referred to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation for allegations that she lied to Congress in her recent testimony. Given the evidence that recently has been reported clearly supporting the conclusion that she did lie to Congress, a case against Noem would be like shooting perjury fish in a barrel.But what will Pam Bondi do with this criminal referral?Glenn discusses these topics and more.Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It seems like sometimes accountability can take forever. And then, it comes all at once. Remember all those Trump lawyers who got disbarred as a result of what they did during Trump's first presidential rodeo: Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, and others?Well, some other lawyers didn't really pay attention to that cautionary tale. One of them is Ed Martin. Donald Trump tried to make Martin the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia – the city's top prosecutor – but Senate Republicans said, 'not so fast, that's a bridge too far even for us', and refused to confirm Martin.And now, accountability is coming for Ed Martin, The New York Times just reported: "DC Bar begins disciplinary proceedings against Ed Martin. A new legal filing accused Mr. Martin, a senior Justice Department official, of an unethical pressure campaign against Georgetown University."Glenn discusses this development with his fellow former career federal prosecutor, Kevin Flynn, in a segment called "The Prosecutor's Verdict".Find Kevin at: https://www.kevinflynnauthor.com/Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Donald Trump endangers us around the globe with his unconstitutional war on Iran, while FBI Director Kash Patel endangers us at home, firing some of the very FBI agents who were working on protecting us against terrorist threats on US soil. Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pam Bondi seems determined to make the Department of Justice an ethics-free workplace. Bondi continues to tear down DOJ's ethical guardrails. First, she fired the DOJ's top ethics advisor and didn't replace him. Then, she fired the head of the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), that's the office responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by DOJ lawyers, and she didn't replace him either.So we now have two rudderless ethical ships adrift at the Department of Justice.But Bondi's not done. She now is trying to block state bar ethics organizations from investigating allegations of misconduct by DOJ attorneys.Here's our call action: we have 30 days to go online at Regulations.gov and make our voices heard.Here is the link: https://www.regulations.gov/document/...Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We just got one heck of an Epstein files update. We know that state law enforcement authorities in New Mexico are now investigating Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro ranch. That is the scene of allegations of horrific crimes by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and others, and it's good that the New Mexico law-enforcement authorities are FINALLY investigating. But the obvious question is: why wasn't the Zorro ranch searched by law-enforcement authorities when they searched Epstein's home in New York, when they searched his home in Florida, or when they searched his home on his infamous island?Well, we now know the answer to that question - why didn't they search the Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. Donald Trump's Department of Justice told the New Mexico law enforcement authorities to STOP INVESTIGATING! Glenn takes on this dramatic and deeply troubling new revelation. Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

To be an attorney at the Department of Justice, you have to have a license to practice law issued by one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia. Against this backdrop, let's turn to the new reporting: Pam Bondi is trying to get rid of all of the ethical guardrails at the Department of Justice. First, she fired the head DOJ ethics attorney. Then she fired the head of the Office of Professional Responsibility - OPR - the organization that investigates allegations of misconduct by DOJ attorneys.Now Bondi is trying to violate states rights by seeking to prohibit state bar ethics offices from investigating attorney misconduct of lawyers who hold law licenses in their state. But here's the good news: there's an opportunity for we the people to weigh in, make our voices heard, and oppose this latest effort by Bondi to destroy ethical guardrails at the Department of Justice. Glenn sat down with former pardon attorney Liz Oyer to discuss this latest attempt by Bondi to destroy ethical guardrails at the DOJ.See the link below for how you can weigh in and register your opposition.To submit your opposition to this DOJ rule change: Regulations.govSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Donald Trump's quest to prosecute his perceived enemies, isn't going so good for him. Remember when Donald Trump's Department of Justice filed motions to withdraw appeals they had filed in four cases Trump lost. Those cases involved Trump using executive orders to try to punish law firms that displeased him. Trump and his DOJ got crushed in all four cases, but his Department of Justice filed appeals.Well, then the DOJ threw in the towel, filing a motion to withdraw the appeals because they knew they didn't have a shot at winning.What happened next? Apparently, Donald Trump got wind of it and likely told Pam Bondi - 'nope, I am not gonna let you quit these cases or withdraw these appeals.' So like a good little flunky, Pam Bondi and her Department of Justice are now trying to take the towel back and revive the appeals that they told the court they wanted to withdraw.On the heels of that debacle, it looks like the DOJ has bucked Donald Trump again. Remember when Donald Trump wanted his DOJ to prosecute Joe Biden for using an auto pen? Here was the headline at the time: "Trump orders a probe into the Biden administration and its alleged autopen."The New York Times reported a new legal development on the Joe Biden/autopen front, "Justice Department, Under Pressure from Trump Fails to Build Autopen Case Against Biden. Prosecutors in the US attorneys office in Washington were unable to build a case, underscoring the department's increasing inability to follow through on the president's desire to indict his rivals."It sure looks like Donald Trump's DOJ leadership with Pam Bondi, Todd Blanche, and Jeanine Pirro - is crumbling. And it's looking more and more like Donald Trump's entire presidency is imploding.I sat down with former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg to discuss how it's becoming clearer by the day that Trump's DOJ leadership is circling the drain.Find Dave on Substack: davearonberg.substack.comFind Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thus far, Donald Trump has sent six military members - six of America's sons and daughters - to their death, in what is, by all rational accounts, an unlawful and unconstitutional war. And just so there's no mistake about the fact that we ARE in a war, Pete Hegseth just said at a press conference, "The terms of this war will be set by us." I just sat down with military law expert Dan Maurer. Dan is a law professor and retired Army LTC JAG officer. Dan taught constitutional law and criminal law at West Point, and was an instructor at the Army's Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dan explains why we are - indisputably - in an unlawful and unconstitutional war.Find Dan on Substack: danmaurer1.substack.com Find Glen on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If you look really closely at Pam Bondi's Department of Justice, you can almost see it circling the drain. Yesterday, DOJ attorneys filed a notice with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals saying they wanted to withdraw the appeals DOJ had filed in four cases involving Trump's executive orders that were designed to punish law firms he didn't like. Trump's DOJ had lost all four cases, given that his executive orders were transparently unlawful and unconstitutional. Then today, in an extraordinary flip-flop, the DOJ said they wanted to withdraw their request to withdraw their appeals. In other words, after throwing in the towel, they told the court . . . they want their towel back. This horribly inconsistent and incompetent conduct makes clear that the DOJ is in disarray.Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

At long last, it looks like federal judges have run out of patience with Trump administration officials who keep ignoring, defying, and violating federal court orders in immigration cases. Multiple judges are now moving toward holding Trump administration officials in not just civil contempt but criminal contempt.Glenn reviews some of the most recent rulings detailing the ongoing violations of court orders by the Trump administration. Find Glenn on Substack: glennkirschner.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.