1/11/21  //  Commentary

On this week's Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason discuss the madness of last week and what might happen next for impeachment, cirminal charges against Trump, and more. They are then joined by Take Care publisher Joshua Matz to discuss his views on impeachment and Trump's legal legacy. Listen now!

10/6/20  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss whether Trump can really "steal" the election, as some have started to worry about. They discuss Jason's piece here on the topic. Plus, they say goodbye to Justice Ginsburg. Listen now!

9/25/20  //  Commentary

It seems like a stolen election is all anyone can talk about these days. But it's very unlikely.

8/24/20  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss voting by mail in the pandemic. Have courts allowed the rules to be changed, either in responses to suits there should be more voting by mail—or less? Listen now!

7/18/20  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss the Supreme Court's pair of decisions governing Trump's tax returns. Are they coming soon? Did the Democrats make a mistake in not being more aggressive in invoking the impeachment power? Listen now!

3/17/20  //  In-Depth Analysis

Some are worrying about Republican-controlled legislatures eliminating the right to vote in a presidential election and just appointing Trump-supporting electors themselves. Don't worry: not only is the scenario unlikely, it couldn't legally happen.

2/11/18  //  Daily Update

The Nunes memo set off aftershocks; agencies scrambled to implement the Trump Administration's policies to mixed effect; and Congress passes a budget after a brief overnight shutdown.

1/21/18  //  Daily Update

The week began with Martin Luther King Jr. Day and ended with a government shutdown on the anniversary of President Trump's inauguration.

1/14/18  //  Daily Update

The White House struggles to quell questions about President Trump's mental fitness.

12/24/17  //  Daily Update

Following the logic and example of Clinton v. Jones, sitting presidents should also be subject to suit in state courts. If President Trump decides to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, it might result in impeachment. Commentators disagreed about the legal status of an obstruction of justice charge against the President.

12/3/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump expressed skepticism about the authenticity of the infamous Access Hollywood recordings.

11/19/17  //  Daily Update

The House passes its version of a tax bill that would dramatically alter the tax code as President Trump faces trouble over the diversity of his federal judicial nominees and the fitness of his appointees to office, some of whom have alleged conflicts of interest.

10/24/19  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie really talk impeachment. They answer two questions that have been debated in the media. First, does the full House need to vote to formally start impeachment proceedings? Second, does the President have a right, at this point in the investigation, to have his lawyers in the room to cross-examine witnesses or present opposing views? Listen now for the answers!

7/22/19  //  Commentary

Mueller didn't indict Trump because DOJ policy prohibited him from doing so. That same policy points to the need for impeachment.

10/10/19  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss the major recent decision dismissing the President's attempt to block his accounting firm from turning over his tax returns to the Manhattan DA. Listen now!

12/12/19  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha respond to Rep. Matt Gaetz's shoutout to this podcast during the Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearings. They then discuss their reactions to the Democrats' strategy with their public hearings and articles of impeachment. Listen now!

12/23/17  //  Commentary

If your tendency, like mine, is to deliberate when called to action, my humble suggestion is simply this: Deliberate now. Reflect on what you will do now. Decide now.

7/12/18  //  Uncategorized

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha discuss the retirement of Justice Kennedy and how his presumptive replacement may rule in Versus Trump cases. They then do some quick hits to update a handful of important cases. Listen now!

12/12/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

If one branch — one person — can monopolize law enforcement with impunity, it is hard to see how their interpretation takes checks and balances, constitutionalism, and limited government seriously.

2/8/18  //  Commentary

On the latest episode of Versus Trump, Charlie and Easha talk all things Russia investigation (or tangentially Russia investigation)—the Nunes #meh-mo, the fallout therefrom, and whether Trump will be interviewed by the Special Counsel.

5/18/17  //  Commentary

No, the President cannot act for any reason. If President Trump fired Comey in an attempt to obstruct an investigation into the Russian connection, that too would constitute an impeachable offense and a federal crime.

9/25/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason discuss the legal stakes of the fight over what Trump said to the President of Ukraine and the related whistleblower complaint. A lot happened between when they recorded the episode and when it's being posted, but we still think it's a useful primer on the legal questions in this dispute. Listen now!

6/19/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

We must be able to recognize harm to the constitutional order on a bipartisan basis for impeachment to serve its proper constitutional function. But how often is that the case?

5/22/17  //  Commentary

It would be a grave mistake to call for President Trump's impeachment if he hasn't committed a crime. In an era of tit-for-tat partisanship, lowering the impeachment standard to “anything Congress thinks is wrong” is a recipe for dysfunctional government, one in which the House of one party could perpetually threaten to impeach the White House of another.

4/19/18  //  Commentary

On a new episode of Versus Trump, we bring you a podcast version of the speech that Take Care publisher Joshua Matz gave at Harvard Law School on April 3, 2018. The talk, titled "The Legal Resistance to Trump," describes themes, achievements, and limitations of various lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration and its policies. Listen now!

11/15/18  //  Uncategorized

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason has a solo episode where he talks about a motion by Maryland contending that Matthew Whitaker was not legally appointed as Acting Attorney General. Listen now!

5/9/19  //  Uncategorized

This week on Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha discuss a new lawsuit by the President seeking to prevent two banks from responding to Congressional subpoenas that seek information about the his business dealings. Listen now!

6/12/18  //  Uncategorized

There are many ways in which this presidency is unlike so many that preceded it—and those differences are relevant to decisions about impeachment

1/4/18  //  Uncategorized

On the first episode of Versus Trump of 2018, Jason and Charlie look back at Versus Trump cases in 2017 and score them as Administration wins, losses, or not-yet-decided. They also look ahead at big issues to come in 2018. Listen now!

5/15/17  //  Latest Developments

A day-by-day guide to legal analysis of the many questions raised by Trump's abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey.

7/21/17  //  Commentary

There are more and more signals that Trump is exploring firing Mueller and pardoning anyone and everyone in his circle. So what would happen next? Those moves would backfire spectacularly.

2/4/20  //  Commentary

I'm not sure whether the impeachment and expected acquittal of Donald Trump was a good or bad thing. This series presents both sides. In this post, I make the "good idea" case.

7/25/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

By Mark Osler: Pardons by Trump would be a significant departure from what the pardon power has meant. Clemency is for the guilty, not the innocent.

3/28/19  //  Commentary

The Mueller Report is kinda, sorta here, so, on this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason analyze the Barr summary and then dive into the legal troubles of famous Trump antagonist Michael Avenatti. Listen now!

7/27/17  //  Commentary

By Jeffrey Crouch: Might Congress amend the Constitution to take the self-pardon question off the table permanently?

11/1/17  //  Commentary

The pardon power is a kind of booby trap that threatens to explode our system of constitutional accountability.

3/5/20  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason discuss the D.C. Circuit's recent opinion holding that courts have no power to enforce subpoenas issued by the House. They discuss the opinion's rationale, whether it makes sense, and whether the House might—or should—take the court up on its offer to start jailing Trump Administration officials in their own brig. Listen now!

1/9/18  //  Commentary

These are different mechanisms for achieving overlapping goals.

4/25/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

This week on Versus Trump, Charlie, and Easha discuss the long-awaited Mueller Report. They break down the report step-by-step, discuss the legal issues it raises, and have an all-around good time while they're at it. Listen now!

1/30/20  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason look at a new lawsuit by D.C. claiming that Trump's inaugural committee overpaid for space at the Trump Hotel and thus "wasted" at least $1 million in charitable funds. Spoiler alert: the lawsuit seems convincing. Listen now!

6/18/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

What can we learn about presidential removal from a careful study of foreign constitutions and experiences?

5/21/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

Announcing a database of articles addressing impeachment in Age of Trump

10/24/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

President Trump and a number of his associates have established legal defense funds (LDFs) in connection with various Congressional investigations. What rules govern these LDFs?

3/15/18  //  Commentary

On a new episode of Versus Trump, Easha, Jason, and Charlie do a near-live episode about Stormy Daniels' lawsuit against David Dennison—we mean, Donald Trump. Listen now!

9/27/19  //  Commentary

Although Trump isn't deliberately using each new scandal to distract from the last one, the phenomenon is nonetheless maddening. It's like a game of Bizarro World Whack-a-mole in which each time you whack a mole another hammer emerges that somehow enables the same mole to escape.

7/26/19  //  Commentary

The Constitution’s text and structure — supported by judicial precedent and prior practice — show that impeachment is a process, not a single vote

12/19/19  //  Commentary

Senators who vote on removal following impeachment trials must take an oath akin to that of a juror. The oath requires them to be impartial and vote regardless of the president's party affiliation. Will Senators do that here?

3/27/17  //  Quick Reactions

Proposals for a "special election," potentially in response to evidence of Russian interference with the 2016 Presidential Election, raise major constitutional, political, and policy questions.

10/29/19  //  Commentary

The President does not have constitutional authority to withhold foreign aid that Congress has mandated by statute.

9/11/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Congress has the legal authority to remove the President and Vice-President and to call a special election to replace them. But the odds that it would ever do so are vanishingly small.

6/11/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

We must think more carefully about the role that federal courts can and should play at earlier stages of what may become impeachment investigations

2/5/20  //  Commentary

I'm not sure whether the impeachment and expected acquittal of Donald Trump was a good or bad thing. This series presents both sides. In this post, I make the "bad idea" case.

4/19/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

The Mueller Report could but won't be used as the basis for impeachment. Meanwhile, it leaves two fundamental questions unanswered.

5/23/17  //  Commentary

The appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller must not lead progressives to put the thought of impeaching President Trump on a back-burner.

6/8/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

If impeachment is impossible and even talk of impeachment can be destructive, how do we check a president who is violating the Constitution?

6/14/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

It's time to consider the role of the President’s rhetoric in the discourse and practice of impeachment

5/23/18  //  Commentary

Identifying a major flaw in arguments that Congress can't shield Mueller

6/20/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

Impeachment should be understood as a type of criminal prosecution—one that carries with it the Constitution’s protections for criminal defendants

2/6/20  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason discuss Jason's ongoing essays for the Take Care blog about whether impeachment was good or bad, net-positive or net-negative. This leads them to discuss whether the Democrats should have more aggressively pursued witnesses and whether this whole proceeding did much to vindicate the rule of law. Listen now!

7/21/17  //  Commentary

By Brian Kalt: Presidential pardons are an important part of our constitutional system of powers, checks, and balances. A self-pardon would test several others parts of that system. As interesting as that might be, here’s hoping that it never happens.

11/21/19  //  Commentary

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha discuss the definition of "bribery" for impeachment purposes, since Nancy Pelosi claimed that's what the evidence is showing at the impeachment hearings. They talk about how Congress and citizens should think about this notoriously slippery idea. Listen now!

1/2/20  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie dive deep into two impeachment-related questions. First, what is the formal role of the Senate in an impeachment trial, and what power does the Chief Justice have? (Hint: Senators have all the power; the Chief Justice has basically none.) Second, what did the House say in its impeachment report about why it chose not to go to court or otherwise force recalcitrant Administration officials to testify—and does it make sense? Listen now!

6/28/18  //  Commentary

After two special interview episodes of Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie get back to the usual format and talk about the leaked Dowd memo arguing that President should not be required to sit for an interview with the Special Counsel. Listen now!

6/6/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

Presidential impeachment involves risk-risk tradeoffs. While some of these risks might be mitigated, and while all deserve to be identified and weighed, the basic dilemma is inescapable.

10/24/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

By Rosalind Dixon: Low thresholds for impeachment could undermine (rather than strengthen) democracy

7/27/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

By Carlton Larson: There are two forms of treason recognized under the United States Constitution: (1) levying war against the United States; and (2) adhering to our enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Each raises slightly different issues with respect to cyberwarfare.

8/30/18  //  Commentary

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie talk about a case that fits our podcast on two levels: it's a lawsuit against the Trump Administration about grand jury secrecy, and any decision could impact the Mueller investigation, which is the biggest Versus Trump case of them all. Listen now!

2/9/20  //  Commentary

Last week, I took both sides of a series of important, related question: was Trump’s impeachment a good thing for democracy? The rule of law? For Democrats? Now I have to render a verdict. Which one was it?

6/20/18  //  Latest Developments

A discussion at the National Constitutional Center

7/13/17  //  Commentary

The President’s minions have been laying the groundwork for Mueller’s dismissal. But their attacks are ill-founded.

2/22/19  //  Latest Developments

It is surely ironic for the authors of a book about impeachment to warn about the risks of too much focus on impeachment. But that's what we do in our latest Atlantic essay.

4/18/19  //  Commentary

This week on Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha discuss the brewing dispute over Trump's tax returns. Listen now!

5/21/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Should former FBI Director Robert Mueller decide to bring criminal charges against President Trump for obstruction of justice, he would be acting well within the law, the norms of the profession, and the reasonable bounds of the discretion with which he has been entrusted.

10/18/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie talk about the recent decision that dismissed Stormy Daniels' defamation lawsuit against the President. Listen now!

5/11/17  //  Commentary

The Presumption of Regularity, Like All Presumptions, Is Rebuttable, Not Conclusive Evidence

6/5/18  //  Commentary

Introducing a symposium on our new book, 'To End A Presidency: The Power of Impeachment.'

5/15/17  //  Commentary

Imagine that the President lacked credibility entirely, whether because he was a pathological liar or because his lying was – hypothetically speaking – one symptom of a narcissistic personality disorder. Would there be anything the American people or government officials should or could do about it, short of waiting until the end of the President’s term.

7/25/17  //  Commentary

Here's the most important question to ask about indictments, pardons and self-pardons, and obstruction of justice.

6/21/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason talks about the past, present, and future of impeachment with Joshua Matz. Joshua is the publisher of Take Care and the co-author, with Laurence Tribe, of the acclaimed new book To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment. Listen now!

11/5/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha talk executive privilege. They outline the legal landscape of several hard questions in this area, like can the President completely prevent executive officials from testifying, and what role do the courts play here? Listen now!

3/4/19  //  Commentary

The widespread executive branch practice of ignoring Trump's statements—or treating them as merely advisory—has saved him from potentially dire political consequences

12/7/17  //  Commentary

By Ron Fein et al: Based on publicly reported information, as of today there are at least eight grounds for the House to authorize the Judiciary Committee to begin hearings on whether to impeach President Donald J. Trump.

6/13/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

There is an important connection between impeachment and criminal law. Not in technical or legalistic doctrinal nuances, but rather in the core purposes underlying these two domains.

7/24/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

By Carlton Larson: If we use “treason” in a loose, rhetorical sense, it is plausible to claim that Trump, Jr., Kushner, Manafort and others committed treason by knowingly meeting with a Russian operative for the purpose of obtaining dirt on Hillary Clinton. But the argument fails as a legal matter.

9/27/18  //  Commentary

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie talk about pardons, Double Jeopardy, forfeiture, and the Manafort guilty plea. They also weigh in on the Kavanaugh developments and what would happen if Rosenstein were fired. Listen now!

5/7/18  //  Latest Developments

When calls to impeach the president are played on repeat for years, they lose their punch. That is where we find ourselves today.

12/12/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

A response to Cass Sunstein's analysis of this question

7/19/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss the New York Attorney General's petition to dissolve the Trump Foundation and ban President Trump and his children from serving as directors of charities in the future. They then do some a hit on the new Mueller indictment. Listen now!

6/13/19  //  Commentary

Chief Justice Roberts would preside over any impeachment trial of President Trump. Here's why that matters.

3/16/17  //  Commentary

If the President cannot be trusted to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,” then that obligation falls on “We the People."

5/17/17  //  Commentary

On today's two-part episode of Versus Trump, Take Care's podcast, we answer three burning questions related to whether the sitting President can face criminal charges, and how that prosecution could be started. We also have an interview with James Williams, the County Counsel for Santa Clara County, where he discusses his County's lawsuit against Trump Administration that has so far successfully prevented the Trump Administration from enforcing an executive order that would have withdrawn federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities.

7/24/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

By Bernadette Meyler: History teaches that Trump should not be considering whether he possesses the power to pardon himself but rather what the consequences of employing that power would be.

4/24/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

In this excerpt from our book, we explain why the Framers decided against assigning the Supreme Court a role in adjudicating impeachments

6/13/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

Take Care is pleased to host a symposium on 'To End A Presidency: The Power of Impeachment'—a new book by Larry Tribe & Joshua Matz.

6/7/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

The hard work of saving the republic turns not on an exotic legal procedure but on the mundane, yet high-stakes work of politics itself

5/15/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Those who forget history are indeed doomed to repeat it. But when history repeats, it often shifts in the repetition: first acts come as tragedy and then return as farce. By many measures, Nixon was a tragic figure. Trump, by contrast, is pure farce. And unlike tragedies, farces don’t end with a flash of recognition—a moment of self-awareness like King Lear’s on the heath. Farces just keep going until someone cries "enough!"

11/22/19  //  Commentary

Attorney General Barr recently said that "the Left that is engaged in the systematic shredding of norms and the undermining of the rule of law." Barr's outright partisanship relies on misunderstandings of history and a misguided view of the role of the attorney general.

9/17/17  //  Daily Update

Trump's decision to end DACA spurs a flurry of legal challenges; his election fraud commission gets into more trouble; and the Supreme Court stays the Ninth Circuit's latest trvel ban ruling.

11/5/17  //  Daily Update

Rep Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) announced that a group of House Democrats plan to file new impeachment charges against President Trump before Thanksgiving and are currently consulting with constitutional scholars

10/21/17  //  Daily Update

A group of mental-health professionals launched a petition to remove President Trump through the Twenty-Fifth Amendment on the grounds that he is psychologically unfit to be president. Eugene Robinson argues President Trump should be impeached if he withdraws emergency assistance to Puerto Rico before Puerto Rico is ready.

6/4/17  //  Daily Update

As calls by local officials for President Trump’s impeachment mounted, commentators continued to analyze the standard for impeachment.

4/2/17  //  Daily Update

Proposals for a "special election," potentially in response to evidence of Russian interference with the 2016 Presidential Election, raise major constitutional, political, and policy questions, as Ian Samuel explains on Take Care.

7/31/17  //  Daily Update

President Trump targeted special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation for criticism as the president reportedly considered whether to pardon himself, family members, and others tied to the Russia investigation.

8/20/17  //  Daily Update

Even if the President is not impeached, he may not be beyond other sanctions, including being indicted.

10/31/17  //  Daily Update

Commentators expressed sharply differing views on the proper bases for impeachment or removal from office under the 25th Amendment.

7/23/17  //  Daily Update

Representative Al Green continues his fight to impeach the President, but it is unlikely a majority of the Senate will join him, which some believe is an abdication of congressional duty.

6/11/17  //  Daily Update

Rumblings continue about the potential impeachment of President Trump.

6/18/17  //  Daily Update

"Hope" is a sufficient basis for obstruction of justice, argue Daniel Epps and Leah Litman (in one Take Care post) and Ryan Hayward (in another). Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.

6/25/17  //  Daily Update

While President Trump's disregard for the rule of law is unique, impeaching him would be a difficult task for his opponents.

8/13/17  //  Daily Update

Examining impeachment solely through the lens of criminal law and prosecution obscures the real purpose of the impeachment power, wrote Gene Healy at the Cato Institute. Also this week, Eric Posner evaluated the chances of President Trump's impeachment.

9/3/17  //  Daily Update

Trump's pardon of former sheriff Joe Arpaio sets off a firestorm; another battle over Trump's immigration ban is heard by the Ninth Circuit; and investigators and journalists turn up more evidence of Trump's business dealings with Russia.

10/1/17  //  Daily Update

Representative Al Green plans to introduce articles of impeachment next week in response to President Trump's comments about the NFL protests. The President's denial of Russian interference may have consequences for potential impeachment proceedings.

8/24/17  //  Daily Update

Commentators discussed the implications of Steve Bannon's departure for the future of the Trump administration.

11/12/17  //  Daily Update

As the GOP attempts tax reform, the Mueller investigation keeps heating up, as does Trump's rhetoric on North Korea.

9/24/17  //  Daily Update

Although President Trump's approval ratings remain historically low for a first-year president, they have slowly increased over the past month.

8/6/17  //  Daily Update

Anthony Scaramucci was fired after only ten days as White House communications director. Congress could censure President Trump without pursuing the formal impeachment process.