Episodes

  • Court Rules Trump’s Military Move Illegal

    Court Rules Trump’s Military Move Illegal
    Sep 4 2025
    Judge Breyer rules Trump’s military deployment is unconstitutional under the Posse Comitatus Act. We unpack the history, the structural reasoning, and what it means for presidential power. Plus: tariffs struck down, asylum fights, CDC chaos, Giuliani’s medal from Trump, and a tease of John’s new book:
    Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds

    https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Separation-of-Church-and-Hate/John-Fugelsang/9781668066898
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    50 mins
  • Trump’s Flag-Burning Ban and Dictator Dreams

    Trump’s Flag-Burning Ban and Dictator Dreams
    Aug 28 2025
    Donald Trump just issued an unconstitutional order against flag burning. He’s trying to oust a Federal Reserve governor—and he declared, “A lot of people are saying maybe we’d like a dictator.” Professor Corey Brettschneider and comedian John Fugelsang show what's at stake in these attacks—free speech, checks and balances, and the survival of our democracy. They also examine California’s redistricting plan, which—despite controversy—may be one of the few defenses of democracy left in today’s political landscape.
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    52 mins
  • Trump Attacks the Smithsonian: Whitewashing Slavery From Our History

    Trump Attacks the Smithsonian: Whitewashing Slavery From Our History
    Aug 21 2025
    Donald Trump is attacking the Smithsonian and trying to whitewash the story of slavery. On The Oath and The Office, Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang explain why this is more than politics—it’s a constitutional fight over truth in American history. We also break down Trump’s unconstitutional order to abolish mail-in ballots, Congress’s role in election law, and Newsom v. Trump, where Judge Charles Breyer is weighing the Posse Comitatus Act and the Tenth Amendment.
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    58 mins
  • The Hard Coup Has Begun: Trump Escalates His War on America

    The Hard Coup Has Begun: Trump Escalates His War on America
    Aug 14 2025
    Corey and John open with a personal note: The Presidents and The People has just won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award for its defense of the rule of law—a mission now more urgent than ever. Trump’s tactics are shifting from a “soft coup” to a “hard coup,” with hallmarks of a violent takeover: using the military to control local police, deploying the FBI for political ends, and undermining judicial independence. In California, Governor Newsom is fighting back in federal court, standing in the tradition of state resistance; in Washington, D.C., Trump’s sweeping powers underscore the urgent need for D.C. statehood. Corey exposes Pam Bondi’s retaliatory push to investigate Judge James E. Boasberg, the politicization of economic data with a loyalist now leading the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and a brewing Supreme Court challenge that could end the constitutional right to same-sex marriage. A clear-eyed look at the opening moves of a hard coup—and what it will take to stop it.
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    55 mins
  • Rigging Reality: Trump Fires Stats Chief as Texas Targets Voting Rights

    Rigging Reality: Trump Fires Stats Chief as Texas Targets Voting Rights
    Aug 7 2025
    Donald Trump didn’t like the latest economic data, so he fired the nation’s top labor statistician. It’s not just about one job: it’s a dangerous move toward rigging reality itself. When a leader punishes truth-tellers, democracy hangs by a thread. At the same time, Texas Republicans are threatening an extreme new wave of gerrymandering designed to silence Democratic voters and entrench Republican power. But blue states aren’t taking it lying down—California and New York are pushing back, drawing lines to protect fair representation and democracy itself. Also this week:
    • Listener question: What exactly is the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket,” and why is Brett Kavanaugh defending it? Corey and John unpack the secretive tool reshaping American law behind closed doors.
    • The Ten Commandments return to public schools. Is the Supreme Court about to open the door to religious coercion in classrooms?
    Hosted by Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang
    Real stories. Real stakes. Democracy depends on it. Subscribe, download, and share this episode of The Oath and The Office if you believe in defending truth, fairness, and voting rights.
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    46 mins
  • Satire Strikes Back: South Park Skewers Trump and Paramount

    Satire Strikes Back: South Park Skewers Trump and Paramount
    Jul 30 2025
    South Park just aired one of its sharpest episodes ever—a brutal, brilliant, and hilarious take-down of Trump and Paramount, its own parent company This after Paramount bowed to Trump's groundless lawsuit over a 60 Minutes story and then refused to renew Stephen Colbert’s contract. Coincidence?

    Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break it down:
    – Why satire matters now more than ever
    – The fight between corporate media and political dissent
    – The terrifying implications of a possible Maxwell pardon
    – Trump's tariffs are back in court—can the law hold?
    – A big win for sanctuary cities and local resistance to MAGA

    Subscribe for fierce, funny, and unflinching analysis every week.
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    57 mins
  • From Courtrooms to Congress: Mike Sacks on Saving Democracy from MAGA Madness

    From Courtrooms to Congress: Mike Sacks on Saving Democracy from MAGA Madness
    Jul 23 2025
    Veteran legal journalist Mike Sacks has reported from countless courtrooms, from Fox 5 to the National Law Journal. Now he’s seeking the Democratic nomination in New York’s 17th congressional district, aiming to unseat MAGA aligned Mike Lawler. Mike joins Corey and John to share why he’s entering politics, his vision for a sweeping omnibus recovery bill to repair American democracy, and his nuanced strategy for approaching impeachment with media savvy. He emphasizes his run as part of a larger effort to restore Congress’s dignity and reclaim its essential oversight powers. Mike also confronts the harsh reality of our broken campaign finance system and argues it may require structural changes to the Supreme Court itself. Plus, Corey and John break down Trump’s latest disinformation attacks against Obama, the erosion of free speech rights for noncitizens critical of Israel, and the DOJ’s troubling loss in the Harvard funding case.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Birthright Citizenship Showdown: State AGs vs. Trump (Feat. NM Attorney General Raúl Torrez)

    Birthright Citizenship Showdown: State AGs vs. Trump (Feat. NM Attorney General Raúl Torrez)
    Jul 16 2025
    In this urgent episode of The Oath and The Office, hosts Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang unpack the high-stakes constitutional battle over birthright citizenship. With the Supreme Court limiting lower courts' power, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez joins the show to reveal how state attorneys general nationwide are leading the charge to protect the 14th Amendment from Trump's unprecedented attempt to strip citizenship rights.
    Before their in-depth interview with Attorney General Torrez—a prominent constitutional advocate and key figure in state-level legal resistance—Corey and John analyze the Trump administration’s alarming moves, including mass firings at critical federal agencies like Education and State, and Trump's controversial threats to remove the Federal Reserve Chair.
    Tune in to hear vital insights from AG Torrez and sharp analysis from Corey and John on how these escalating power struggles are shaping America’s constitutional future—and how state leaders are stepping up when federal institutions falter.
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    1 hr and 7 mins