45: The Scariest Law Enforcement Agency You've Never Heard Of
(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) Thinking of dabbling in a bit of crime? Annoying your neighbor? Getting back at a crazy ex? Scamming people? Couponing? Pulling a prank? Putting a piece of paper inside a mailbox? Dressing up as a USPS postal worker for fun?
Wherever your criminal exploits may take you, try your very best to adhere to one not-so-simple rule: DO NOT MESS WITH THE MAIL.
These are the USPIS Postal Inspectors.
Reb Recommends:
Tales of a Gay Postal Inspector: You Can't Make This Stuff Up! by Marcus Greenspan
Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Washington, D.C.
***
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***
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***
0:00 - Intro
4:46 - What is the USPIS?
10:11 - The "Silent Service" (Suddenly I'm patriotic)
34:56 - CASES BEGIN - JUST A FEW NOTORIOUS USPIS SHAKEDOWNS
36:06 - Steve Bannon
41:45 - The Black Hand Mafia
52:44 - Charles Ponzi (Yes, THAT Ponzi)
56:00 - The Unabomber
58:24 - The McMillions Game
1:03:07 - The Coupon Lady
1:05:54 - LIKE THE "G" IN LASAGNA, THE USPIS MOVES IN SILENCE
1:06:31 - The Smithsonian National Postal Museum Is Insanely Good
1:07:55 - Tales of a Gay Postal Inspector
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44: Hatred Has No Legal Remedy
(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) "Here, a husband and wife have been marinating in a mutual hatred so intense as to surely amount to a personality disorder requiring treatment." –Judge Joseph W. Quinn
Divorce is messy. Bruni v. Bruni (2010) is messier. Listen to Reb raise a glass to the unholiest of matrimonies.
(***You can find an extremely helpful diagram of the people involved in this case and their relationship to one another at the 30-minute mark of the YouTube video for this episode!)
***
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***
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43: The Parrot Who Saw Too Much
(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) In 1870, a dog named Old Drum is shot and killed by his owner’s neighbor in Missouri. In 1457, a sow and her piglets are put on trial for the murder of a child. In 2016, a parrot repeats the words “Don’t shoot!” in his murdered owner’s voice, and many more...Humans aren't the only ones contributing to chaos in our courtrooms.
Animal (Court)House. Let’s get into it.
CLICK HERE to PREORDER Reb's book: The Book They Throw At You—A Sarcastic Lawyer's Guide* To The Unholy Chaos of Our Legal System, *God No, Not Actual Legal Advice
***
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42: The Venezuela Deportations (Trump's Worst Kept "Secrets")
(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) **CONTENT WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF TORTURE** On March 15, 2025, President Trump announced the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua was conducting "irregular warfare" against the United States and that members would be deported under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The Trump Administration quickly began deporting people allegedly affiliated with the gang—without any semblance of due process—via direct flights to a notoriously deadly El Salvadoran prison. A few days later, the Trump Administration told a federal judge it was invoking the "state secrets privilege" to refuse to provide any information to the Courts about these flights, the people they've put on them, or what (if any) evidence they had to support doing so.
As attorneys in this still-ongoing court battle [J.G.G. v. Trump (2025)] fight to stop Trump's unsanctioned deportations under the AEA, new legal questions abound: Is the Executive Branch blatantly violating Judicial orders? Are we in a Constitutional crisis yet? What is the Alien Enemies Act? What is the state secrets privilege? Were Administrations already abusing it before Trump? Can the Trump administration invoke the privilege to "disappear" whoever they choose? What happens now?
Reb gives you everything she knows on all of those topics and more. This is J.G.G. v. Trump (2025), United States v. Reynolds (1953), FBI v. Fazaga (2022), and United States v. Zubaydah (2022).
**IMPORTANT NOTE**: This episode is expected to go live on April 3, 2025, the same day the parties in J.G.G. v. Trump (2025) are set to appear in a hearing before Judge Boasberg on his Order to Defendants to show cause why they did not violate the Court's Temporary Restraining Orders. Judge Boasberg is expected to rule on the DOJ's invocation of the state secrets privilege sometime thereafter. The case is ongoing and any further updates beyond April 2 will not be covered in this episode because Reb cannot time travel. Yet.
***
CLICK HERE to PREORDER Reb's book: The Book They Throw At You—A Sarcastic Lawyer's Guide* To The Unholy Chaos of Our Legal System, *God No, Not Actual Legal Advice
***
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***
0:00 - Content Warning
0:32 - Intro / Necessary Context
6:40 - Background on J.G.G. v. Trump (2025)
8:25 - Secrets secrets are no fun
9:45 - A photo op isn't a secret y'all
13:30 - The Alien Enemies Act of 1798?? Really???
24:18 - Everyone is probably just stupid
27:06 - DRAMA (WITH TIMESTAMPS) OF (LIKELY) COURT ORDER VIOLATIONS
41:15 - Constitutional crisis incoming
42:20 - Trump admin loves to tweet (themselves to hell)
47:52 - The Hail Mary
53:20 - THE STATE SECRETS PRIVILEGE
53:45 - United States v. Reynolds (1953)
58:10 - The state secrets privilege is...messy
1:05:14 - ABUSE OF THE PRIVILEGE POST-9/11
1:11:30 - CIA "black sites" (TORTURE IN POLAND)
1:14:50 - FBI v. Fazaga (2022)
1:15:05 - TORTURE IN POLAND
1:16:50 - United States v. Zubaydah (2022)
1:20:43 - GORSUCH DISSENT IS...FIRE?
1:24:09 - CONTENT WARNING (TORTURE)
1:26:07 - Zubaydah wants to depose his torturers
1:30:00 - His torturers don't STFU about being torturers
1:39:02 - Gorsuch concludes with a BANG
1:42:10 - The wrong administration
1:43:05 - CAN THE TRUMP ADMIN SUCCESSFULLY USE THE PRIVILEGE?
1:46:18 - SIDEBAR: Another Judge CHEWED THEM UP
1:51:14 - REB'S REBUTTAL
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41: The Weyerhaeuser Kidnapping
(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) An Alcatraz Island kidnapper is hired by the child he kidnapped 30 years later.
Listen to Reb snatch the (kinda heartwarming but mostly traumatizing?) details of Waley v. United States (9th Cir. 1949).
***
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***
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Follow @Rebmasel on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter!
***
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Comedy, case law, chaos. Practicing attorney and TikTok gal @rebmasel breaks down bizarre, chaotic, and intriguing cases and anecdotes from the legal field you've (probably) never heard of. Listen to Reb's hilarious and informative takes on the weird, the awesome, the horrifying, the inspiring, and the everything-in-between happening inside and outside the courtroom.
***NOT LEGAL ADVICE***
https://www.youtube.com/@RebuttalPod
USA