Civil Action is where law meets power. Join attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian as they dive into the legal and political forces shaping our world right now. With decades of experience in the courtroom and cases across the country, they unpack the real stories behind the headlines — exposing how the legal system shapes, and is shaped by, the world around us. It’s not just analysis. It’s a front-row seat to the battles defining justice in America.
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose Trump’s assault on America’s most vulnerable children, withholding $7 billion in congressionally-approved education funding that feeds hungry kids and keeps 1.4 million students safe in after-school programs while their parents work multiple jobs. They reveal how 24 states are suing Trump for violating
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose the shocking advancement of Emil Bove, Trump’s criminal defense lawyer who lost 34 felony convictions, toward a lifetime appointment to the federal appeals court. They reveal how this unqualified nominee set records for opposition, drawing condemnation from 900 former Justice Department officials and
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose the spectacular implosion of Trump’s MAGA base over his broken promise to release Jeffrey Epstein files, as his own FBI director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi—longtime conspiracy theorists who built their careers on “draining the swamp”—now declare there’s nothing to see
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose Justice Sotomayor’s scathing dissent against the Supreme Court’s conservative majority for enabling Trump’s illegal dismantling of the Department of Education, where he fired 1,400 federal employees without congressional authority. They reveal how Sotomayor slammed both Trump and her fellow justices for “rewarding lawlessness”
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose Trump’s sneaky attempt to slip language into the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that would have stripped federal courts of their power to enforce contempt orders against his administration, essentially making judicial rulings meaningless. They reveal how the provision would have required massive bonds—potentially
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose the spectacular legal meltdown of Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy, whose election denial grift just cost him $2.3 million in a defamation verdict for calling a Dominion Voting Systems employee a “traitor” and part of “the biggest crime this world has ever seen.”
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose the shocking case of Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident and Columbia University student who was jailed for 104 days without charges for organizing pro-Palestinian protests—now hitting back with a $20 million federal tort claim against the Trump administration. They reveal how ICE
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose the stunning case of Arne Mishi, a devoted Trump supporter and mother of four U.S. citizen children who’s being deported to Iran by the very administration she voted for—and she still says “I will support him until the day I die.” They reveal
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose the devastating human toll of Trump’s reckless budget cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service, where 127 people died and 170 remain missing in Texas flash floods that may have been preventable. They reveal how DOGE eliminated 1,875 employees with a combined
Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian break down the bombshell 52-page federal court ruling that shut down Trump’s “illegal and unlawful deportation machine” in Los Angeles, with Judge Frimpong declaring there’s “a mountain of evidence” of racial profiling in the administration’s wide-scale ICE raids. They reveal how the court granted