David French — New York Times columnist, veteran constitutional attorney, and one of the sharpest legal thinkers writing today — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a riveting conversation about how the legal system is straining to handle a world being remade by AI, an out-of-control executive branch, and the slow erosion of America's basic constitutional architecture. French opens with the chilling case the Florida Attorney General has now brought against OpenAI in connection with the Florida State University shooter, who asked ChatGPT how to disengage his weapon's safety just three minutes before opening fire. French argues that if ChatGPT had been a human person, it would unquestionably have been charged as a co-conspirator — humans get prosecuted for encouraging suicide all the time — and that when ChatGPT is speaking, OpenAI is legally speaking, full stop. He walks through the murky liability questions the law is now scrambling to answer: Google Search has never been held to the same standard as ChatGPT, but ChatGPT actively generates new speech rather than just pointing users to existing content, and French argues that litigation needs to function as a meaningful deterrent rather than mere compensation — though ultimately Congress is going to have to actually legislate AI regulation rather than leave the entire field to civil lawsuits.

The conversation turns to what French sees as a more immediate constitutional crisis: Trump's blanket immunity for tax violations and the "anti-weaponization" slush fund scheme, both of which French argues are flatly indefensible on legal grounds. He explains the deeper problem — Trump suing his own government creates a fiction of an adversarial proceeding when there isn't actually one, and Trump cares far more about the liability shield than the slush fund itself, because he's trying to remove himself from the operation of the law in essentially the same way a king would. The pardon power only covers federal crimes, not civil offenses, and Congress has clear authority to stop this if it had the will. French offers several concrete reforms: require congressional approval for legal settlements above a certain dollar threshold, force members of Congress to obtain a certification in the Constitution itself, and that political parties should perform comprehensive background checks for their candidates, On the question of whether the Founders intended a Christian nation, French is unequivocal: they didn't, and Madison rebuked Christian nationalism explicitly. The deeper structural problem behind the DOJ's loss of credibility is the unitary executive theory itself — Article II of the Constitution is dangerously vague, the executive was never meant to be a co-equal branch (Congress was supposed to be most powerful), and the only durable fix may require constitutional reform to formally remove the DOJ from executive control. French closes on a hopeful note: after every dark period in American history, the country has entered a major era of reform — and he believes one is coming again. 

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Timeline:

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00:00 David French joins the Chuck ToddCast

01:30 Insurance companies & gambling companies have opposite incentives

04:00 States liberalized sports gambling and the public hasn’t liked it

05:45 Trying to regulate after the fact can be difficult

07:00 Common law concepts are starting to come into regulating AI

07:30 Florida AG has brought criminal case against OpenAI over FSU shooter

09:00 There has to always be human liability in AI cases

11:00 If ChatGPT was a human in FSU case, it would have be charged as co-conspirator

12:00 Shooter asked ChatGPT how to disengage the safety 3 mins before shooting

14:00 In Canadian school shooting, ChatGPT’s participation was overt

16:30 Determining liability is murky. Google search isn’t held to same standard as ChatGPT

18:00 Humans can be prosecuted for encouraging someone to commit suicide

19:15 There are circumstances where criminal liability could apply to AI

19:45 When ChatGPT is speaking, OpenAI is speaking

21:00 Litigation needs to be a deterrent, not just compensation for victims

23:30 We need to pass laws regulating AI, not just pressure via civil lawsuits

24:45 How is blanket immunity for Trump tax violations remotely legal?

25:45 Congress’s job to stop weaponization fund & Trump IRS immunity

26:45 Legal system rests on an adversarial relationship in court cases

27:45 There’s no adversarial proceeding when Trump sues his own government

28:30 Trump cares more about liability shield than the slush fund

29:30 Pardon power only applies to federal crimes, not civil offenses. Can be sued

30:15 Trump is trying to remove himself from the operation of the law like a king

31:00 How can congress stop Trump’s DOJ from issuing these settlements?

32:45 Congress should have to approve settlements above a certain amount of $

34:30 Member of congress should have to get a certification in the constitution

35:45 Parties should force candidates to pass a comprehensive background check

37:00 Why aren’t state funded partisan primaries a violation of equal protection?

40:15 Partisan primaries are killing the political system

41:00 States can say that they’ll only fund open primaries

42:15 Campaign finance reforms and PACs have weakened party control

44:00 Did the founders intend for America to be a christian nation?

45:00 Founders were biblically literate, but not particularly devout

45:30 Founders intentionally did not create a christian nation

46:30 Madison argued against paying clergy with tax dollars

47:15 Madison rebuked christian nationalism and immigration restriction

49:45 DOJ has lost credibility, how can we separate the DOJ from the executive?

50:30 Problems with DOJ are downstream from the unitary executive theory

51:30 Article II of the constitution is vague and inexplicit 

52:45 After dark period, America enters periods of reform, which we badly need

54:45 Never supposed to be co-equal branches. Congress should have most power

55:30 Have to remove executive’s ability to claw power to the top

56:30 Would likely need constitutional reform to pull DOJ out of executive branch

59:00 Past congressional leaders wouldn’t voluntarily cede power

1:00:45 In late 80’s - early 90’s, congress was incentivized to compromise

1:01:30 Changes to college basketball in one-and-done and NIL era

1:03:00 Transfer portal has created a new form of one-and-done

1:04:45 NBA can only improve regular season by reducing the 82 games

1:06:15 Regular season NBA games are more intense than 30 years ago