The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

The Truth with Lisa Boothe: The Last Line of Defense with Senator Eric Schmitt

Host: Lisa Boothe
Guest: Senator Eric Schmitt
Date: August 21, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode of "The Truth with Lisa Boothe," Lisa welcomes Senator Eric Schmitt, author of the new book The Last Line of Defense: How to Beat the Left in Court. The conversation revolves around the increasing centrality of the judiciary in America’s political battles, especially for conservatives fighting against what Schmitt and Boothe describe as far-left overreach. Topics include the use and misuse of courts, the Missouri v. Biden censorship lawsuit, woke ideology in education, the weaponization of government against political opponents, and how conservatives can take actionable steps to safeguard freedoms through the legal system.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Courts as the New Battleground

[04:41] Lisa Boothe opens by asking whether the left is more litigious than the right.

• [04:52] Sen. Eric Schmitt: Yes, and historically, conservatives “ceded a lot of that territory.” He notes a left-leaning legal culture and the prevalence of “living Constitution” discussions even in the late 1990s.
• The book is intended as a field manual for how conservatives can fight and win in court, drawing on Schmitt’s experiences as Missouri Attorney General.

"More lawyers are left-leaning than right-leaning... For a long time, even when I was in law school in the late 90s, there's still this discussion of a living Constitution, all this nonsense." (Eric Schmitt, 04:52)

2. Missouri v. Biden and Government-Facilitated Censorship

• [06:56] Lisa Boothe: Asks for a layperson explanation of Missouri v. Biden.
• [07:21] Schmitt: Describes how the Biden administration allegedly pressured social media companies to censor Americans, using email records and evidence of “secret portals” for government officials to flag and remove content.

"We got documents, emails, text messages, thousands of pages... where there were these special secret portals set up between high ranking government officials and senior executives at Facebook, at Twitter, telling them, you need to take this down..." (Eric Schmitt, 07:21)

• Notes this case predated “the Twitter Files” and was pivotal in exposing extensive coordination.

3. Covid-19, Emergency Powers, and Constitutional Overreach

• [09:59] Schmitt: Argues Covid exposed the “petty totalitarianism of the left.” States that emergencies (real or imagined) are used to aggregate power, silence dissent, and “other” opponents.
• Recounts Missouri’s lawsuits against school mask mandates and parental gratitude for standing up against these policies.

"Their playbook is you have an emergency, real or imagined, you aggregate power, you do the othering of people who disagree with you, and then you silence dissent.” (Eric Schmitt, 09:59)

4. The Weaponization of Nationwide Injunctions

• [11:46] Boothe: Notes Democrats used nationwide injunctions disproportionately to block Trump’s immigration policies.
• [12:33] Schmitt: Asserts that although lower court rulings hindered Trump, higher courts and the Supreme Court have reined in such moves, notably curtailing nationwide injunction abuse.

"The Supreme Court about a month ago said, yeah, you've been abusing these nationwide injunctions. That's not what these are for." (Eric Schmitt, 12:33)

5. Separation of Powers and the Administrative State

• [14:20] Boothe: Raises concerns about overreliance on the judiciary, questioning if Congress needs to reclaim its legislative power.
• [15:17] Schmitt: Insists conservatives are actually fighting to maintain constitutional boundaries, keeping judges from making policy, while Democrats seek judicial fiat. Also advocates for Congress to make statutes more explicit and to take back control from unelected bureaucrats.

"If you hand over so much responsibility to a faceless bureaucrat that nobody's ever heard of, that person's not accountable to anybody." (Eric Schmitt, 15:17)

6. Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness—A Legal and Political Analysis

• [22:13] Boothe: Suggests the loan forgiveness plan was designed as an election ploy.
• [22:45] Schmitt: Agrees. Explains Missouri’s unique standing was key to blocking the plan and that Biden tried to circumvent the Court’s decision.

"If Missouri, if we would not have filed that lawsuit, the case would have... happened because it would say, well, nobody has standing..." (Eric Schmitt, 22:45)

7. Woke Ideology and Parental Rights in Schools

• [24:12] Boothe: Raises concerns about parental rights being undermined by schools.
• [24:55] Schmitt: Relates a Missouri case where parents were stonewalled on document requests and school board transparency, leading to lawsuits exposing hidden ideological trainings and policies.

"Teachers essentially being taught to divide the room by race... All of these kind of like the gender person, man, and all this kind of weird stuff that they wanted to keep hidden from parents." (Eric Schmitt, 24:55)

8. The Autopen and Presidential Pardons

• [27:32] Boothe: Notes Sen. Rand Paul’s theory on the autopen and Fauci’s pardon.
• [28:07] Schmitt: Describes his Senate subcommittee’s investigation into the unprecedented use of autopen and prospective pardons—questioning their legality and the documentation behind such executive actions.

"No president has ever done prospective pardons... The power of a president to pardon is pretty expansive, but it probably doesn't include that." (Eric Schmitt, 28:07)

9. The Russia Hoax, “Lawfare,” and Trump Prosecutions

• [31:00] Boothe: Expresses skepticism that anything will come of probes into the “Russia hoax.”
• [31:46] Schmitt: Predicts indictments are possible for major players (e.g., Clapper, Brennan, Comey) under conspiracy charges, even if statute of limitations has expired for initial acts.

"If you began this conspiracy to defraud the people of the United States, I think they can and probably should be held accountable to that for that. And I think that's what we're going to see." (Eric Schmitt, 31:46)

10. Document Scandals and Elite Hypocrisy

• [35:37] Boothe & Schmitt: Contrast the treatment of Trump and Biden over classified documents, highlighting double standards, lack of force in Biden’s case, and the legal implications of Biden’s possession of Senate-era documents.

“The only... reason they didn't charge him was, is he wasn't competent to stand trial... and yet he was still President of the United States.” (Eric Schmitt, 36:24)

11. Soros-backed Prosecutors and the Erosion of Public Trust

• [44:26] Boothe: Asks why George Soros funds destabilizing prosecutors.
• [44:53] Schmitt: Asserts that undermining public trust and causing chaos enables radical change, citing Covid-era policies and the Missouri case involving the McCloskeys as examples.

"If you kind of are study the history of Marxism, what you really need for societal change is a, is people to sort of lose confidence in everything and kind of chaos, you know." (Eric Schmitt, 44:53)

12. The Call to Action: Courage and Preparedness

• [48:20] Boothe: Asks for Schmitt’s advice to listeners.
• [48:29] Schmitt: Reiterates the book is a concrete playbook for winning legal battles, urging conservatives to have “the courage to fight on all fronts.”

"We got the law on our side. We have common sense on our side, the people are with us. We just have the courage to fight on all fronts." (Eric Schmitt, 48:29)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• The “Petty Totalitarianism” of Covid:
  “Covid, if anything... exposed the worst tendencies, this kind of petty totalitarianism of the left of what they would do if they had control.” (Eric Schmitt, 09:59)

• Government Censorship:
  “We discovered... a leviathan of agencies. It wasn’t just one person... they’re just working methodically to suppress American speech. And that’s illegal in this country.” (Eric Schmitt, 07:21)

• On Personal Courage:
  “I think what people are really looking for... authentic leadership... Most common comment I get [is], ‘Hey, thanks for standing up for our kids.’” (Eric Schmitt, 11:21)

• Soros-backed Prosecutors:
  “If you could corrupt that system, then people would look around and they would see violent crime and they would want something very different than kind of what we have.” (Eric Schmitt, 44:53)

• The Role of Congress:
  “Congress does need to do a better job of sort of reasserting itself... We have to have laws more prescriptive, not give as much deference or authority to these agencies.” (Eric Schmitt, 15:17)

Timestamps of Significant Segments

• Intro to The Last Line of Defense & Courts as Battleground — [04:41]
• Missouri v. Biden and Censorship Details — [06:56] to [09:37]
• Covid Playbook and Emergency Powers — [09:59] to [11:46]
• Nationwide Injunctions and Immigration — [11:46] to [14:20]
• Separation of Powers and Congressional Responsibility — [15:17]
• Student Loan Forgiveness—Legal and Political Analysis — [22:13] to [24:12]
• Woke Ideology in Schools & Parental Rights — [24:12] to [27:32]
• Autopen, Pardons, and Executive Power — [27:32] to [31:00]
• Russia Hoax, Lawfare, and Accountability Prospects — [31:00] to [34:23]
• Classified Documents & Legal Double Standards — [35:37] to [38:19]
• Soros Prosecutors, McCloskeys, and Public Safety — [44:26] to [48:20]
• Final Thoughts & Call to Action — [48:20] to [48:53]

Conclusion

Lisa Boothe and Senator Eric Schmitt deliver an inside look at the struggles—legal, cultural, and political—dominating the conservative landscape. Schmitt’s major thesis is that the courtroom is a crucial front in the battle over America’s future, whether the issue is speech, education, or executive power. The episode serves both as a summary of recent conservative legal victories and as a call for listeners to recognize the importance of legal strategies and to be courageous in defending constitutional principles.

For more: Senator Eric Schmitt’s book The Last Line of Defense: How to Beat the Left in Court is available now (referenced throughout the conversation).