If He Did It

*We began this episode with* a short excerpt *from September 27, 1995, day 1 of defense attorney Johnnie Cochran’s closing argument in O.J. Simpson’s trial for the murders of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.* *Our theme music this week is “.44 Special Blues,” written and performed by Hank Williams, Jr. copyrighted music* licensed from Likd*.* As an NBC Sports commentator, movie star, and former professional football player, O. J. Simpson became a symbol of success and graciousness that masked private violence. Here, he watches a Thanksgiving football game with servicemen deployed in Operation Desert Shield on November 22, 1990. Photo credit: Gerald Johnson/Wikimedia Commons **In the News:** \* We learned on Tuesday that billionaire Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini, who plead to a misdemeanor bribery charge in August 2025 that carried no time, still wanted a full pardon from President Donald Trump. But it was hard to get. Despite a $3.5 million donation to a Trump Super PAC, the President remained unpersuaded. Then, Trump’s former lawyer Alina Habba (cooling her heels after having been booted by a federal judge as a U.S. Attorney), received an offer of employment worth $10 million from a mysterious corporation established in Florida by Velutini’s daughter in 2025. Pardon obtained! \* More on the grift watch: According to ProPublica, in early 2025, before the FBI was purged of so-called deep state loyalists, the agency was investigating pay-to-play deals in Congress. Two members of the South Carolina delegation were prime suspects: Republican Senator Lindsay Graham and Democratic Representative Jim Clyburn (SC-06). In exchange for campaign donations ($100,000 in Graham’s case), the two men allegedly steered military contracts worth millions to Navatek (now the Martin Defense Group.) Republican incumbent Susan Collins, who is in a tight race for her Maine Senate seat, was under investigation for a similar scheme: she has dismissed the charges as “nonsense.” \* Speaking of Lindsey Graham: a thirty-minute video released on the Young Turks YouTube channel features three Washington D.C. area sex workers who claim to have been paid to have sex with the late senator. One alleges he was 17 at the time he did business with Graham in Arizona, which would be a felony in that state. One man says he did not realize he was having sex with a Senator until he saw Graham on TV during a 2016 presidential debate. \* When does “owning the libs” become a self-own? In a horrifying new low that has divided the Party of Trump, Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy (who appears to be losing the governor’s race with Democrat Amy Acton) has made a $4 million dollar ad buy for a spot featuring Acton’s estranged mother. When Acton was 13 she and her brother being permanently removed from the Arthur home when she accused her stepfather of rape. Donna Arthur, who hasn’t seen or spoken to Acton in decades, labels her daughter a “liar.” But the incident is backed up by court records, and Acton’s brother has supported her story. Vice President JD Vance has characterized pushback on the ad as “whining,” while MK Pritzker, wife of Illinois Democratic governor J.B. Pritzker responded by giving $500,000 to an Acton super PAC. **Your hosts:** \* Claire Potter is a historian of politics and media, a writer, a podcaster, and the sole author and editor of the *Political Junkie* Substack. Her most recent book is Political Junkies: *From Talk Radio to Twitter, How Alternative Media Hooked Us on Politics and Broke Our Democracy* (Basic Books, 2020), and she is currently writing a biography of feminist journalist Susan Brownmiller. \* Neil J. Young is a historian of religion and politics, a journalist, and a former co-host of the Past Present podcast. His most recent book is Coming Out Republican: *A History of the Gay Right* (University of Chicago Press, 2024). Newsweek and TIME covers from the week of June 27, 1994: digital alteration of the mugshot on the right made Simpson seem darker than he was: it was one of many ways that racism shaped court dynamics and news about the crime. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons **News focus: More than two decades later, O.J. Simpson’s murder trial changed us all. In a look back episode inspired by new reporting, we talk about that cultural pivot.** \* This week, the New York Times ripped the cover off the sensational 1995 O.J. Simpson trial. Listeners may recall that the football and media star was charged with the June 12 1994 crime. On October 3, 1995, Simpson—defended by a so-called “Dream Team” of defense attorneys (a reference to the 1992 men’s basketball Olympic gold medalists)—was acquitted of the double murder in a jury trial. \* One aspect of the acquittal was the defense team’s assertion that Simpson was framed by racist cops. Another was that the murder weapon was never found, and evidence that implicated Simpson was impeached by the investigating officer’s history of racism. Now, it appears that there may have been an accomplice, Joey Ippolito, a mobbed-up drug runner who tried to bargain with New York authorities by testifying that Simpson did commit the crime and he, Ippolito, helped to cover it up. \* Nevertheless, in 1997, Simpson was held responsible for the crime by a civil jury which awarded Goldman’s parents and Brown’s family $33.5 million in damages. Most of that money was never collected, in part because Simpson’s legal bills and inability to work left him financially strapped, and in part because Simpson hid assets and evaded collection. \* Later, Simpson partnered with a ghostwriter to publish an account of the crime titled *If I Did It: Confessions of a Killer* (Beaufort Books, 2007), which many readers saw as a brazen confession. In 2008, Simpson was convicted of armed robbery in Las Vegas after an armed confrontation with memorabilia dealers who he claimed had stolen from him. Paroled in 2017, he died of cancer on April 20 2024, at age 76. \* The defense easily framed its case around the historic racism of the LAPD, and simmering civil rights tensions over violent treatment of Black Angelenos. Between 1987-1990, Black neighborhoods in LA endured“Operation Hammer,” a violent paramilitary enforcement operation. In 1991, LAPD officers brutally beat Rodney King, a man they had stopped on suspicion of DUI, using the n-word repeatedly. A bystander filmed the crime and sold the images to CNN, and when the officers were acquitted in 1992, riots broke out. The following year, two officers were convicted of civil rights violations in federal court. \* Civil rights attorney Johnnie Cochran’s defense instilled reasonable doubt by characterizing the police as racists. Lead detective Mark Fuhrman, Cochran argued, framed Simpson because he was Black and interracially married; thus, Simpson was the victim of an inept and biased police investigation. This was thoroughly believable to the 9 Black and 1 Hispanic members of the jury. \* The media atmosphere the case generated points to changing technology that would shape politics as well. Zoey Tur and Marika Garrard, pioneers in helicopter reporting were part of the famous Bronco chase broadcast on ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN. The sequence of events, from the murder to the chase to the trial, were the first modern reality TV. \* Other significant milestones lay the groundwork for this moment. Court TV was established in 1991, reaching 28 million households: the network had already broadcast the Menendez brothers’ first trial in 1993. CNN ruled the cable news roost that would end in 1996 when Fox and MSNBC were founded. Coverage by CNN and E! was highly lucrative for both. \* The trial also re-ignited a national conversation about violence against women that had been dormant since the mid-1980s. Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister Denise was a major player in pushing the federal 1994 Violence Against Women Act to passage, while states and cities pushed policing reforms and created resources for battered women. And yet, nearly half of women who are murdered are killed by a current or former partner. \* A great many murders go unsolved. In 2024, the most recent year for which we have data, around 66% of homicides ended in an arrest and conviction. In Los Angeles in 1994, that number was even lower: 58%, when the national clearance rate was 64%. **What we want to go viral:** \* Neil wants you to watch “Furious” (Hulu, 2026). FBI agent Alice Black tracks a female vigilante who targets a network of powerful men who have harmed and exploited her. Although it is loosely based on the film Black Widow (Bobb Rafelson, 1987), it is a perfect fit for the Age of Epstein. When does the search for justice become mere vengeance? You decide. \* Claire wants you to run, not walk, to see Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s new documentary about Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, “You Can See Everything,” (theatrical release by A24 on October 16, 2026). Here’s a spoiler: you will see everything—but not necessarily know what is true. Fielder’s question throughout is not, what did Holmes do, but what does she think she did? And what is up with hubby Billy Evans? Don’t miss new drops from Claire and Neil. You can subscribe for free or support us for only $5 a month. You can also become an annual supporter for $50/year and choose Neil’s Coming Out Republican or Claire’s Political Junkies: as a welcome bonus. **You can also get all audio/video content for free by subscribing on** Apple iTunes**,** YouTube**, or** Spotify**.** This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairepotter.substack.com/subscribe