Appeals Court makes Decisive Ruling on Trump’s Chicago Invasion

Summary

Legal AF by MeidasTouch

Episode: Appeals Court makes Decisive Ruling on Trump’s Chicago Invasion

Date: October 13, 2025
Hosts: Michael Popok, Ben Meiselas
Contributors: J.D. Vance (via broadcast clip), Stephen Miller (via audio clips)

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers an in-depth analysis of the recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that temporarily blocked the Trump administration's attempt to deploy the federalized Illinois National Guard on Chicago streets amid claims of unrest and a so-called “invasion.” The hosts explore the legal, constitutional, and political implications, diving into how Trump allies are using the language of the Insurrection Act, and highlight the dangerous rhetoric shaping domestic policy debates. The conversation is spiced with notable judicial opinions, historical context, and clips from prominent political figures.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The 7th Circuit's Ruling: Mobilize but Don't Deploy

• [00:30] Michael Popok:

  • The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a weekend ruling: Trump can federalize the National Guard in Illinois (mobilize), but cannot deploy them onto Chicago streets until the court hears full briefing and arguments.
  • This mirrors a similar recent decision from the 9th Circuit regarding Oregon, resulting in Guardsmen confined to barracks.

• The significance: “That’s a win for Judge Perry and for Chicago and the Illinois attorney general for sure now. Well, it’s only an administrative stay.” ([06:10] Michael Popok)

2. The Insurrection Act: History and Thresholds

• Historical context: The Insurrection Act has been invoked ~30 times, last used during the 1992 Rodney King riots. It expressly requires “rebellion or domestic violence.”

• The court questioned Trump’s factual basis for invoking this power in Illinois—insisting there is no out-of-control domestic violence or rebellion to justify such militarization.

• Citing founding documents: Judge Perry referenced Alexander Hamilton and the Declaration of Independence, warning of executive tyranny through use of military force domestically. ([03:40] Michael Popok)

  “The threat of tyranny when a president uses the military or militarized federalized state militia against the American people.”
  —Michael Popok, [04:00]

3. Judicial Pushback: Restraining Federal Force

• Judge Ellis’s order: Reaffirmed First Amendment protections, barring use of riot gear and "non-lethal" weapons on clergy, journalists, and protesters. Called out as “shameful” that such an order was even necessary.
  ([03:00] Michael Popok)

  “The fact that a federal judge had to write that… is shameful.”
  —Michael Popok, [03:13]

• Judge Perry’s order: Grounded in Federalist principles; explicitly denies Trump's attempt to "have his own set of facts."

4. Stephen Miller & "America First Legal" Enter the Fray

• Miller’s organization attempted to join the 7th Circuit case, submitting a brief in support of Trump.
• Popok criticizes the proliferation of pro-Trump briefs:

  “How many briefs does Trump get? ...Now we need a law firm controlled by Stephen Miller filing briefs to support the Trump administration. I hope the 7th Circuit rejects that.”
  —Michael Popok, [01:50]

5. Right-Wing Rhetoric Escalates

• J.D. Vance on Meet the Press ([07:50]):

  • Defends discussing invocation of the Insurrection Act as a response to "out of control" crime and attacks on ICE agents.

  • Blames media and “far left lunatics” for making it acceptable to attack law enforcement.

    “The problem here is not the Insurrection act or whether we actually invoke it or not. The problem is ... the entire media in this country, cheered on by a few far left lunatics, have made it okay to tee off on American law enforcement. We cannot accept that in the United States of America.”
    —J.D. Vance, [08:37]

• Popok notes political weaponization of Insurrection Act talk:

  “The I-word has always been part of Donald Trump’s vocabulary, although many other things are not, obviously.”
  —Michael Popok, [08:54]

6. Stephen Miller’s Extremist Language & Its Dangers

• Audio clips highlight Miller’s use of loaded, inflammatory terms:

  “This is an all-out campaign of insurrection against the sovereignty of the United States…”
  —Stephen Miller, [11:16]

  “We’re going to ignore these stupid white hippies ... and get back in the business of protecting the American people.”
  —Stephen Miller, [12:00]

  • Miller advocates for using federal law enforcement powers to "wipe out" a broad spectrum of targets, blurring lines between dissent and criminality.

7. The Stakes: Federalism, Civil Liberties, and the Cost

• Popok’s perspective: The issue is existential for American federalism and the soul of the constitutional order.

  “Dissent is not disloyalty. And we have to continue to call it all out here.”
  —Michael Popok, [13:16]

• Popok also highlights the literal cost:

  “Just for the DC takeover... it’s cost the American taxpayer $200 million... Illinois. Bigger. Oregon bigger. We’re talking about $1 billion muscle flex by Donald Trump. Just shows who’s the boss. You know who’s the boss. We are. We are the people, not the elected officials.”
  —Michael Popok, [15:40]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Popok on the judiciary’s orders:

  “It is shameful that a judge had to enjoin the federal government from firing pepper balls into the face of clergy, journalists, or protesters…”
  —[03:13]

• Judge Perry’s Hamilton/Founders citation:

  “Judge Perry in which she cited to Alexander Hamilton and the threat of tyranny when a president uses the military…citing back to the Declaration of Independence about why our founders left England and the threat of a standing army by King George…”
  —Michael Popok, [03:56]

• Stephen Miller’s rhetoric:

  “So whether you’re antifa, whether you’re a domestic terrorist, whether you are a violent gang member, a drug trafficker, a trained narragua killer, or anyone else that's hurting our people, President Trump is saying he's going to use his FBI, his DOD, his ATF … to wipe you out…”
  —Stephen Miller, [12:40]

• Popok on escalating costs:

  “It’s already been calculated and estimated that it’s cost the American taxpayer $200 million for local policing by the military … Now multiply that. Illinois. Bigger. Oregon bigger. We’re talking about $1 billion muscle flex by Donald Trump.”
  —[15:40]

• On dissent:

  “Dissent is not disloyalty.”
  —Michael Popok, [13:35]

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Important Timestamps and Segments

• [00:30] – Immediate discussion of the 7th Circuit Court’s stay.
• [03:00] – Analysis of Judge Ellis’ order protecting First Amendment rights.
• [03:56] – Judge Perry’s historical and constitutional reasoning.
• [06:10] – Administrative stay discussed as a partial victory.
• [07:50] – Clip of J.D. Vance’s Meet The Press statements.
• [11:16] – Montage of Stephen Miller’s comments on “insurrection.”
• [13:16] – The stakes for federalism and American democracy.
• [15:40] – Financial cost of military deployments and policy critique.

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Closing Thoughts

The episode underscores extreme tensions between federal and state power, the dangers of normalizing militarized responses to dissent, and the legal bulwarks holding the line. The hosts warn that rhetoric casting American protesters as insurgents sets a perilous precedent—and that while the current legal hold is only temporary, the fight over the Insurrection Act and federal overreach is far from over.

The hosts urge listeners to remain vigilant, engaged, and to support the dissemination of fact-based analysis through the Legal AF platforms, keeping the podcast’s tone sharp, direct, and grounded in the urgency of the moment.

Transcript

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[Michael Popak]

Donald Trump's federalized Militarized National Guard in Illinois. Stay in your barracks. We have a new decision over the weekend. In breaking news, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals sits in Illinois over all Illinois federal courts. Very similar to the ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has said to Donald Trump, you can mobilize, but you can't deploy. You can take them over, you can leave them in their barracks, but don't put them on the streets of Illinois until we've had full briefing and we've had a opportunity to make our ruling almost identical to what the ninth Circuit Court of Appeals did about Judge Immergat's decision in Oregon. That's the. That's the same reason those National Guardsmen are staying in their barracks. I cover it all right here on the Midas Dutch network and Legal af, thanks for being here with us. All right, let's talk about how we got here. Against the backdrop of all of that, we've got Donald Trump, J.D. vance, and the real President of the United States, at least for domestic policy, is Stephen Miller using the language of insurrection. Not only that, but Stephen Miller, who formed a law firm that sounded suspiciously like Legal AF while he was in exile the first time, called America First Legal, has actually asked the 7th Circuit for permission to file a brief in support of the Trump administration. I mean, how many, how many players are there gonna be allowed? Too many players on the field. Judges. They've already got their Department of Justice, they've already got their Solicitor General, they've already got Stephen Miller in the White House. Now we need a law firm controlled by Stephen Miller filing briefs to support the Trump administration. I hope the 7th Circuit rejects that. Let's start with how we got here. The 7th Circuit decision, which I'm gonna post up on legal AF substack and some clips from over the weekend and beyond just to show you what we're dealing with. Threat of the Insurrection act, which has been invoked about 30 times in American history. The last time in 1992 when L. A got a little bit out of control. Parts of it anyway, during the Rodney King riots. It requires that there be a rebellion or domestic violence as, as pointed out by the president to exercise it. And then he can federalize and militarize everything against the American people. And he's been threatening it. Now that the 7th Circuit has ruled, get ready. We're getting closer. If the insurrection clock is not at midnight yet, but it's getting awful close. Let's start with Judge Perry. Two judges last week, Judge Perry and Judge Ellis issued or companion orders about the Donald Trump's use of the National Guard on the streets. First, Judge Ellis ruled if the National Guard is going to be on the streets or the military is going to be on the streets, you got to abide by the First Amendment and civil liberties. And you can't fire pepper balls into the face of clergy, people, clergymen wearing the cloth, journalists or protesters. The fact that a federal judge had to write that do not, you are blocked, you are enjoined from firing pepper balls, using riot gear, using militarized riot gear against journalists and members of the clergy and First Amendment protesters is shameful. But she did, she had a long list, we have it up on legal AF substack, a long list of military grade riot gear from pepper balls to non lethal rifles, whatever that's supposed to be. I mean a bullet in your head is probably going to cause you damage regardless. Zip ties and missile launchers and, and gas, use of gas for dispersion. I mean we've seen video of a guy in a frog, a person in a frog suit protesting and a ICE officer or National Guard putting a pepper ball, shooting it into his costume. It's just mind boggling. So then we had the second order a day later from Judge Perry in which she cited to Alexander Hamilton and the threat of tyranny when a president uses the military or militarized federalized state militia against the American people, citing back to Alexander Hamilton, the Federalist Papers citing back to the Declaration of Independence about we, about why our founders left England and the threat of a standing army by King George and the fact that he's not allowed Donald Trump to have his own set of facts, own deference to facts when there was no out of control domestic violence or rebellion on the streets of Illinois to justify at all the use of the military or the commandeering of the military by the president. And she wrote it in her order and stopped them from employing it similar to what the ninth Circuit, sorry, what Judge Immergut did in Oregon, although based on the 9th Circuit oral argument dominated by two Trumpers. I'm not so sure any Part of Judge Immerse order is going to stand, but they did for now, stay the deployment in Oregon. Fast forward to Chicago on the heels of Oregon. Judge Immergut, I can see a lot of Judge Immergut's ruling and analysis in Judge Perry's ruling and Judge Ellis's ruling. While that's all going on, we get an order from the 7th Circuit on Saturday which effectively adopts the same logic as the 9th Circuit a week earlier. It says and we'll put it up on the screen effect and we'll put it up on legal AF substack. For now, administrative stay, just for the purposes of till we get through the appeal and briefing mobilization, meaning the takeover of the guard under section 124 06. We're going to allow it, not not making a decision about the substance and the merits of it, whether the grounds for taking over the National Guard were present. But stay in your barracks. We're not letting you out. We're not letting you deploy. That's a win for Judge Perry and for Chicago and the Illinois attorney general for sure now. Well, it's only an administrative stay. And then we had if you check the docket, which of course I did, which is the electronic version of everything that's been filed or requested to be filed in the case you've got, I spotted America First Legal. We always follow them because they're trading on our name. America First Legal, which is Stephen Miller's, the White House deputy chief of staff, but he holds much more power than that title would reflect. He, his organization is filing a brief in support of Trump. How many briefs does Trump get? He gets his brief, his Department of Justice brief. He gets this shadow Department of Justice brief from Stephen Miller. And then you had in the wake of all of this, that was Saturday. Sunday, JD Vance goes on Kristen Welker, Meet the Press and starts talking about the Insurrection act again. Let's play that clip. Let me ask you, of course, there's a major legal battle underway about the administration's deployment of the National Guard. It does come as NBC News is reporting that the administration has been seriously.

[J.D. Vance]

Discussing invoking the Insurrection act that would.

[Michael Popak]

Give the president the power to direct federal troops to conduct law enforcement functions in the case of a national emergency. Is that the case? Are you seriously considering invoking the Insurrection Act?

[J.D. Vance]

Well, the president's looking at all of his options right now. He hasn't felt he needed to, but we have to remember. Why are we talking about this, Kristen? Because crime has gotten out of control in our cities, because our ICE agents, the people who are enforcing our immigration laws have faced a 1000% increase in violent attacks against them. We have people right now who are going out there who are doing the job the President asked them to do, who are enforcing our immigration laws. They're being assaulted, they're being beaten, they're being shot at. The problem here is not the Insurrection act or whether we actually invoke it or not.

[Michael Popak]

The.

[J.D. Vance]

The problem is the fact that the entire media in this country, cheered on by a few far left lunatics, have made it okay to tee off on American law enforcement. We cannot accept that in the United States of America. We want everybody, black or white, rich or poor, to be safe in the United States of America.

[Michael Popak]

Which is very consistent with what Donald Trump did a week or so earlier in the White House. But he's like, well, I hadn't thought about the Insurrection act, but you know, we could always do it. I mean, look, his prior attorney General, for about 10 minutes, Jeffrey Clark during 2020, was promoting the use of the Insurrection act to do things like seizing voting machines during the 2020 election. So the I word has always been part of Donald Trump's vocabulary, although many other things are not, obviously.

[Ben Meiselis]

Hey, everybody, Ben Meiselis here from the Midas Touch Network. I wanted to let you know about my podcast partner Michael Popo's new law firm. It's called the Popoc Firm. Michael Popo's pursuing his dream of starting his own law firm, really based on the popular demand by all the Midas mighty and legal A effers who are approaching Michael Popak with their cases and saying, can you help us? And at that time, Popak was not able to. So he went out on his own. He started the Popoc Firm where he is now handling catastrophic injury cases like car accident cases, trucking cases, malpractice cases, big negligence cases, wrongful death cases. So if you or someone you know have a case like this, the consultation with Popo's firm is free. Give them a call, see if you have a case. It's ThePopoc Firm.com ThePopoc Firm.com or you can call 877-popocaF-P-P-O p o k a f so 1-877-p o p o k a f. Give Michael Popak. And I'm really proud of you, Popak. Thanks for all the hard work you're putting in.

[Michael Popak]

Stephen Miller, though, is the scary guy. He's the grim reaper. As Gavin Newsom once said, Stephen Miller is that guy, you know, that is in the hotel room in the dark that watches that guy. Here's a, here's a series of clips about Stephen Miller using the language of insurrection, using the language almost from the very beginning of attacking Americans for, and declaring them to be disloyal when all they're doing is properly First Amendment dissenting. Let's play some clips of Stephen Miller who's also been using that language of insurrection against federal judges who ruled against the Trump administration. Let's roll the worst of Stephen Miller.

[Jeff Bridges]

This is organized domestic terrorism. The purpose of domestic terrorism is to obtain, through violence and intimidation and the threat of violence, a change in politics or policy that cannot be obtained through lawful democratic means. This is an all out campaign of insurrection against the sovereignty of the United States because the Democrat Party and those who are committing violence in this country do not believe in legitimacy of the sovereign territory of the United States and they don't want any of these illegal aliens to go home. So they want to cement by force, by violent force the invasion that took place between 2021 and 2024. Thank you. Vote for the right to have a secure sovereign border and for the right to have a government that puts American citizens ahead of illegal aliens. Cannot conceive of a nation without a strong secure border. It is fundamental and essential to the idea of sovereignty and national survival to have control over who enters and doesn't enter the country. So we're going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they're all over 90 years old and we're going to get back in the business of protecting the American people and the citizens of Washington D.C. i think what's happening here is that what the President has done is made clear the power of federal law enforcement that was used for the last four years to harass and attack conservatives, to harass and attack Christians, to go after law abiding families. The power of law enforcement under President Trump is going to be used to get all the criminals, all the violent offenders, all the murderers, all the cartels and all the domestic terrorists off our streets. So whether you're antifa, whether you're a domestic terrorist, whether you are a violent gang member, a drug trafficker, a trained narragua killer, or anyone else that's hurting our people, President Trump is saying he's going to use his FBI, his dod, his atf, his DEA to wipe you out, to put you behind bars, to take you off the street or, or to apply whatever legal consequence is necessary.

[Michael Popak]

Now, what's at stake here is important and it's been framed by judges like Judge Immergut and Judge Perry who have said, this is for the soul of America. This is for the soul of our federalism that put our country together. The power of the states, the power of the federal government, the power of the states that needs to be respected under the 10th Amendment. The sovereignty of the states that needs to be protected. How we, how we as a nation put up firewalls and draw lines in the sand to stop an overgrown, out of control, petulant, vengeful president who's attacking Americans. When you see video clips in Chicago, In Oregon, in D.C. of human beings being hogtied, gang tackled, pepper sprayed, shot in the head with pepper balls, including members of the clergy, just think that is a fellow American. This isn't Trend Aragua. This isn't Venezuelan narco terrorists. These aren't people that are being blown out of the water in the Caribbean without due process. These are Americans. Whether they're American veterans, American protesters. You hear it in the language, right? It seeps into their language. They say it just this greasy way in which they just. Just say it out loud. You heard J.D. vance on the earlier clip. We radical left needs to be crushed. You mean dissent in America? Dissent is not disloyalty. And we have to continue to call it all out here. What's gonna happen next? I hope the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rejects Stephen Miller's phony brief second bite at the apple by the Department of Justice, effectively. I hope they make their decision. I'll know more about my prediction about how that 7th Circuit's going to go. When I see how many Trumpers are on that panel. You know, it's like, how many Trumpers does it take to screw up an American constitutional republic? We're going to find. We're going to find out. And I'll report on that on Legal A F sub stack to give you some live reporting at the minute. All there. That's the next step, briefing the hearing. I don't think we're going to get a ruling on the 9th Circuit about Oregon for maybe another week or two. Ish. Sometime in October. This will be sometime October, early November. And let me just put a fine point on this. The wastefulness of the attack and the abuse of Americans just for DC Just for the DC takeover. It's already been calculated and estimated that it's cost the American taxpayer $200 million. For what? For local policing by the military, by picking up litter, by standing guard in front of national monuments. $200 million. Now multiply that. Illinois. Bigger. Oregon bigger. We're talking about $1 billion muscle flex by Donald Trump. Just shows who's the boss. You know who's the boss. We are. We are the people, not the elected officials. They are. They last for a relatively short amount of time. While we are the defenders of this constitutional republic, we do it here. We meet here. This is our clubhouse. Midas Touch Legal af. I'm glad you're here. We're going to continue to follow it. Slide over to Legal AF YouTube. Hit the free subscribe button there as well. We're trying to get to that $1 million. Sorry, 1 million subscriber magic number on that YouTube channel. The bigger we are, the more your voice is heard, the more your muscle flexes. Same thing for Legal AF Substack. So until my next report, I'm Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal af? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing in the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do called Wait for it Morning af. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AOFF are there as well. We got some new reporting, we got interviews, we got ad free versions of the podcast and hot takes. Where Legal AF on Substack. Come over now to free subscribe.

[Jeff Bridges]

Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.

[Michael Popak]

Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?

[Jeff Bridges]

Well, I dig the mattress and I.

[Michael Popak]

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[Jeff Bridges]

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[Michael Popak]

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[Jeff Bridges]

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