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Legal AF by MeidasTouch
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on New Lawsuit Against Trump Administration
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- [00:01]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
There's about 10 seconds left on the clock.
- [00:03]
Michael Popak
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- [00:21]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
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- [00:26]
Michael Popak
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- [00:31]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
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Michael Popak
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Michael Popak
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- [00:58]
Michael Popak
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- [01:12]
T-Mobile Spokesperson
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- [01:15]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
I couldn't possibly at t mobile get.
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T-Mobile Spokesperson
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Michael Popak
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T-Mobile Spokesperson
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- [01:44]
Michael Popak
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Attorney General Rob Bonta
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- [01:53]
Michael Popak
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- [01:54]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
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Michael Popak
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Attorney General Rob Bonta
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- [02:18]
Michael Popak
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- [02:25]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
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- [02:29]
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- [03:02]
Michael Popak
Special edition of Legal A F. As we've said time and time again, it is the attorneys general, primarily the Democratic attorneys general, who are the first responders, who are running into a burning building of our rule of law and trying to save us. And whenever something goes awry, like for instance in the shutdown, when Donald Trump decides to make a political football out of 40 million plus people, children, babies, elderly, disabled, who would be receiving and need to receive supplemental nourishment assistance plan payments totaling $8 billion starting on November 1st. And instead, Donald Trump is using that and holding it hostage through his Department of Agriculture, of all things, in order to make the Democrats look bad in the shutdown. It is the attorneys general who run to the rescue. And today they filed in the district of Massachusetts, 23 of them, led by California and Massachusetts. They filed this emergency complaint, temporary restraining order. We got the judge, we got the hearing this week. And and for our audience, we've got Attorney General Rob Bonta of California to talk about the new filing. Welcome, Attorney General Banta.
- [04:23]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
An honor to be with you once again. Michael, thanks always.
- [04:26]
Michael Popak
As, as people may know, we were together and briefing the audience on no Kings Day as Donald Trump threatened or did shoot live ordinance over the five when you and I were in San Diego right near Camp Pendleton, and we and you talked then so eloquently about the three Cs and we've stolen it from you and we've repeated it frequently on the Midas Dutch network and legal layoff of courts, crowds and courage. And you've got it all here. Talk to our audience, brief them about what is the SNAP program? Why did you, why did you spring into action? And then we'll talk about the logistics of the case that's been filed in Massachusetts with a hearing this coming Thursday.
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Attorney General Rob Bonta
Sounds great. The SNAP program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also commonly known to and referred to as food stamps, is our federal food assistance program for folks who are hungry, who are in need. Some of our most vulnerable community members, our children, our seniors are disabled who rely on it. And this is one of the great things that government does. It helps feed the hungry and provide a safety net of protection and health for those in need. And Trump unlawfully decided to withhold the SNAP funding during the government shutdown for the. For the month of November. It's about $8 billion nationwide, 1.1 billion to California. It's about 41 million Americans who will be deprived of their food assistance programs. Funding 1.1 in. Sorry, that's about 1.1 billion in California. And, you know, these are the folks who really need it. And so I just want to say that I've always believed that societies should be judged on how they treat the most vulnerable. And on that score, Trump gets an F. He is going out of his way to hurt and harm the most vulnerable in our country for political purpose, to use it as a political bludgeon, a cudgel, to blame the Democrats, to put up on the website that the Senate Democrats created this problem. He created this problem. The law requires him to pay the funding. When there is a contingency fund in the SNAP program, as there is here, we think there's about five to six billion dollars in it. The law, the SNAP act and the SNAP statutory framework says that that money shall be used. And contingency funds, like reserve funds for any budget, are supposed to be for times just like this, emergencies, exigencies, times when you need the funding and it's required to be spent. So instead of spending it, he's claiming that the quot well is dry, end quote, even though the money is there to be spent. Five to six billion dollars. And so we're demanding that that money be spent on the people who need it. And so we filed in the District of Massachusetts today. We also, at the same time, simultaneously applied for a temporary restraining order. We have a hearing in two days. We hope to get an immediate ruling that will block the unlawful action and ensure that the SNAP funding flows. We have two claims based on the Administrative Procedures Act. One, that this action by the Trump administration withholding the funding in the contingency fund is contrary to law, and also that it's arbitrary and capricious. In prior government shutdowns, the contingency fund was drawn on and was used to pay SNAP benefits to Americans in need. So we believe we have a strong case.
- [07:52]
Michael Popak
Yeah, well, your case is very strong. Let's just start from arbitrary and capricious. Let's just talk about the ever evolving morphing position of the U.S. department of Agriculture. You've got a September 30th report, a lapse of funding plan which is no longer up on the website for the usda been replaced with haha. Blame the Democrats for babies, children and old people who will die effectively. But there was a lapse of funding plan that said out loud that there was an intent to continue the plan. There were $6 billion in funds. Don't worry so states so you know, you don't have to worry about planning around it. We will fund you. They said a similar thing on the 10th of October and then all of a sudden around the about a week, about four or five days ago, it became no, there's no funding, there won't be any funding. Blame the Democrats. Is that part of your arbitrary and capricious attack?
- [08:51]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
Yes. They reaffirmed what the practice has always been and what the law requires that the contingency fund should be used in times like this, like a government shutdown. As recently as September 30 and October 1 and then twice in October they stated that, you know, they reverse course, complete 180 degree turnabout without any explanation or reason. Because there is no explanation or reason. It's just pure staggering hypocrisy and there's no explanation for it except for cruelty and very dangerous and disgusting political gamesmanship.
- [09:24]
Michael Popak
And look at the, and ag Banta, look at the insult and injury to almost the same population. The Democrats are trying to have a commitment that 22 million Americans, many of the same type of Americans that are at or below the poverty line, are assured of getting healthcare through a tax deduction that would just need to be extended. We're not talking about illegal immigrants, we're not talking about trend Aragua. We're talking about Americans. Everything that you and I are gonna talk about on this, on this video is talking about Americans that Donald Trump is attacking and turning his back on. So that same group now, many of them up to 40 million, also have food stamps, Snap other types of assistance that Donald Trump is denying them as well. While let's look what he's doing in the split screen. We have a split screen, but let's look at the split screen between what the Democratic attorneys general are doing and what the President of the United States is doing. Is he, is he in the, is he in the White House trying to solve this problem, working with Democrats to open the government? No. He's abroad again for the second time in about two weeks, going to Asia to try to fix all the problems that he created a bull in a china shop and wrecking our global economy and our relationships. So he's got to go over there for, for more pomp and circumstance. Like, like Marie Antoinette, right? Literally. He is the modern incarnation of Marie Antoinette. Let them eat cake while they starve and while I go dine with the new Chinese Japanese prime minister. And all that he seems to be concerned about is building his golden ballroom and tearing down a third of the White House in its history. So he's doing that during the shutdown. There seems to be enough money to fly Air Force One. There seems to be enough money to continue to demolish the people's House. What has he done to help the American people who are suffering and crushed under the weight of the Trump economy?
- [11:28]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
He's uninterested. He cares about himself. He doesn't care about Americans. He doesn't care about the people that government is built to serve, the ones who are struggling the most, who are the most vulnerable. That's why government exists, to provide that social safety net, to provide health care, because everyone should have high quality, affordable health care to provide food, because no one in the richest country in the history of the world should go hungry or die of starvation. And that's what these programs do. So instead of working to end the government shutdown, working to get Americans just continue the healthcare that they've already had without massive spikes in their premiums, or working to make sure that folks have food on their table, especially in November as people are going to sit down for Thanksgiving meals, those, the poor folks who rely on food stamps, on SNAP to have food will not have it. And meanwhile, he's working on his ballroom.
- [12:20]
Michael Popak
And he's, he's cut out all the other social safety nets. Food banks don't have money. You know, he's cut other state funding, you know, continuing to destroy the relationship between the federal government and the states and the people by extension with federal funding. So you guys are scrambling with limited money. You're like the boy at the dike, trying to plug holes that he. Right. That he's created.
- [12:46]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
Created. He's created. And meanwhile, prices spiking. He said he was going to lower costs on day one. He imposed tariffs against all of our trading, over 200 plus trading partners. We're in Washington D.C. before the United States Supreme Court next week to argue that his tariffs are what they are unlawful and he had no authority to issue them. So he's raising prices, he's pulling away the social service safety net. He's making sure, ensuring that our most vulnerable go hungry or that they don't have health care as he builds his ballroom and jets around overseas should be.
- [13:17]
Michael Popak
A recipe for disaster at the midterms. And I know your state is working very, very hard. I did a, I did a video. I've never in my life and I've been around almost as long as your governor. I've never seen a political figure tell his constituency, don't send any more money. We have enough about Prop 50. And to get it passed where you guys have just wiped the floor with the opposition, the opposition group, the no vote to try to get five new seats approved with a new map in California. It just goes, it's just a testament to what the Democrats stand for, what leaders like your boss and you stand for in trying to, in trying to protect America. You want to talk for a minute about. I learned on the way into the interview that we have you've been assigned to Judge Talwani. She's no stranger to the Trump administration. She, she's made a number of rulings about funding, about immigration policy. She's not afraid to oppose the Trump administration. She's now dealing with some recent Supreme Court decisions that she's, she and you are going to have to navigate through. But just to, just to give our audience a little bit of taste of this, she was appointed by Obama. She was confirmed AG Banta 94. 0 by the Senate. Remember those days when federal judges were not attacked as being partisan hacks by the occupant of the White House?
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Attorney General Rob Bonta
Amazing. Bring those days back. We need those, you know, the young voter voters and Americans will be shocked to hear that those days ever existed. Michael.
- [15:01]
Michael Popak
And what's gonna, are you gonna be flying into Massachusetts for the hearing on Thursday?
- [15:05]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
I won't be there on Thursday. I'll leave it to my, my, my crack team to handle it. I'll be heading to D.C. for the U.S. supreme Court argument on tariffs, though.
- [15:12]
Michael Popak
Oh, you're going to be there for that. Great. That's great. Well, we're actually, as long as we're here, we'll plug that, we're going to be covering that with a live feed on legal af. We've been doing all the live feeds of the oral arguments the United States Supreme Court with commentary there that I feel better knowing that you're going to be in that room. The talk to our audience, though, at the end here about what is at stake. What are you, what is, what are the states asking for at 11:00am Eastern Time on Thursday in front of Judge Talwani live and in person. What do you hope to walk away.
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Attorney General Rob Bonta
With we have to walk away with a temporary restraining order that blocks the Trump administration from unlawfully refusing to spend the five to six billion dollars in that SNAP contingency fund and make the payments that are due for November so that kids and the poor and our seniors and the disabled can eat in America in November. 41 million people. So that's what we're asking for. We are very hopeful. We feel we made a strong case and we wait the judge's ruling, but it will be an outstanding outcome if the funding that's supposed to be allocated to Americans so they can eat would actually be spent by this administration.
- [16:24]
Michael Popak
And you've done it before. I mean, the track record of the, a Democratic attorneys general is fantastic. I mean, you're, you're, you're batting over. If you're, if you were the Dodgers.
- [16:36]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
You guys would be Ohtani, would be Otani.
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Michael Popak
I mean, you're batting over.900. I mean, it's just, these are hall of Fame numbers right there. But, but I, I like to talk about that because it, it gives our audience some hope that the public interest groups like the ACLU and the Democracy Forwards, Democracy now, and, and, and the, and the attorneys general are, are helping average Americans who are being crushed and ignored by this. And, and this, this, this air of indifference by the Trump administration, which just in my view, is finally seeping into the water supply because you're seeing it show up in crowds, as you like to talk about courts, crowds, encourage, it's seeping into the crowds. Look at the numbers from hands off to no. Kings Day 1 to no Kings Day 2. It's almost, it's almost doubled from the original one, the hands off one with almost 10 million people in the streets. And then you have, look at the polling. I mean, the polling, I mean, 63% of America has rejected Donald Trump, you know, and that's very hard to turn around because he'll still be in charge. So he's still doing the same things. So we're hopeful that despite his efforts to try to change maps and get an advantage before he even starts at the midterms, that people are going to come out in large numbers and give you the crowd support that you're looking for. Right?
- [18:04]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
Absolutely. And I'll just end with this, that the American people deserve better from their president. They deserve a president that cares about them, that will follow the law, that will help make sure that when they're down on their luck, they're fed, that they have affordable health care. And he's not doing any of that so they're being disrespected, demeaned and improperly treated by this president. But they do have folks like you mentioned who are going to court, including my fellow Democratic AGs, who care about them, who see those Americans who value those Americans who want better for them, who know they deserve better and are fighting for them, for their rights, for their funding that they deserve, for the services that they deserve, that they rely on to survive and to be healthy. And so I'm glad that so many people are tuning into what's happening. They're seeing what this president is doing to them, turning his back on them and visiting pain on them. And so that's what crowds are about. People power is the most potent power that there is. Show up, show out, speak up, speak out. Exercise your right to vote, exercise your right to peacefully protest in exercise of your First Amendment. That's what makes our democracy strong. So keep fighting and keep showing up.
- [19:09]
Michael Popak
I think if our audience was in the room, they'd be on their feet now. And just lastly, you definitely, your group definitely sued the right person, the right person. It's Russ Vote. It's the Office of Management and Budget. He's the architect of Project 2025. It's not the, it's not the U.S. d.A. You know, the Agricultural Department. It's Russ Vote. And you, you've, you've properly sued him. And I think that's going to be a big part of your hearing, what he's doing to destroy America. As the head of the Office of Management and Budget, Attorney General Rob Bonta of California was of the leaders of the attorneys general group that are fighting hard for America. This is as, as, as we've heard already. I, every case is so important to our audience, but this one, about 8 billion, about $8 billion and 40 and 40 million people is just something that, that can't be ignored. Thank you for joining Legal AF and we'll have you on next time. Thank you very much, Rob.
- [20:05]
Attorney General Rob Bonta
Thank you, Michael. Really appreciate it.
- [20:06]
Michael Popak
You too. That was Attorney General Rob Bonta joining to brief our Legal AF and Midas Touch audience again about the brand new filing temporary restraining order. This is in real time, folks. This is going to be a hearing in front of Judge Talwani in Massachusetts on Thursday at 11am to try to restore $8 billion worth of SNAP slash food stamp payments for the, for those below the poverty line, children and babies and disabled and senior citizens. It's that important. And we're so glad we have the newsmakers and the people that are fighting hard for our democracy and our rule of law. Who want to come on and speak directly to our Midas Touch and Legal AF audience. In the meantime, I'm Michael Popak. Until my next report. 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 spot, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing and 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 AO 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.
- [21:33]
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- [22:33]
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