DOJ Lawyer Asks to Be Arrested Over Trump’s Orders!

Summary

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Legal AF by MeidasTouch

Episode: DOJ Lawyer Asks to Be Arrested Over Trump’s Orders!
Date: February 7, 2026
Hosts: Michael Popok, Ben Meiselas

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Episode Overview

This Legal AF episode dives into a crisis unfolding within the Department of Justice (DOJ) and local federal courts in Minnesota. The main focus is on a dramatic courtroom exchange where DOJ attorney Julie Lee, overwhelmed by the Trump administration's immigration directives and a paralyzed legal support structure, asks the judge to send her to jail so she can finally get some sleep. Hosts Michael Popok and Ben Meiselas analyze the extraordinary situation, the exodus of U.S. Attorneys, the immense pressure from immigration-related court orders, and the broader implications for justice and civil rights.

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Main Topics & Key Discussion Points

1. The Crisis at the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office

• Michael Popok recounts the breakdown in the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office, where ongoing resignations have left only a handful of attorneys to deal with an explosion of cases stemming from Trump-era immigration enforcement.
• Morale is at rock bottom: Not only have most senior staff walked out, but the office faces overt mockery and intolerance, as exemplified by Border Patrol head Greg Bevino’s disparaging remarks about the new Orthodox Jewish U.S. Attorney's observance of the Sabbath.
  • "That's how morale is doing in that U.S. attorney's office that Julie Lee is working for." (04:54)

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2. The Julie Lee Courtroom Meltdown

Key Segment: [02:15–08:44]

• Julie Lee, an attorney working under DOJ auspices, finds herself in front of Judge Blackwell regarding multiple habeas corpus petitions for detained migrants.
• When confronted about repeated violations of court orders concerning migrant detentions, she confesses fatigue, confusion, and being overwhelmed—culminating in a tearful, almost desperate plea:

  “This job sucks, the system sucks. And I want to be thrown in jail for 24 hours so I can get some sleep.”
  —Michael Popok recapping Julie Lee ([02:15])

• Lee describes a workplace in shambles:
  • There is no direction or guidance on what to do.
  • The office is grossly undermanned.
  • Working nonstop has become the norm, with little help from ICE or federal leadership.
  • She admits openly to the court that it’s been “like pulling teeth” to get ICE to comply with judicial orders.

Notable exchange:

• Judge Blackwell fires back, assigning responsibility to systemic failures within the DOJ and the Trump administration, not just the local staff.

  “This is a problem of the Department of Justice’s own making because of non-compliance with my orders.” ([04:54])

• Michael Popok empathizes with Lee but highlights this as symptomatic of a broader breakdown:

  “She decided to go from the frying pan into the fire and ends up... literally throwing herself on the mercy of the court.” ([07:35])

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3. Judicial Response: Chief Judge Schiltz Puts ICE on Notice

Key Segment: [09:58–12:20]

• Chief Judge Schiltz issues a stern order after discovering that, in a single month, ICE violated nearly 100 court orders in just Minnesota.
• He threatens contempt charges and demands possible personal appearances by ICE leadership (specifically, Todd Lyons) unless compliance improves:

  “ICE has every right to challenge its orders, but it has to follow its orders unless they’re overturned or vacated.... Future noncompliance... may result in future show cause orders... requiring the personal appearance of Todd Lyons...” (recapped at [03:15] and [10:55])

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4. Broader Implications and Systemic Failure

• Michael Popok draws a parallel between the current Minnesota situation and the court’s handling of the January 6th Capitol attackers:

  “You think it’s equivalent to... all the D.C. district Court judges... each one of them had dozens and dozens of the couple of thousand Jan Sixers who attacked the Capitol. Those all ended up in a giant grind at the court system. Same thing’s going on in Minnesota.” ([10:37])

• He calls out the human cost, referencing deaths of detainees (“Renee Goode and Alex Preddy”) and routine ICE abuses—underscoring the DOJ's inability to fulfill its duty.

  “And they’re not all, you know, illegal migrants, child rapists, or human smugglers or drug dealers or narco terrorists, which is what they always want to tell you. That’s not the case at all.” ([12:03])

• Popok anticipates further fallout, joking grimly that Julie Lee will likely be dismissed for telling the truth and invites her to tell her story on Legal AF if/when that happens:

  “And Julie, when you get fired and you want to come on Midas Touch at Legal AF, give us a call. We'll certainly platform you.” ([12:31])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Julie Lee’s exhaustion and plea for jail time:
  "This job sucks, the system sucks. And I want to be thrown in jail for 24 hours so I can get some sleep."
  —Michael Popok quoting Julie Lee ([02:15])

• Popok’s blunt empathy:
  “I feel for Julie Lee. I... assume she didn’t think she was going to be doing immoral things and being an officer of the court, having to look a judge in the eye and say we’re violating orders.... I doubt that’s why she signed up for this gig.” ([06:51])

• Chief Judge’s warning:
  “The court warns ICE that future noncompliance with court orders may result in future show cause orders requiring the personal appearance of Todd Lyons, the head of ICE.”
  ([10:55])

• Popok’s closing invitation:
  “And Julie, when you get fired and you want to come on Midas Touch at Legal AF, give us a call.” ([12:31])

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Important Timestamps

• [02:15] — Recap of Julie Lee’s emotional courtroom statement
• [04:54] — Details on DOJ’s staff exodus in Minnesota, morale, and leadership issues
• [06:51] — Popok’s analysis of Lee’s situation and systemic failure
• [09:58] — The broader crisis and ICE’s legal noncompliance
• [10:55] — Chief Judge Schiltz’s contempt threat to ICE leadership
• [12:03] — Discussion of deaths tied to ICE interactions and systemic issues
• [12:31] — Popok’s closing thoughts, predicts reprisals for Lee

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Takeaway

This episode is a grim, inside look at a Department of Justice and federal legal structure unravelling under political, administrative, and moral stress. The hosts pull no punches in exposing the human and ethical toll of Trump administration policies and draw attention to a system buckling under impossible pressure, as embodied by Julie Lee’s plea for relief—even if only in a jail cell.

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Transcript

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[Michael Popak]

This job sucks, the system sucks. And I want to be thrown in jail for 24 hours so I can get some sleep. No, not the rantings and ravings of Michael Popak on the Midas Touch Network. That was attorney Julie Lee working for the Department of Justice in a courtroom in the United States in Minneapolis, in response to Judge Blackwell asking Julie Lee why in the five habeas corpus petition cases that I'm handling for migrants who are unconstitutionally spending their time in jail instead of out and about, why have there been so many violations of my orders? And this was Julie Lee's response. Not some random person on the street, a person who volunteered for the job, a person who used to work for ICE and decided to go to Minneapolis and help the Department of Justice. And then in tears during this report, during this court appearance, basically threw herself on the mercy of the court and asked to be thrown in jail so she could get some sleep. I'm Michael Popak. You're on Midas Touch and Legal af. Okay. A couple of days ago, I reported that the chief judge of all the federal courts in Minnesota, Judge Schultz, in an order, declared the following about the Trump administration. He said that in the month of January that there have been 96 court orders in 74 different cases in Minnesota alone in the month of January, 2026 alone. And he thinks that number is underreported. He said of those about, of those about 100 court orders violated. He believes that ICE has violated more court orders in January of 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence. And he says it's going to stop now. ICE is not a law unto itself. Chief Judge Schultz wrote. ICE has every right to challenge its orders, but it has to follow its orders unless they're overturned or vacated. Which brings us forward a handful of days later to Julie Lee in court. Julie Lee is not a assistant U.S. attorney. I guess she's been deputized to be such for now. She apparently, according to reporting on the ground in Minneapolis, worked in ICE as an attorney in immigration court. Okay. She decides, I guess, either compelled or she decides on her own to go help out the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota.

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Why?

[Michael Popak]

Because there's only about five or six people left there. Most of the office and all of its leadership has walked out the door. Things are so bad in Minnesota's U.S. attorney's office where the U.S. attorney, all senior leadership walked out the door that during a discussion with Greg Bevino, who's now of course departed from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but he was head of Border Patrol, he actually thought it was okay to make fun of the religion of the replacement U.S. attorney who happens to be Orthodox Jewish, talking about him being the chosen people and complaining about him not being available on the Sabbath to talk to Greg Bevino. That's how morale is doing in that U.S. attorney's office that Julie Lee is working for. Now we fast forward to this beleaguered batch of lawyers trying to run around with putting their fingers in the dike if they can. And now you've got Julie Lee in court with Judge Blackwell. And Judge Blackwell has five cases out of the hundreds of what we call writ of habeas corpus. That's people who are languishing without due process in detention centers, ICE detention centers, trying to get before federal judges and orders have been violated over and over and over again. Which leads to this exchange as reported by local reporters. Julie Lee says we have no guidance or direction on what we need to do. She says this is to the, this is to the federal judge. She says the system sucks, this job sucks. I'm trying with every breath I have to get you what I need. She talks about the office being depleted. She talks about the fact that of course they're not getting any guidance. And of course the judge fires back with his own expression of frustration that this is of your own making because of non compliance with my orders. I mean, she's basically in tears. She admitted in court that it's been like pulling teeth to get ICE to comply with her court order with the court orders and has required nonstop work in an already depleted office. Which is why she wants to be sent to federal detention center to sleep. Now, all jocularity aside, I feel for Julie Lee. I, I assume she didn't think that she was going to be doing immoral things and being an officer of the court, having to look a judge in the eye and say we're violating orders. Cuz we don't have the manpower, we're running ragged. We don't have the people and we don't have the institutional focus. And I can't get my client to abide by court orders. I doubt that's why she signed up for this gig. She worked in immigration court representing ice. That's a thankless job to begin with. She decided to go from the frying pan into the fire and ends up before a not an immigration court judge. See where she was working, everybody worked for the Trump administration. Get it in immigration. Immigration judges, despite their name, are really just agents of the Trump administration. The Department of Justice, they work for the Department of Justice on the executive side. They're not Article 3 judges under the Constitution. They're not impartial, they're not neutral. They work for the big man in the White House. She works for ice. So she works for Trump. The judge works for Trump. Everybody works for Trump except for the lawyer and the poor migrant that's sitting in immigration court. That's the world she came out of. Now she's in the world of Article 3 judges where she does not regularly practice. And I guess she's literally throwing herself on the mercy of the court.

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[Michael Popak]

But this should come as no surprise. What we are watching is Minnesota under siege. In the streets of Minnesota. Yes, that's Border Patrol and ICE wearing body cams now apparently. And how they are. How do I put this nicely? Interacting with First Amendment protesters, US citizens legally here, people and migrants. That's stressing the system as law enforcement and the National Guard try to figure out how to protect Minnesotans from their own federal government. In the courts though, and this doesn't get covered enough. You've got federal judges who have to handle dozens and Dozens of habeas corpus petitions for the hundreds and thousands of people that have been picked up off the street by ice. They have to get processed. They have lawyers, or hopefully they get lawyers. And those lawyers file petitions to get before federal judges. You think it's equivalent to, remember in Jan.6, all the D.C. district Court judges federal, that each one of them had dozens and dozens of the couple of thousand Jan Sixers who attacked the Capitol. Those all ended up in a giant grind at the court system. Same thing's going on in Minnesota. And they're not ready to handle this. This is not a giant district of judges compared to other districts. So you have a beleaguered underwater U.S. attorney's office. I mean, I'm not asking for sympathy, although I am using Julie Lee as somebody who's, who's a victim here, if you will. I've got federal judges who aren't prepared for this. And it's all coming to a head. This is why Chief Judge Schultz wrote his order, just extraordinary order, just four days ago in which he said, I'm going to start holding people in contempt. Here's what Judge Schiltz said. He's the chief judge of the whole darn thing. He said, the court warns ICE that future noncompliance with court orders may result in future show cause orders requiring the personal appearance of Todd Lyons, the head of ICE or other government officials. Exactly what the Trump administration doesn't want to do. And a weeping Julie Lee, although she's the canary in the coal mine as far as I'm concerned, is not helping the Department of Justice get out from under the ire of Judge Schultz. You know, and, and credit to Judge Blackwell, I mean, he's, look, he's not gonna pull out a giant tissue box. He said this, he said what is obvious. This is a problem of the Department of Justice's own making. Nobody wants to work there. Everybody has quit. Maybe if they were properly investigating in collaboration with state officials, the execution, summary execution of Renee Goode and Alex Preddy. They're not the only ones. There's dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of people who have been killed related to their interaction with ice, whether in detention or on the streets since Donald Trump has started. 38 less people. And they're not all illegal migrants, child rapists, you know, or, or human smugglers or drug dealers or narco terrorists, which is what they always want to tell you. That's not the case at all. So we'll continue to follow the apparent meltdown of the Department of Justice at least in Minnesota, because look, look at the guidance. Do I think it's any coincidence that Julie Lee's meltdown in court came just several hours after Pam Bondi decided to spend more time in Minnesota? I don't think so, but I'm sure my next report is she got canned. She got fired for telling the truth. And I hope she gets some sleep now. And Julie, when you get fired and you want to come on Midas Touch at Legal af, give us a call. We'll certainly platform you. So until our next report, I'm Michael Popak.

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