Loading summary
Transcript55 lines
- [00:01]
Ben Meisellis
This episode is brought to you by Lifelock. Not everyone is careful with your personal information, which might explain why there's a victim of identity theft every five seconds in the US. Fortunately, there's LifeLock. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity. If your identity is stolen, a US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year by visiting lifelock.com podcast terms apply hablas.
- [00:31]
Michael Popak
Espanol Spritz du Dzoic? If you've heard that sound from Babbel before, I bet you do. Babbel is the science backed language learning app that actually works with quick 10 minute lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts. Babbel gets you on your way to speaking a new language in just a few weeks with over 16 million subscriptions sold and a 20 day money back guarantee. Just start speaking another language with Babbel right now. Up to 55% off your Babbel subscription at babbel.com Spotify podcast spelled B A B-B-E-L.com Spotify podcast rules and Restrictions There.
- [01:01]
Ben Meisellis
Are research firms, there are consulting firms, and then there's Forrester. Forrester combines research based insights with hands on guidance that's focused on your needs and goals. Whether you're looking to align your organization or transform your business through generative AI, Forrester is on your side and by your side. Meet Today's forester@forrester.com Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void? Well, with LinkedIn ads you can know you're reaching the right decision makers. You can even target buyers by job title industry company Seniority skills. Wait, did I say job title yet? Get started today and see how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started at LinkedIn.com results terms and conditions apply. Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void? Well, with LinkedIn ads you can know you're reaching the right decision makers. You can even target buyers by job title industry company seniority skills. Wait, did I say job title yet? Get started today and see how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started at LinkedIn.com results terms and conditions apply. Let's talk about the federal court rulings invalidating Donald Trump's tariffs against the world. But then the federal Court of Appeals stepping in and temporarily staying those orders. What's the implication? What are those? Courts rule. What was Donald Trump's response? I'll give you a hint. He attacked his own Trump appointed judges and he attacked the Federalist Society. Calling the Federalist Society Leonard Leo a sleazebag scum. And that. That's the why. That's why these Trump judges are now ruling against Donald Trump. Let's talk about Trump's ongoing lawsuit against paramount CBS in 60 Minutes in Texas. One of the most frivolous lawsuits in my opinion I've ever read. Where in the most recent court filing Donald Trump says that suffering from severe mental and emotional distress because of the 60 minutes feature of former Vice President Kamala Harris back in October of 2024, past and future emotional distress. Donald Trump says it's worth $20 billion. That alone should disqualify you from holding any position of leadership yet alone the presidency. What should also disqualify you is when you do things like this. We'll talk about Trump's corrupt pardons. Reality TV show stars who defrauded the government out of tens of millions of dollars who were sentenced and convicted by a jury. We'll talk about his corrupt pardons of a sheriff, of people who have paid to be at his fundraisers. Clear quid pro quos going on. It is absolutely embarrassing and humiliating for the United States. And also, let's talk about the Supreme Court ruling that took place at Donald Trump's request, which will now lead to 500,000 Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians and other previously protected groups. They will lose their temporary protected status. They will lose their ability to stay in the United States. So do the Cubans and Venezuelans who supported Donald Trump and did not support President Biden. Biden was the one who supported your protected status here. Donald Trump is now sending you back to Cuba and Venezuela where you'll likely be tortured and die. I don't know how else. I don't want to mince words. Let's bring in Michael Popak. But according to the new MAGA Republican campaigning tactic, we're all going to die, right? That's what Joani Ernst said. MAGA Republican senator. And so why does it matter what the policy. Stop complaining, America. Stop whining is what Joni Earns said. It's going to happen one day anyway. Why do we even care? That's where they're going. That's why I call it a death cult.
- [05:26]
Michael Popak
It is that's the first time we've heard that. There's been other people that have said, well, we're all going to die. That, that is their, that is their mantra. It's a weird mantra, although I call it Carolyn Levette, I called her in a recent hot take Kool Aid Caroline, because she just hands out she's the chief distributor of all the bullshit at the podium as the press secretary. Look, the most remarkable thing of all the stories that we're talking about today is when we get to the one about Donald Trump deciding to not just bite the hand that feeds him, but amputate the hands of the Federalist Society and Leonard Leo mainly, and we'll get to it later, mainly over because he's had a, he's had a 96% losing streak in his court cases. He's, he's not even doing that great at the United States Supreme Court, although there are, there are some victories. It's about 50, 50. And he completely controls that court. At least Leonard Leo does. And yet he's decided to go after the shadowy figure named Leonard Leo because he had a loss at the apparently what triggered him, he had a loss at the Court of International Trade in New York, a handpicked court by him, just like the CBS Paramount case we're going to talk about. He handpicked the venue. He transferred the court there in order to pick up a Trump judge. He picked up a Trump judge, but then the judge ruled against him because what's the word I'm looking for? He's wrong from a constitutional analysis standpoint or statutory analysis standpoint about his tariff power, which he doesn't have. And then he has Carol Levette and everybody else call the guy an activist judge. An activist judge that he picked and that was nominated and confirmed and was not ultimately confirmed. But to go after, I want to get your view on this, of course, to go after Leonard Leo and to create this cleave or this schism between the, what I like to call the country club Republicans, the real conservative Republicans, and, and the maga. Maga. Maga. And what it means for the future federal judge picks like Emil Bove, who we're going to talk about next, because if it means that Stephen Miller is going to be picking your my next federal judges and get ready for Associate Justice Alina Haba, Associate Justice Pam Bondi, Associate justice of the Supreme Court Emil Beauvais and the rest. But there is impact, electoral impact on Donald Trump going after the Federalist Society and Leonard Leone. I want to talk to you about that when we get there.
- [07:54]
Ben Meisellis
It makes perfect sense, though, doesn't it, in a nonsensical way, in the sense that authoritarian regimes that we've seen, some of the first groups that they clamped down, are actually their own party to make sure that there's full 100% loyalty. I think about that moment where Saddam Hussein assumed full dictatorial power. Remember, he invited all of the members from the BAATH Party, which is the party he took over, and then he started calling out names of people. He brought them all to an auditorium. He would call out the names, your name would be called, you'd go out and you would be shot and killed. And the message is, you all need to be loyal to me 100%. Now, there's a variation of that that's really been underway in terms of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Right. Anyone who's not 100% MAGA and crazy has basically been pushed out. And Republican equals maga. Now MAGA equals Republican. Yet they still use the label conservative when there's literally nothing conservative them. But they know that corporate news pushes that, that label. So now they want to do it with the judiciary. And Trump looks at these judges and he sees that he keeps on losing. And he's like, I don't need judges who follow the law. I need judges who just do what I tell them to do. And I'm looking for more. To your point, Alina Habas. I'm looking for people, you know, people like that or like Judge Eileen Cannon. Like Cannon was good. I want, I need, I need more Judge Eileen Cannon. Another point I want to make quickly. Then I want to talk about the tariffs. So where Trump is losing all of these cases, 90% you mentioned he loses on the merits. You violated the law, usually egregiously. Where Trump wins, he almost never wins on the merit. He wins on procedure. And the procedure that he wins on are basically all of these assumptions, presumptions that the executive branch has a lot of power and we should listen to them because the president is this exalted position. So where the presidency says, hey, we need some help, basically we should give them a stay because we don't want to infringe as a co equal branch of government on the presidency versus, say, an individual who brought the lawsuit. So where Trump has been winning, it's not the court saying, actually, and we're going to talk about it with the Venezuelans and Cubans and Haitians. They're not saying, no, Donald, you have the right to deport these people. What they're really saying is we're going to stay pause the district court because we think that there's potential likelihood that you could. We don't know, but we're going to just basically say for now we view irreparable harm to the executive branch as so grievous and great that we're basically going to give you the pauses that you want. Now as we'll talk about that case in a little bit. Ketanji Brown Jackson, in her eight page scathing dissent says, well, all that does is buy time for the Trump regime to do the unlawful conduct. The damage will be done by the time the case works its way through court. A year from now, he will have already done the unlawful conduct and then the case will be moot. So wake the hell up rest of the Supreme Court justices. That's what she says. But I want to make that point. He's not winning on the merits. When he wins, he's winning on the procedure to stay. So that's also the case right here with the tariffs. Right. You have the federal International Trade Court, which I bet you a lot of people didn't even know even existed until this past week. And then you had a, and it's yeah, the United States Court of International Trade, three judge federal panel, a Trump judge, a Reagan judge and a Biden judge, all basically rule in this case that Trump's invocation of these, of this emergency powers, Popak, which you'll explain was invalid. And then a federal Judge Contreras in D.C. says the same thing. It's invalid. There's no emergency against Canada. There's no emergency war against the European Union. You're making this up. That's not what this, that what this was for. And then Trump goes to the Federal Court of Appeals, which oversees these issues of trade, and they give him a stay through June 9th. Basically there's like a briefing schedule. Right. And so now he can still impose his tariffs and do what he wants unilaterally through June 9th. And then who knows though, right? Popak? I mean the court can wait, can take longer to rule and then he can figure out the next illegal thing he's going to invoke. And now he's also being called a chicken. Trump always chickens out. So he's got that now and he feels like, I gotta now he raises the steel tariffs to 50% unilaterally in a speech in front of the US steel workers where he completely lies about the Nippon Steel deal. He says they're all going to get $5,000, bonuses, like just blatantly lies to these people. Anyway, I digress. Hope I'll break down what went down.
- [13:35]
Michael Popak
Good. I will. So let me take the plane up 5,000ft, look down. What we've been watching for the last 170 days, whatever it's been, is Donald Trump's strategy to use a combination of phony emergencies. This is for all of his policies, and an exploitation of the emergency shadow docket of the United States in combination in order to, through velocity and ferocity, in order to try to overwhelm the court system, to permit for as long as he can his various abuses, abuses of power. That's what we're watching. So he Whether it's the phony emergency if we're at war with Venezuela to deport and remove people and it's and its various iterations, or it's the phony emergence under the Alien Enemies act, or it's the phony emergency of an economic war or a war that gives them certain economic limited powers in order to do the tariff program. By the way, taking peeling back the onion just a moment. Because we're always at the intersection of law and politics. These policies are hated by the American people and not just Democrats and independents, although independents are abandoning Donald Trump and Maga in huge numbers, whereas they supported him and that's how he won the election. So all of his signature policies are underwater by disapproval ratings of 60, 60 to 70%, with more than 18% of Republicans thinking better of their vote. We haven't even gotten to the segment today when we talk about the core constituencies of Donald Trump, including where I'm living in Miami, of the Cuban, Haitian, well, the Cuban and Venezuelan community, what he's done to them. So he does those two things, phony emergencies, and then rather than give the supreme let's just call it for what it is, Federal courts and supreme courts are having trouble putting guardrails around a purposefully lawless, rogue, ferocious president felon in chief. And he's exploiting procedure in order to stampede them into decisions quickly that they really either wouldn't make with more deliberative time or at all. And they don't do well. Federal courts, up to the appellate courts and up to the lofty perch of the Supreme Court with being stampeded. And that's what the the moderates on the Supreme Court, Katanji Brown Jackson, who will talk about Kagan and Sotomayor, are saying at length, which is the short fuse of a skeletal record, no briefing and no oral argument, and more importantly, no time for Us to exercise our normal deliberative process to circulate competing opinions at the Supreme Court, to lobby each other for votes, you know, by way of, you know, law clerks and pizza boxes, which is what really happens back there. We don't do well under that and then generate a one paragraph decision on procedure or other things, but has the effect of giving Donald Trump a win, you know, and Donald Trump knows it. And so everything has to be an emergent. We've had 16 or 17 emergency applications by this president, more in this period of time, more than any other. So now what do we have? We have Donald Trump. A suit gets filed. And it was really kind of below the radar. We were like, who is this group? It was like a. A group of lawyers that, you know, public interest law firm, like, okay, that's interesting. And a bunch of small businesses that were getting harmed by the Chinese tariffs and all these retaliatory tariffs. They brought a case. It was not at the Court of International Trade. It was at a regular old federal, federal court. And Donald Trump was like, well, I'm going to lose with this guy, so let me transfer it. And he was right about. It's one thing I agreed with that the Court of International Trade in New York, which is 11 people, they sit three at a time. It's a trial court, if you will, so but they sit like an appellate court with three judges handling the case simultaneously. And he pulled a Trumper. It was like one Trump, like you said, one. One Biden, one Obama, whatever it was, but definitely a Trumper on there. And their argument was that they have exclusive jurisdiction over anything related to trade, including whether Donald Trump as president has the power to set those retaliatory tariffs. To yes or no. And you and I look closely at what the founding fathers gave us and the framers gave us in the Constitution, and we were like, where does he have the power to set tariffs? That's the power of Congress. Now, Congress can delegate with clear direction and give certain of its, you know, sticks from its bundle of powers to other branches, but it can't do it in a limitless way. It can't just say, here you do it right. You do tariffs, though. That's a core constitutional function of Congress. So the case was, the only other argument was, did Donald Trump have the power under the International Emergency, Economic Emergency Powers act, which we call ipa, yes or no. And you have to have almost like a war footing similar to the Alien Enemies act, in order for Donald Trump to be able to use that power. And what's the war. What a trade imbalance that Donald Trump participated in since 2016 that didn't just show up on our shores yesterday. That trade imbalances, to the extent that it matters, has been going on for decades. So to say that Congress, in this major question, gave the president the power now, just because they're doormats and limp noodles now and they're not fighting back, that's not the same thing as having properly delegated under IPA under these economic conditions, the power to Donald Trump. And so it was relatively even though we worry, you and I worried during a prior legal af, like they didn't enter the temporary restraining order because they rejected the temporary restraining order to block the tariffs while they were getting their hearts and minds around the briefing. But then they got their minds around the briefing and they granted summary judgment, meaning no trial, undisputed facts that this guy occupying the White House doesn't have the power under the statute or under the fundamental separation of powers to do what he did and blocked his retaliatory tariffs. Now, not everything was covered by that order. That's why Judge Contreras a day later issued another order, primarily about Chinese tariffs, about fentanyl and other things, and also found for the same analysis under IPA and under the Constitution that Trump doesn't have the power. So Trump doesn't like that result. So he immediately appeals to a specialty appellate court that you and I refer to as the Federal Circuit Court of Appeal, not to be confused with the court of appeals in D.C. which is different. This is a court that only handles patent and trademarks, trade, commerce and trade and technology. That's all they do. But it's a real Article 3 court. It's a real, a real court under Article 3 of the Constitution. And federal judges there, and they just sit it's just organized the way we talked about. And he, and he sought a stay there. So they issued the lowest level of stay in the food chain is an administrative stay. So they issued an administrative stay just for the purposes of allowing full briefing because again, judges don't like to be stampeded into making decisions. So they stayed the decision because, you know, it's hard to re reinstate the tariffs after the fact until this date in the future to allow for full briefing. And then they'll make a decision after they, after they see the full briefs. But I'll leave it on this. I'll turn it back to you, Ben. That triggered Donald Trump, along with his nomination of Emil Bove. Emil Bove, his chief political hack henchman, the closest person I can see to Donald Trump that looks like Roy Cohn from his New York days to be on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on the New Jersey seat that triggered a war. Those two events that we'll pick up with later between Donald Trump now at full out, out now, public warfare with the Federalist Society, who he used extensively. We wouldn't even have a federal judicial crisis right now if it wasn't for Donald Trump using the, the benefits of the Federalist Society and all their money to get elected and change the face of the federal judiciary.
- [22:17]
Ben Meisellis
Excited to talk about that. And I want to talk about some of these other topics we stated from the outset. I want to remind everybody, though, that your YouTube channel, the Legal AF YouTube channel, is just absolutely crushing it. You're on your way to 1 million subscribers there. Everybody please subscribe to the Legal AF YouTube channel. You also got a Legal AF substack, which I'm really enjoying as well. Finally, Michael Popak, you made the big leap and you started the POPOC firm. At the request of all of our viewers and listeners who had potential cases of their own, the firm that you're running, the POPOC firm, has now been helping a lot of listeners, a lot of viewers at the Midas touch with their cases or the legal cases of their loved ones. The types of cases you handle are catastrophic injury cases like bad car accidents, trucking accidents, wrongful death cases, cases involving sexual harassment and sexual assault, really bad negligence cases, and medical malpractice types of cases. Hey, Michael, if people here listening and watching want to contact you through your law firm, how do they do that?
- [23:30]
Michael Popak
Yeah, thanks, Ben. And it's, you know, we didn't when I formed it, it was a little bit of a flyer. Took a leap of faith to support our audience. But we're helping dozens and dozens of people so far with the short amount of time that we've been up and running. I've been a lawyer for 35 years, but this is the first time I've had a firm dedicated to this type of law. And so the two ways to reach us is you go right to the website www the Popoc Firm, P O P O K Firm or the 1-800-number-1877, Popak AF. Hey, Ben, I got one thing to say, though. When I come back, when you come back on screen, I see in the corner there behind you both the Webby for podcast of the year and some sort of YouTube award for, for the Midas. Am I right about that?
- [24:19]
Ben Meisellis
The YouTube award. One million subscribers, the Webby right there for podcast of the year. We're trying to get that YouTube up to 5 million subscribers and we got that about a year ago. So just talk about the growth of this network over the years.
- [24:35]
Michael Popak
Did you know? Did you know? And if you don't, then then I don't know who would. Did you know that the number one law and politics podcast on the YouTube podcast weekly rankings is a show that you and I founded five years ago called Legal af.
- [24:49]
Ben Meisellis
It wouldn't shock me. A rocket ship as you said. When we had 30 people watching, you said, ben, this is a rocket ship. I said, if you say so, Michael Popo. And there you have it. We'll be right back after our first quick break of the show.
- [25:02]
Michael Popak
You ever notice the signs of getting older? Creeping in? Poor sleep, low energy, maybe a little brain fog or stiffness that didn't used to be there. Same here. And healthy aging is something I've been thinking about more than ever. That's why I'm so excited to share with you guys. C15 from Fatty 15, the first emerging essential fatty acid to be discovered in more than 90 years. It is an incredible scientific breakthrough to support our long term health and wellness and you guessed it, healthy aging. Fatty 15 co founder Dr. Stephanie Van Watson. She discovered C15 while working with the US Navy on aging dolphins. Over 100 studies now show that C15 strengthens our cells and helps slow biological aging at the cellular level. When our cells don't have enough C15, they become fragile and age faster. That's called cellular fragility syndrome, the first new nutritional deficiency in 75 years. One in three people worldwide may have it. Fatty 15 is a science backed, award winning, patented 100% pure C15 supplement that repairs cellular damage, boosts sleep and brain health and helps your body feel younger from the inside out. I've been taking fatty 15 for a few months now and I really started noticing deeper sleep and more energy throughout the day. I wasn't expecting much at first, but I've actually seen a difference and that's saying a lot. When most supplements don't deliver and it comes in a beautiful reusable jar with easy refill sent right to your door. Fatty 15 is on a mission to optimize your C15 levels to help support your long term health and wellness, especially as you age. You can get an additional 15% off their 90 day subscription starter kit by going to fatty15.com legal AF and using code legalAF at checkout. Oh Brain Fog rolls in for me about every morning at 6:30am when our baby daughter just starts to stir and I need my brain to wake up in a hurry for our action packed day. Coffee with its highs and lows just didn't do it for me after 30 plus years of just increasing my coffee intake. And then I found Mud Water and particularly its Morning Ritual Starter Kit with a free frother and 30 servings of mud Water and I fell in love with a drink the way you only can when you're talking about a natural mushroom based alternative to coffee grounds and water. And I prepare it just like I would my old cup of joe. A little creamer, a little sweetener and I am good to go. It's a cozy mix of cacao, chai, turmeric and adaptogenic mushrooms to help you feel focused and balanced, not wired. Every single ingredient in Mud Water's products are 100% USDA certified organic, non GMO, gluten free, vegan and kosher. There's also zero sugar and no sweeteners added. To use Mud Water you simply drop the powder into your favorite mug, pour some water on it and give it a mix. Some go wild and they add creamer, honey or even cbd. The best part about Mud Water is it provides sustained energy without the spikes and crash of traditional coffee. There's also caffeine free blends available. Their Turmeric Starter Kit blends Radiant ginger, warm Turmeric and Rooibos Chai. If you're looking for a blend to support immunity, digestion, focus with clean energy, all with the feeling of golden hour at sunset, this is a game changer. Mud Water is available at Target and Sprouts locations across the US So it's never been easier to grab a cup of this friendly pick me up. Ready to make the switch to cleaner Energy? Head to mudwater.com and grab your starter kit today. Right now our listeners get an exclusive deal up to to 43% off your entire order plus free shipping and a free rechargeable frother when you use code legal AF. That's right up to 43% off with code Legalif at M u d w t r.com and after you purchase to ask you how you found them, please show your support and let them know we sent you. Keep your energy natural and refreshing all year long with Mud Water because life's too short for anything less than clean, delicious energy.
- [29:04]
Ben Meisellis
Welcome back to Legal af. Ben Meisellis and Michael Popak here. Thank you to those Pro Democracy sponsors. The discount code for those pro Democracy sponsors are in the description below, they help fund this show. We have zero investors at the Midas Touch Network. So give those pro democracy sponsors, show them some love. They got good products and Jordy does a good job with the negotiations with them to get you good deals. All right, let's get into it. Michael Popak and talk about the kind of reaction to the fact that all these Trump appointed judges have been ruling against Donald Trump because they're still following the law by and large. And you know, this ruling by the International Trade Court really set Donald Trump off when he's realized it was a Trump appointed judge and a Reagan appointed judge who joined with a Biden appointed judge and said it's illegal for you to tariff the entire world, citing the iee, you know, a, you know, the international, this emergency power. All right, so this is how Stephen Miller, Donald Trump's top advisor, responds to the question. It's a good question by cnn. You're calling all these judges leftists and communists, but it's, it's a Trump guy. So is Trump's judge a leftist and a communist? And without missing a beat, Stephen Miller says, yeah, because the Federalist Society, they're communist and leftists. Here, play this clip. That's democracy. So if there's 15 communist crazy judges.
- [30:44]
Michael Popak
On the court that each of them.
- [30:46]
Ben Meisellis
As a team working together can block.
- [30:48]
Michael Popak
And freeze each and every executive action.
- [30:50]
Ben Meisellis
Joe Biden was allowed by that same court system. Some of them are Trump judges. Why did Trump put these crazy communist judges, as you call them, on the. You heard, you heard, you heard President Trump himself say that the Federal Society and Leonard Leo has created a broken system for judicial vetting. And God knows this time around we are not support picking any Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. What it means is simply this and nothing more. We're not going to be using the Federal Society to make judicial nominations at all going forward. But let me tell you about these rogue judges. This is the most litigated issue over the last 10 years. Over the last 10 years, whether or not to deport the foreigners who invaded our country illegally. That is the most litigated issue. That's why you can't really have a debate or a discussion with. I mean, they're like, they're literally crazy human beings. Yeah, I just wrote they're literally sociopath. Like, like they literally are just bad, evil people who will lie and it doesn't even matter. Yeah, the Federalist Society, the people who've enacted your entire agenda, the Project 20, they're the leftist communists. I mean but, but there is no way you can have a rational discussion like you're not going to be ever able to convince someone like that of let's debate and maybe we'll have a good. They're always bad faith. Here's Howard Lutnick attacking the Reagan judge and then saying the Trump judge, blue slip, not really the Trump appointed judge. He goes, not really a Trump appointed judge. And he goes, Reagan was really bad on trade and so we can trust Reagan appointed judges. Watch Letnick here play it.
- [32:31]
Michael Popak
Was he surprised about this three judge panel because it was a Reagan judge? It wasn't. It was a Trump judge and then it was an Obama judge and it was a unanimous ruling on this court. Is he surprised by that?
- [32:48]
Ben Meisellis
Well, I think, you know, he was.
- [32:49]
Michael Popak
Not happy with the panel because what you call the Trump judge is just one of these blue slip judges, meaning.
- [32:55]
Ben Meisellis
It was a Democrat judge, it was their seat and he just approved their seat, which is the deal for those kind of things.
- [33:02]
Michael Popak
And you know, while we would love.
- [33:04]
Ben Meisellis
Ronald Reagan, you know, on trade, he.
- [33:07]
Michael Popak
Just was not a strong trade guy. So, you know, I think the, the president saw the panel as weak. He's been through this kind of stuff before. I think he's confident on appeal, he's confident at the Supreme Court and I think he knows he's going to win because he's got to protect the American people.
- [33:25]
Ben Meisellis
And again, it's always done through this. He's got to protect the American people by imposing tariffs on the rest of the world. That doesn't protect me or any of our viewers or anybody. And I can go on and on and on. By taking away our health care, that's not protecting us. By taking away fema, that's not protecting us. By disappearing Americans and by disappearing human beings who are just here don't have to be Americans. That's not protecting. Anyway, we get the point. It's ridiculous. And then Donald Trump posts this long screed that, that looks like literally emails that I would get sent to me from like 5150 people in like involuntary psychologicals, the U. S. Court of international Trade, incredibly blah. Like don't worry folks, I'm not going to read this.
- [34:15]
Michael Popak
Is that one sentence with no punctuation?
- [34:18]
Ben Meisellis
Yeah, that's one sentence with no punctuation. And then he goes on and he's. And he goes the Federalist Society. I was new to Washington and it was suggested that I use the Federalist Society as a recommending source on judges. I did so openly and freely. But then realized that they were under the thumb of a real sleazebag named Leonard Leo, a bad person who in his own way probably hates America and obviously has his own separate ambitions. And he goes on to bash all of the judges he appointed because he says the Federalist Society recommended it and they are a leftist communist organization.
- [34:56]
Michael Popak
Popak. So let's, let's, let's, let's dive into that for a moment and it really is jaw dropping. I don't want to. We talk about a lot of things and what we have to avoid is, is our eyes becoming glassy and get Trump fatigue because we got to stay focused. And as I've said on my new, one of my new one liners on my hot takes is we no longer have the luxury of being the silent majority. We have to speak out and we have to speak truth to each other and then we have to actually vocalize it and vote on it and run the bastards out on a rail come the midterms. And they are giving us the ammunition in order to do that. Leonard Leo and I'll tell you who's done an amazing job. It's really their reason for existence is court accountability action. Over with us on legal af. Their main focus is on corruption at the federal court system from all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. And one of the main protagonists of that is Leonard Leo who is this ultra right wing Catholic shadowy figure that helped co found and run the Federalist Society. But not just the Federalist Society, there's another half dozen, maybe a dozen interlocking organizations that he funds with about a $2 billion a year war chest that he takes in from mag, not just maga, right right wing, religious right wing, Catholic right wing sources and then doles it out. I mean he is very close with Ginni Thomas Clarence Thomas, his wife and her organizations and helps fund those organizations. He helped found the leading ultra right wing law school in America, which is the Anthony Scalia Law School at George Mason University where which is a training academy and leadership academy for all Federalist judges and all the judges that Donald Trump has put on and all the ones that you and I have been talking about for the last five years making some of these decisions in his favor are primarily Federalist Society club members like Aileen Cannon and they go to this George Mason University, it's Antonin Scalia on retreats both at the school, at hunting lodges around the country, outside of the country, or all bought and paid for by Leonard Leo. Speaking of who was bought and paid for by Leonard Leo, Amy Amy Coney, Barrett Gorsuch and Kavanaugh who, when their, when their various candidacies were on the rocks to be Supreme Court justices and they took a lot of heat for past positions or their unwillingness to support precedent or unwillingness to support Roe vs Wade, he ran multi million dollar ad campaigns in order to, he and the National Rifle association to get these people on hand. Picked by Leonard Leo for Donald Trump to give him a right wing 6 to 3 conservative majority or a right wing majority on the Supreme Court. That's all. Leonard Leo working with Mitch McConnell, then the, the, the Senate Democratic Majority Leader and to the benefit of Donald Trump. That's how he was able to reshape the face of the Supreme Court and to a slightly lesser extent federal courts and, and appellate courts. Now Donald Trump's going to have another opportunity to do that again, but apparently he's not going to go along with the Federalist Society on this one. And I know there was some reporting that said, well, he doesn't have as many federal judges to appoint this time around. That's not true. He came into office with 45 openings at the trial court level that Joe Biden just couldn't get filled and three at the appellate court level, which he's now nominated. Emil Beauvais. We'll talk about that in a second. Second. And so he's got those. But that's not the only ones. Through attrition, retirement and death, he will get another round every month, every few months. And then between now and 2028, 250 judges are going to go senior status. And for every senior status judge, Donald Trump gets one pick. So he's going to have 300 plus federal judges. He may have more if we don't stop him at the midterms. And MAGA continues to control Congress. Watch them try to give him another hundred, another 150 a la Reagan in order to expand the federal judiciary, giving Donald Trump an unprecedented opportunity. Now why is there this war that's broken out with the Federalists? Yes, he's on an epic losing streak. TRUMP 96% of the cases he's lost, including basically 50, 50 at the Supreme Court at this point. So you got that. You've got, you know, being embarrassed by the Court of International Trade and the Trumper there. But that's not the only Trumper, as you pointed out earlier, that's ever voted or Trump appointee that's ever voted against Donald Trump since, since the start of this term. We've talked about them at Length. They're just, they happen all the time because Donald Trump is wrong in the law and wrong in the Constitution and he doesn't color within the lines of that giant constitutional coloring book. And that's a problem for judges. Okay, so you got that going on. But one of the arguments, and Alex Aronson on court accountability action did a great job on Legal AF about this, tying these things together. And we're going to do another piece with Lisa Graves about it, which is Ed Whelan, who is one of the stalwarts, one of the icons of the Federalist Society, came out publicly against Emil Bovet being being nominated for the Third Circuit, saying he is, he is, he is unqualified. He is nothing but a partisan hack. This is his words from the national review on 30 May. He had already been, Whelan had already been attacked by the White House Department of Justice about a week earlier because they were trying to soften them, soften, you know, normalize and socialize. Emil Beauvais being put on the third from the New Jersey seat, so to speak. It covers Pennsylvania, New Jersey and I think the Virgin Islands and Donald Trump's attempt to add more right wingers to these historically moderate or left leaning circuit courts. So when Whelan came out and attacked, obviously with the blessing of Leonard Leo, because they're very close, and then the Trump administration started attack wheeling. This was open warfare in public between maga MAGA led by Stephen Miller, who's not a lawyer but plays one in the White House. I'm sad to say he's a Duke, Duke University graduate who looks insane and talks just, it's just kitchen magnet poetry bullshit that comes out of his mouth every time he's interviewed. But he is the number one. You know, I don't want to underestimate my opponent. He is the number one advisor and ear bender for Donald Trump. Is Stephen Miller as the, from his perch of being the. Well, he's a lot of things. He's got a post at Homeland Security. He's got a. But he's technically the deputy White House chief of staff. And from that role as a presidential counselor, he sets a lot of the policy for Donald Trump. He like took over from Boris Epstein, who took over from Michael Cohen. It's that, it's that role. And so it's going to be Stephen Miller picking these judges. Stephen Miller, we think, is the reason Pam Bondi is the Department of Justice head. Todd Blanche is the number two. Emil Bove was the number three. And John Sauer was the number four in the Department of Justice. So we need to keep a close eye on him. The question is, can we kill the nomination of Emil Beauvais with all of these things that Ed Whelan had pointed out in the National Review? Certainly, the Democrats are going to have to try, because if we don't draw the line in the sand on, on Emil Bovet, you don't like him, then you're gonna hate Supreme Court Justice Alina Haba or federal judge. Alina Haba or federal judge and then fill in the blank. Now we see that we can have an impact on federal, on even Republican senators who are starting to rebel against Donald Trump at the federal court level when they rejected Donald Trump's choice. Original choice. Ed. Ed Marks. Ed Marks, yeah. To be the head of the U.S. attorney's office in D.C. so there is a way to peel off some votes here. You only need a couple to get it, you know, so it dies in committee. And we got to try to do the same thing for Emil Bovet. It is that important. And then finally, when I watch these clips that you show, like with Howard Lutnick. Howard Lutnick was, you can look it up. Howard Lutnick was a Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton and everybody else until about five years ago. So for him to try to wear the mantle of Ronald Reagan, who he effectively, as Asin said in a posting from the Midas Touch network, said he's. Reagan is a Republican in name only. He's a Rhino, you know, but, but they're shameless. They are shameless political hacks that will say anything. That's what Donald Trump wants around him. Who will say anything in order to show fear, show loyalty and fealty to Donald Trump. And that's what we're gonna see with his federal court nominees. You know, we're going to see only the ones that he thinks are going to rule in his favor on a litmus test are going to be. And that's scary proposition from now until the end of his term. That's why, once again, I'll just say it out loud because it's important. If we don't, if we're not successful at beating the Republicans and this is a referendum on Trump at the midterms. There's no Kamala, there's no Biden, even though he keeps talking about them incessantly, it's just thumbs up or thumbs down on Donald Trump and Maga and the Republicans. If we don't win back the House and the Senate, we have to win back the House and the Senate in order to have any semblance of checks and balance between now and the end of the term on the way to the 2028 election. And more importantly, or as importantly, we've got to deny the Republicans the ability to confirm these radical right wing, out of step with America unpatriotic judicial picks.
- [45:03]
Ben Meisellis
On this next topic. It's a hot take that I covered in depth, so I'll just do it briefly here again. But it's worth mentioning that in Donald Trump's $20 billion lawsuit against Paramount, which owns CBS, where the show 60 Minutes is distributed by Donald Trump filed an opposition to CBS and Paramount's motion to dismiss. Now, in the background of all of this, we've learned that there have been mediations between Paramount and Trump. Paramount is trying to merge, basically sell the majority shareholders stake to a company called Skydance, which would become the controlling shareholder. That merger requires approval by various government entities from the DOJ from an antitrust perspective and also the FCC, because they control a lot of individual channels and local TV channels. And so Donald Trump has basically threatened if you don't settle with me, you're not going to get approved for the merger. All of the reporting which has gone thus far unrebutted is that Paramount has offered to settle with Donald Trump on this ridiculous lawsuit for, for $15 million. But Trump wants at least 25 million and a public apology to be paid to Donald Trump personally, this lawsuit. And CBS hasn't agreed to those terms yet. There have been a lot of people at CBS, from the main producer at 60 Minutes to the president of CBS News, who have resigned from their positions because they feel their editorial judgment has been compromised by all of this. You know, ultimately, if CBS and Paramount settle, you know, I wonder what Skydance is even acquiring because, you know, the asset itself, I think will be so sullied that they're going to be acquiring, this is my opinion, a dead asset. Because who the hell is going to watch anything if they settle for that amount of money or ever kind of, you know, how could you ever trust anything they say ever again? So they got to deal with that. But this lawsuit, Donald Trump filed it in last year. It was former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on 60 Minutes. Donald Trump was too afraid to appear on 60 Minutes. They did a promo of Kamala Harris's interview where her answer on Israel was. And what she was doing in Israel and Gaza was a bit meandering. It was a bit just wordy and it wasn't crisp. In the final production that aired, her answer was a bit tightened and it looked just a little bit crisper, some, some removals of ums and ahs, you know, and, and just the answer was a little bit more compacted. And Donald Trump said that that was something that caused, like there was no real manipulation that took place. There was no edit that was of any material nature. I, I still think that the answer that she gave when they showed the one on 60 Minutes, like, wasn't, wasn't necessarily a clear answer. But in, you know, they sit with you for hours and hours and hours, they have to compact it into, you know, 45 minutes when you add the commercial breaks into it. And, you know, usually you'll use your editorial judgment and say, hey, I'm not cutting something material. I just have to shorten this thing so it could go on tv. But Donald Trump said that's caused him grievous emotional distress. He had Ronnie Jackson, his MAGA Republican Congress member from Amarillo, Texas join the lawsuit so they could file this in Amarillo, Texas to, to draw a Trump favorable judge. Who is the only judge who sits in Amarillo, Judge Matthew Kaczmarek. And they got that judge because they said, look, Ronnie Jackson was injured too. And what were you injured for? Like, yeah, we were consumers. We were deceived by the ad about what was going to be shown. Then we watched the 60 Minute show and then that caused us real serious emotional distress. And now we're in pain. We have pain and suffering in the amount of $20 billion. And again, don't take my word for it. Go read their their filings. This is their memorandum of law in opposition to the motion to dismiss that was filed on page 25. They go. Finally, plaintiff being Donald Trump's reliance. And damages are more fulsomely discussed with respect to plaintiff's injury. In fact, as noted, plaintiffs relied both on defendants false and misleading advertisements as well as their deceptively edited content, leading both to pecuniary damages and for President Trump, damage to his campaign, as well as mental anguish and confusion as to the truth of the matters asserted by defendants. And then they cite their complaint that he's suffering from mental anguish as a result of this. Because one of the arguments CBS raised is what there's no way, in addition to it not being defamatory or not being a violation of any consumer statute, what's his injury? And Trump says mental anguish, $20 billion. I mean, again, how pathetic can you get right there? Go back and watch the full hot. Take that I do. Where I read Trump's complaint. I read all of the allegations. So you can go back if you want to see and just verify what I'm saying here, that Trump claimed his injury was the advertisement used slightly different words than was in the 60 minutes when they edited and cut it. That's what he said caused them serious damage. Anyway, we'll talk about that more when we come back from our next break. And then I want to talk, though, about what the Supreme Court ruling means for Cubans, Venezuelans and Haitians. They did it on procedural grounds, but their procedural ground is going to lead to Cubans, Venezuelans and Haitians and others likely getting sent back to the regimes that they fled and probably getting tortured and killed.
- [51:13]
Michael Popak
So 500,000 people are going to be shipped out while they're working on the.
- [51:17]
Ben Meisellis
Niceties of the appeal and while they're working in the United States on construction sites and.
- [51:25]
Michael Popak
Absolutely. Businesses with sponsors.
- [51:30]
Ben Meisellis
And paying taxes and contributing to the American economy. It's, it's, it's just the, the dumbest, cruelest type of policy. But that pretty much sums Donald Trump up. Reminder. Subscribe to Michael Popo's YouTube page, Legal AF. They're on their way to 1 million subscribers. Let's help them get there this summer. Subscribe now to the Legal AF YouTube channel. Just search Legal AF on YouTube. Next. Reminder, Michael Popox substack. The Legal AF sub stack is doing great. Make sure you subscribe to the Legal AF sub stack. And finally, as I mentioned earlier in the show, Michael Popak took the plunge, started the Popoc firm based on the requests of our audience. Lots of people had cases. They wanted Popoc to be their lawyer. He couldn't based on what he was doing before he started his own firm, the Popoc firm, they handle catastrophic injury cases. Catastrophic injury. He'd love to help everybody, but the injuries have to be catastrophic. And that's sad and difficult to, you know, but that's, those are the cases he handles. So bad trucking accidents, bad car accidents where there are surgeries, wrongful death cases, if you know people who died in an incident, medical malpractice cases, sexual assault cases, plane crashes. Plane crashes, Popak, where could they find you?
- [52:50]
Michael Popak
Yeah, we made it easy. Thanks, Ben. Yeah, I couldn't do it till I founded my own firm. And now just so heart, heartwarming to be able to work so closely with our audience on cases that have turned their lives or those their loved ones are around them upside down and topsy turvy and help get them justice two ways. All all roads lead to the same place, which is to have somebody get on the phone with you and do a free case evaluation for you. And this is all what we call contingency fee. We don't get paid unless you do at all ever as long as we take the case. So you can go to the website www the popak firm p o p o k firm.com or a 1-800-number-1-877-popoc. What else popak af there you have it.
- [53:42]
Ben Meisellis
Let's take our last quick break of the show. I want you to break down that Supreme Court order. You know you Florida, you know the stakes there. And then I want to talk about a few other topics as well. Let's take our last quick break of the show.
- [53:56]
Michael Popak
Did you know Fast Growing Trees is the biggest online nursery in the US with thousands of different plants and over 2 million happy customers. They have all the plants your yard needs like fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, and so much more. Fast Growing Trees makes it easy to get your dream yard order online and get your plants delivered directly to your door in just a few days without ever leaving home. Their alive and thrive guarantee ensures your plants arrive happy and healthy. Plus get support from trained plant experts on call to help you plan your landscape, choose the right plants and learn how to care for them. We recently moved into a new house and it came with two big bald spots where grass used to be but the prior owner's dog wore out. So we turned to Fast Growing Trees and their plant experts advice turned an eyesore into one of our favorite features of the yard with a few key lime trees suited for our climate and location saved us all the aggravation of dealing with unknown landscapers and nurseries too. Big yard, Small yard, no yard. Fast Growing trees has over 6,000 plants to to fit any space from indoor plants to fruit trees to full size privacy trees and more. And their 14 point quality checklist ensures you're getting the best quality plant possible. Each plant is cared for individually based on their needs, from watering routines to the amount of sunlight, giving your plants the care they deserve from the time they start growing to when they ship to your home. Whether you're looking to add privacy, shade or natural beauty to your yard, Fast Growing Trees has in house experts ready to help you make the right selection. With plant experts on call to offer growing and care advice, you can talk to a plant expert about your soil type, landscape design, how to take care of your plants and everything else you need. No green thumb required. Every plant comes with instructions and tips to take care of your new plants so they can grow to their fullest potential. This spring. They have the best deals for your yard, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get 15% off their first purchase when using the code LEGAL AF at checkout. That's an additional 15% off at fast growingtrees.com using the code LEGALA EFF at checkout fast growing trees.com code LEGAL AF Now's the perfect time to plant use LEGAL AF to save today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. Feeling a little stalled out in the bedroom? Through hims you can get some gas back in the tank with personalized ED treatment options that are accessible without ever stepping foot into a doctor's office. HIMSS is changing men's health care by providing you with access to affordable sexual health treatments from the comfort of your couch. HIMS provides access to a range of doctor trusted ED treatments like chewable tablets, Viagra and Cialis and their generics for up to 95% less. The process is 100% online so there's no need for uncomfortable doctor's visits. Just fill out an intake form on their site and a medical provider will determine the right treatment option. If prescribed, your medication ships directly directly to you for free. No insurance is needed and one low price covers everything from treatments to ongoing care. With hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers, HIMS can help you find the ED option that works for you. Start your free online Visit today@hisss.com LegalAF that's H I M S.com Legal AF for your personalized ED treatment options. Hims.com/legal A F welcome back to Legal AF.
- [57:49]
Ben Meisellis
Thank you to our pro Democracy sponsors. The show is not possible without them. The discount codes are in the description below. Hey Popak, let's talk about this Supreme Court ruling, the effect of which is to remove the temporary protected status. What also is also called kind of these paroled in or parole status for 500,000 Cubans, Venezuelans and Haitians. This is in addition to a Supreme Court ruling about a week, a week and a half ago that impacted another 200,000 Venezuelans with the same basic result of removing their temporary protected status. If you read the Supreme Court ruling, they do it on technical grounds. They say that they are staying a district court ruling from a federal court in Massachusetts which blocked the Homeland Security Department from removing the parole status, removing the temporary protected status on a blanket basis. What the initial federal court said is you can do it even if it's cruel. You're the new administration. You could be cruel. But you can't just do an executive order that says everybody loses it. You have to do it the same way. The Biden administration granted everybody protected status, which was rigorous, but it was on an individual basis. They had to apply, they had applications there, had to, you know, you had to get checked off. You know, you can't just say everybody loses it. You have to go through a process. And look, I think the judge knew in the federal court in Massachusetts, this Trump regime is lazy. They won't go through a process and so make them go through the process. I mean, but that, but that's what the law require. But, but let's be clear. The federal district court said you could remove them. Just go through the process. And Trump was like, nah, I just say they leave, they're gone. I don't want the Cubans here. I don't want the Venezuelans here. I don't want the brown people here. That's what Trump said basically, right? Like, I don't want them here. Bring me the white Africaners. I want, they come in white South Africa. I'm going to make up a fake genocide that doesn't exist. Whites in browns out, like, let's be like, that's what he's doing. If you don't recognize that that's what he's doing, then you need to really rethink your own kind of logical abilities because it's freaking very, very obvious. And then you have all the Cubans and Venezuelans who, as you know, Popak, they're, look, the Cubans and Venezuelans who vote, they're here, they're citizens. That's how they vote. These people under TPS don't vote, but they're the family members of the people who are here, who sponsored to bring them here to flee the regimes Maduro and the regime in Cuba where they would be killed. So Biden said, I hear you. Cuban community, Venezuelan, I hear you. They can come in. We're going to give them temporary protect. We're going to protect them. Donald Trump said, trust me, trust me. I got your back too. Biden said, he doesn't have your back. I promise you. Read the signs. Mass deportation on day one. He's going to, he's, he's going to deport your family members. He's going to try to kill your family members. Don't do it, Trump. Trust me, trust me, trust me. So you had on, you know, the show with, on one shoulder, you Had Biden on the other shoulder, you had Trump. And who did the Cubans and Venezuelans pick?
- [61:34]
Michael Popak
Trump.
- [61:35]
Ben Meisellis
We like Trump. And then he just did that.
- [61:40]
Michael Popak
He just killed your family. What?
- [61:42]
Ben Meisellis
Popo, break it down.
- [61:44]
Michael Popak
Yeah, well, let's do the procedure then. I'll do the politics because I know that I know the Cuban community very Cuban American community very well in Miami for years of having lived down here and practiced down here. And they should be shocked about it because if you substituted just another ethnic group or religious group, like if the Jewish community, if there were a group of Jews that just got deported and had their status violated and sent back to places where they could be killed, Jewish community would be up in arms about the Trump administration and what they just did. So let me just break it down this way. Simply what we're not talking about, we're not talking about undocumented. They're documented. They have temporary protective status to allow them with a sponsor. They have to have a sponsor and jobs to stay in the, pardon me talking all day. They're, they're documented with temporary status with a sponsor to allow them to work in this country, to pay taxes, billions of dollars of taxes in this country while they seek more permanent legal status, asylum or something else. They get to stay here and not be sent back to war torn and economically unstable places where they could be killed like Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Okay, sounds like a good thing. Sounds like you're making potentially new, loyal, patriotic Americans and we should be in that business. That was the business we were in when my great grandfather came here and my grandfather came here. Right. Loyal America. That's how you make loyal Americans. You know, they don't just come out of thin air. And so these people were here for that reason. They have relationships, they have to, they have to be sponsored in order to stay here. They're not criminals. Quite the opposite. The reality is that the percentage of people on TPS status who commit crimes, it's almost infinitesimal because they're trying to get status. So they're not committing crimes. By and large, violent crime in America is committed by blue passport holding white Americans and other Americans, not other people. Sure, you can point out a terrible, terrible story of somebody being raped and murdered by an undocumented. But, but why don't you tell the story about the school shooter who's just an 18 year old, you know, white kid? You know, you don't talk about that on the Republican side. So that's the, that's the status. Now the Republicans love to misstate vocabulary and try to capture the narrative. So they call them parolees as if they're out of jail? No, it's just that under the statutory language that's used when you're under this program and you're allowed to work and go out, you're considered a parolee. But Donald Trump and maga, like, oh, they're parolees like they were in jail.
- [64:48]
Ben Meisellis
No.
- [64:48]
Michael Popak
Okay. That's the group. The thing that is politically and I'll get to the court case, the thing that's politically unsavory and should be a wake up call for these communities is that your aunt, uncle, colleague, employee have now been effect. Everybody in Miami, for instance, is not one degree separated. It's a half a degree separated by people who are here under that program. And I honor the hardworking Cuban American community and what they made in Miami. They're pillars of the society. They're the bankers, the real estate developers, the accountants, the lawyers, the doctors. They run Miami. But look at what's happening to your fellow Cubans. I know everybody says, well, let's lift up the ladder. We're in now. But you know, like Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State from Florida, but that's not the way we're supposed to be operating our democracy. Haitian community as well, hard working here in, in Miami in Venezuelan as well. And they vote, not the Haitians, but the Venezuelans and the Cuban community voted in large numbers for Donald Trump. He still loses in Miami Dade county when he runs, but by smaller numbers than in the past, which means the state has moved into the red zone and out of purple and blue. Supreme Court gets the case from a decision of the Court of Appeals that refused to stay their order, which is supposed to mean something and determines that that Donald Trump's decision with Kristi Noem is arbitrary and capricious because he doesn't do, they don't do a case by case assessment. They just do it. A mass deportation which violates the statute is also a very good argument that the current, the new head of the Homeland Security can't undo a decision by the prior head because nothing has changed in those countries. They haven't healed overnight. They're not. Cuba is no better than it was under Joe Biden or Venezuela. The only thing that's changed is the election. And so there's also that argument. So they the lower court and the appellate court block the deportation order and the ending of the TPS status for these 500,000 people. And then Donald Trump, as I started the hot the the podcast with Takes an emergency, like the 17th emergency application to the Supreme Court to try to stampede them into a quick decision. And the first decision they have to make is whether they're going to stay the order. It comes out of the First Circuit, out of Massachusetts. So the first stop on the train is Ketanji Brown Jackson. She turns it over, although I keep imploring these people not to turn it over to the full panel. Just, just deny it. Just deny it if you want to deny it. But they're so like into process. Oh, I must let the rest of my brethren weigh in on this. No, you don't. That's not how the shadow docket used to work. Just deny it and then let them lob another appeal in or request into the full panel. She sends it to the full panel and then the full panel votes. Now, it's interesting, it looks like it's seven to two. So I'm not sure where Kagan ended up on this either. But the decision is that they're going to stay the First Circuit Court of Appeals decision, meaning that the deportation can continue. So they'll get rid of all 500,000 while they get around to the full appeal being on the merits, being litigated. But in order to do that, if it's being done properly under a set of factors that's called the Nikin or Nikin factors, you have to look at whether there's a likelihood that they're going to win. If there's a fair chance that the administration is going to prevail on the merits, they have to find that. And under certain circumstances, they also have to find irreparable harm is in favor of the Trump administration. And apparently they found both things, which freaked out Katanji Brown Jackson, who wrote a scathing eight page dissent. Because the decision, this is the problem with the shadow docket. The decision is a half a paragraph. That's all we got to go on, you know, until a year from now. Ketanji Brown Jackson said, you gotta do an analysis of the factors. And my brethren have botched it today because there's no way you can look at this case, especially coming off of the Court of Appeals having denied the stay, which is supposed to create a heightened burden for Trump to convince the Supreme Court that to overturn that decision, it's supposed to be under. Only under extraordinary circumstances. And what are the extraordinary circumstances? Right. She can't believe that they think, I think she's also chastising the majority are the ones that voted for this, that they think that the Trump administration is going to win, that they're able to deport these people en masse without case by case analysis. And, and she calls it for what it is, which is if you're, if you're issuing this administrative stay, which is not technically on the merits of the case, you really just made a merits decision in a very short amount of time without a proper record, without oral argument, without deliberation, because the end effect is the same. Trump is going to be able to deport most of these people before they get around to ultimately make a ruling. And the Supreme Court is already signaling if it ever comes back to us, we think it's probably okay. And so that's one of, you know, Donald Trump is losing at the trial court level before every judge, 96%, 65 or more injunctions, losing record in 200 cases. At the Supreme Court, it's about 50, 50 right now. I think he's running maybe one ahead of 50, 50 with this new decision. But you see, again, a Supreme Court that's struggling to a degree with trying to restrain Donald Trump. At the same time, their own internal struggle about over giving the imperial president or the unitary president as much power as possible kind of spills out when it comes to immigration and deportation issues. And we're starting to see this pattern play out as the Supreme Court wrapped for this current term. But we're still waiting on, like, 20 more decisions over the summer. And the new term, of course, starts the first Monday of October of, of this coming fall.
- [71:13]
Ben Meisellis
That brings us finally to the Trump pardons, which deserve a lot of attention. He is pardoning anybody, basically, who's full maga, regardless of their crimes. People who were convicted of heinous crimes of fraud, of bribery, of building, well, pretending to build statutes for fallen police officers, but using it for their own cosmetic surgery. If you go full maga, you get the pardon. For example, Todd and Julie Chrisley reality TV show. People who, you know, basically defrauded the government out of tens of millions of dollars. They were convicted by a jury very, very quickly. Their daughter was like a MAGA influencer who would speak at the Republican National Convention. And they get pardoned. And, you know, one of the things that they were asked as they left was, you know, do you have any remorse for what you did? I mean, you, you know, you stole money, you were found guilty. Do you have remorse for, for what you did? You, you, you've ripped off a lot of people. You wrote bad checks here. This is what they say here. Play this clip.
- [72:26]
Michael Popak
Question.
- [72:27]
Ben Meisellis
Thank you.
- [72:28]
Michael Popak
Chris Lee do you have any rewards for the actions that led to you? Oh, you must be cnn. Do I have any remorse? I would have remorse if it was something that I did. Well, you might be apologized last year. Well, let me. Let me explain to you how that works, if you don't mind. Yeah. You're placed in a position as a defendant to either bow down and kiss the ass of the Department of Justice and accept responsibility for things that you did not do in order to avoid a stronger sentence. And the corruption that went on in our case is going to continue to unfold, and Alex is going to continue.
- [73:03]
Ben Meisellis
To give each and every one of.
- [73:05]
Michael Popak
You the evidence that as it comes.
- [73:06]
Ben Meisellis
In, you know, and that's not accountability there at all. I mean, that's absolutely ridiculous. You know, they go, oh, you're cnn. You must be cnn. You know, it's just all this MAGA nonsense. Popak, you had the former Culpepper sheriff in Virginia we talked about, who was basically giving away badges to people in the town who would pay him money. Bribery, fraud, bribery. He was pardoned. You've got this guy, Paul Wsack, whose mom went to this $1 million fundraiser. He gets pardoned. You got this lady who calls herself, this woman who sat on the Las Vegas City Council, Michelle Fiore, who called herself Lady Trump, and she raised money for a fallen police officer killed in Vegas in the line of duty in 2014, took that money, paid for her own cosmetic surgery. She was pardoned. And they all go right back to it. No shame. She's like, I'm gonna go back to my job and be a judge. Because one of her, she was on the city council. She got removed there, but she was also a judge. So she goes, I'm a judge now. I'm going to start ruling on people's cases. And the judicial panel there were like, no, no, no, we're not going to do that. And so she's fighting to get reinstated as a judge, you know, as a result of this pardon, you know, and then across the board, you're now seeing all these people try to angle for pardons now. And this is what Trump wants by kissing his ass and saying they're MAGA and attacking Democrats. And it is a total stain on our country. And it is, you know, it is. It is reprehensible. Your thoughts?
- [74:46]
Michael Popak
Yeah, I mean, the one that of all of those. So you've got the Chrisleys, who bank swindled $30 million from banks, which means ultimately taxpayers used the money to live a lavish lifestyle and make it look like they were successful real estate developers, then use that. This was all done before they became reality TV stars, then went on reality TV and, and defrauded America. Speaking of fraud on America. Defrauded America into thinking they were successful when they just stole money from a bank. How hard is that to do? Donald Trump's. Then the daughter Savannah ends up getting close to the Trumps, gives a speech at the Republican National Convention about the weaponization of the Biden Department of Justice to go after her family. How about her? How about Your family stole $30 million, was convicted by a federal jury. Let's just call it for what it is. I would have a lot more. I have no respect for Donald Trump, but I have a lot more respect for Donald Trump if he would just look the camera in the eye and he'd say they swindled money from a bank and lived a phony lavish lifestyle and then made more money off of that in a reality TV show. But I got a soft spot for him, so I gave him a. I gave him a pass. I would just like just say that rather than now. The one that really got my goat. Well, the one you just talked about in Vegas is pretty disgusting and depraved, but if I had to pick one. The healthcare executive who stole $4 million and then his mother may be using some of the proceeds from the 4 million that he's not now having to repay. Who got a pardon. His application wasn't getting any attention until Mama with a lot of money in the bank from the swindle went to Mar a Lago at a million dollar a plate dinner. So it's transactional. She bought a pardon. You know, Gorsuch or Kavanaugh, I think it was Gorsuch, during the immunity decision was positing about a president like, like it was some sort of hypothetical a what if a president sold pardons? Would that, would that enjoy immunity? And we're thinking what if a president sold pardons? We're watching it. It's not just transactional, it is influence peddling. We've seen so many variations in the last less than 200 days in this administration of influence peddling. Donald Trump taking all of, not his cabinet, him taking the Tech Bros. And others over to his Saudi Arabia and Arab world tour in order for them to sell and buy and be bought and sold within influence peddling. The $2 billion that Abu Dhabi is investing through a Trump platform. We haven't talked about this time because we didn't have time. The cryptocurrency convention in Vegas led by JD Vance and his sons. Because that's how he influence pedaling through the sale, through the sale of cryptocurrency on a platform that he controls and gets a brokerage commission on selling meme coins. And we, you know, you and I haven't even really dove into. We will. I, I did a hot take. You did a hot take about Abu Dhabi's 2 million, $2 billion investment in, in another, another company that's a fraud company using an entity controlled by Donald Trump for him to get the vic, for him to get the commission. So we've got the influence peddling. That's, that is because if you're a foreign entity and you're a foreign person, you can't make a contribution. It's a campaign violation. So you do the next best thing. You buy tens of millions of dollars of Donald Trump's meme coins in a wallet. You show up at a dinner that Donald Trump shows at with a presidential seal on it. Half of, half of the audience was foreign people who vetted them. Where's the transparency around that? Carolyn Levette, the press secretary said, oh, he's very transparent about all this, but he's doing this on his own time. There's no with his own time. This isn't like, this isn't like what's, what's the show on HBO about getting your brain separated from your private light, your private life and your public life. We don't have that. He's full time president. He's standing there in front of a seal of America. Okay, who's vetting these people in the room? Nobody. And they're all, this is all influence peddling of the first order on full display. And the pardons are just another example of it.
- [79:21]
Ben Meisellis
That kind of rounds out the episode. We covered a lot on today's show. And things are going to start heating up even more. Michael Popak, you know, I think we're seeing the full fledged showdown federal courts, Donald Trump for now, the Supreme Court trying to stave it off by doing these stays which are actually really hurting and harming the people. Eventually though, the Supreme Court's going to have to make substantive ruling on these cases. Like we expect later this month to get a ruling or later next month in June to get a ruling on the birthright citizenship case. That'll be an interesting kind of tell of where they're going with some other issues. But we'll cover it every step of the way. It's more important now than ever to be focused on the law focused on these legal developments and we're going to cover them in a way that frankly, no one out there is covering them. Look at the opinions, we'll look at the facts. We break them down in ways that everybody could understand. All right, want to remind everybody About Michael Popox YouTube channel, the Legal AF YouTube channel. Subscribe now. It's on its way to 1 million subscribers. So go to the Legal AF YouTube channel. Then I want you to check out the Legal AF sub stack. Michael Popo's Legal AF sub stack is crushing it as well. They do all of the case updates and all the legal updates there. Also. It's the Legal AF sub stack and then also Michael Popox Law firm. As I've said a few times on the show already, really, this was born out of our audience listeners saying we've got cases and or we know people who have real serious cases. We want Popak to handle it. Kenny, he couldn't. So he started his own law firm, the Popoc firm. And they're handling catastrophic injury, wrongful death cases. So big truck accident cases, big car accident cases, malpractice cases, sex assault, sex harassment cases. If you or someone you know has a case like that, it's a free consultation and then Popak takes the cases on contingency, meaning he doesn't charge anything unless he recovers for you. So you should note that as well. But reach out to him. Now that the show's over, reach out to his firm, Popoc, where can they contact you?
- [81:39]
Michael Popak
Www the popocfirm.com for a free case evaluation or if you like to phone instead, 1-877-POPOC-AF thank you everybody for watching.
- [81:51]
Ben Meisellis
This weekend's edition of Legal af. We'll see you soon. Remember to go to all those places that I just said. Thanks to our pro democracy sponsors as well. The discount codes are in the description. Great products, great stuff. I know you'll love it. And use those discount codes that Jordy negotiates for everybody here. Shout out Legally Effer. Shout out Midas Mighty. Have a great rest of your weekend. The Brick.