Pirro Screws Over Trump's Plan with Accidental Admission - Legal AF by MeidasTouch

Legal AF by MeidasTouch
Episode: “Pirro Screws Over Trump's Plan with Accidental Admission”
Date: May 5, 2026

Episode Overview

This Legal AF episode, hosted by Michael Popok and Ben Meiselas, tackles recent legal maneuvers surrounding the attempted criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell. The central focus is Jeanine Pirro’s recent motion to vacate a judge’s scathing order that blocked the investigation – a move widely seen as an effort to erase embarrassing legal precedent for the Trump administration. The hosts break down what Pirro’s filing means, why it’s drawing so much scrutiny, and how it reveals the ongoing politicization of federal prosecutions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background: The Investigation into Jay Powell

The Department of Justice, under political pressure from Trump, launched a criminal investigation into Jay Powell related to alleged cost overruns at the Federal Reserve complex.
Chief Judge Boasberg issued a “scathing decision,” quashing subpoenas, declaring the investigation was conducted in bad faith, and finding its dominant purpose was to harass Jay Powell for political reasons ([01:30]).

2. Pirro’s Motion: What’s Really Going On?

Jeanine Pirro’s office filed a motion to vacate Boasberg’s prior order. Her aim: to eliminate it from the precedent books so it cannot be used against the government (or help future targets of politicized investigations) ([01:30–03:00]).
- Popok: “What they’re trying to do is take off the book...it comes off the books and doesn’t make them look bad. It’s as if it never existed.” ([01:45])
The motion is based on her public claim that the investigation is now “closed.” However, there’s no formal closeout memo—just a social media post from Pirro ([04:00–06:00]).
- Popok: “No closeout memo, just social media posts...I may be back. In fact, Donald Trump said it should go all the way to its conclusion.” ([03:30])

3. Judge Boasberg’s Scathing Findings (March Order)

The hosts walk through Boasberg's opinion, calling out its extraordinary nature.
- The judge cited over 100 Trump statements attacking Powell, concluding that “the dominant, if not sole, purpose [of the subpoenas] is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign.” ([06:00])
- The DOJ’s own #2 admitted to the judge that “they had no criminal facts against Jay Powell related to this project.” ([05:00])
- Judge: “The court is thus left with no credible reason to think that the government is investigating suspicious facts as opposed to targeting a disfavored official.” ([07:00])

4. The Political Backdrop

The investigation was politically motivated, with Trump’s allies seeking to pressure Powell into lowering rates or to force his resignation ([06:30]).
Senator Thom Tillis refused to support Trump’s Fed Chair replacement (“Kevin Warsh”) until the “cloud” over Powell was lifted ([02:45]).

5. Jeanine Pirro’s Public Spin

Pirro claimed Boasberg’s decision “bathed Powell in immunity,” painting the ruling as an outrageous judicial overreach ([08:45]):
- Pirro ([08:45]): “No one, folks, is above the law. And this outrageous decision will be appealed by the United States Department of Justice.”

6. Trump’s Revealing Comments

Trump openly advocates to drag out the Powell investigation, airing doubts about the cost overruns and questioning if there is “incompetence or theft” ([11:45]):
- Trump ([11:45]): “You want to take it and just find out what happened. Because we can't go around doing a renovation ... and spend billions and billions of dollars. Something went wrong. We have to find out what it was.”

7. Why Pirro’s Motion is Problematic

The supposed “closure” of the investigation is not genuine—no affidavit, no sworn testimony, just a social media intention.
- Popok: “If she really wanted to convince the court, they would have filed an affidavit, sworn testimony, and they didn’t. And that speaks volumes.” ([13:00])
Pirro’s move to vacate avoids creating “estoppel” (a legal block from reopening the case). The government wants the damaging precedent erased while reserving its right to revive the prosecution ([13:30–14:30]).

8. Legal Strategy & Likely Outcome

Popok projects that Powell’s lawyers will emphasize the pattern of vindictive Trump-era prosecutions to show a credible threat remains to Powell despite claims the case is over.
- Popok: “They want their cake and eat it too.” ([13:30])
He predicts Judge Boasberg will refuse to vacate his orders, leaving protection in place for Powell and upholding precedent against politically driven investigations ([15:00]).

9. Broader Implications

The independence of the Federal Reserve and the principle of protection from political persecution are at stake.
- Popok: “The independence of the Federal Reserve was what was at stake, and judges like Chief Boasberg protected it.” ([16:25])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Popok ([01:45]): “If an order on the docket falls in the woods and nobody’s there to hear it, what happens?”
Judge Boasberg, as paraphrased by Popok ([06:00]): “There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant, if not sole purpose, is to harass and pressure Powell.”
Jeanine Pirro ([08:45]): “Jerome Powell today is now bathed in immunity, preventing my office from investigating the Federal Reserve. This is wrong and it is without legal authority.”
Donald Trump ([11:45]): “We can’t go around doing a renovation...spend billions and billions of dollars. Something went wrong. We have to find out what it was.”
Popok ([13:00]): “If she really wanted to convince the court, they would have filed an affidavit, sworn testimony, and they didn’t. And that speaks volumes.”

Segment Timeline

[01:30] – Popok describes Pirro’s motion and the push to vacate the judge’s order
[04:00 – 06:00] – Dissecting Judge Boasberg’s opinion and Pirro’s lack of substantive closure
[08:45] – Pirro’s public response and rhetoric about Powell’s “immunity”
[11:45] – Trump’s live reaction on dragging out the investigation
[13:00 – 15:00] – How Pirro’s legal strategy falls short: no affidavit, just intention
[16:25] – The episode conclusion: the fight for institutional independence

Tone & Delivery

The tone is direct, analytical, and mildly sardonic, especially when skewering legal theater by the Trump administration and Jeanine Pirro.
Quotes are delivered with emphasis on exposing contradiction and political maneuver.
The show’s vibe balances urgent legal breakdown with dry wit (“Mr. Complicated Name”; “If an order on the docket falls in the woods…”).

Summary Takeaways

Pirro’s motion to vacate is an attempt to erase legal precedent embarrassing to Trump’s DOJ, but lacks the formal closure required to truly end the threat to Powell.
Judge Boasberg’s order is a rare public condemnation of politically motivated prosecution, and the legal team expects the order to stay in force.
The case exemplifies ongoing efforts to use federal prosecution for political ends—and the judiciary’s current role in halting that trend.

End of Summary

Transcript

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Michael Popak (1:30)

We got less than 10 days to go on Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell's term as chair, and yet we still have to do reporting about the attempted criminal investigation and prosecution of him related to cost overruns for the redevelopment of the Federal Reserve complex. Because we've got new reporting and a new filing By Jeanine Pirro Two months after Chief Judge Boasberg, in a scathing decision, effectively said that the Department of Justice, in bad faith, was criminally investigating Jay Powell and threw out the subpoenas issued by the grand jury in an extraordinary remedy after a judge found that the dominant reason for the investigation was to harass Jay Powell to get him to quit to lower interest rates or both. Now we've got Jeanine Pirro saying it's all better now, right? Because I've announced that I'm going to not prosecute him and turn it over to the inspector general's office. Now aren't we? No, we're not. All good. And no Chief Judge Boasberg should not vacate on a motion for vacateur his original order in March or his subsequent follow up order in April. It should remain law of the case to protect Jay Powell from future prosecutions. I'm Michael Popo. You're on the Midas Touch Network. Let's get to the reporting. We know the headline from mainstream media. Jeanine Pirro's office files motion to vacate judges order concerning Jay Powell. But what are they trying to do? What they're trying to do is take off the book. So it has no precedential, that's P R E C E D precedential impact on future cases. In other words, it comes off the books and doesn't make them look bad. It's as if it never existed. You know, if an order on the docket falls in the woods and nobody's there to hear it, what happens? And so there is a rule, a technique you can use if the parties have resolved the matter, for instance, and therefore making the appeal of the issue underlying it moot because the case is over. Sometimes you go back and ask the judge to pull off the order. That's not what happened here. What happened here is that they were compelled because Thom Tillis, the outgoing Republican from North Carolina in the Senate who sits on the Banking Committee, said he would not vote for Kevin Warsh, Trump's replacement of Jay Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, until the cloud of criminal investigation was off of Jay Powell. That led about a week ago, Janine Powell, Janine Pirro in a social media post to say I'm going to end the prosecution, end it, not close it out with a closeout memo, which is the right way to do it. As a prosecutor that people can rely on, you can have some what's called estoppel value. No, no social media posts, not closeout, official memo, but I'm closing it. But I'm keeping an eye on the inspector general who's going to do investigations about whether there's cost overruns and who's responsible. And I may be back. In fact, Donald Trump said it should go all the way to its conclusion. Now Janine Pirro then wants to say, see, I closed it. No closeout memo and therefore you should take off your order concerning it. Right? Judge, I don't think that's how. In fact, I know that's not how that works. You're on midas Touch and Legal AF take a minute. Hit the free subscribe button. Help Legal AF get to 1.2 million subscribers now. What is the order that she hates? Here's the order that she hates up on legal AF substack for you back on the 13th of March in which the judge did an extraordinary thing. He intervened in a criminal investigation. Found on the record there were no facts to support a criminal investigation. In fact, had Jeanine Pirro's number two in her office admit to the judge they had no criminal facts against Jay Powell related to this project and then quashed the subpoenas finding that the prosecution investigation was brought in bad faith. He leads off Chief Judge Boasberg leads off his memorandum opinion on page one with just a list of social media attacks by Donald Trump on Jay Powell. Jerome Too late. Powell has done it again. He's too late. He's too angry, he's too stupid, he's too political to be Fed Reserve chair. He put another way, he's a total loser and the country pays the price. He's the dumbest, most destructive people in government. Too late at American Disgrace. The judge concludes on page two by answering this question. Did prosecutors issue the subpoenas, criminal subpoenas from the grand jury for a proper purpose? The court finds they did not. There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas dominant, if not sole purpose, is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the president or to resign and make way for a Fed chair who will on the other side of the scale, the government this is on page three, has offered no evidence whatsoever that Powell committed any crime other than displeasing the President. Jeff Boseberg goes on to say on page five back in March, Trump has specifically aimed his anger at Chair Powell. For years he's berated Powell, threatened him, ordered him to lower rates, or done all three at once. He's truly one of the dumbest, most destructive people. And when the judge then turns to his interaction with the lawyers in Jeanine Pirro's office, including one that just signed the motion to vacate a guy by the name of Ga Mazuka Lataif, it's a complicated name, but Mr. Complicated Name in interactions with the judge provided no evidence, even in camera, away from the prying eyes of the media, just to the judge, just a love note to the judge. You could submit it after the hearing and still nothing. Here's how the judge summarize that indeed, many prosecutors want to hold their cards close to the vest respecting this prerogative. The court at the hearing invited the government to submit any additional justifications for the subpoenas. In fact, in other recent cases, they've done that. In our case, however, the government at the hearing declined to offer any other evidence, nor has it supplied any written submissions. The court is thus left with no credible reason to think that the government is investigating suspicious facts as opposed to targeting a disfavored official. When the evidence of improper motive is so strong and the justifications for these subpoenas are so tenuous, it's hard to see the renovations and testimony as anything other than a convenient pretext for launching a criminal investigation that the government launched for another unstated purpose. Pressuring Powell to knuckle under. That's the order. And a subsequent one in April that's very similar that that the Pirro Group wants off the books. And you can see why. Here's Jeanine Pirro, the night that order came out, talking about a federal judge just bathed Powell in immunity. Let's play the clip and the imagery.