Loading summary
Transcript12 lines
- [00:00]
A
Finding a hoodie that lasts through the season can be tough. The American Giant Classic Full Zip hoodie is made to last a lifetime. So you can count on it year after year. The iconic Classic Full Zip hoodie is the jacket that started it all for American Giant. Custom heavyweight fleece and side panels for mobility make it the best hoodie ever. Every American Giant piece is made in America and designed to last. No exceptions. The result is durable clothing like the premium slub crew tee, no bs High rise pant and slim roughneck pant that become part of your life. Snag the hoodie that will bring you comfort for life. The American Giant Classic full zip. Save 20% off your first order at american-giant.com when you use staple 20 at checkout.
- [00:45]
B
Flowers die in three days. Matching underwear from Meundies. That's a gift that lasts. Meundies creates matching prints for couples and friends. Same adorable designs and different cuts for each of you. All made from the their signature ultramodal fabric that feels impossibly soft. With 30 million pairs sold and 90,000 five star reviews, MeUndies matching prints are the perfect gift. Valentine's Day is February 14th, so don't wait. Get exclusive deals up to 50% off at meundies.comfort codecomfort. That's meundies.comfort code comfort.
- [01:19]
C
U.S. attorney titles are being stripped off possible referrals for disciplinary proceedings made by a federal judge concerning not only Lindsey Halligan, but her bosses Todd Blanche and Pam Bondi. We got a scorching new order. I mean it's so. I mean, I need asbestos gloves to hold it. From Judge Novak in the Eastern District of Virginia. Hot off the presses. Wait till I read it to you. And how he goes after Lindsey Halligan, but also Pam Bondi and also Todd Blanche and throws his appropriate weight around as an Article 3 lifetime appointed judge. A Trump appointed judge at that. We've got a lot of moving parts here. That all just happened in the last few hours. In the Eastern District of Virginia, we have the Chief Judge saying there's a vacancy created and Lindsey Halligan is no LONGER the The U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, but declaring that today, January 20th is the date for that. At the same time you've got Judge Novak in his second 16. Sorry, 18 page decision saying no, the vacancy was back on November 24th when Judge Curry was assigned the responsibility for deciding whether Lindsey Halligan was properly appointed or not by the Chief Judge of the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. And now we've got it. You ready? Here we go. I'm Michael Popo. You're on the Midas Touch Network in Legal af. Take a minute. Hit the free subscribe button here. Hit that subscribe button over on Legal AF as well. Let's start from the back, and then I'll read you all the highlights. Here's the conclusion by Judge Novak. How do we get here? Let me just give you the. The. The rundown of the cast of characters on January 6th, and I don't think that date was chosen lightly. Judge Novak, on his own initiative in a case not related to former FBI Director Comey or Letitia James, entered what we refer to as an order to show cause why Lindsey Halligan is still using the U.S. attorney title despite being stripped of that title as being illegally appointed by Judge Curry in a decision back on November 24th. Why is she signing indictments? Why is she signing pleadings? Why is she running the office? Why is she appearing before Judge Novak and why. And have her Halligan explain herself, sign her own pleading and explain herself as to why she shouldn't be referred for discipline, to have her license taken away for impersonating, violating orders, and the rest. A week later, the Department of Justice blasted Judge Novak, blasted Judge Novak so inappropriately in calling him an inquisitor out of control, has no right to challenge her title, and so on. That. Here's how the judge put it in his order, just to kind of set the stage. Ms. Halligan's response, which is on the six joined by Bondi and Blanch, in which she was joined by both the Attorney General and the deputy Attorney General. Page two of the judge's order today contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show, which is where Lindsey Halligan came from and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this court, particularly the Department of Justice. The court will not engage in a similar tit for tat and will instead analyze the few points that Ms. Halligan offers to justify her continued identification of her position as the U.S. attorney before this Court. Ultimately, the Court concludes that Ms. Halligan's continued identification of herself as the U.S. attorney for. For this district ignores a binding court order and may not continue otherwise. Ms. Halligan and anyone who joins her on a pleading containing the improper moniker subjects themselves to potential disciplinary action. That's how he starts off the order, because the Department of Justice said, how dare you? With like temerity, how dare you, judge? To be the inquisitor. You don't have the inherent authority. And then they have this big heart of their, of their filing, which said we don't agree with Judge Curry even though she was assigned the task of determining whether Lindsey Allegan was illegally appointed or not. As a judge, we don't agree with the person in the black robe. We have our own opinion about what her order means. Her order on November 24 quite clearly said that not only has she declared that, that Lindsay Halligan was illegally appointed because she, because there's only four ways to fill a vacancy after the vacancy has been filled once before because we had Eric Seibert in that seat until he quit or was fired because he wouldn't go after James Comey or Letitia James. He was the 120 day acting interim allowed by the statute. You don't get another after that. You only can fill it as Judge Curry outlined, if you use the first assistant. Right. The deputy to the, to the attorney to the U.S. attorney. Well, they didn't want to use that because that's not Lindsey Halligan. Or they could have pulled somebody who had been confirmed by the Senate but for a different role, like, you know, the Department of Agriculture and stick that person in there for a period of time. They didn't want to do that. Or the judges of the district pick and, and fill the vacancy. And, and that's it. And Judge Curry said there is a vacancy that only the Eastern District of Virginia judges can fill. Now, that was November 24th. We waited around for the Eastern District of Virginia judges to rule. Like, what are they waiting for? And that allowed the Trump administration to argue we don't agree with her order. We think it only applies about Letitia James and, and James Comey and nobody else can call it out. And judge after judge, we had six judges in the Eastern District, from magistrate judges to Article 3 judges all saying the same thing. How is Lindsay Halligan running around with the moniker of U.S. attorney when she's not, and violating Judge Curry's order? That's what Novak wanted to know. Here's now, well, let me read to you from the key. The, the key sections here, starting with the. The conclusion in the back. And he cuts her some slack for being an inexperienced prosecutor. By way. By the way, he says the following on page 18. The court recognizes that Ms. Halligan lacks the prosecutorial experience that has long been the norm for these. Those nominated to the position. Consequently, and in light of her inexperience, the court grants Ms. Halligan the benefit of the doubt and refrains from referring her for. For further investigation and disciplinary action regarding the misrepresentations to this court. However, this memorandum order provides notice that should Ms. Halligan persist in ignoring Judge Curry's orders or any other matter, the court will initiate disciplinary proceedings against Ms. Halligan and any other signatory to an offending pleading pursuant to Federal Rule of Disciplinary Enforcement 5. That's you, Bondi. That's you, Todd Blanch. Here's what else the judge concludes. The Eastern District of Virginia has long enjoyed the service of experienced prosecutors with unquestioned integrity from both political parties for the U.S. attorney position. Despite coming from different political backgrounds and ideologies, they put the interests of the citizens of the district before their own personal ambitions, as true public servants do. Unfortunately, it appears that this ethos has come to an end. Yeah, we're not nominating ethical people anymore, everybody. The Trump administration is out of business for that. A district judge acting at the discretion or, sorry, the direction of the Chief judge of the 4th Circuit has ruled on behalf of the district judges of this district that Ms. Halligan was invalidly appointed at the United States Attorney. See, that's the point that the judge calls out. The Department of Justice, completely ignores that. Chief Judge Diaz referred one issue to Judge Curry to decide for the entirety of the district whether Lindsey Halligan was illegally, unconstitutionally appointed. That was her remit. That was her scope, and they ignored that. They don't even mention the referral to Judge Curry. They just said, judge. Judge Curry is just some judge. You don't have to. You're not bound by it. He is bound by it because it was sent by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals directly to Judge Curry to avoid a conflict of interest in the Eastern District of Virginia. Judge Curry normally sits in South Carolina, but they didn't want that friction, that conflict if the Eastern District judges have to fill the job, which they are in the process of doing as of today.
- [09:54]
D
Hey everybody. Ben Meisellis here from the Midas Touch Network. I wanted to let you know about my podcast partner, Michael Popox new law firm. It's called the Popak Firm. Michael Popox pursuing his dream of starting his own law firm. Really based on the pop demand by all the Midas mighty and legal A effers who are approaching Michael Popak with their cases and saying, can you help us? And at that time, Popak was not able to. So he went out on his own. He started the Popoc firm where he is now handling catastrophic injury cases like car accident cases, trucking cases, malpractice cases, big negligence cases, wrongful death cases. So if you or someone you know have a case like this. The consultation with Popox firm is free. Give him a call. See if you have a case. It's the popoc firm.com thepopoc firm.com or you can call 877-popak-af- P O P O K A F so 1-877-p- O P O K A F give Michael Popak a call and I'm really proud of you Popak. Thanks for all the hard work you're putting in.
- [11:07]
C
Here's what he decides to do. Not only is he stripping her of her title, but he's stripping it off of all documents, he said. For all of these reasons, the court hereby strikes the words US Attorney from the signature block on the indictment, which is the indictment in this particular case, as well as all other government filings in this case. The government further bars Ms. Halligan from representing herself as the U.S. attorney in any pleading or otherwise before this court until such time as she is lawfully confirmed by the Senate and the bar shall be effective as of tomorrow. For the avoidance of doubt, he says in footnote five, you want to call yourself Special attorney? I don't know what that means, but go ahead. That's that. That's down in footnote five. Now let me read you from other aspects of the order, particularly let me go to page kind of the one of the major hooks of his decision making, what we call the radio is about Chief Judge Diaz and the referral to Judge Curry, he said on page seven or on page six. In levying the argument, Ms. Halligan fails to acknowledge the unique context of Judge Curry's order as set forth on October 21, Chief Judge Diaz issued an order designating and assigning Judge Curry to hear and determine pending and future motions concerning the appointment, qualifications or disqualifications of the United States Attorney or the office in In Comey matter and all other cases involving similar challenges. Once and for all, it's Judge Curry, judge Novak says on page seven. Critically, Chief Judge Diaz assigned Judge Curry to resolve not a particular motion but a specific issue, the validity of Ms. Halligan's appointment. With words that could not be clear, Chief Judge Diaz directed Judge Curry to resolve any and all motions, including other similar challenges that's done. As such, Judge Novak determines Judge Curry was appointed with the express mandate to speak for all judges in this district on the issue of Ms. Halligan's appointment. Then he cites to the Abrego Garcia case. See Donald Trump sometimes makes precedent that bites him in the ass. So on page eight, calling out the Department of Justice and The Trump administration again, page eight. Rather stunningly, Ms. Halligan fails to even mention Judge Diaz's order, let alone discuss the impact here. In short, she's not only ignored Judge Curry's ruling, she has turned a blind eye to an order from the Chief Judge of the Fourth Circuit. The court finds it inconceivable that the Department of Justice, which holds a duty to faithfully execute the laws of the United States, even those in which it may disagree, would repeatedly ignore orders while simultaneously prosecuting citizens for breaking the law. In the wise words of J. Harvey Wilkinson of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, his bosses. Yet we yet cling to the hope that it is not naive to believe our good brethren in the executive branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos, citing the Abrego Garcia case against the Trump administration that went up to the United states Supreme Court. Affirm 9 0. And that is from April of 2025. So the fact that he's even. He's citing a major case against the Trump administration, and then he reminds the Department of Justice in Hallikin that you may not agree with Judge Curry, but she is the chief. She is the judge assigned to the matter. You haven't sought a stay at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and therefore her order stands. You stand down as U.S. attorney. Here's how Judge Novak puts it. At the end of the day, Ms. Halligan's response, page 16 asserts that she is free to act in an unlawful capacity because she disagrees that she does so unlawfully. But that's not how our legal system works. By having continued to exercise a position to which she was unconstitutionally appointed, including the signing of the indictment, as the United States Attorney, she has exercised power she does not lawfully appoint, possess. This ain't over, folks. As I said before, Judge Novak issued his order, and maybe he knew that it was coming out. We got a new order from the Chief Judge of this particular court, Eastern District of Virginia. In a very strange turn of affairs, she determined she ignored Judge Curry's order completely. And all her order did was declared that there was a vacancy as of the January 20 today. And therefore she's advertising for. For people to come in and apply for the job, which was a head scratcher for me. This is before Novak's order just came out. And I said, what are you talking about? Judge Curry ruled on November 24 for the whole district. Novak is taking that position, but the Chief judge, his own chief judge is, Is taking a different position about the analysis, which which creates sort of a little bit of a loophole. And you know the Trump administration is going to try to drive a truck through it. Now, I'm not sure what's going to happen when you read these two things together, but certainly an odd state of affairs. But Novak is clear, decisive, no ambiguity. We've got an illegally appointed Lindsey Halligan. I'm going to cut you a break because you're inexperienced, but I think the days of having experienced ethical prosecutors who do the public service are over with this Trump administration. And I'm also questioning whether whether they will ever comply with a rule of law in the executive branch. That's a Trump appointed judge sounding the alarm to the American people. Glad you're here on the Midas Dutch Network and Legal af. Catch me on my podcast, my solo podcast, it's called Intersection Tuesday nights here on the Midas Touch Network, 8:00pm Eastern Time. Still doing, of course, legal AF with Ben Mysellis and Karen Freeman Nickniffalo and still curating everything as the executive producer on the Legal AF YouTube channel. So until my next report, this is Michael can't get your fill of Legal af. Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing in the oral argument argument there, including a daily roundup that I do called Wait for it Morning af. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AF are there as well. We got some new reporting, we got interviews, we got ad free versions of the podcast and hot takes where Legal AF on Substack Come over now to free subscribe.
- [18:14]
B
When it's time to scale your business. It's time for Shopify. Get everything you need to grow the way you want. Like all the way. Stack more sales with the best converting checkout on the planet. Track your cha chings from every channel right in one spot and turn real time reporting into big time opportunities. Take your business to a whole new level. Switch to Shopify. Start your free trial today.
- [18:42]
C
USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day like superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a'@usaa.com bundle restrictions apply. Everyone deserves to be connected. That's why T Mobile and US Cellular are joining forces. Switch to T Mobile and save up.
- [19:05]
D
To 20% versus Verizon by getting built.
- [19:08]
C
In benefits they leave out. Check the math@t mobile.com switch and now T Mobile is in US cellular stores. Savings versus Comparable Verizon plans, plus the cost of optional benefits. Plan features in taxes and fees vary. Savings with three plus lines include third.
- [19:23]
D
Line free via monthly bill credits.
- [19:25]
C
Credit stop if you cancel any lines.
- [19:26]
D
Qualifying credit required.