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Legal Analyst
Chief Justice Roberts of the United States Supreme Court, as I expected, issued just moments ago a stay blocking the order of Judge Zinnis in Maryland requiring that the US Government and the Trump administration return to The United States Mr. Abrego Garcia, who they illegally deported in violation of his fifth Amendment rights without notice, without due process, in violation of an immigration lawyer's order that he remain in the country and not be deported to El Salvador. They don't have to. The Trump administration doesn't have to go through the Kabuki theater performative art piece of acting like they're complying because at least for now, until he's done with full briefing on the matter, Chief Justice Roberts, as, as as they usually do, issued an administrative stay. And this is a block of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals 30 ruling this morning that was against the Trump administration in support of Judge Zinnis and ultimately Judge Zinnis's order. Let me break it down for you the only way I know how and the only place I know where the Midas Touch Network. Let's dive right in. So on Friday, Judge Zinnis, after Having a hearing determined that she would issue a preliminary injunction requiring the Trump administration based on the evidence, based on the confession by the Department of justice lawyer, Mr. Rouveni, who's no longer apparently with the Department of Justice, who told the truth when asked that Mr. Brago Garcia was deported over an order that the government knew about, and they still put him on that plane without due process and sent him to El Salvador. The government then said, we can't get him back. You can't order us to get him back. You don't have jurisdiction. He's already in El Salvador. It's a delicate negotiation process. And the judge says, you haven't shown me that you do not have the power as a government having offloaded him to El Salvador to get him back. In other words, Trump pick up the phone, call President Bukele, tell them, tell him they got to spring one guy from jail and bring him back. That went up after Friday when the Trump administration lost. They then asked Judge Zinnis to stay her order to allow them to take an appeal. She refused. On a Saturday, just this past Saturday, a Saturday order in which she said, you've already confessed to an illegal act of violating this person's Fifth Amendment rights and a court order in an order of preventing removal to El Salvador. What else is there to say? You say I don't have jurisdiction. I say I do. Federal courts have jurisdiction to oversee this. You say it has to be done through a certain type of writ of habeas corpus. I disagree with you. I have the inherent authority to review this matter. You say you can't, you don't have the power to get him back. I say you do and you haven't provided any evidence that you can't make a phone call and make this guy come back at the same time. While she was ruling against them on Saturday on the motion for stay, they filed a motion, sorry, an appeal with the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which sits over Maryland. Three judge panel spent all weekend, not a lot of time. And this morning on Monday ruled against the Trump administration again. 3, 0. In which many of the judges expressed concern that the Fifth Amendment rights of this, of this person was violated. Mr. Abrego Garcia. And that the position of the Trump administration was unconscionable. To argue that you can deport somebody, pick them up off the street in the middle of the night, kidnap them without notice, no due process, and send them to El Salvador and then claim you can't get him back is unconscionable. The very definition of shocking the consciousness that was this morning with a 3, 0 ruling. Trump didn't wait around for the results of the 3, 0 ruling. He had his new Solicitor General, John Sauer, who you may remember was Donald Trump's criminal defense lawyer, appellate lawyer, who argued at the United States Supreme Court, who got him sprung from all of his indictments based on the immunity decision that John Sauer, he just got confirmed a couple of days ago. He just wrote his first brief. And in the brief, he does two major things. He attacks federal judges. That's just political hackism. He spends half the time claiming that this is another and a long line of unprecedented injunctions against the executive branch. I can't believe it. It's always these judges and these courts. You mean all courts. I mean, Donald Trump has had 60 or 70 injunctions against him. He's got 150 lawsuits against him. The injunctions have come everywhere from Oregon to Washington to Maryland to Rhode island to Massachusetts to New York to D.C. i mean, they're all over the country. They're just not in red states, apparently. I guess that's what Sauer meant to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. So first is an attack on federal courts and federal judges, and then it's like, this is about foreign diplomacy. This is about treaties and the delicate negotiations of the executive branch. No, it's not. It's about the illegal use of war powers to deport somebody. And in this one particular case, a confession that had violated his Fifth Amendment rights and an order of another judge, which, of course, you know, in 30 pages filed by Sauer, there's one line, one line about, well, of course it was administrative error. An administrative error. Another Judge on the 4th Circuit, even though he, he voted in favor of Mr. Abrego Garcia, he said somebody screwed up. Yeah, it's a constitutional screw up. I guess that's what you could call it. If you're trying to minimize it and downplay it. I think it's of epic proportion. But that's just me. It's pretty straightforward. So Sauer then spends the rest of the time lying about Abrego Garcia, he calls him, because he can't bring himself to humanize him. He calls him the alien. The alien. The alien is a member of the MS.13 gang in El Salvador. No, he's not. There's no record of that. There's no record of that. Developed below with Judge Zenis and in fact, quite the opposite, if you're going to take judicial notice of the record developed by the immigration judge, he's not a member of MS.13. His parents run a very successful business that MS.13 wanted to shake down. And as part of the shakedown in El Salvador, they like kidnapped Abrego Garcia and forced him into gang duty. That's not the same thing of he's a leader of MS.13, is it? This episode is brought to you by Iqbar, our exclusive snack sponsor. Iq Bar is the better for you. Plant protein based snacks made with brain boosting nutrients to refuel, nourish and satisfy hunger. Without the sugar crash. 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He's married to a US Citizen. He has a baby. He's. He's fine. You know what he was doing when they picked him up? He was in the Ikea parking lot looking for work. He was one of those day laborers looking for work. And ICE came along. Oh, we. Oh, I don't know what your status was, but get. Get in the back of the van. We're putting you on a plane of Texas. You're going back to El Salvador. Except we got a little thing called the Constitution and fifth amendment rights. Yeah, they're not arguing in this case about releasing Abrego Garcia from detention. They just want him back in the United States. They just want him expatriated from El Salvador where he had an order of protection not to be returned to under certain death. You don't think people in that jail in El Salvador know who he is? You think they're trying to protect him? This is a jail system, a penal system in El Salvador, where it's been reported that by outside agencies that look at These things like humanitarian violations and UN Violations within El Salvador that when they beat a prisoner to death, they take the rotting body and stick it with the live prisoners in jail. Is that a good place to be right now? So again, you've got Roberts, who doesn't care about the human dimension, let him stay there a few more days. So he's issued an administrative stay. What does that mean? That means that from now until they get the full briefing and until further notice, the order of Judge Zenis requiring Abrego Garcia to come back to this country is, is in a state of suspended animation. Now, an administrative state. Let me just kind of manage expectations here. An administrative state does not mean that the court has already ruled on the merits or that even John Roberts has ruled, or that even John Roberts believes that at the end of the day he's not going to rule in favor of Abrego Garcia. And he set a very, very quick briefing schedule which indicates to me they're going to rule very quickly. So he gave Abregos Garcia's lawyers until 5:00 tomorrow in the order to file their brief. In this kind of case, there's two briefs. That's it. There's no oral argument, there's no hearing. Trump filed his brief, the 30 pages with John Sauer and the other side saw it. They get to respond by Tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern Time, and that's it. And the fact that on Tuesday they asked for the final brief, we going to see a ruling Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Ish. I think it's going to be a this week event. In the meantime, Abrego Garcia is stuck in El Salvador where he does not belong. And the question for this United States Supreme Court is going to be what kind of country do we live in? Do we live in a country where a person can get kidnapped off the street without notice or due process, with no lawyer and without having any ability to confront his accuser or have a court or have evidence against him to prove the case against him against his Fifth Amendment privilege, he can be boarded onto a plane and sent to another country, a country particularly that he had an order of protection to avoid. What country do we live in? That's the answer for the United States. Now, if it gives you any sense of a little bit of hope, I'm not completely at a loss thinking that, that Roberts is going to side with Trump. I'll tell you why. About three weeks ago, we reported on another case, a 5 to 4 decision that went against the Trump administration in which Judge Ali in D.C. issued an order requiring U.S. aid, which is now out of business. It was an agency that was an arm of the State Department that made humanitarian aid around the, around the world as an act of diplomacy and business development for the United States. Donald Trump and Doge Musk decided, I don't know, are there black and brown people on the other side of those dollars? Yes. Well, let's, let's end it. Let's end it. Even though US Jobs are on the charity side, the judge, Judge Ali ordered that the $2 billion with a B billion be paid for incurred debt for services and goods already rendered and supplied. We thought, oh, here we go. Appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Roberts issues estay administrative and sets a briefing schedule. I think he gave about two more days on that one. We were like, well, I don't know. He stated, let's see what happens. They usually say it's not indicative of his position, but he's going to stay it. When. When the dust settled, Roberts sided with the liberal wing, if you will, the moderate wing of the, of the court, 5 to 4 with Amy Coney Barrett and forced the 2 billion to be paid over a vehement objection by Alito. So that could happen again here. Again, this is going to be a 5 to 4 decision. I'd be shocked if it's 6 to 3. I would eat my hat if it's 7 to 2 or anything higher because already baked in, Donald Trump has in his back pockets Alito, Thomas Gorsuch and probably Kavanaugh. That's four. The question is, as it is every time I'm doing a Supreme Court decision about the presidential power here and the checks and balance against it, Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice Roberts, if they flip inside with the other side, it's going to be five to four. If they split and one goes one way and one goes the other, it's going to be five to four the other way. That's, that's it. That's the way this is going to be. The moderates need Roberts and both Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, they got to run the table. The MAGA only need one of the two. And this is our dilemma in trying to restrain and check and balance somebody like Donald Trump. I'll follow it all. We'll get the briefing tomorrow. Come back here tomorrow, we'll give you the update and I'll do it on Popoc Live, my new podcast on Tuesday nights at 8pm on the Midas Touch Network. So until my next briefing, this is Michael Popak at the Intersection of Law and Politics in collaboration with the Midas Touch Network, we just launched the Legal AF YouTube channel. Help us build this pro democracy channel where I'll be curating the top stories. The Intersection of Law and politics. Go to YouTube now and free subscribe @legalafmtn. That's eagleafmtn.
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Legal AF Podcast Summary: "Supreme Court Strikes Again with Major Ruling on Trump"
Podcast Information:
In the April 8, 2025 episode of Legal AF, host Michael Popok provides an in-depth analysis of a pivotal Supreme Court decision involving a high-profile case against former President Donald Trump. The episode examines the legal intricacies of the case, the implications of the Supreme Court's stay, and the broader impact on presidential powers and civil rights.
At [01:31], Michael Popok discusses the recent action by Chief Justice John Roberts, who issued a stay blocking Judge Zinnis's order from Maryland. Judge Zinnis had mandated that the Trump administration return Mr. Abrego Garcia to the United States, citing violations of Garcia's Fifth Amendment rights. Popok explains:
"Chief Justice Roberts of the United States Supreme Court, as I expected, issued just moments ago a stay blocking the order of Judge Zinnis in Maryland requiring that the US Government and the Trump administration return to The United States Mr. Abrego Garcia, who they illegally deported in violation of his Fifth Amendment rights without notice, without due process." [01:31]
Michael details the circumstances leading to Garcia's deportation. Judge Zinnis had previously determined that Garcia was deported illegally, without due process, and under instructions that violated legal protections. Popok underscores the severity of the administration's actions:
"The position of the Trump administration was unconscionable. To argue that you can deport somebody, pick them up off the street in the middle of the night, kidnap them without notice, no due process, and send them to El Salvador and then claim you can't get him back is unconscionable." [05:20]
Popok criticizes the Trump administration's response, particularly the involvement of Solicitor General John Sauer. Sauer's brief attacks federal judges and downplays the constitutional violations, labeling Garcia as an "alien" and associating him with gang activity without evidence. Popok refutes these claims:
"He calls him the alien. The alien is a member of the MS.13 gang in El Salvador. No, he's not. There's no record of that." [09:45]
The discussion shifts to the anticipated Supreme Court ruling. Popok predicts a narrow 5-4 decision, reflecting the court's current ideological divisions. He elaborates on the justices' likely stance:
"Again, this is going to be a 5 to 4 decision. I'd be shocked if it's 6 to 3. I would eat my hat if it's 7 to 2 or anything higher..." [14:00]
Referencing a similar case from three weeks prior involving a 5-4 decision against the Trump administration, Popok draws parallels to the current case. He emphasizes the pattern of judicial pushback against executive overreach:
"A similar case, a 5 to 4 decision went against the Trump administration... Roberts sided with the liberal wing, if you will, the moderate wing of the court, 5 to 4 with Amy Coney Barrett and forced the $2 billion to be paid." [12:10]
Popok highlights the broader implications of the Supreme Court's potential ruling on civil liberties and the balance of power within the U.S. government:
"What kind of country do we live in? Do we live in a country where a person can get kidnapped off the street without notice or due process... What country do we live in? That's the answer for the United States." [13:50]
He emphasizes the importance of upholding constitutional rights against executive overreach, stressing the role of the judiciary in maintaining checks and balances.
In concluding the episode, Popok anticipates a swift Supreme Court decision within the week, given the expedited briefing schedule set by Chief Justice Roberts. He calls for listeners to stay tuned for updates:
"They gave Abrego Garcia's lawyers until 5:00 tomorrow in the order to file their brief... I think it's going to be a this week event." [10:40]
Popok also promotes the upcoming Popoc Live podcast and the newly launched Legal AF YouTube channel, encouraging audience engagement and subscription.
The episode "Supreme Court Strikes Again with Major Ruling on Trump" provides a comprehensive analysis of a landmark legal battle between the Trump administration and constitutional civil rights protections. Through detailed examination and critical insights, Michael Popok elucidates the complexities of the case and its significance for the American legal and political landscape.
Notable Quotes:
Michael Popok at [01:31]:
"Chief Justice Roberts... issued just moments ago a stay blocking the order of Judge Zinnis... who they illegally deported in violation of his Fifth Amendment rights without notice, without due process."
Michael Popok at [05:20]:
"To argue that you can deport somebody, pick them up off the street in the middle of the night, kidnap them without notice, no due process... is unconscionable."
Michael Popok at [09:45]:
"He calls him the alien... No, he's not. There's no record of that."
Michael Popok at [12:10]:
"Roberts sided with the liberal wing... 5 to 4 with Amy Coney Barrett and forced the $2 billion to be paid."
Michael Popok at [13:50]:
"What kind of country do we live in?... That's the answer for the United States."
Michael Popok at [14:00]:
"I'd be shocked if it's 6 to 3. I would eat my hat if it's 7 to 2 or anything higher..."
Michael Popok at [10:40]:
"I think it's going to be a this week event."
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