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- [00:00]
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Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
Nope, I'm making dinner tonight.
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Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
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Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
No, just the salad.
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Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
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- [01:28]
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Good reason.
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Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
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- [02:46]
Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
which lion of the bar and the bench is being reanimated in references, in judges orders and in filings by defendants in criminal cases. Robert Jackson, he was the attorney general in 1940. He was on the United States Supreme Court in 1941. He was a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials against Nazis. And he has a famous quote that just got used by the Southern Poverty Law center in their motion to dismiss their criminal indictment. They're the leading anti hate group in America because they claim they are the victim of vindictive prosecution. And they like Judge Crenshaw earlier in the week when he dismissed the indictment against Kilmer Abrego Garcia for the very same reason used the same quote for then Attorney General Robert Jackson. Here's what he said. And this is how they conclude their motion to dismiss. A prosecutor can choose his defendants. Therein is the most dangerous power of the prosecutor that he will pick people that he thinks he should get rather than pick cases that need to be prosecuted. That is the very same quote that led off Judge Crenshaw's order freeing Kilmer Abrego. And in the afterglow of that decision, we've got right on cue, just a couple of days later, the motion to dismiss filed by the Southern Poverty Law center claiming that since Maine Justice Todd Blanch and Department of and the FBI Director Cash Patel, Donald Trump himself have declared that the Southern Poverty Law center is some sort of hoax, some sort of fraud, they're funding terrorism instead of trying to dismantle it. That all of that are not only lies and violation of their First Amendment rights as the leading anti hate group, but also is a form of vindictive prosecution, if not actual vindictive prosecution. At the very least based on all of the evidence that's in their motion, including some I'm going to show you on this hot take. It is an example of presumptive vindictive prosecution which should shift the burden to the government to prove that they did not vindictively prosecute the Southern Poverty Law center in the wake of the Charlie Kirk killing to try to pay back left what they perceive as left wing organizations. Let me just set the record straight here on Midas touch and Legal af. The Southern Poverty Law center, which I've been following since I was a teenager, is the leading anti hate group in America responsible for tracking more than 4,000 extremists and anti government and paramilitary organizations, domestic terrorist organizations, within the United States, they've also dismantled them, suing some of them out of existence. And while they use some of their donor funds to go undercover and to pay for informant information to help them destroy these organizations, turning over the leads to the FBI, at least before, before Cash Patel got there, and publishing the Year in Hate the Hate Map. You go on their website if you want to know what I'm talking about. Link is below. While doing all of that, they did it because they were champion. Champion the cause of destroying hate groups in America. To Donald Trump, they are a hate group. They're funding. Donald Trump actually said, and this is in their motion, I'm going to read it to you. He actually said that the anti hate group is funding and funded the Charlottesville Unite the White, Unite the Right rally. I think I got it right the first time because some of the people there had gotten were paid informants. That by that logic and listening to Todd Blanche talk about it, also a part of their motion, then the FBI and the CIA and the Department of Justice, through their sting operations, are also promoting terrorism and hate groups because until they arrest the person and the person, they're out there running a criminal enterprise. So the government should be indicted. I mean, that's the ridiculousness of this position. It starts off with Donald Trump's social media post. This is their motion, which we have on Legal AF substack, which says out loud, and they point to it over and over again, all the different versions of the government attacking the Southern Poverty Law center, the splc. And it starts with Donald Trump calling them a Democratic hoax and that they should be shut down. They, along with Act Blue and many others, prove that the 2020 presidential election should be wiped from the books and be of no further force or effect. And it went downhill from there. In fact, just after that, it says on page two of their brief, President Trump doubled down on these farcical claims on a nationally televised 60 Minutes interview a few days later, falsely proclaiming that the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville was all funded by the Southern Law. Trump can't even, you know, he just came off his fourth annual medical and mental exam where he's not even releasing any of the reports related to it. He's just declaring on social media, I'm fine, everybody. He's not so fine. He can't even get the name of the Southern Poverty Law center, the SPLC. Right, let's play the clip from 60 Minutes that is referred to on page two of the brief. Play the clip.
- [08:50]
Donald Trump (quoted)
Southern Law is Financing the KKK and lots of other radical terrible groups. And then they go out and they say, oh, we've got to stop the kkk. And yet they give them hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars.
- [09:04]
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- [09:05]
Donald Trump (quoted)
It's a total scam run by the Democrats. It shows you that like Charlottesville, Charlottesville was all funded by the Southern Law. That was a Southern Law deal too. And it was done to make me look bad. And it turned out to be a total fake. It basically was a rigged election. I hope one of your 60 minute episodes, which really hasn't changed very much from the last few years. I'm surprised. But one of those episodes should be on Southern Law and the fact that they spent millions and millions of dollars on absolute far right and just bad, bad groups. And then they'd use those groups and they'd say, these are Republican groups and we're coming to your rescue. And they're the ones that have funded it and they're the ones that kept them, keep them going.
- [09:50]
Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
And then it goes on in the, in their briefing where they go through all of the allegations made against them and there's. And what they're saying is that they are a target because they criticize, but they won't be muzzled in their criticism of the, of the administration's policies. And just to set the record straight, the Southern Poverty Law center doesn't care if the hate group is pro Israel or anti Israel or a pro Democrat or pro, is antifa or fascist or white supremacist. All hate in whatever form is their target. They also lay out on pages 11 and 12 of their brief all the things they've done on their website where they have condemned or criticized the Trump administration, including Bondi's record on civil rights, President Trump's pardon of the January 6th participants, civil rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon's nomination, bigoted beliefs and racist ties of Trump's advisors, his attempt, Trump's attempt to rename the military basis for Confederate leaders, his deployment of ICE and the militia, the raiding of the Georgia election facility and unconstitutional orders targeting voting rights. And then they say it got amped up after the killing of Charlie Kirk in May 2025. This is on page 12. The SPLC released its 2024 Year in Hate and Extreme Extreme Extremism report. Sorry. The report expresses the view that Turning Point usa, run by Charlie Kirk's primary strategy is sowing and exploiting fear that white Christian supremacy is under attack by nefarious actors, including immigrants, the LGBTQ community and civil rights activists. A couple of months later. Kirk was killed on September 10, 2025, which the SPLC condemned by saying violence only fuels division. Justice requires peace. But at that tinderbox moment, says the brief, Trump blamed the radical left terrorists and put the SPLC into that catego, including in a memo that he issued on September 22nd designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization and suggesting that the at the Southern Poverty Law center was too See Trump's going after Act Blue, Common Cause, and all the other more liberal and progressive entities as a counterweight to the fact that the vast majority of extremism in America is on the right side Magic Spoon is basically the grown up version of your favorite childhood cereal. All those nostalgic flavors you remember, but packed with protein. I've been loving the fruity and peanut butter flavors lately and they've also got Frosted Cocoa, Cinnamon Crunch and more. Plus they just launched new marshmallow flavors, Classic marshmallow and S', mores, both with real marshmallows and 2 grams of sugar that really bring back those childhood cereal vibes. Each serving packs 12 to 14 grams of protein and it's great anytime breakfast, post workout or a late night snack. They also make Magic Spoon treats, which are crispy, airy, protein packed snack bars that taste like a treat. Look for Magic Spoon on Amazon or at your nearest grocery store. And if you want to try something new, check out Magic Spoon's protein pastries. They're packed with protein and taste like the nostalgic toaster pastries you grew up with, but without all the sugar. You can get $5 off your next order, including the protein pastries at magicspoon.com legalaf that's magicspoon.com legalaf For $5 off, here's cash Patel claiming that he's cutting ties with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Here's what he said in a posting on page 16, reproduced on page 16 of the brief. The Southern Poverty Law center long ago abandoned civil rights. Their so called hate map has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence. Under this all ties with the SPLC have officially been terminated. That's in October of 2025 and then when they indicted, here's what Patel and then Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche all referenced in this motion. Here's what they had to say about the splc all again, false claims during the indictment press conference. Play the clip.
- [14:44]
Prosecutor or DOJ Official
I just want to say that again, they used the fraudulently raised money by lying to their donor network, thousands of Americans to Go ahead and actually pay the leadership of these supposed violent extremist groups. The groups as the general laid out, include the Ku Klux Klan, the United Clans of America, Unite to Right national alliance, the National Socialist Movement, the Aryan Nation Motorcycle Club and the National Socialist Party of America. And also the American Front. In at least one of these matters, our investigation revealed that funds were used to facilitate the commission of further state and federal offenses totaling over $3 million.
- [15:30]
Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
Want to make sure I understand you're alleging that the Southern Poverty Law center was paying the leaders of KKK and other groups to continue their operations. Is that.
- [15:43]
Legal Analyst or Defense Attorney
I'm not alleging it. The grand jury returned an indictment that says that. And so what the investigation found, according to the indictment that was returned today, is that they were paying. So Southern Poverty Law center is raising money, asking folks to, to give them money to dismantle racism. And over a very long period of time they were using some of the money they raised from donors to pay to. They called them field, you know, basically to informants to, for information, for access, to just pay them for. For certain to do certain things. And so yes, that's exactly what the indictment charges.
- [16:21]
Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
And then of course, right on cue, Donald Trump post, which is reproduced on page 19, his posting on April 24 about the Southern Poverty Law center being now being charged with fraud, that they're a hoax and that the 2020 election is close to being wiped off the books, whatever that's supposed to mean. They then go through in their moving papers how they've established vindictive prosecution starting at the top, making its way down to Patel and Blanche, citing to all of those postings and all of those comments. Um, and then on page 27 and 28 they go through all the times that either Patel or Blanch or Trump or others said that Southern Poverty Law center is a fraud. For instance, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmony Dillon had this to say about the indictment or the splc. Your your first off, just top line thoughts on what we saw this week with the splc.
- [17:28]
Conservative Commentator
Well, the SPLC indictment by our criminal lawyers here at the Department of Justice is truly earth shattering because it unveiled rips away the veil from the facade of the Southern Poverty Law center being this venerable organization that fights discrimination based in the Deep South. What we have found is that that kind of discrimination in America today is actually in very short supply. So for SPLC to continue to fundraise off of that premise, they had to manufacture it themselves. And this 11 count indictment shows a paper trail of numerous payments to some of the most hateful groups in America, which have almost no presence, really, the Ku Klux Klan and, you know, Patriot Front and these other groups that a lot of us suspected because, you know, I'm a longtime conservative. You look around and I don't know any people like this or encounter them or see them, and yet suddenly they're popping up all over the place and SPLC fundraises off of them.
- [18:24]
Legal AF Host (Michael Popak)
So the where this comes out is, as I predicted, once the glass ceiling was broken by a judge finding that the presumptive vindictive prosecution had not been overcome by the government in the Kilmer Abrego Garcia case in Tennessee, you know, that poor guy who's, you know, thrown through the Kafka esque mill, who sent to El Salvador, tortured upon arrival, winning at every level about his civil rights, including 9, 0 at the Supreme Court. They then falsely indict him in a vindictive way about human smuggling, about a traffic stop, you know, five years ago. Finally, Crenshaw, after seven months of looking at the evidence and having a hearing, decided no, the government. You did not carry your burden of showing you did not vindictively prosecute and therefore I am wiping the indictment clean. I knew that was going to open up the floodgates of future. That's not the last motion to dismiss for vindictive prosecution. Using that as the model we would see. Now we've got the one by the Southern Poverty Law Center. We know that Comey, the former FBI director, has gotten an extension of time to file his motions about his seashell indictment, about posting on social. I have to laugh out loud about past posting on social media. Some seashells arranged at 8647, which means remove the president, not kill the president. And therefore he's asking for more time because he's going to be filing a motion to dismiss for vindictive prosecution too. If they ever successfully indict Letitia James, New York Attorney General, she'll do it. JOHN O. Brennan CIA DIRECTOR if they ever get around to indicting him, he'll do it. Lisa Cook on the Federal Reserve, if they ever try to indict her for mortgage fraud, then they'll. She'll bring it. So if I here put this in the time capsule before this presidency is over, we'll get almost a dozen or so motions for vindictive prosecution, many of which which will be granted. And to put it in context, it's very hard to get vindictive prosecution. Motion granted. You almost never file them. I've done defense work almost my entire career. You almost never fil them cuz they're a loser. You have to have these specific facts. But because the Trump administration and the Department of Justice that he captured is so flat in its organizational structure, every decision is being made by Todd Blanche or Stan Woodward, the number one, the number two, the number three in the Department of Justice. And then they're ordering local prosecutors to do Donald Trump's bidding. And because of that new organogram of how things operate in the Justice Department, we're seeing the results. This is now pending in Alabama. I love the fact that the lawyers there started off with Robert Jackson, a personal hero of mine. People should look up his career. Very few, if any lawyers, maybe other than Abraham Lincoln, have had a career like Robert Jackson. He was Solicitor General of the United States, arguing before the United States Supreme Court. He was Attorney General of the United States. He was on the United States Supreme Court. And Truman picked him to be the lead prosecutor against the Nazis captured and tried at the Nuremberg trials. What a body of work. What have I done? So in the meantime, I'm glad you're here. Take a minute, come over to Legal AF YouTube and hit the free subscribe button. Until my next report. This is Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal af? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF sub stack. 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 and 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 AO 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.