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Michael Popak
Donald Trump continues to arrest his political rivals who all have a D next to their name. Ed. Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller. Think of him as the chief financial officer for New York. Also running to be the mayor of New York City. Taken down and arrested today by a mask wearing ICE agent in federal court, immigration court. And is his crime, besides being a Democrat, besides being a rival of Donald Trump, is that he accompanied an immigrant to a, to a hearing for observational purposes. This is the world we now live in. Add to that list and we'll continue to talk about them. United States Senator and senior senator from California, Alex Padilla, arrested, taken down, at least put in cuffs, led out of a room while he was asking questions of a federal official. Mayor Baraka of Newark arrested. And then he had his indictment tossed by Alina Haba, a U.S. representative McIver of New Jersey indicted. Joining Judge Hannah Dugan, a trial court judge in Milwaukee who was perp walked by this administration. And now we got Brad Lander. What in the world is going on? If the Democrats arrested their political rivals, they'd be run out on a rail. It's exactly what we need to do come the midterms. Let me break it down for you right here on the Midas Touch network and on Legal af. I'm Michael Popak may not have heard of Brad Lander, but now he joins my hall of fame. I think it is imperative for people who are opposing Donald Trump to either be arrested, be detained, be indicted or be threatened with all three of those things, like somebody like Gavin Newsom, in order to have your bona fides, to be in the party, to be a leader, I let's turn it on its head. I don't see it as a badge of dishonor. I see it as the bona fides in resistance. So, Brad Lander, I don't know where you were exactly in the polls. I think you were running third or fourth in the polls to be the mayor of New York, maybe just above Mayor Adams and just below everybody else. But you, at least for today, deserve our respect. He's been going down. He talked about it during the debate just a couple of days ago. He's been going down on a regular basis to the federal immigration court in New York to accompany immigrants, make sure everything goes smoothly as an observer, not as a lawyer, as a citizen. Remember, even though they want to take this away from us, there is no more powerful person or stakeholder in our democracy than to be a citizen, to have a C in front of your Name is the most important thing. Don't let Donald Trump fool you. Don't let him take away your patriotism or your stakeholder position as a citizen. And that's what Lander was doing. Now, if it was a one off situation, I'd say, all right, well, maybe there was a misunderstanding and a scuffle in the hallway, but when he. All he asked for was to see the warrant. Let me see the warrant. They not only refused, they said he was obstructing arrest and they took him away. He may be out. I'm not even sure yet. But let's roll the clip and then we'll put this in the context for this hot take. Let's roll the clip.
Unknown Speaker
You have a judicial have. I will let go when you show.
Michael Popak
Me the judicial warrant. Where is it? We don't have. You don't have authority to arrest US Citizens, sir. You don't have the authority to arrest US Citizens. I'm not obstructing. I'm standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant. By asking for a judicial warrant, you.
Unknown Speaker
Don'T have the authority to arrest US Citizens.
Michael Popak
Asking for a judicial warrant. Stay back.
Unknown Speaker
No, ma' am.
Michael Popak
For your own safety. For your own safety.
Unknown Speaker
I'm safe.
Michael Popak
I can't believe you're arresting. Where are you taking. Hello? You have no authority to arrest US Citizens. Where are you taking me? And with what authority?
Unknown Speaker
And with what authority?
Michael Popak
Number one is going to go with him. All right, hang on. Where's number one? Hold on, hold on, hold on. I want the warrant. Where's the warrant? Show me the warrant. They're not talking to him. It's obvious that they were instructed by Homeland Security and Kristi Noem by way of Donald Trump and Stephen Miller, who runs the whole immigration scheme of Donald Trump, to arrest, go out of their way to arrest people like Democrats to target them. The weather, it's heating up and your nighttime bedroom temperature has a huge impact on your sleep quality. If you wake up too hot or too cold, I highly recommend you check out Miracle Maid's bed sheets. Miracle Maid sheets are inspired by NASA and use silver infused fabrics that are temperature regulating so you can sleep at the perfect temperature all night long. 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Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made. Go to try Miracle.com LegalAF and use the code LEGAL AF to claim your free three piece towel set and save over 40% off. Again, that's try Miracle.com LegalAF to treat yourself. Thank you Miracle made for sponsoring this episode. I'll end with where I started. At the top of this hot take, Donald Trump is arresting his political rivals. Could it be worse? I don't know. There was a scenario that was raised during the immunity decision oral argument at the United States Supreme Court a couple of years ago about whether Donald Trump could take out his political rivals using Seal Team 6. And I don't mean for dinner. And they had this very polite academic discussion and debate about and I was crawling out of my skin, I was about to jump out of my skin. You're talking about whether it is okay. The fact that we can even form that question tells you on the Trump and magazine we are lost. We are lost as a society if we can ask that in polite company. And so Brad Lander had the right to be in that courtroom, in that court, in that hallway. But now look at what has been happening over the last 60 days. You've got a no in reverse order, Gavin Newsom threatened with arrest by Donald Trump and by Tom Holman. His borders are the governor of the great state of California, a sovereign state, threatened with arrest for exercising his First Amendment rights and for making sure that states rights were being protected. Alex Padilla in California, they crossed the red line, wherever that was. We crossed it a long time ago. In the first 200 days of the Trump administration. The senior senator, federal United States senator from California, Alex Padilla, basically hog tied, taken down. We can all, we can all debate the niceties of was he taken down? Did he, did they bring him down? I mean, I saw some people in a chat about One of my hot takes. Well, they didn't really, really push him to the ground. No, he just fell to the ground, and then they got on top of him. Senior senator. I think you're missing the point. The senator from California was effectively dragged out of her room and detained by federal officers because he had the temerity to try to interrupt or ask a question of Kristi Noem, who let it all happen, instead of saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's Senator Padilla. And all Donald Trump had to say about it was, well, he looked like an immigrant. You know, he's a tall, brown man. Or words to that effect. Senators under attack. Controllers and mayoral candidates. Democrat under attack. Let's keep going. United states representative, Congresswoman McIver of New Jersey. Great state of New Jersey, where I'm from. Along with Mayor Baraka. Political rivals of Donald Trump. What do they have in common? Indicted, arrested, indicted. Baraka got his indictment dismissed because it was bullshit from the beginning. And now he's suing Alina Haba directly for defamation and false arrest. He's a political rival. He's a leading candidate to run for office in America, for the presidency in 2028. Donald Trump knows that. Has him arrested. Phony charges. The arrest is on the front page. The dismissal of the indictment is on page 38. That's what Donald Trump wants. McIver indicted. Why? What was her crime? Trying to observe peacefully as a member of Congress. Giving oversight to an immigration facility run by a private company. That's lying. Donald Trump's pockets with donations. She was arrested. No. Resisting arrest. Just observations. A Milwaukee, Wisconsin, trial court judge who got arrested and perp walked in a photograph that was released by the Trump administration in violation of the Department of Justice policies in order to have a chilling effect over all the judiciary, to stay in their box, stay in their lane. Don't challenge this administration. Certainly not in your court rulings. And each time a press release, a social media post by the Trump administration. They were bad. They did bad things, these people. They resisted arrest. They're criminals. Nobody will be spared. Nobody but Donald Trump, the only person that's been spared in America for criminal liability. Two groups, criminal liability and exposure. Well, I guess three groups. Donald Trump, the Jan6 insurrectionist, and the couple of thousand people who have been pardoned by Donald Trump, including the Jan6 insurrectionist. They got away, right? Crime doesn't pay. It did for that group of people. And now add to it Brad Lander. Yeah, but. But I'm going to tell you, he should wear that proudly as a tattoo. He should literally get a tattoo on his arm or whatever, henna, a Hannah paint job that says with with pride in defense of democracy. I was arrested by the Trump administration. I'd get one if I had to. That's what I love about Gavin Newsom. His response was, bring it. Bring it. You want to arrest me, the governor of this California? Please, it's a gift. Bring it. And this against the backdrop of not only no King's Day, but somebody who went hunting to assassinate elected officials and their families and was successful. And all the Republicans respond on that on cue. All they have to do to respond to that is, well, public, basically. Democrats had it coming. Mike Lee. Yep. Nightmare on Wall Street. Oh, let me take that down. That seems, that seems cruel, you know, but only because Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator, challenged him and said, it's no joke. It's one of my best friends. I had dinner with her the night she was killed, that elected official. But instantly, Republicans try to politicize it. Oh, the Democrats, it looked like the killer was a Democrat. Killer was obviously a crazed gunman who is who. Who can operate in the seething cauldron of hatred environment generated by Donald Trump. But I didn't politicize it. My first angle was not the Republicans did it, but you be the judge. I'm going to continue to follow it all right here on Midas Touch. Come on over to Legal AF, the YouTube channel. Hit the free subscribe button there as we continue to grow these two channels together. And then of course, we got Legal A off the podcast every Wednesday and Saturday at 8pm Eastern time right here on the Midas Touch Network. So until my next report, I'm Michael Popak 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 at legal a FMTN. That's @legal AFMTN.
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Podcast Title: Legal AF by MeidasTouch
Episode: Trump Arrest of Dem Quickly Backfires
Release Date: June 19, 2025
Host: Michael Popok, alongside Ben Meiselas and Karen Friedman Agnifilo
Executive Producer: Meidas Media Network
In this episode of Legal AF, host Michael Popok delves into a series of controversial arrests targeting Democratic political figures, alleging orchestrated efforts by the Trump administration to undermine political rivals. The discussion is both passionate and critical, offering listeners a deep dive into the intersection of law and politics in the current climate.
Michael Popok opens the episode by highlighting the arrest of Brad Lander, the New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate. Lander was apprehended by an ICE agent in federal immigration court for accompanying an immigrant to a hearing for observational purposes. Popok asserts that the underlying motive is political rivalry, stating:
"If the Democrats arrested their political rivals, they'd be run out on a rail. It's exactly what we need to do come the midterms."
(00:00)
Popok emphasizes the symbolic significance of being arrested as a form of resistance, suggesting that such actions should be seen as a testament to one's commitment to democracy.
The discussion extends to several other Democratic figures who have faced similar legal challenges:
Popok criticizes the administration's actions, suggesting they are politically motivated:
"Donald Trump knows that [McIver] is a leading candidate to run for office in America, for the presidency in 2028. Donald Trump knows that."
(10:30)
A significant portion of the episode centers around the legitimacy of the arrests. Popok cites specific incidents where the arrested individuals questioned the authority of the officers, leading to confrontations:
"You have no authority to arrest US Citizens."
(03:34)
Popok argues that the lack of proper warrants and the refusal to present them undermines the legality of these arrests, framing them as overreach by federal authorities.
Popok connects these arrests to broader concerns about the state of democracy in the United States. He references a hypothetical scenario discussed during Supreme Court oral arguments about Trump potentially using elite units like SEAL Team 6 against political opponents, highlighting the dangerous precedents such discussions set:
"The fact that we can even form that question tells you that under Trump, we are lost as a society."
(12:15)
He warns that these actions contribute to a climate of fear and intimidation, deterring public officials from exercising their democratic duties and challenging the administration.
The episode also touches on how different political factions respond to such events. Popok criticizes the Republican portrayal of these arrests, suggesting they are politicizing incidents to their advantage:
"Republicans try to politicize it. Oh, the Democrats had it coming."
(12:45)
He contrasts this with his own approach, emphasizing impartiality and focusing on the systemic issues rather than partisan blame.
Michael Popok concludes by reaffirming his commitment to monitoring and reporting on these legal and political developments. He encourages listeners to engage with the Legal AF YouTube channel and participate in the conversation surrounding these critical issues.
"Help us build this pro-democracy channel where I'll be curating the top stories at the intersection of law and politics."
(13:30)
Michael Popok: "Being a citizen, to have a 'C' in front of your name is the most important thing. Don't let Donald Trump fool you."
(02:10)
Unknown Speaker (During Arrest): "You have no authority to arrest US Citizens."
(03:34)
Michael Popok: "Crime doesn't pay. It did for that group of people."
(12:00)
This episode of Legal AF presents a compelling narrative of alleged political persecution, urging listeners to scrutinize the legal actions taken against Democratic figures. Through detailed discussions and pointed critiques, Michael Popok underscores the fragile state of democratic institutions and the continuous struggle to uphold justice and accountability in a polarized political environment.
Note: This summary excludes advertisement segments and non-content sections to focus solely on the episode's core discussions and analyses.