Legal AF by MeidasTouch

Episode Title: Trump Attempt to Hide Dark Past Revealed in Shock New FBI Emails
Date: December 3, 2025
Hosts: Michael Popok (with remarks from Ben Meiselas and others)

Episode Overview

This episode is a deep-dive into the recent bombshell revelations about the Trump administration's effort to suppress the release of explosive FBI files on Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. Utilizing newly uncovered internal FBI emails (obtained via FOIA by Bloomberg), Michael Popok connects how former President Donald Trump—with help from Pam Bondi and Kash Patel—personally intervened to halt the production of files loaded with sensitive evidence. The episode scrutinizes redaction procedures, discusses the looming December 19th release deadline, and questions the legal mechanisms available should the files not be released.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Order to Halt the Epstein File Release

• Michael Popok opens with the breaking news: New reporting shows that “Donald Trump and Pam Bondi, the Attorney General all along, gave the order to kill off the review of the Epstein files when they were about ready to be produced...according to new reporting by Bloomberg and a Freedom of Information act response.” (02:32)
• The FBI, led by Kash Patel, put in “3,000 hours of overtime pay, 12 hour shifts in Virginia” to process the Epstein files, but the redaction work was directed primarily to protect not victims, but implicated figures—including Trump.
• Popok emphasizes, “We’ve now got the revelation that they were about 73% complete in the phase two production of the FBI Epstein files when Donald Trump put a kibosh on it and killed it off.” (03:48)

2. Political and Legal Implications of the Withholding

• There is a statutorily-mandated release date: “December 19th—that’s the date, by order, by Bill, by law, that the Epstein files...are supposed to be released.” (04:28)
• Popok speculates that if Kash Patel is fired before the 19th, it could delay the release. If Trump fails to comply, it would result in a need for civil lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act, since the DOJ itself is unlikely to act.

3. Evidence of Trump’s Direct Concern

• Popok references insider reporting: “Pam Bondi did a full briefing of Donald Trump; she told him that his name was all over the files... MAGA representatives, including Marjorie Taylor Greene...were told that they are worse for Donald Trump than first reported.” (03:18)
• Popok underscores Trump’s hypocrisy by recalling prior campaign trail promises to declassify such files, then playing an audio clip:

  Trump (on releasing Epstein files): “Yeah, yeah, I would. All right. I guess I would. I think that less so because, you know, you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there, because there's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world.” (07:12)

4. Redaction—Transparency vs. Obscuration

• The episode scrutinizes the rationale for redaction, asserting: “It was obviously also to protect Donald Trump and to get his name out of it.” (03:08)
• Large portions of time, staff, and process notes are documented in new FBI emails revealing “round the clock, morning, noon and night, 12 hour shifts...more than 3,000 hours of people power spent.” (05:37)
• Popok details the exhaustive exhibit list that the DOJ possesses—including photographs, tapes, digital evidence, and logs—which he promises to make public via the Legal AF Substack.

5. Historical Context and Potential Cover-up

• The episode revisits the role of Maureen Comey (James Comey’s daughter), mentioning: “She was prepared to go to trial against Epstein until he killed himself...then fired by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi.” (12:25)
• Popok adds that Maureen Comey is now suing for wrongful termination, suggesting a retaliatory motive tied to the administration's cover-up attempts.

6. Firsthand Accounts: Michael Wolff’s Testimony

• Popok recounts Michael Wolff’s personal testimony about seeing photos of Trump with underage girls in Epstein’s house, playing a compelling excerpt:

  Wolff: “Once we were there at his dining room table and he brought out these snapshots...of Donald Trump and Donald Trump with a variety of the girls who frequented Epstein’s house in Palm Beach. Two of Trump, of topless girls sitting on Trump’s lap, one with Trump a stain on the front of his pants.” (15:49)

7. Congressional Hearings & FBI Obfuscation

• The podcast plays and analyzes an exchange in Congress, where Ted Lieu grills Kash Patel about the files and whether the FBI has subpoenaed everything, showing Patel’s evasive and deflective answers (17:27–19:18).

  Lieu: “Has FBI subpoenaed the tapes that Michael Wolf has conducted of Jeffrey Epstein?” Patel: “I don’t know.” Lieu: “You’re the frickin’ FBI. You can subpoena information from this estate and you better do that.” (19:17)
  The exchange highlights parliamentary frustration at deliberate FBI stonewalling.

8. Looking Ahead: Countdown to Compliance

• With the release date looming, Popok lays out the legal forecast: if Trump and the DOJ don’t comply, new FOIA litigation is inevitable. He stresses the need for independent tracking tools (using the detailed exhibit list) to ensure the eventual release is “the complete file.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Popok on the nature of the redaction process:

  “Which is a fancy way of saying blackout information that would be identifying not just for the survivors and the victims. Oh no, it was obviously also to protect Donald Trump and to get his name out of it.” (02:38)

• Popok on Trump’s change of narrative:

  “Donald Trump never had any intention of releasing the rest of the files after the debacle that happened...He was not going to go back through that after she told him how bad the files were for him.” (03:53)

• Popok on the role of public vigilance:

  “Nobody wants to see nude photos of girls that Jeffrey Epstein raped. But if in that photo there’s a person, a man, regardless of who it is, that needs to be investigated and prosecuted, okay, that’s fair game....especially if it’s one Donald Trump.” (13:55)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [02:30] – Opening of Epstein cover-up discussion; details on Trump, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel’s roles
• [04:28] – Statutory deadline for Epstein file release outlined
• [06:58] – Audio: Trump’s campaign promises on file declassification
• [08:24] – Audio: Pam Bondi on the files “sitting on my desk”
• [12:25] – The exhibit list and Maureen Comey’s firing
• [15:45] – Michael Wolff recounts seeing incriminating Trump photos
• [17:27-19:18] – Congressional grilling of Kash Patel on FBI inaction

Conclusion & Call to Action

Michael Popok ends the episode flagging the urgent need for legal and citizen oversight in ensuring full and prompt release of the Epstein materials—especially in the face of mounting evidence of organized suppression at the highest levels.

“With the new FBI emails, the exhibit list, and the tick tock of counting down the days...we’re going to have to continue to follow it all right here at the intersection of law and politics.” (19:24)

Listeners are encouraged to subscribe to the Legal AF Podcast and their Substack for continued updates and behind-the-scenes documentation.

For listeners new to the story: This episode is a primer on how high-profile, politically sensitive investigations can be stalled or manipulated—and why vigilant legal journalism (with documentation) matters.