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When does a top secret military and hospital installation under the White House stop being a top secret military installation? When the number three lawyer in the Department of Justice puts on the public docket for enemies and allies alike to see all sorts of unique features below the ballroom, allegedly for the protection and security of Donald Trump. Then why aren't they blacked out? More to the point in the new filing by the Department of Justice, not the National Park Service, who was sued to stop the ballroom, but the Department of Justice's top leadership, why, in addition to revealing critical security components to the public about the construction, why do they continue to lie to the American people about whose funding the ballroom? And why do they lie to the American people about what went down at the White House Correspondents Dinner while conveniently ignoring what went down on January 6th in a true planned massacre of the Capitol? I'm Michael Popak. I'll tie it all together based on a new filing by Stan Woodward. Yes, the number three in the Department of Justice signed the thing you may remember Stan Woodward, his tryout for the job was that he represented a lot of Jan Sixers, a lot of right wing maga, and infamously thought that somebody in the special counsel's office led by Jack Smith was trying to shake him down. And so that Stan Woodward is now the number three in the Department of Justice. Wait till you hear it. It looks like yet again another social media rant by Donald Trump ripped off a printer and filed with a court. Let's get to the bottom of it. I guess in their rush to get the last word in about trying to convince Judge Leon of the federal District Court in D.C. that he should reassert jurisdiction in a case he no longer has jurisdiction in because it's up on appeal, he should dissolve an injunction that's already blocked by the appellate court. And he should Trump like taking his lumps at the hands of the Trump administration. They even cite to John Fetterman again, even Senator, Senator John Fetterman, even Democrats believe that everybody's suffering from the Trump derangement syndrome. And he accuses the judge of doing the same thing. Let me get to the. In the rush to file, maybe they should have spent a little bit more time with the redaction tape on page three when it came to the key components of what they now refer to as the militarily top secret ballroom. That, that in artful, clumsy phrase sounds like it came right out of either Donald Trump's keyboard or that of his human printer. Natalie Harp, his executive assistant who writes most of his social media. Here's what Stan Woodward tells the world about the project. That it is integrated, that there's a state of the art hospital and medical facility there and a bomb shelter and protective partitioning. And get, get this bad guys, one venting system, one electrical system, one plumbing system, one security system, one air conditioning and one structural system. If Ethan Hunt on Mission Impossible were given this assignment, he would have. This is too simple. This won't make a good movie. There's only one electrical system. There's only, there's no redundancy. There's only one security system. So all you got to do is cut the red or the blue out, out in front of the ballroom and the top secret bunker underneath goes dark. Seriously? And you wrote that. Only a lawyer would write that. And one who doesn't care about telling the truth. Because if that's true, that's valuable information for people who want to harm the United States of America. And yet there it is, the critical security features. Now let's go to the hypocrisy of calling what happened at the White House Correspondents Dinner a horrific, serious, planned massacre. Their words, not mine, page one. But not acknowledging the same thing about Jan.6, which was even worse. All right, look, I. We all get that they're trying to exploit the hell out of what happened. Months after they had already knocked over the ballroom, knocked over the east wing, dug a big hole and started building the ballroom. Months later, there was a guy a floor below the dinner who had a gun, a. A couple of guns who may have fired one of them. And it may have hit a Secret Service agent in his vest, some sort of buckshot or shot that hit his vest. Nowhere near Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Cabinet members or members of the correspondence in Washington. I mean, a whole floor below. What was his plan? I don't know. I haven't seen those plans revealed. But to say that it was that the other side in this case is failing to acknowledge the horrific seriousness of the planned massacre. When Donald Trump and MAGA to this moment refused to acknowledge the horrific seriousness of the planned massacre on January 6, the Capitol, where we actually saw it, they actually broke in. Weaponized weapons, pitched battle, arm to arm, hand to hand combat. Blood on the steps, broke in. Guillotines and nooses calling for the head of Nancy Pelosi trying to get into the speakers, down the speaker's hallway to the chamber to get the staff and the Democrats and the senators all in one place. That would have been like shooting fish in a barrel. Now that is the horrific seriousness of a plan massacre. The guy on the floor below, he wasn't there for a good purpose or a good reason. He's a bad actor. But you see how they're trying to exploit it. First page. The only president to have three assassination attempts in less than two years. The reality is, look at the timeline, and everybody knows it. You knocked over in the middle of the night. The East Wing, months before the White House Correspondence dinner. And now you're trying to use it as an after the fact justification for violating the law. Oh, plain and simple.
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a f. Now let's go to the lies. They then say that it's a gift. It's a gift, everybody, to the American people. How do we know it? First they say that media pundits, which I guess is like Laura Loomer and right wing, right wing social media influencers, they're, they're security experts now because on page five it says a bipartisan chorus of legislators, Republican analysts, Fox and media pundits, Laura Loomer have agreed the ballroom is necessary more than ever. Now we're doing a poll, we're doing a hermetically sealed poll of maga and that dictates who gets the ball, who gets security like this. Then they talk about the ballroom is a gift. How dumb do they think the American people are? Put it in comments. A gift. A billion dollar taxpayer boondoggle that's just got blocked by the Senate parliamentarian because even she can't stomach it. Under the reconciliation methods to include in an immigration bill to try to fund ice. What does that have to do with anything? And then they had, they ran the Secret Service director around to brief Republicans who had to admit, well, 220 million of the billion is for hardening of the ballroom. Oh, you mean the free ballroom. The taxpayer free gift needs at least $220 million worth of hardening. Let's just call it an even billion, shall we, among friends. Oh, and then, then you have the, the Trump toddler syndrome where it's obvious that he or somebody around him like Stephen Miller wrote this next part about the other side not being able to read. God. So it starts this way. Page 4. Trump lobs other meritless accusations. For example, claiming it was false for defendants to have stated that there is absolutely no argument that a woman walking her dog in the vicinity of the White House as standing to stop such a desperately needed structure. Because they said that's. That's how they try to minimize and diminish the plaintiff in the case. Plaintiff is apparently unfamiliar with figures of speech and rhetorical devices. You can almost hear the nanya in the background. Plaintiff is also unfamiliar with reading closely. Defendant's statement is 100% true. Given that even someone walking their dog would not have standing here. Oh, my God. Thank you. Stan Woodward masquerade or Donald Trump masquerading as Stan Woodward. What's going to happen next? Any moment now. Be shocked if Judge Leon did not deny the original motion filed by Stan Woodward and Todd Blanche for an indicative ruling under Rules Federal rule Civil Procedure 62.1, to declare that he was wrong all along to try to stop the ballroom and therefore there shouldn't even be an appeal. He's going to deny that. If he doesn't, I'll come back and tell you. Because, you know, we tell the truth here. We don't blow smoke or sunshine on Legal. Afraid of touch. But I think that's what's going to happen, like, any minute now. I'm trying to get this video up soon so it doesn't go stale. But thanks, Stan, for telling the world that all you got to do is. Is cut the blue or green wire and the whole security project gets plunged into the dark. I'm Michael Popo. Take a minute. Come over to Legal AF YouTube channel and help us continue to grow that pro democracy channel in parallel to the Midas Touch network. We're falling a little bit behind. We gotta catch up. If you think you're a member or a subscriber, you're probably not. Go check. Hit the button. And help us continue to grow what we're doing over there. Till my next report, I'm Michael Popak.
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Date: May 19, 2026
Host: Michael Popok (w/ Ben Meiselas, Karen Friedman Agnifilo - not present in transcript)
This episode centers on a controversial filing by the Department of Justice (DOJ), revealing sensitive details about a so-called “militarily top secret ballroom” constructed under the White House during Donald Trump’s presidency. Host Michael Popok dissects the legal and political implications of unredacted security components made public, the narrative spin employed by Trump’s team, and the ongoing legal maneuvers around the project’s legitimacy and funding.
[02:00 – 05:30]
Michael Popok explains the context: a new DOJ filing – allegedly signed by Stan Woodward (now the DOJ’s number three lawyer, previously a lawyer for January 6th defendants) – has placed previously classified details about the White House’s “ballroom” and its bunker on the public record.
Quote:
“...in their rush to file, maybe they should have spent a little bit more time with the redaction tape on page three... key components of what they now refer to as the militarily top secret ballroom. That... sounds like it came right out of either Donald Trump's keyboard or that of his human printer, Natalie Harp, his executive assistant who writes most of his social media.”
— Michael Popok [04:19]
Security Details Revealed: The filing lays out specifics: the presence of an integrated hospital and medical facility, a bomb shelter, and unique partitioning. Even more, it outlines that there is only a “single” system for ventilation, plumbing, security, electrical, and air conditioning—implying a lack of ordinary security redundancies.
Critique: Popok mocks the lack of “Mission Impossible” level complexity, pointing out how dangerous and careless it is to air these vulnerabilities:
“...so all you got to do is cut the red or the blue out in front of the ballroom and the top secret bunker underneath goes dark. Seriously? And you wrote that. Only a lawyer would write that. And one who doesn't care about telling the truth.”
— Michael Popok [05:10]
[05:30 – 08:45]
Popok skewers the Trump team for describing an incident at a White House Correspondents’ Dinner (where a shooter was supposedly on a floor below) as a “planned massacre,” while continually dismissing and refusing to acknowledge the gravity of the January 6th insurrection.
“...they're trying to exploit the hell out of what happened. Months after they had already knocked over the ballroom, ... started building the ballroom. Months later, there was a guy a floor below the dinner who had a gun... Nowhere near Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Cabinet members or members of the correspondence in Washington... But to say that ... is failing to acknowledge the horrific seriousness of the planned massacre. When Donald Trump and MAGA to this moment refused to acknowledge the horrific seriousness of the planned massacre on January 6...”
— Michael Popok [07:04]
Juxtaposition: Stark difference between how the Trump team and their lawyers characterize events that suit their current legal or political needs versus those (like January 6th) that don’t.
[09:47 – 11:10]
The Trump team claims the ballroom is a “gift to the American people.” Popok calls this a transparent, misleading spin, highlighting revelations from the filing that up to $220 million—if not closer to $1 billion—of taxpayer money would be needed for “hardening” the supposedly “free” ballroom.
“A gift. A billion dollar taxpayer boondoggle that's just got blocked by the Senate parliamentarian because even she can't stomach it... Then you have the, the Trump toddler syndrome where it’s obvious that he or somebody around him like Stephen Miller wrote this next part about the other side not being able to read. God.”
— Michael Popok [10:35]
[11:10 – 12:30]
Popok lampoons the legal writing in Stan Woodward’s brief, implying the language is so unserious and self-pitying that it could have been written by Trump or his closest circle.
Example: “Plaintiff is apparently unfamiliar with figures of speech and rhetorical devices. You can almost hear the nanya in the background. Plaintiff is also unfamiliar with reading closely. Defendant's statement is 100% true. Given that even someone walking their dog would not have standing here. Oh, my God.” [11:19]
Predicts Judge Leon will deny Woodward’s motion to regain jurisdiction or dissolve injunctions—calling the legal maneuvering an ultimately doomed, performative move.
“Be shocked if Judge Leon did not deny the original motion filed by Stan Woodward and Todd Blanche for an indicative ruling under ... Rule 62.1, to declare that he was wrong all along to try to stop the ballroom and therefore there shouldn't even be an appeal. He's going to deny that. ... Because, you know, we tell the truth here. We don't blow smoke or sunshine on Legal AF.”
— Michael Popok [12:11]
On Publicizing Security Flaws:
“Thanks, Stan, for telling the world that all you got to do is cut the blue or green wire and the whole security project gets plunged into the dark."
— Michael Popok [12:44]
On Trump’s Team’s Narrative Spin:
“How dumb do they think the American people are? Put it in the comments. A gift. A billion dollar taxpayer boondoggle...”
— Michael Popok [10:23]
On January 6th Double Standards:
“...the horrific seriousness of a plan massacre. The guy on the floor below ... He's a bad actor. But you see how they're trying to exploit it. ... When Donald Trump and MAGA to this moment refused to acknowledge the horrific seriousness of the planned massacre on January 6...”
— Michael Popok [07:34]
Sharp, analytical, and often sarcastic—Michael Popok uses wit and pointed critique to dissect Trump team legal filings, expose contradictions, and highlight the real-world implications of unredacted governmental disclosures. The episode maintains a pro-democracy, transparency-first outlook, urging listeners to stay informed and engaged.
For legal news fans and democracy-watchers, this episode provides a trenchant analysis of current Trump-related court battles and a vivid picture of law, politics, and propaganda colliding at the highest levels.