Loading summary
A
Back to school is better. With Family Freedom from T Mobile, we'll pay off four phones up to $3200 and give you four free phones, all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com FamilyFreedom up to $800 per line via virtual prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement eg Apple iPhone16128GB8 2,999 eligible trade in eg iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits end and balance due if you pay off early or cancel contact T Mobile Looks like Donald.
B
Trump may be arresting less, not more than the daily average of arrests in the District of Columbia. To great fanfare. He's taken over. He's taken over D.C. he's trying to embarrass blue state and blue municipality leadership. He's law and order. Except the numbers don't support that. Not only is the data wrong about the violence and the and the statistics about the violent nature of crime in the District of Columbia, he's got it all backwards and upside down. But he's also his arrest numbers seem to be less than the arrests that were being made on an average day before he took it over. A Michael Popak let's get down to the facts. Let's rip the band aid off here on Midas Touch and Legal AF to great fanfare on the first day of a trial to step on the news of the first day of that trial in the in San Francisco against the Trump administration for violating the Posse Comitatus act, uh, by using US Military troops on domestic soil. What did Donald Trump do? He held a press conference to announce he was federalizing and taking over D.C. why? What was the instigator for that? What was the, what was the reason for that? Because a staffer, 19 year old staffer named Big Balls who's rummaging around your Social Security and my Social Security information on behalf of Doge got jacked by by a bunch of 14 year olds. So because that happened, Donald Trump decided, talk about knee jerk reaction, to take over an entire federal district and its police department. And now they start cranking out this phony data about arrests. There's been a hundred arrests, Carolyn Levitt said the press secretary, since the operation started on Monday. Except she ignores the fact that there were already 50 to 60 arrests a day in the District of Columbia before the federalization. So by my math, they're arresting less, not more people. I'm Michael Popo. Let's get down to it. Hit the subscribe button for Legal AF. Slide over to Legal F YouTube channel. Hit that subscribe button. Hit the Midas Touch subscribe button. Let's get down to the math and the statistics. Donald Trump held that press conference and he said false things. Lies to the American people. That the crime rate in D.C. is higher than in foreign countries like Mexico City. That's a lie. That the murder rate is higher there than in some foreign countries that we associate with violence. That was a lie. The crime rate is down 33%. Violent crime rate down 30% in the district of Columbia. Having nothing to do, in fact, in spite of Donald Trump. Not because of it, because of what he has done to foment discontent in this country and cause and create atmospheres where people take to the streets and use violence because they're running out of hope. That's a Donald Trump problem. All he was doing then was both protecting his. What's the word I'm looking for? His, his. His brown noser, his teacher's pet and big balls. And now he's claiming, as we've reported here on the Midas Dutch network, that he's going to extend the time beyond 30 days. He can only do the first 30 days without bipartisan support from Congress. He's gonna get a crime bill passed to allow him to extend beyond 30 days. The takeover of District of Columbia's police department. To what end? I heard Carolyn Levette's announcement. We, we've arrested a hundred people since Monday. It's working. Except she always leaves out the data points that show that that's false, that if you're arresting. Do the math, Carolyn. If you're arresting 50 to 60 people a day before the takeover and you're talking about three and a half full days, then your arrest should be. It would have to be north of 180 arrests, not 100, in order for you to justify the takeover. Isn't that right? Isn't my math right? So what we're trying to do here, as the Democrats led by Chuck Schumer said over his dead body, they're going to fight tooth and nail. And he kind of build question is this Donald Trump, who all he's continuing to do is to back Democrats into a corner to make it look like we're against law and order. I am a knock. I am not against law and order. No real Democrat is against law and order. We are not for lawlessness. We are not for murder rates. We are not for violent crime going up in the name of DEI or First Amendment expression. That has never been the Democratic position and we can't allow Donald Trump to continue to paint us that way. We are for law and order as long as it's not reflection of abuse of power and the dict, dictator like approach of Donald Trump. Crushing dissent is not law and order. Crushing lawful protest is not law and order. Crushing First Amendment expression because you don't like the ideas being expressed is not law and order. It's constitutional violations and an abuse of power. And then Donald Trump, you see what they're doing, right? They're trying to gain control. And then through their Pravda, through their propaganda machine, starts with Carolyn Levette, then it, then it's Stephen Chung, then it's all the right, right wing social media influencers who work under the White House like Laura Loomer and others and Tucker Carlson and the rest. They all gang up on this set of false talking points like crime is better now, crime's down now in D.C. because of the takeover, when the numbers show the opposite that I've just described to you. Let's be honest, most of us are tired, stressed and dealing with some kind of pain. And what do we do? We power through because the last thing we want is another prescription. And let's face it, nothing in the medicine cabinet ever actually works. That's why I'm so glad I found CB Distillery. Their CBD products are helping so many people, myself included, sleep better, feel more relaxed and ease everyday pain. The best part? It's all made with premium quality natural ingredients. They've got a full range of solutions for stress, sleep, pain after exercise, and even CBD for pets. Their soothing relief balm is a huge customer favorite and so are their sleep products. My favorite is the 1000mg CBD relief and relaxation Tincture. It's been a real game changer for me. So if you're tired of being tired and stressed or just want to feel better in your body, check out CBD from CB Distillery. And right now you can save 25% off your entire purchase. Visit CB distillery.com and use promo code legal AF that CB distillery.com promo code legal AF cbdistillery.com specific product availability depends on individual state regulations. Now Donald Trump says we got to worry about violent crime, we got to worry about crime and I'm going to put a stop to it. How does he have the moral justification to even look the American people in the eye and say that this is the same person that opened the jails open, literally open the jails to some of our most violent insurrectionists who are on tape, audio and video proven in courts of law to have mercilessly with their bare hands, with homemade instruments, homemade weapons, things they picked up, police material, beat law enforcement almost to death in hand to hand combat that look like pitch battle from Game of Thrones or medieval times. So bad that people on the Metro police force and Capitol police force that were law, that were in the military, said that this reminded them. One woman testified this reminded her of what it was like to battle in Fallujah with blood on the Capitol steps, a pitched battle so bad, a fight so bad violence so bad by the Jan6 insurrectionists who were pardoned and blessed by Donald Trump and let out the back door so they could have dinner with their families the night of Donald Trump's inauguration. So bad that law enforcement took their own life. There's at least one, if not two suicides as a result. Five people died that day. This walk in the park by maga, this love fest, and Donald Trump's response to that is to slap the face of law enforcement, slap the face of other Americans, and not only exonerate these criminals, these violent criminals, some of which went on to commit other violent crime, not only that, but to exalt them, to put them up on a pedestal, to be admired, to be worshiped, to be honored. And he's worried about big balls getting jumped by a bunch of 14 year olds. I'm sorry if I don't have any empathy or sympathy for Mr. Big Balls, is it? Mr. So that's what we've been watching, Donald Trump having, the temerity, the hypocrisy of looking the American people in their eye and saying he's for law and order, he's for supporting the troops and supporting the police department, it's the opposite. He undermines them every day by occupying the Oval Office. He discredits them, he defames them, he disdains their names and reputations, he dishonors the victims, those that also died on January 6th. And all he's worried about is picking up, you know, homeless people, people that are in the park who don't have any place else to go, a minor crime on the street, in the name of law and order. I'm sorry if I can't believe anything that you do, Trump, in the name of law and order, when you yourself are so lawless, so disrespectful of the rule of law, so at every turn trying to undermine our institutions, you've completely hollowed out any credibility that ever existed for the Department of Justice. That'll have to be completely rebuilt from scratch by the next President of the United States, who will be a Democrat. You've completely dishonored and hollowed out the proud reputation that once was held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, by the Central Intelligence Agency, by the national security apparatus, by the intelligence community, by the Secretary of State and the State Department of any shred left. There isn't any of respect and integrity among our diplomatic missions and councils. And then to stand before the American people and say you're for law and order because you picked up a couple of people publicly urinating is an affront to everything that we hold dear as Americans. We here on the Midas Touch Network on Illegal af. We are the Patriots. We can't allow him to hijack our patriotism and take the beating heart of America and throw it into the dumpster. We just won't allow it. We're joined here together at the hip and together we will overcome this Trump administration. You're here on the Midas Touch Network. Hit the free subscribe button. I'm Michael popak. Everything legal af comes through me. Come through the legal af YouTube channel. Hit the free subscribe button there as well and Watch our Legal AF podcast on Wednesdays and Saturday nights at 8pm Eastern Time and wherever you pick up audio podcasts from as well. Till my next report, I'm Michael Popach.
C
Can't get your fill of Legal af.
B
Me neither.
C
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.
B
You'll find the court filing, the oral.
C
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. This is one of the most spectacular venues with all kinds of character and hospitality scenery. These people in this Kitty Task Valley, they love when you come to see what they have to offer.
D
I'm JJ Harrison, Ellensburg Rodeo Clown, and I want to invite you to the rodeo. Come hang out with us in Ellensburg. Great rodeo, great time. Two performances on Saturday. One is the Extreme Bulls of the Year event. Do not miss the Ellensburg Rodeo August 29th through September 1st. We'll see you there.
Episode Title: Trump DC Stunt Instantly Backfires in Humiliating Failure
Release Date: August 16, 2025
Hosts: Ben Meiselas, Michael Popok, Karen Friedman Agnifilo
Network: MeidasTouch Network
This episode of Legal AF dives deep into the recent federal action taken by Donald Trump in Washington D.C., in which he claimed to “federalize” the district’s law enforcement. Host Michael Popok leads an unfiltered analysis, arguing that the supposed “law and order” stunt has not only failed by the numbers but also highlights Trump’s ongoing hypocrisy regarding crime, policing, and constitutional abuse.
Trump’s Move: In response to a reported incident involving a staffer attacked by teenagers, Trump held a high-profile press conference to announce the federal takeover of DC’s law enforcement.
Motivation: The hosts assert Trump acted out of political motivation, not real concern for public safety, attempting to leverage crime narratives to benefit his administration and corner Democrats.
Popok underscores Trump’s duplicity: while claiming to support law enforcement, he pardoned violent January 6th offenders who directly assaulted police officers.
Memorable Narrative: Popok evokes vivid imagery and testimony from law enforcement regarding the trauma of January 6th, referencing a Capitol officer who compared it to combat in Fallujah.
Popok catalogs how Trump’s actions have hollowed out trust in key American institutions: DOJ, FBI, CIA, State Department, and the diplomatic corps, which he says will require rebuilding.
The closing message is a call to reclaim authentic patriotism, not cede it to Trump’s narrative.
On Data Manipulation:
“Do the math, Carolyn. If you’re arresting 50 to 60 people a day before the takeover and you’re talking about three and a half full days, then your arrest should be... north of 180 arrests, not 100...” — Michael Popok [03:55]
On False Framing:
“We are for law and order as long as it’s not reflection of abuse of power and the dict, dictator like approach of Donald Trump. Crushing dissent is not law and order...” — Michael Popok [05:10]
On Patriotism:
“We here on the Midas Touch Network on Legal AF. We are the Patriots. We can’t allow him to hijack our patriotism and take the beating heart of America and throw it into the dumpster.” — Michael Popok [11:30]
For more legal deep-dives and discussion, subscribe to Legal AF on the MeidasTouch Network.