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- [00:00]
Sports Commentator
And we're live on Matchday as Doug reaches for a buffalo wing. He's got it. Oh, and he's gone for a can of Pepsi, too. What a finish. There's no doubt about it. It just tastes better. Matchdays deserve Pepsi.
- [00:16]
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- [01:51]
Michael Popak
o o.com Donald Trump's worst nightmare. What keeps him up at night? The Freddy Krueger of his nightmares is Jack Smith. Special Counsel Jack Smith. And Jack Smith is back. He's no longer silent. He's no longer sitting by quietly while the Department of Justice is in shambles, corrupted, captured. The most corrupt and criminal Department of Justice we've ever seen. And on the eve of Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing, in about two weeks, Jack Smith is back. We've seen him in closed door meetings. He's begged to speak to the American people. He's given interviews, but never ones. But he is back because this these trying times. Call For Jack Smith. Call for former federal judge Michael ludick. Call for 300 judges, state and federal to come out against the corruption that they are watching. And in the on the same day, it doesn't surprise me that John O. Brennan, former CIA director, has filed a aggressive but perfectly timed complaint suing the Trump administration before he gets indicted under some grand conspiracy, dark conspiracy model of Todd Blanche's and Donald and Donald Trump's fevered imagination. He has to sue to make sure, for instance, that the Trump administration doesn't destroy documents, doesn't prevent him from bringing his future motion for vindictive prosecution. We've got Jack Smith speaking directly to the American people. And look at the timing of it. Coming into the Fourth of July weekend, Independence Day, everyone. I feel like I'm Will Smith. Here we have Independence Day and Jack Smith. Jack Smith is leading the way. I'm Michael Popak, you're on Legal af. Let's get to what just happened. Extraordinary. First, Jack Smith is interviewed and during his interview he talks about why after he left office he had to get himself his own lawyer because this president has threatened to jail his political targets like Jack Smith, especially Jack Smith here. You know, for instance, here's Donald Trump threatening Jack Smith, Joe Biden's weaponization of
- [04:18]
Donald Trump (audio clip)
our government and removed his hand picked radical left Marxist prosecutors from the Department of Justice like deranged Jack six Smith. He's a sick son of a bitch. They gave me the worst of the worst and here I am. How did that happen? How did that happen? He's a sick guy. And Letitia James is sick and Alvin Bragg is sick. They're sick people. And others. Fanny. Fanny. You can't call Fanny. She doesn't like it. She wants to be called Fawney Fanny Willis. I won. Can you imagine putting somebody through that? And then if I suggest that somebody may be guilty of a terrible crime. Oh, he's weaponizing government. Trump is weaponizing government. It's terrible. Can you imagine? They say to me about weaponizing. I don't weaponize anything. But what they did to me. Nobody ever went through what I went through. And here I am in a place called the White House. It's a beautiful place. Who would have thought right?
- [05:30]
Michael Popak
Now, let's see Jack Smith yesterday, in response. Play the clip.
- [05:35]
Jack Smith
You know, I can't really comment on other people's choices. I would say, would it help? Well, I think my perspective on this is that in the moment we're in, which is a pretty dire moment, right, what we're facing, that we should be uplifting the people who are doing the right thing. And, you know, I'll give you an example from. From my life. I resign as special counsel. I know I need to get a lawyer because the president has said he wants to jail me for doing my job. And so I retain lawyers Covington and Berlin. As soon as that becomes public, the president and the Justice Department target that law firm. And they do it because they don't want me to have counsel. They don't want to have anyone represent me. And what happened next was the very day that happened to Cole, the lawyers at the firm called me up and said, jack, don't worry about it. We're there for you. They did not blink for a second. And as you know, that's very different than how some other law firms behaved. I think we should focus on things like that and separating a firm like Covington and Burling from other ones that didn't show courage to come forward.
- [06:39]
Legal Analyst
Well, Right.
- [06:40]
Michael Popak
And what I liked also about Jack Smith giving the interview is he talked about how prosecutors. And he's appealing to prosecutors. It's almost a public service announcement to prosecutors. And he's calling on prosecutors within the Department of Justice that remain to stand up to the lawlessness of Todd Blanche, previously Pam Bondi, and of course, of Donald Trump, and to say no about prosecutions. In fact, he talks about prosecutors fighting back from within the Department of Justice. Play that clip from.
- [07:14]
Legal Analyst
My limited exposure to people in DOJ and the FBI from my time in government, is they don't really want to go do other things. They want this to be their life's work, protecting the country's national security. Will you talk a little bit about the price people have paid who have been purged for political purposes?
- [07:31]
Jack Smith
Yeah.
- [07:32]
Jack Smith (testimony clip)
I mean, a lot of the agents
- [07:33]
Jack Smith
and prosecutors I've worked with, and to be clear, not just in the special counsel's office, but throughout my career in a bunch of different positions I've had in the Justice Department. This is the culmination of what they wanted to do. It's why they went to law school, and it's their way of serving our country. And we've seen so many times in these retribution cases where prosecutors wouldn't be a part of it. Prosecutors in Minnesota who are like, I'm not going to investigate the family member of a shooting victim. I'm not doing that. Prosecutors who wouldn't go through with retribution prosecutions. And those people give up a lot. This is their whole career, a lot of them. You know, this isn't a lucrative sort of profession for a lawyer in terms of what you could do in private practice. They have to support their families. And one thing I have hope about is I think the traditions in the department, the people at draw, are so strong that we're going to have to rehabilitate the department for sure. But there's a lot of people still there, still in place, wanting to do the right thing, wanting to follow the facts and law, not be a part of any retribution campaign. And I think for me, one of the things I see as I go around and talk to folks, I try to travel around the country a lot and see different people and talk to different perspectives about this is that those people, it really matters to them if they know they're being supported. Part of this campaign is to make people feel like isolated and feel like they don't have people backing them up. And so I just think it's really important I want to express my support. I think everybody else should express their support. It's something with meaning. And it's also something that matters.
- [09:11]
Michael Popak
I think the way that Smith frames the issue is exactly the way that's been our point of view here on Legal af. He says that the attack on the rule of law has never been seen before. Watch Jack Smith call out exactly balls and strikes. What is going on doesn't matter whether you're red or blue or purple or you have no political affiliation. You have to listen when Jack Smith talks from his background. Play the clip.
- [09:43]
Jack Smith
Well, you know, I was a career prosecutor. I worked in the Justice Department and other prosecutors offices for near on 30 years. And I don't know if your viewers know this, but I work in Republican and Democratic administrations over and over. I was the Acting U.S. attorney in the first Trump administration in Nashville, Tennessee. And that administration appointed me to a position running a war crimes tribunal for the State Department. So I have investigated cases focusing on the facts and law throughout my career. We did this case the same way, under the same standards. And the thing that's, I think, important for your viewers to know is those standards are not meant to change from one administration to the next. And in my experience until now, they haven't. And so I think we are facing an attack on the rule of law that is different in kind and scope to anything I've seen in my lifetime. And one of the reasons I wanted to be with you here today in advance of the Fourth of July, celebrating the birth of a country that we all love, is to celebrate the public servants who do this work, the people I spent my career working shoulder to shoulder with. I loved being a prosecutor and part of it was I loved being around these sort of people. And it angers me to see them victimized, to see them demonized for doing their jobs. I think it's really important that we stand up for them and let them know that there are a lot of people out there who back them and who are with them. And that's not just the people who've been targeted and fired for no reason for doing their jobs. It's also the people still in the Justice Department today. There are a lot of good career prosecutors who right now are working under incredibly difficult circumstances and they're still trying to do the right thing. And these are not self promoters. These are not people who are going to go out and crow about their achievements. We need to hold them up and celebrate them because they're part of what makes this country great.
- [11:47]
Michael Popak
Now, it's not the first time we've heard from Jack Smith. We saw finally the video got released of his testimony when the Department of Justice wasn't busy trying to bound and gag him and stop him from talking. He talked about, especially in his opening statement to the committee, he talked about the assault on the rule of law. He talked about prosecutors doing their duty. He talked about the lawlessness and that he just went after the, the anywhere the facts took him. A properly, properly applying the Department of Justice manual. A manual that's been put in the shredder by the current Department of Justice heads doesn't exist. I never hear it referred to. But there is a Department of justice manual. There are the principles of federal prosecution that Jack Smith swore to uphold along with the Constitution, along with his oath as a member of the bar. He's spoken to us before. Here's a clip from the Oversight Committee hearing that he testified at play the
- [12:48]
Jack Smith (testimony clip)
clip Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the law, the very laws he took an oath to uphold. Grand juries in two separate districts reached this conclusion based on his actions as alleged in the indictments they returned. Rather than accept his Defeat in the 2020 election, President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power. After leaving office In January of 21, President Trump illegally kept classified documents at his Mar A Lago social club and repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents. Highly sensitive national security information was held in a ballroom and a bathroom. As I testify before the committee today, I want to be clear, I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including the decision to bring charges against President Trump, our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Democrat or a Republican. No one, no one should be above the law in this country. And the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did.
- [14:19]
Michael Popak
The reason we focus so much on the former federal judges, the Michael Ludigs leading the charge, along with Nancy Gertner of state and federal judges, 300 of them filing briefs, 38 of them joining over here to help guide a judge to the right position, 174 of them filing over here. I'm not making these numbers up. 101 of them joining together in order to file a bar complaint against Todd Blanche. Why is it so important that people like prosecutors like Jack Smith, who's apolitical, and these former federal and state judges, many of them apolitical, because they could rise above the political din. They can rise above the political den and be hurt and have the gravitas that's necessary in these trying times. That's why when I heard, wow, Jack Smith took to the airwaves and for those that know him and are around him, personal invitation. Jack Mr. Smith, our audience would love to be briefed by you. And I know mainstream media, there's an allure to siren call of mainstream media and the shiny lights. My lights aren't as shiny as they are, but my audience is fervent. They are committed, they are devoted to the democracy. And frankly, we have more of them over here watching than over there. So I'd love to get for anybody that knows is in 1 degree, 2 degrees, 6 degrees of separation, let's get me Jack Smith. All kidding aside, we value what you do, we respect what you do, we appreciate you and your contribution to our democracy. As we head into the fourth of July weekend, we can't let Donald Trump and his ridiculousness of this overblown multi hour event overshadow our individual patriotism, commitment to democracy and liberty. We just can't do it. I had an interview that's up the coming up next programming note with Paul Blumenthal, who's senior writer for HuffPo and he happens to live in Washington. And he said, you know, I went down, this is off, this was off camera. He said I went down to that state fair thing, this national state, all, you know, all the nations there. He said it's it's pathetic. Well, we'll put up some video of it. It's pathetic. There's nobody there. The rides don't work. There's a Ferris wheel that breaks down. This is symbolic, is not emblematic of the Trump administration. It's just a bunch of Christian nationalists screaming in your ear about the Democrats. This is what Donald Trump sees as our legacy, our democracy. We need to reclaim the democracy and patriotism. Fly your flag tomorrow and over the weekend proudly fly your flag of freedom, democracy and the way you envision America. And then take that, take that, put it out into the universe and make it happen through voting. I've said to everybody who's asked me and even those who haven't asked me about what they should do over the weekend in counter program. We're going to have some counter programming starting on Saturday with some groups against Todd Blanche and in favor of democracy. I think you'll enjoy it, especially on Saturday, 4th of July, get you all geeked up for the fireworks. But I say the number one thing that you can do this weekend is to ensure your sacred right to vote. Check on vote.org whether you are registered. You may not be, or you may think you are, but the rules have changed, especially if you're in a red or purpley state. And fix it. Fix it. I use the, I use the analogy. It's like when you're on a plane and they tell you if the air, if the oxygen masks drop, put yours on first before you help the person next to you, like a toddler or a senior citizen. Same thing here. Make sure your vote is squared away and then help others register and or vote on election day or any version of election day. Early voting, mail in voting, absentee voting. You got to square yours away first, right? And it matters. This year more than ever, it's existential to vote even if you're in a red state. It's a muscle. The democracy is a muscle that needs to be exercised. This is a participatory democracy. This is a contact sport. And you got to use that muscle or it will wither away and die. And I mean the democracy and the sacred right to vote. Even if you're in a red state, I don't care. Even if your one vote just shrinks the margin in a contested race, that's good enough. And if you're in a state, the seven or eight or nine, where these races matter, all the more reason. And if you're in a red state, you can help in a blue state from the, from the comfort of your couch or kitchen table or desk. You can help them do phone banking. You don't have to be a registered voter in a state in order to help get out the vote register, voting or all or anything. You don't you you're limited into what you can do in the polls on election day or thereabouts, but not to help. Not to knock on doors, electronically or otherwise or in real life. That's a great way to spend your summer vacation or a couple of days of it. Fly in from a red state to a blue state and help. The reason I'm putting that all together because Jack Smith got me all motivated and that's the reason I wanted to platform what he just did there. You're here on Legal af. Take a moment. Support our democracy by hitting the free subscribe button. And until my next report, which is coming right up, Interview of Paul Blumenthal. Let me give you some programming notes. I got an interview with Paul Blumenthal, HuffPo coming up, the very next video on Saturday or Sunday. I've got Abray Conner, who's the head of the Environmental Equity division of the naacp. She is talking about the Elon Musk AI centers, data centers in black and brown neighborhoods and some new revolution revelations that have happened in that case that you're going to find fascinating. I'm going to tease it out right now. A Bray Connor interview coming up. Right. We've got numerous analytics and analysis about the United States Supreme Court court and its ruling. I've got a I just did a live yesterday that's still lively with Adam. It was Adam Classfeld versus me. It was almost like Lincoln Douglas debate because I love Adam Glassfeld and we brought a certain sizzle and energy to our discussion about the Roberts Court and and Supreme Court opinions. So I think you're going to want to watch that as well. So many things we I just took a look at our scheduling for the weekend and it was blown away by the quality of the content provided by our other contributors as well. I'm glad you're here. Hit that subscribe button till my next report coming up in an hour. I'm Michael Popak.
- [21:42]
Legal AF Contributor
Can't get your fill of Legal af.
- [21:44]
Michael Popak
Me neither.
- [21:45]
Legal AF Contributor
That's why we formed the Legal AF substack. 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 in the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do called wait for it Morning af. What else. All the other contributors from Legal AOFF 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.
- [22:22]
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- [22:49]
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