Don Lemon Arrested by Trump Regime

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1:11Michael Popok:While the Trump administration is besieged by rebellion related to its refusal to do an investigation into the civil rights violations and the execution-style murders of Renee Good and Alex Preti on the streets of Minneapolis, they are busy arresting Don Lemon, the journalist, while he was covering the Grammy Awards, apparently last night, was arrested by federal agents. It's a curious turn of events. Abby Lowell, his lawyer, has issued a statement proclaiming Don's innocence. He was covering, as a journalist, a church protest about ICE's presence in Minnesota at a Minneapolis or St. Paul church on the 18th of January.

1:55Michael Popok:Multiple judges and courts in Minnesota and for Minnesota, from the magistrate judge to the chief judge of the Eighth Circuit, have rejected attempts to issue arrest warrants for Don Lemon. But either they got some sort of grand jury to issue an indictment, or they got another magistrate judge to issue a arrest warrant. Either way, it's been reported that he has been picked up in the Department of Justice. Again, rather than dealing with mass resignations that are planned in the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office over their failure to investigate properly the death of Renee Good and Alex Preti, are busy using their scarce resources to arrest journalists doing their job.

2:35Michael Popok:Todd Blanch to hold a press conference later today about it, but we know what he's going to say because you're here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF, and we brought the receipts on Michael Popok. Now, Todd Blanche seems to be taking the lead on this, not Pam Bondi, although the reporting was that Pam Bondi was outraged that a magistrate judge in Minneapolis, Judge Mikko, although he issued three arrest warrants for the three protesters who actually were in the church in violation of federal law, he did not and found there was no probable cause to arrest a journalist and his producer, Don Lemon, an independent journalist and his producer, who were there covering the protest.

3:15Michael Popok:He's not the only one. When Pam Bondi didn't like that, she ran to have an Article III district court judge assigned to the case to override the magistrate. That became Chief Judge Schultz. Chief Judge Schultz did not override the magistrate. In fact, he wrote letters and emails to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in which Judge Schiltz said in no uncertain terms that Don Lemon did nothing wrong. He said there's no evidence that the journalist and the producer committed any crimes. That's the chief judge of Minnesota. That apparently outraged Pam Bondi. The Eighth Circuit eventually rejected her petition to force Judge Schiltz to issue arrest warrants.

4:01Judge Schultz also noted that there were no precedent, zero times in history, where a district court judge overrode the magistrate court decision not to issue an arrest warrant.

4:13Michael Popok:Apparently not good enough for the dust department, which has also stung and bracing itself for a mass of resignations in the U.S. attorney's office again in Minnesota. Just two or three weeks ago, we had about a dozen different U.S. attorneys in the Civil Rights Division and in Minnesota walk out the door because of the decision not to investigate criminally the officer Jonathan Ross who murdered Renee Good. Instead, the decision made in Washington was to investigate Renee Good, the victim, and the victim's grieving widow. And that led to one round of resignations. Now, because of the Minnesota U.S.

5:02Michael Popok:Attorney's Office being so upset that they're not investigating the Alex Preti murder or the Renee Good murder, there's a new wave coming this week or early next week that the Department of Justice is obviously trying to distract from. So this is where their resources are, not investigating the execution-style murder of two American citizens on the streets of Minneapolis by federal agents, but going after Don Lemon. Let me show you a clip of Todd Blanche, who's going to be holding this press conference later today, going after Don Lemon, accusing him of being a phony journalist who is embedded with a bunch of protesters and therefore has no First Amendment privilege.

5:45Michael Popok:I would ask Todd Blanche to brush up on his First Amendment before he takes to the airwaves in press conferences. But here's what we can expect from Todd Blanche. Play the Fox clip. Self-described as a journalist. No, the freedom of the press extends to a lot of different areas. It does not extend to somebody just trespassing and being embedded with a group of rioters and being part of the group that storms inside of a church. So as our assistant attorney general said yesterday, we are absolutely investigating that conduct. And the fact that that man, that Mr. Lemon thought that that was a good idea to do that and then to race away from it saying it was freedom of the press.

6:24Well, we'll see. We'll see.

6:26Michael Popok:Now, Don, full disclosure, I know Don Lemon. I sat at a wedding as a guest next to Don Lemon. Don Lemon's a journalist. He was on CNN when he got fired from CNN and filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk. Keep that in the back of your mind. There's a lawsuit against Elon Musk because Elon Musk was going to platform Don on his X platform. They had a falling out. There's a breach of contract claim. And you got Elon Musk in war with Don Lemon. I'm sure that had something to do with everybody being so hot and bothered in the Department of Justice about going after Don Lemon. Just because Don Lemon is now in the world of YouTube or in the world of Substack or doing live reporting guerrilla style from scenes like our Katie Fang doesn't mean he's not a journalist, doesn't mean he's not entitled to protection.

7:14Michael Popok:I mean, this administration has right-wing bloggers and influencers who are not journalists sit in on press conferences as if they're journalists. Riley Gaines, in the middle of a press conference where she's complimented by the press secretary, Carolyn Leavitt, Riley Gaines, the swimmer who's against transgender people. The Pentagon briefing room is now filled only with right-wing bloggers and influencers like Laura Loomer. So Laura Loomer is now a journalist. Airports are stressful enough. You're juggling a coffee, a dying phone, and your laptop at TSA while the line stacks up behind you. Most luggage is just a box on wheels, and it doesn't help.

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9:20Michael Popok:Does it make it? The Constitution doesn't say, well, it's YouTube. It's not CNN. Well, that's a whole different story. Here's Don Lemon doing his reporting in the church. You know, I agree with everybody's freedom to protest. These people have come into our house and they've interrupted our worship. If I was to break into any of their houses uninvited, I would be kicked out ultimately. It's not a good way. They're saying that people are showing up at houses where they're citizens without due process, the battering ram into someone's private property and there's no recourse. This is all part of a much larger dialogue.

9:59On one side are people who watch a previous administration bring 12 million people in over the course of four years. This is another administration's corrective. I think I could actually be sympathetic to some of the things where there have been challenges to compassion and decency. At the same time, these are what are called targeted interventions by ICE to keep the American people safe. If I respectfully may interject here, I've been out reporting on a lot of these and they're not targeted. There are no warrants signed by a judge. Most of the people that they detain don't have criminal convictions or criminal records.

10:40I'm not going to get into the weeds. You should know that, though. Don't you think that's part of it? Yes. And I could also show you many opposing sides. I'm not saying it's pretty. This is a part of a much larger dialogue in which one administration caused a great deal of chaos and havoc and danger for American citizens. And another is trying to correct that. Do you believe that? Why do you? Honestly, let me tell you just on the fact. Yes, I am. I want to give you the facts. No, no, no. That's the interesting thing about this is that they won't listen to facts. When you call us as a journalist.

11:14I am a journalist. Journalist gives facts. And then you start correcting me with facts and don't have. You shouldn't hear the facts. Of course, most of the people who are picked up. Will you give me the facts on both sides? That is the facts on both sides.

11:27Michael Popok:Now, what we need to get to the bottom of, and I'll read you the statement from from Abby Lowell, his lawyer. Now, we've talked a lot about Abby Lowell because he represents a lot of people who are targeted by the Trump administration. Abby Lull is a lawyer for Letitia James. The attorney general for New York did a fantastic job. So far, she's not been indicted. Having her original indictment dismissed, having multiple grand juries not indict her, getting the prosecutor, Lindsay Halligan, fired and ultimately had to resign in disgrace. Same lawyer. He also represents Dr. Lisa Cook on the Federal Reserve before the United States Supreme Court, which is likely to be a loss for Donald Trump again.

12:10Michael Popok:Here's Abby's statement. Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than he's always done. There's no more important time for people like Don to be doing his work under the First Amendment. Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention, and resources to this arrest, that this is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case.

12:42Michael Popok:This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court. And thank you, Abby Lowell, for representing Don Lemon. He's going to be brought this later today. He's going to be brought before, I assume, a federal magistrate in the Central District of California in Los Angeles and I assume will be released. We'll find out probably later today about the indictment or the criminal complaint. We'll know about the press conference, so we'll update this fast-moving story.

13:16Michael Popok:We wanted to bring it to you here on Midas Touch and on Legal AF. Now, more than ever, independent journalists, wherever they live, including and especially on YouTube and on Substack, like me, Michael Popok, like the Midas Touch Network, need your support. Take a moment, hit the free subscribe button here on Midas Touch. Come over to my YouTube channel, Legal AF, and do the exact same thing and support our sub stack as well, where I will be posting the letters from Judge Schultz for you to read. Till my next report, I'm Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal AF? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF sub stack.

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