Federal Judge Issues Restraining Order on Trump for Shocking Conduct

0:00This episode is brought to you by Google Health. Stop chasing someone else's definition of health. What matters is what's healthy for you. Google Health offers a new kind of coach built with Gemini for effortless tracking, sleep insights, and holistic coaching tailored to you. Visit googlestore.com to learn more and start a new relationship with your health. Requires Google account, Google Health app, internet, and Google Health premium subscription. Features subject to change. Availability and results vary. Not intended for medical purposes. Works independently of Gemini apps. Check responses for accuracy.

0:30Monday AI agents took over my work, and I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind now. They live inside Monday.com, so they see the full picture. My work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff, knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com. A burst pipe. A dead water heater. The AC calling it quits. Who do you call? HomeServe is an easy way to handle unexpected home repairs.

1:10With plans covering stuff basic homeowner's insurance usually won't. Instead of scrambling for a contractor, you make one call to get the repair process started. Join the millions of customers who trust HomeServe right now. Go to homeserve.com slash podcast for 50 % less your first year. That's homeserve.com slash podcast. Savings compared to renewal price void in Florida.

1:30Michael Popok:We got breaking news coming out of Chicago. Judge Ellis has not only shut down the Trump administration's Operation Midway Blitz, going after journalists, First Amendment protesters and members of the press, firing pepper spray, pepper balls and tear gas at them. But she found in her 90 minute delivery of her preliminary injunction from the bench today, she found that Greg Bovino, the face of Operation Midway Blitz and a federal officer for Customs and Border Patrol lied repeatedly in his deposition, saying that as a prerequisite and before he fired tear gas in pepper ball himself, he was hit with rocks and other things.

2:08Michael Popok:And Judge Ellis said that you are a liar and that that did not occur. She opened today's recitation of her order, quoting from Carl Sandburg, the famous poem about Chicago, and she ended it with the letter that John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, about Liberty Lost. And in between, she shut it down once and for all subject to an appeal. I'll cover it all right here on the Midas Touch Network and Legal AF. And we came with the receipts, including the deposition coverage or deposition transcript video testimony of Bivino that the judge relied on. Let's break it down. Judge Ellis, about two weeks ago, issued a temporary restraining order.

2:50Michael Popok:I can't believe I even have to say this, stopping federal forces from firing pepper ball and tear gas at First Amendment protesters who are trying, as Judge Ellis said, just to protect the most vulnerable in their community about immigration policy. And she set up in her temporary restraining order that the government could not use weapons of war and non-lethal riot munitions against these people, including firing pepper ball into the face of members of the clergy who can forget that video. We'll play it here. And she said, shut it down. And then she brought everybody back in for a further hearing because it was clear from press reports that after her order was entered, that her TRO was violated by the federal forces of Donald Trump, who are continuing to fire tear gas and pepper ball and other non-lethal rubber bullets and the like at protesters despite her order.

3:57Michael Popok:And now she pulled it all together with her preliminary injunction today. Here's the line. She read the entirety of the poem by Carl Sandburg about Chicago. And particularly, she paused at this line in the poem. I'm going to put in the notes a link so you can read the poem for yourself. And having answered so, I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer. She then looked up at the packed audience in the room. She also made findings that she found the evidence of the Trump administration to be completely not credible. She said in her oral order, which will be reduced to writing, and we'll get a copy of it, describing rapid response networks and neighborhood moms as professional agitators shows just how out of touch these agents are and how extreme their views are.

5:02Michael Popok:Where whistles were used to alert everyone within hearing distance of the presence of federal immigration officers. She also found as a judge, she made findings that Bovino, the commander of Operation Midway Blitz, repeatedly lied during the deposition. He said that a rock hit him before he used tear gas in Little Village last month. In fact, he was not hit by a rock before lobbing a tear gas canister without warning at the crowd and a second canister. Here's a clip from his deposition transcript where the judge says he lied. Mr. Bovino, I want to talk with you next about another comment that you have made.

5:42You said on October 30 that from what you have seen, all of the uses of force by yourself and the men under your command have been more than exemplary, your words. You still stand by that? Yes. So when you tackled Scott Blackburn, as shown in the video marked for identification as Exhibit 8, that use of force on your part was more than exemplary? Objective form lacks foundation. As we talked earlier, that was not a use, a reportable use of force. Not a use of force. I placed him under arrest. I didn't tackle him. I placed him under arrest. Gotcha.

6:24Michael Popok:I love fall. There's something about the fresh air, the cozy vibes, and all the moments it opens up, catching up with friends, family gatherings, and just enjoying the season. Personally, I'm looking forward to weekend walks and those evenings when you can finally break out your favorite layers. With fall in full swing, more moments call for comfort you can count on. That's why I've been living in Mack Weldon this season. Their new Ace line, inspired by their best-selling sweatpants, combines everyday comfort with long-lasting, confident style. I got a few pieces from the collection, like their half-zips and crewnecks, that are ridiculously soft, easy to layer, and fit perfectly without even trying.

7:09Michael Popok:Honestly, when I throw one on, I feel comfortable and confident, and the style just works. Mack Weldon balances classic pieces with updated details so you always look sharp, not flashy, just timeless, and made from the world's most comfortable performance materials. The Ace Line has everything from sweatpants and hoodies to bomber jackets and even blazers. Looks like a blazer, feels like a sweatshirt. Seriously, ease and self-assurance has never been more comfortable. fall into comfort with Mack Weldon's Ace Collection. Head to MackWeldon.com and get 20 % off your first order of$125 or more with promo code LEGALAF.

7:53Michael Popok:That's M-A-C-K-W-E-L-D-O-N.com, promo code LEGALAF. In addition, he lied about his conduct outside the ICE facility, where the video shows that he was obviously attacking and tackling a man without provocation. Now, the end of the injunction, she quoted, along the way, quoting other famous founding fathers, she quoted John Adams in a letter to Abigail Adams' wife. The famous quote, liberty once lost is lost forever. And what she said is she is proud of the Chicagoans who stood forward in protest, including the clergy, to protect the most vulnerable in their community. That that was the city of big shoulders that she is accustomed to, which is why I believe she started it with a poem.

8:55Michael Popok:You can look at all the rhetorical flourishes that judges are using now to rein in Donald Trump. The frequent citation to the founding fathers, to the framers of the Constitution, to the Federalist Papers, to the works and the writings of Madison and John Adams and Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and the rest, you know, when it comes to trying to put this in historical context. And I like this certain flourish that went into reading the entirety of the four or five stanza poem by Carl Sandburg about Chicago having big shoulders. And this stands in contrast. There's another order. I want to make sure we're clear here.

9:40Judge Perry had issued an order

9:42Michael Popok:that stopped the deployment of the National Guard, which is up on appeal to the Seventh Circuit and now to the United States Supreme Court. And that has not yet been ruled upon. In the meantime, the deployment has been blocked and the National Guard is not on the streets. When we talk about Donald Trump's shock forces, we're talking about the federal forces here led by Bovina. I can't emphasize enough as a longtime 35-year lawyer in federal courts, the jaw-dropping observation by a federal judge that a person in leadership within an administration came into her courtroom and lied and was caught doing it.

10:28Michael Popok:It is earth shattering. If you don't have your credibility, if you don't have your honesty and candor to the tribunal, you have nothing. And we got another problem that wasn't necessarily mentioned there, but I'm sure she will follow up on. The lawyers for the Department of Justice that put on Bovino and put on his testimony, knowing or they should have been knowing or should have known, sorry, that Bovino lied, did something bad. It's called suborning perjury. It will get you to lose your law license. It will get you a referral to the Chicago bar regulators. That's how bad it is. So a lie is not just about the person lied and the judge caught it because of counter evidence.

11:19Michael Popok:The lie is also bad for the lawyers who have an obligation of candor to the tribunal, which has been violated. And so Justice Donald Trump brought down the rule of law and our justice system when he was criminal defendant, Donald Trump, and all the lawyers that lost their bar licenses were sanctioned and or indicted, including Alina Habba, including Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, and Rudy Giuliani, and Jeffrey Clark, and John Eastman, and Ken Chesborough, and the list goes on. It's going to happen all over again with the people in the Department of Justice that are allowing this to happen, that are violating the basic ethos of being a lawyer with a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and to never lie in court or allow lies to be presented in court as evidence.

12:23Michael Popok:We'll continue to follow it. As soon as I get in my hot little hands the written order, I'll come back on. I'll put it on Legal AF Substack for you. In the meantime, I'm Michael Popak. Slide over to Legal AF YouTube. We're doing 10 videos a day just to keep up with the criminality of the Trump administration. Come join us. Become a free subscriber. And then on Legal AF Substack, I'll post this filing, this new order, as soon as I get it. So until 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 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.

13:05Michael Popok:You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call, wait for it, Morning AF. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AF 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.

13:31Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. The message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. please for the love of everything good in this world stop with mint you can get premium wireless for just 15 a month of course if you enjoy overpaying no judgments but that's weird okay one judgment anyway give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch up front payment of 45 for three-month plan equivalent to 15 per month required intro rate first three months only then full price plan options available taxes and fees extra see full terms at mintmobile.com