Legal AF Full Episode - 10/22/2025

27:08Dina Doll:But in terms of just flat out this being selective and vindictive, Trump himself is given the best evidence that could be given in a case like this. I love one of the opening lines in Pat Fitzgerald's motion on behalf of Comey. It says, the indictment is fatally flawed because it resulted from a paradigmatic violation of the Constitution's Appointments Clause, core element of separation of powers that defines when and how officers of the United States acquire their authority to act. It's just so like he's so right it's all about the separation of powers he says the remedy is is clear the supreme court has repeatedly held the effect of this is nullity and because no properly appointed executive branch official sought and obtained the indictment the indictment is equal equally nullity which basically means he's saying uh she was not validly appointed and therefore this indictment is is invalid because you know when you think about it imagine if I, yes, I was a prosecutor, but I'm no longer a prosecutor.

28:17I'm just, you know, a normal person. Imagine if I claimed to have indictment power and I indicted someone and I asked, went to court and tried to put them in jail. I mean, I'd be laughed out of court, right? I have no authority. I have no power. It's such a powerful thing that Congress has actually spoken. Congress actually passed a law that says this is how it's done. It's the appointments clause. And it's just preposterous to think that, oh, you could just keep pointing new interims. You could just appoint someone for the 120 days and then the 119th day, you remove them and put someone else in.

28:54And then that starts the clock again for another 119 days. And then another hundred, I mean, you could just keep doing that and completely get around the separation of powers that requires the checks and balances, the advice and consent of the Senate. I mean, it's kind of a preposterous thing that they're saying, yes, I agree with you. God only knows what the Supreme Court's going to do, but I think it's a really strong argument that this is exactly what the stat the statute specifically says you get one shot 120 days you can put four people in to make up those 120 days but you only have 120 days for that interim appointment right you can stack people within it but once that 120 days is up the next thing that happens is the court is supposed to appoint someone and they did here and so you can't just now start the clock again I don't know I think they have a

29:37Dina Doll:I mean, I think the problem was though, is I wish he hadn't resigned Siebert. If he hadn't resigned, but he had been fired, I think that that is a much stronger argument for Comey. Trump says he was fired. Well, I know, but technically, yeah. So you're going to take a deposition to see because Siebert said he resigned. I don't, I mean, this is, this is why it's not as perfect of an argument for Comey as it should be. And honestly, this is like what happened with the FBI director, right, who stepped down because he knew Trump was going to replace him. Do you remember leading up to the Trump admin?

30:15Dina Doll:Why do they make it easy? They shouldn't make it easy. He shouldn't have resigned. He should have let Trump fire him because you are allowing Trump to circumvent those exact laws. The FBI director wasn't supposed to be able to be fired by Trump. But by resigning, he created a vacancy to appoint Cash Patel. And the same thing I think happened with Siebert. It's too bad he decided to step down instead of letting Trump fire him. And then I think Comey's argument would be much stronger. Well, I don't know. Trump says he fired him. So we'll see. We'll see what that turns out to be. It's interesting about the vindictive prosecution, which is the other motion, right?

30:59not just the one about to disqualify her as U.S. attorney. The interesting thing about that is Fitzgerald did a great job at listing out all the information that led to this, right? It's just a brilliant kind of story. It told the story of how this is really vindictive. And vindictive prosecution basically means you're prosecuting someone vindictively because they exercise some sort of right. And the right here was his free, protected speech. and Comey was somebody who spoke negatively. He was about Trump. And so he's saying that because he exercised his free speech that that's the vindictiveness, and that's why he's going, you know, going back, going against him.

31:42He's also making a selective prosecution argument, which essentially means other people similarly situated aren't prosecuted, you know, and that as well. Look, also the case itself just substantively really sucks. You know, it's like, it's like, it's, it's, I don't, there's no way it makes out perjury. It just doesn't. And so they have either way, they just have a really tough road to hoe in this case. And, you know, Trump, of course, is trying is also now trying to get Pat Fitzgerald disqualified, saying that he has a conflict of interest because he may have had a part in leaking the information to the media on Comey's behalf because Pat Fitzgerald was Comey's lawyer.

32:25so they're trying to they want him off the case because he's such a great lawyer i mean they had to fly up so all the career prosecutors in virginia wouldn't take the case so they brought up two people from i think north carolina or south carolina who um are going to prosecute this case and they're like oh look slow it down we need more time you know and the judge is like nope you you decided to bring this case you're doing it and so they want to get pat fitzgerald off the case because i think they know that he will outlawyer those those certainly outlawyer lindsey Halligan and those others. So, you know, that that's what's going on there.

32:55And we'll see if it actually goes on January 5th. I'm not sure because I think that the judge will dismiss the case before then, and then they'll appeal it. And so I don't know that we're going to have a trial anytime soon. Yeah.

33:10Dina Doll:And them trying to disqualify Comey's lawyer. I mean, all of this, the indictment against Comey, the indictment against Letitia James. Criminal defendants in this country have such strong constitutional rights. It's one of the things our founders got right. Like they forgot to put term limits into the presidency, but they knew the power of the government against somebody accused of a crime was so imbalanced they needed to protect the criminal defendant. And that is coming into play. And a criminal defendant has a very strong right to have the counsel of their choosing. So it's not going to be that easy for the prosecution to get Patrick Fitzgerald disqualified.

33:51Dina Doll:If they can truly show that he would be both a witness and a lawyer in this case, then even our professional legal responsibilities as a lawyer would have Patrick Fitzgerald step down voluntarily or have the judge disqualify him based on like an unfair trial. But, you know, that's a stretch. Can they actually say it? You know, we see the DOJ saying a whole bunch of stuff and not being able to prove it in court. But Comey, Letitia James, and all the rest who are going to get indicted by Trump have quite a bit of constitutional protections on their side, and they're going to need every single one of them.

34:29Yeah, I agree with you. All right. Well, I want to keep talking, but we have to take a break. But when we come back, we're going to talk about jack smith and all that he's been doing and coming out swinging and the fact that we've heard from him and so many other topics that we're going to talk about but first we're going to hear from our amazing sponsors who keep us on the air and have great products and they know who we are they know what we stand for and they sponsor us and support us and i'm so proud that we are sponsored by each and every one of them so we're going to take our first ad break delete me makes

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38:42So please hit subscribe. Please follow us on these various platforms. And of course, always the Midas Touch Network, which is just the number one network in the country right now. And it's just crushing it. I'm so proud to be one of the original podcasters here. We've been around for a little while now and everything's going great. And it's really because of the people who are listening to this podcast, frankly, this, the community that has built this podcast up and made Legal AF what it is and made the network what it is. And so just I'm so grateful to be here with all of you tonight. And thank you for listening every Wednesday and every Saturday to Legal AF.

39:25Let's continue on now with Jack Smith. Jack Smith, the special counsel who I used to work with at the Manhattan DA's office. He's a prosecutor's prosecutor, great guy. He's prosecuted locally at the Manhattan DA's office early in his career. Then he went on to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He's worked in the main justice. He was the United States Attorney at one point, I think in Tennessee, if I remember correctly. And he also was an international prosecutor. I mean, he's a true public servant. He's never worked in the private sector. I would have no idea what political party he is in. We've never talked about politics.

40:05He's apolitical. He just is a prosecutor, right? He does justice and follows the facts wherever they lead without fear or favor. Understandably, he was the perfect person to be chosen by Merrick Garland and Joe Biden to do the investigation into January 6th and the riots and the horrible day that that was. And, you know, I always wondered when Trump was going after all his enemies, you know, Letitia James and Jim Comey Adam Shifty Shift and all the stuff he says. I was always wondering, like, why isn't he going after Jack Smith? Because you would think just that's somebody that would be in his crosshairs.

40:47And it's been a while, right? We haven't heard from Jack Smith. He hasn't spoken publicly. And then all of a sudden, Jack Smith starts to speak publicly. He was interviewed by Andrew Weissman. My theory is that Jack Smith must have gotten wind that he was up next, whether it's somebody he contacted his lawyers, whether people, whether they're starting to issue subpoenas, something. And so he decided to come out. And again, this is just a hype, like a theory. I don't have any inside information, but I don't think it's any coincidence that Jack Smith came out and started talking publicly. And now all of a sudden he's in the crosshairs of Trump.

41:21And now Trump is talking about him and he wants to go after him and Andrew Weissman. And, uh, And of course, what's going on? The Republicans in the Senate are doing Trump's bidding for him, right? That's how it works. There is no independent Congress right now. It's so unbelievable how they are doing. They're just letting Trump do everything. They have abrogated their duty to have oversight, to provide checks and balances, to be an independent body, independent of the president there just being an arm of the president and here senator uh senator the republicans apparently the senate republicans have accused jack smith of wiretapping them and they said that it was political weaponization and they said that then the fbi disclosed a report in 2023 showing court orders used to obtain phone information belonging to certain, I guess, eight senators and one house member.

42:32And they covered calls surrounding the four days around January 6th. And this was a letter by Chuck Grassley and essentially, or I should say not a letter, this was an accusation by the Senate Republicans. And so Jack Smith wrote a letter to Chuck Grassley and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee through his lawyers and the Democratic, I think one is Dick Durbin and they basically said that look there wasn't any political motive in obtaining these records they were disclosed in 2024 in the indictment so there's no secret here and PS there was no wiretap and you know so I want to just explain to people what was done and what is always done in almost every prosecution is you can subpoena phone records that have no content like words in them there's no kind of communication there's no content in them it's just literally like who does it belong to right like like you you can get phone you can get information about phone calls in a certain area and so you want to or you can have information i guess what they were doing here was there was there were news reports that certain senators and house members were in communication with the president around surrounding january 6.

43:49So they asked for those targeted individuals. Yes, they happen to be eight senators and one house member, their phone records to see, is that true? Were they in communication with the president? This was an investigation into the president. And so they issued subpoenas for those phone records. And what you'll get is you'll get the name, you'll get the subscriber information, you'll get the phone number. And he did it for those four days only. So it was very targeted and very narrow. and you will get all the calls incoming and outgoing listed just in a list like this number called this number for this amount of time all for those four days that's it it doesn't say what like what they spoke about it doesn't say anything about the content and you can do that with a subpoena you don't need uh or or a search warrant you don't need like a wiretap a wiretap order.

44:42And so he got that information and that's the information that he got, just a list. And so it was a very short time. It was consistent with this very focused effort to confirm or refute, frankly, these reports from these multiple news outlets. And, you know, this letter has pointed it out too, that look, those same kind of records were also obtained by Robert Herr when he was investigating Joe Biden and his mishandling of the classified documents case or Senator Bob Menendez in his bribery case also. And so it's just crazy. I mean, Grassley saying, oh, you know, this is worse than Watergate and this is so terrible.

45:27They wiretap senators in Congress. and it's just not true. They did not. Wiretapping means that you're listening in on the calls. It means you get content. It means you get to hear what was said. That's what wiretapping is. And this isn't that. This is just who called who or what phone number called what phone number. Somebody else could have had the phone, right? It's just what phone number called what phone number at what time, on what date, and for how long. And that's what it shows. I think we're seeing Jack

45:53Dina Doll:Jack Smith unleashed from Merrick Garland. Merrick Garland, I believe, truly held back Jack Smith. And I'm so glad that he is standing up for his reputation and frankly, the facts, because as you said, that Senate hearing, Kash Patel acting like he's literally wiretapping senators or representatives would be huge. But that, as you said, isn't what happened. And I'm so glad this whole thing of like, oh, they're lying about us. We're just going to ignore it is gone. Jack Smith putting in his letter and now the public telling the public that that is not what happened. And I like to how he's put in that letter that this information about the fact that they tried to figure out who Trump was talking to on January 6th, because they were trying to determine if Trump was asking certain senators or congresspeople to not certify the 2020 election.

46:50Dina Doll:That is what he was investigating. And he was, like you said, it was out in the media about these conversations and they were trying to piece together who he was actually talking to in order for them to investigate and make their case. He said all of this got turned over to Trump in discovery as his indictment Trump's indictment proceeded and so people who are now in the high level of the White House and the DOJ know the facts and Todd Blanche we're looking at you who else who knows because Trump has basically taken all this personal lawyers and put them into the DOJ and the White House so they probably there's a bunch of people who actually know the truth and so I like that he called him out and he's not going to be willing to allow Republicans to frankly lie about the facts because we're not there anymore.

47:40Dina Doll:We got to be louder. They're loud. We have to be louder. And I really hope we hear more from Jack Smith because I think there's like a potential in him we haven't fully realized yet. I hope he's just getting started. Yeah. Look, I have to say again, I haven't talked to Jack Smith in a very long time, But having worked with him years ago and just knowing how he was trained and how he was brought up, this is the last thing he wants. The last thing he wants is to have to speak publicly about this or to go out and defend himself. He's not like that's why no one had really ever heard of him before he was appointed.

48:21And you never really heard anything about him. He didn't speak publicly. He did everything quietly. I think he gave one or two very short press conferences. And he's just not that guy. He's not this ego-driven guy who's going to go out and talk unless he has to. And so I think that's what's happening. And I think that's, like I said, that's why I think he must have known and gotten wind that he was next. And so he has to defend himself. But I honestly think if Trump had never started this with him, you would not have heard. Jack would have gone. And again, this is just me hypothetically, you know, I'm just thinking of any inside information, just knowing him from before.

49:01I think he would just be very happy to go about his life. He did his duty. He served the public. You know, when Trump v. U.S. came down by the United States Supreme Court and basically said it's not a crime, he dismissed the case. That's it. You know, he's a rule follower. He's a law follower. He's not an ego-driven, grandstanding narcissist. You know, he's not that guy. And he truly exemplifies a public servant. And so I'm sure we'll hear more from him because he has to. I don't think this is what he wants or kind of where he wanted to be. He just wanted to do his job and serve the public. So here we are.

49:39Dina Doll:It is serving the public to just combat the lies and information. And they did it in Senate hearings on the record. So even if he's not got an indictment, I'm really glad that he spoke out to correct the record. Because that is a really big accusation to make. And that needed to be answered by the person who knew, the person that anybody with any sort of credibility. And that was him. And so I'm glad he spoke. I agree. And it's just, you know, what's really kind of offensive is the senator who's saying it is Chuck Grassley. He's the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. he knows about what a wiretap is because he provides oversight at that, right?

50:23That's what his job does is he oversees the judiciary system. He oversees what happens in criminal cases. He knows what a wiretap is and he knows what a wiretap isn't. And for him to accuse Jack Smith of doing a wiretap when it's clearly not, where it is absolutely not, where this is just getting phone records, is really misleading the public. and kind of offensive, right? And so it's just kind of appalling to me that they're saying that. And I agree with you. I am glad that they're correcting the record. It's just, and that's what we have to do here. We have to tell the truth, what things are and what things aren't.

51:01And that's what we're trying to do here is just get facts out and then people can make their own opinions. So we're gonna go to a quick second ad break, Dina. And then we're gonna come back and we're gonna talk about the White House demolition, which is just so ridiculous. And also this Lindsay Halligan texting, this rookie move to text a reporter and talking about grand jury stuff. So we're going to come back and we're going to talk about those two issues. And let's take our next ad break.

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54:23Dina Doll:That's D-O-S-E-D-A-I-L-Y dot C-O slash Legal AF for 30 % off your first month subscription. shit. We're back. Thanks again to our amazing sponsors and to all of you who are still with us. And thank you for listening every single week and all the comments that you leave us. I, when, if I'm ever having a bad day, I go and I read the comments and they always make me feel so much better. So just not because I just love the engagement. It doesn't have to be positive comments, even negative comments. It doesn't matter. Just the engagement, just people who are engaging in the discussion, that people are involved.

54:57I love looking at the live comments while we're podcasting and the people who are just so involved in this community. It's just such a beautiful community that's been created on the Midas Touch Network and people who watch Legal AF. I feel it when I'm out in the community and people come up to me and they always want to hug me and thank me and say, thank you so much for what you guys are doing. And you can tell, It's just this heartfelt, I need to feel like I'm part of a community and somebody who's telling me the truth because the times we're living in are bonkers. I mean, absolute bonkers. You know, today I was telling somebody about the fact that the President of the United States, okay, our President of the United States, when we had this unbelievable protest on Saturday, the No Kings Day, where 7 to 10 million Americans were out and about.

55:58I happened to be in a really small town in the Berkshires that day, and even they had at least 100 people out, and cars were driving by and honking, trucks, tractor trailers were driving by and honking in support. It was an amazing thing. And what was our president doing? Our president posted this horrible AI-generated image of him in an airplane, calling himself a king, wearing a king's crown, and dropping poop all over the protesters. I mean, like, it just makes me cringe. You know, he has no respect for the office of the presidency. The office of the presidency has always been this majestic thing where anytime the president would walk out, it would have so much pomp and circumstance and ceremony surrounding it.

56:52If you go to the White House, it's so inspiring. There's so much history there. You see pictures of just past presidents and portraits of past first ladies and just different dignitaries who have been there and historical events. And it's just, you get this sense of importance and grandeur and just majestic kind of awe, frankly. And you have so much respect for the office of the presidency, even if you don't care for the president, even if you didn't vote for the president. And every president up until now, in my lifetime at least, has respected that. And again, even if you don't like them, they've upheld the dignity of the office.

57:31And he is just literally and figuratively tearing it down. He again, that that video is so upsetting to me, not because I can't take a joke, not because I'm a snowflake or weak or whatever. I, you know, I laugh at jokes like anybody. But it's just that the president, it's just so disappointing that that's what he is posting. And it's just gross, too. Right. It's just disgusting because he's disgusting. And, you know, I was so offended that that's what the office of the president is doing and doing things like that. You know, he's just really torn down the office of the presidency, which, you know, frankly leads us to what we're talking about right now, which is he's literally tearing down the White House.

58:16After telling people that the East Wing is going to remain intact, he said that out loud. It's going to remain intact. We're not going to touch it. They have pictures, they have videos of literally these giant like construction equipment just with claws ripping the facade out and the wires out and like they're just taking a wrecking ball. They're not even, I've seen people do renovations, even like targeted renovations that add-ons. You like take off pieces piece by piece. You know, you don't have to do like a total wrecking ball. And frankly, there might be historic value to preserving pieces of that White House.

58:59What a waste. Like, I bet some people would love to reuse part of the White House if it was going to be taken down. Frankly, it's also not his house. Who said he can do that? Right? He doesn't own it. And it's just crazy to me that he would just take a literal wrecking ball to the entire east wing of the White House. And he's putting up a 90 ,000 square foot ballroom. um i i just can't i i just can't get over it you know but after putting gold in all the rooms you know dripping with gold i mean he's just really and and then the rose garden like like making it cement instead of what it's been forever like this beautiful garden it's no longer a garden it's like a patio or something i don't even know what it is and and now what he's doing to the to the white house.

59:46I just can't even believe it. Yeah.

59:49Dina Doll:I mean, he's borrowing it and he's acting as if it's his own. And it's a perfect metaphor for what he is doing to the government and American citizens in general. He is demolishing, you know, free speech, healthcare, rights of immigrants, frankly, rights of citizens who speak a different language or with an accent. I mean, he is He is acting like the United States belongs to him, including the White House. And the only thing, honestly, to give me solace, because that was very painful to watch as well. I mean, it's such a historic building. I still hadn't brought my son there for a visit. And you just are like, oh, like, how is this?

1:00:30Dina Doll:I think, okay, you know, things have burned down and been destroyed in the past, and they always can recreate them. And rebuilding the White House how it was before, I think should be part of rebuilding the country. There is so much we have to clean up, repair, and put back. And frankly, we can tear down the ballroom and we can put back the East Wing how it was. And I think we should. I'm so tired of it being like, well, this happened. We need to accept it and move on. When we get into office, when we get into power, we need to undo so much of what we did. And frankly, I think as a country, we gave too much respect to the office of the president.

1:01:12Dina Doll:We had traditions and expectations and culture that the president was going to act a certain way. And we frankly did not have enough laws to put that office in its place as an equal branch of government. We did a lot after Nixon, but we have to like quadruple that, if not more, after Trump. Trump, it's no longer a handshake between gentlemen. That's how our founders made it. We saw how that hurts the rest of us. The oligarchs, it still works for them, that handshake among gentlemen. But the rest of us, I don't know if Trump is lawless or is it just our laws are bad. We have so much cleanup we have to do.

1:01:55Dina Doll:Some of it is because of how we have treated that office with, frankly, too much deference. and we have to stop it, clean it up, rebuild it. And that includes the White House. That ballroom should be gone and it should go back how it used to be. Well, who's gonna, I wanna know who's paying for it. You know, is it taxpayer dollars or is it donors or is it rich people? Cause I know he had some dinner with a bunch of wealthy donors who claim they're gonna pay for it. So now they're buying access to the president. I mean, it's such a dangerous thing that he's doing. He's also trying to build this, you know, Arc de Triomphe, like from France in Washington and call it the Arc of Trump.

1:02:41You know, he's involved in renovating the Kennedy Center. He's apparently doing all kinds of renovations that he's very involved in. I'm one of those paying for all this. You know, it's like he brings in Doge saying, you know, waste, fraud and abuse. Let's save the government money. But yet he's spending a frigging fortune on his vanity projects. You know, the free airplane from Qatar that's not really free because it's going to cost a billion dollars to make it presidential. Right. Make sure that there's no hidden listening devices in there. They're going to have to take it completely apart. They have to make it be able to withstand a nuclear explosion.

1:03:20They're going to have to make it so that he can have access to everything, have a full command center inside. It's going to cost a billion dollars. It's not free. All of these things he's doing is not free, but yet the government is shut down. People aren't getting the benefits that they need, but he's out spending our taxpayer dollars. I want a gold toilet. Whatever he's doing is just unbelievable to me.

1:03:46Dina Doll:And frankly, he's not acting like somebody who's going to leave in three years. I agree with that. How long is that ballroom going to last? Why do you care that much about the Kennedy Center? You know, and same with the plane. Okay. How long is it going to take them for retrofitting? I haven't heard one word about how much it's going to cost to take all of that off because otherwise his personal plane is going to be one of the most secure planes in the world. I mean, he is acting like he plans on being in power and we aren't even asking with enough questions. He says it out loud. He gives hats away that says Trump 2028.

1:04:21Like he says it out loud. He's not planning on leaving anytime soon. He's not planning on leaving. And what are we gonna have to apply?

1:04:26Dina Doll:The constitution does not allow it. Does not allow it, but here he's gonna have a plan. He could be up in the sky. Nobody can even do anything about it. I mean, I wish people were be asking that question more. Are they planning on take reversing all of those protections when he goes into private personal life? Or give it to the next president. I mean, honestly, right? It's just so offensive to me that, like I said, that Doge is so hypocritical that they claim they're waste, fraud, and abuse. Well, the biggest place to look for waste, fraud, and abuse is right there in the White House. And just the amount of money, taxpayer dollars that pay for his golf games, that pay for him to have a wrestling match on the White House, that pay for him to do these vanity projects.

1:05:15I mean, that's where the waste, fraud, and abuse is, in my opinion.

1:05:19Dina Doll:Oh, absolutely. I mean, I think Doge was just a way of getting Musk and their friends access to departments and to do their policies without going through the Senate, even though he supposedly had a mandate in the Senate. But they wanted to try to undo a lot of policies with, you know, by cutting the funds, I think for sure. I mean, we have never seen a president as financially corrupt as Trump, whether, you know, even honestly from his free, you know, right after he was elected, before the inauguration. His inauguration committee got hundreds of millions of dollars of donations from corporate, you know, CEOs and companies who all wanted to make a deal for when Trump got into office.

1:06:02Dina Doll:You know, he has been making money, literally stealing from the American people because he takes money from these companies and then he gives the companies a pass and it goes on and it goes on and it goes on. we have to win the midterms next year to at least you know start slowing this down i agree you know the thing that just sticks in my craw the most and i maybe it's just because i this is the thing i just i don't like people who lie yeah it's okay to disagree i'll talk to anyone who who might have a different point of view we can talk about it but people who lie it's the one thing i just can't stand.

1:06:42And that's what just drives me crazy is there's no consequence to his lying. I mean, just, and he does it constantly, like literally, he just said in July that this, that the demolition wasn't going to impact the existing structure of the White House in any way and said it wouldn't even touch it. And then he goes, I mean, there's video of this demolition where it's taking a literal wrecking ball to the side of the White House. It's just a bold face lie. And he does it every day. And there's no consequence. And that's just what drives me crazy. And that's what the reason I do Legal AF, frankly, and the reason I'm here week after week is because I want to be part of this movement that is trying to bring truth to the American people.

1:07:31Again, if we disagree on issues fine but at least let's tell the truth about the issues let's at least tell what's going on and then we can disagree right and and that's what a democracy is and then you go to the polls and you vote and sometimes we win and sometimes the other side wins but you know you try to make your case you try to win over hearts and minds but to lie and get where you're going to get where you are by lying and that's just what he's been doing all along it's just really drives me nuts lying

1:08:00Dina Doll:and just common decency, which we have really lost. And that to me is, you know, Yeah, the poop point. The human to human connection that is like the fabric of any group, organization, foundation, country, you know, his completely tearing that down, you know, is, it's not just a matter of like, are we polite to each other? But if we can't even like connect with each other on some basic decency, like to your point, that video where he was dropping feces on the crowd, like you can articulate how much you don't like these No Kings protests, which frankly, I think is demolition of the White House.

1:08:41Dina Doll:The very next day was him doing that as well. But that the feces thing, like it was just like the lack of common decency of just human to human. And, you know, if you don't, if we lose that, you know, then do you really have a country? Do you really have a democracy? And so I am glad that here on Legal AF and Midas Touch, you know, we do, I think, always try to talk in ways that are, frankly, just about the issues and not make it personal because they're really not. Because it's, you know, it's not, there's always somebody with that point of view. It's not really about the person. Of course. I agree.

1:09:21I agree completely. Let's talk about Lindsey Halligan and the Tish James, the Attorney General of New York, her prosecution. And so just back to the just to, again, briefly tell everybody where we are. Letitia James is the New York Attorney General and she brought a civil fraud case against Donald Trump and won. And the case is on appeal. She won a huge verdict against him. And so Trump didn't like that. And so she's one of his enemies. And he basically, again, had Lindsay Halligan appoint, he appointed Lindsay Halligan to prosecute Letitia James. And so there's an indictment claiming that her second home that she bought in Virginia is that she lied about it on the mortgage application.

1:10:22And by lying about it, she got a favorable result and has benefited to the tune of$18 ,000. That's the entirety of the claim here, the criminal prosecution, which is just ridiculous because she didn't lie and she didn't, it was her second home and she let a family member live there. And that letting a family member live in your home is actually what homes are for. Homes are for family. That's not investment property. That's not rental income. That's what makes a home a home is when you have family live with you. And, you know, I've had many sisters and nieces and nephews all live with me throughout the years at various points in their life, you know, going to college or, you know, after college, whatever.

1:11:04I mean, that's just what we do, right? Like that's called a home. Anyway, but so she's being prosecuted for letting her family live there. And so there's a reporter, Anna Bauer, who writes for Lawfare. And she was basically, I think she was retweeting some New York Times articles and making comments on them, basically talking about how that the James family did live there and that this is important exculpatory evidence because the indictment accuses her of seeking a second home mortgage when in reality she intended to use it as an investment home. And I guess Halligan, Lindsay Halligan, and this invalidly appointed Eastern District of Virginia prosecutor who's also going after Comey, I guess she reached out in this rookie move, reached out to Anna Bauer and started texting with her.

1:12:11And at first, Anna Bauer was like, who is this? And are you sure? Making sure it's her. So she tested her and said, where did we first meet? Because they met once, I guess, years ago in a restaurant in Florida with when Halligan was with Jim Trustee, one of Trump's, somebody who, an advisor or lawyer who worked for Trump. And so she says, where did we first meet? And Halligan says, Florida with Trustee. And so she knew it was her, and she also verified the phone number was also her and came back to her on WhatsApp, the same the same app that the signal gate right the the Pete heads heads heads where they added the Atlantic reporter to the classified information you know they're doing it on signal somehow thinking this is secure but she's texting with her and talking to her about the James thing and saying you got it wrong and like so bizarre and I think Anna Bauer thought it was bizarre like why are you saying these things she's like okay if I got it wrong tell me what I got wrong She was trying to, I guess, court her.

1:13:18And then when Bauer talked publicly about it, Halligan was upset and said, that was off the record. And she's like, you never said it was off the record. And you're supposed to, you're not allowed to say that after the fact. Yeah. Such a weird, weird exchange. But, you know, she's potentially leaking grand jury information by her. Yeah.

1:13:37Dina Doll:I mean, that is stunning. I mean, maybe a rookie move or, you know, I think also the Trump circle think they can do anything and get away with it. I mean, I was a journalism major before I went to law school. And yeah, I mean, obviously talking to a reporter, you're just going to assume everything is on the record. The whole point is they are gathering the news. Reporters are gathering the news. But frankly, even if it wasn't a reporter, she's talking to an individual. And these days, you can't assume anyone is going to be confidential with the information. So, you know, but again, I don't know how much of this is just they are in their own little bubble and they think they can control the world.

1:14:19Dina Doll:And it shocks them because she did practice some law. And I would think she would have had a little bit more know-how not to talk to a reporter. But anyway, it's embarrassing for her. It's embarrassing that she talked to a reporter and then tried to have a retroactive confidentiality around it, which is a non-starter. Yeah. Yeah, she's certainly not the caliber United States attorney that the Eastern District of Virginia deserves. You know, it's one of the first U.S. attorney's office in the country, certainly one of the most respected. They handle extremely serious cases because it's where the Pentagon is located and I think the CIA and, you know, it's adjacent to Washington, D.C.

1:15:06And there are many government offices there. And so the office has always been one to prosecute really important, sensitive, high-level cases. And they have this thing called the rocket docket that other jurisdictions don't have where they make things go much faster. and so they've always been. It's like one of the most respected U.S. attorney's offices and she's just not up to the caliber of what they do there and I think you're right. It's embarrassing, but this is typical. She also had a typo on the James indictment, right? She said she lived in Brooklyn, New Jersey, you know. Brooklyn's in New York.

1:15:45And she also, I think, submitted in Comey's, I think she submitted two indictments. One, you know, with different charges, because the grand jury didn't vote on one of the charges. They elected not to bring one charge. And like, she just, it's just all these like sloppy rookie mistakes. And you're not supposed to do that, especially in big cases. But she's just really in over her head, I think, and illegally and unlawfully appointed.

1:16:12Dina Doll:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, she might have been a good enough insurance attorney. I don't know. But to your point, to be head of one of the most important, you know, top lawyer, one of the most important DOJ districts in the country, she's way in it over her head for sure. Yeah, really. She really, really is. So, well, we have reached the end of another midweek edition of Legal AF. Dina, it's so, so great to see you. and it's so great to have so many people here tonight and listening with us and joining us tonight. Michael Popok will be back on Legal AF on Saturday with Ben Mycelis and next Wednesday with me.

1:16:55And of course, every day on the Legal AF YouTube channel and on the Midas Touch Network. So please stay informed and please keep listening and hit subscribe and listen to us on audio and listen to us, you know, in YouTube and all the places you get your podcasts. Subscribe to the Legal AF channel and to the Legal AF sub stack, which is this unbelievable thing that Popak has created that has these live streams that he does. He's been doing incredible interviews lately with various people, including attorneys general of states and just live streaming court appearances and putting court records and filings up on his sub stack.

1:17:38So it's just a great resource for everybody to go to, to learn more and to have these, if you don't want to listen to a full podcast, because it's a long time, we have these smaller podcasts that we all do that you can listen to issue by issue. So thank you so much, everybody, for supporting us, the Legal AFers and the Might is Mighty. And Dina, thank you as always for being here. Thanks for having me. It's such a pleasure to be here with you on Wednesday night. And shout out to everybody. And thank you so much for listening.

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