Major Lawsuit Served on Trump by Dem Senator

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1:46Michael Popok:Seems like every moment is breaking news in the Trump administration and all of its scandals. And now we've got Senator Mark Kelly filing a new lawsuit against Pete Hegseth for his threats. No, his censure letter against Senator Kelly, threatening to take away his rank, his service rank, threatening to court martial him and take away his pension because he had the audacity to stand up as a member of Congress against an out of control presidency. especially a senator who spent 25 years in the military, who is covered from head to toe with commendations and ribbons and medals for his service, for his more than 39 combat missions as a naval aviator, his more than four space shuttle missions, including as the commander of the last flying of the Endeavor, and somebody who is on, and this is the major focus here, who is on two major committees as the ranking member who is trying to provide oversight and rein in Donald Trump, the Armed Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee.

2:58Michael Popok:And what we're watching is Donald Trump doing lawless things, blowing people out of the water in the Caribbean without due process, invading Venezuela without appropriate congressional authority, a saber rattling to try to go after Iran and Cuba, the deployment illegally of the National Guard. These all fall within the supervisory and oversight powers of somebody like Mark Kelly. And so when Mark Kelly, along with a series of other people in the national intelligence community and in the armed forces, a few weeks ago sent out a video to remind people that they in the military that they should not and cannot under their constitutional oath cannot follow illegal unconstitutional orders in fact they have an obligation not to do that that didn't sit well with the trump administration and pete and there we have the censure letter but now with this new lawsuit filed in the district of columbia Mark Kelly, Senator Mark Kelly, is demanding that a court, a federal court step in, declare Pete Hegseth's attempts to court-martial and to go after Mark Kelly for war crimes.

4:13Michael Popok:Or as Donald Trump put it, he should be hanged for telling people what is objectively true about military justice and military law, especially under the Nuremberg principle, which is you cannot follow illegal, illicit orders of a commander. declare those actions unlawful, stop them from happening, vacating and setting aside the censure letter, enjoining, stopping and blocking the defendants from giving any effect to the defendants action, including starting any criminal or administrative action and the like. Brought on behalf of Senator Kelly by a major law firm that is not bending the knee, Arnold and Porter, out of a combination of Newark, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.

5:01Michael Popok:I'm Michael Popak. You're on the Midas Touch Network and Legal AF. This is what we wake up to Monday in America, Trump's carnage of America. You know, we haven't even buried Renee Goode yet for her murder by way of ICE agents. And already we've got Donald Trump going after the chairman of the Federal Reserve under a phony manufactured criminal investigation in order to get his way over the economy. as if getting his way over the economy so far has been working to his advantage. And then let's go after the heroes, the true heroes in this country. Mark Kelly should be president of the United States.

5:37Michael Popok:He shouldn't be subject to a censure by Pete Hegseth who couldn't hold his jockstrap. Major Pete Hegseth? I don't think so. So let's dive in. You're here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. Just to bring you up to speed, let me show you the video that led to the censure that now led to this lawsuit. This is a video including Mark Kelly, along with many other people in Congress. Let's play the clip. I'm Senator Alyssa Slotkin. Senator Mark Kelly. Representative Chris Deluzio. Congressman Maddie Goodlander. Representative Chrissy Houlihan. Congressman Jason Crow. I was a captain in the United States Navy.

6:14Former CIA officer. Former Navy. Former paratrooper and army ranger. Former intelligence officer. Former Air Force. We want to speak directly to members of the military and the intelligence community who take risks each day to keep Americans safe. We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now. Americans trust their military. But that trust is at risk. This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.

6:49Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution. We know this is hard. And that it's a difficult time to be a public servant. But whether you're serving in the CIA, the Army, or Navy, the Air Force, your vigilance is critical. And know that we have your back. Because now, more than ever, the American people need you. We need you to stand up for our laws, our Constitution, and who we are as Americans. Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up the ship.

7:25Michael Popok:Now, soon thereafter, Donald Trump went, I'd say he went crazy, but I think he just is criminally insane. As outlined on page 19 through 21 or 22 in the complaint, which I'll post on Legal AF Substack for our paid members. Here's how Donald Trump reacted to that video. After the video went up on November 19th and November 20th, Trump posted, it's called seditious behavior at the highest level. Each of these traitors to our country, these are sitting members of Congress, should be arrested and put on trial. We won't have a country anymore. An example must be set. He then posted, this is really bad and dangerous to our country.

8:06Michael Popok:Their words cannot be allowed to stand. Seditious behavior for traitors. Lock them up. Question mark, question mark. Seditious behavior. Punishable by death. Came an hour later. He then asked for the hanging of six congresspeople on page 20. After somebody reposted a post calling for the hanging of six members, Trump agreed and said, hang them, George Washington would. He then went on and said, the traitors that told the military to disobey my orders should be in jail, not roaming the fake news networks trying to explain themselves with a bunch of typos in there. And Mark Kelly has gone out, of course, publicly to defend himself.

8:52This letter for anything that Pete Hegseth says or does to me is in no way going to affect the way I do my job and represent my constituents in the United States Senate. Ain't happening. So, you know, his option, you know, right now is he can continue with this kind of or you can go take a hike. Hey, everybody. Ben Mycelis here from the Midas Touch Network. I wanted to let you know about my podcast partner, Michael Popak's new law firm. It's called the Popak Firm. Michael Popak's pursuing his dream of starting his own law firm, really based on the popular demand by all the Midas mighty and legal AFers who are approaching Michael Popak with their cases and saying, Can you help us?

9:41And at that time, Popak was not able to. So he went out on his own. He started the Popak Firm, where he is now handling catastrophic injury cases like car accident cases, trucking cases, malpractice cases, big negligence cases, wrongful death cases. So if you or someone you know have a case like this, the consultation with Popak's firm is free. give him a call see if you have a case it's thepopockfirm.com thepopockfirm.com or you can call 877-POPOCAF P-O-P-O-K-A-F so 1-877-P-O-P-O-K-A-F give Michael Popock a call and I'm really proud of you

10:26Michael Popok:Popock thanks for all the hard work you're putting in now let me let me tell you what the lawsuit how it's framed. And I think it's smartly done by Arnold and Porter. First, it's arguing that obviously Trump's going after Mark Kelly to try to chill his First Amendment expression, but more to the point, his legislative function, his speech and debate function as a member of the Senate, not just any member, the ranking member on two major committees, which are responsible for trying to rein in Donald Trump's lawless global attacks and attacks within the United States. Armed Services Committee, Ranking Member Intelligence Committee, Armed Services Intelligence Committee too.

11:12Michael Popok:And so what he's trying to do is to get Mark Kelly to back off. That's why they say in their complaints, the first time in history, how many times do we We have to use that phrase to introduce something about Donald Trump. That a president has tried to use the threat of war crimes and hanging to try to chill the First Amendment and speech and debate privileges of a sitting member of Congress. Here's what they say. On page three, the First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression. That prohibition applies with particular force to legislators speaking on matters of public policy.

11:55Michael Popok:As the Supreme Court held 60 years ago, the Constitution requires that legislatures be given the widest latitude to express their views on issues of policy. The executive actions also trample on protections the Constitution singles out as essential to legislative independence. This is an attack on legislative independence, just as it's an attack on the Federal Reserve's independence by going after Jay Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve. Paragraph six. It appears that never in our nation's history has the executive branch imposed military sanctions on a member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech.

12:33Michael Popok:Allowing that step would invert the constitutional structure by subordinating the legislative branch to executive discipline and chilling congressional oversight of the armed forces. The letter from Hegseth about foundational principles and about potential commission of war crimes squarely is everything that's within the legislative and oversight jurisdiction of the committees on which Senator Kelly serves and violates due process. Let me read to you now from the statement from Senator Kelly. Here's what he had to say after filing this lawsuit. Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my 25 years of military service in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States senator whose job it is to hold him and this or any administration accountable.

13:25Michael Popok:His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military. If you speak out and say something that the president or secretary of defense doesn't like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted. And of course, they have pensions that they're worried about as well. Every service member knows military rank is earned, not given. It's earned through the risks you take, the sacrifices you and your family make, the leadership you display, and the respect you earn from the superiors who recommend you for promotion. From the moment I drove through the gates of Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, to when I was shot at over Iraq and Kuwait, to when I landed Space Shuttle Endeavor on its last mission.

14:08Michael Popok:I gave everything I had to this country and I earned my rank of Captain United States Navy. Now Pete Hegseth wants our longest serving military veterans to live with constant threat. That's not the way things work in the United States and I won't stand for it. In 1986, at just 22, I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. I have fulfilled that oath every day, but I never expected that I would have to defend it against the Secretary of Defense or President. So today I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms.

14:47Michael Popok:Senator Mark Kelly. For those that don't know his personal life story in history, besides what I led off the hot take with in his 25 years in the military, he's also the husband of Gabby Gifford. Gabby Gifford, many people believe, would have been a senator, maybe alongside Mark Kelly, if she had not been shot and not only maimed, disfigured, and suffered brain damage as a result of a shooting while she was campaigning for election in Congress and thinking about running for the Senate. Gabby Gifford's still with us, of course, thank God, and works every day tirelessly on behalf of gun control and on victims of gun violence.

15:33Michael Popok:but to think that Pete Hegseth who came off the Fox and Friends couch who couldn't even crack the starting lineup of Fox and Friends he was the weekend anchor he was the guy that did the ball drop on New Year's Day fresh from the hair and makeup trailer and from a stint in uh in Afghanistan then, I believe, where he never reached the level of captain and couldn't hold Mark Kelly's jockstrap, let alone challenge his patriotism. But more fundamentally, this case is up and running. As soon as it gets assigned to a judge and there's more developments in the case, I will bring it to your attention.

16:15Michael Popok:But we know the Trump administration, they're going to fight back and fire back at Mark Kelly, trying to suppress the vote of him and scare off all the other people that appeared in that video or anybody who plans on being in the next video. We'll continue to follow it here on the Midas Touch Network and Legal AF. Take a moment and hit the subscribe button on Midas and on Legal AF YouTube as well. 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 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.

16:51Michael 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. You know what they say. Early Bird gets the ultimate 30A vacation rental. Wait, they don't say that? They do now. Book early and save over$530 on select homes for week-long stays with Vrbo. That's the way to 30A. How many discounts does USAA Auto Insurance offer?

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