Top Trump WH Lawyer Suddenly Resigns in Disgust

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1:29Michael Popok:We got some breaking news about Donald Trump's phony$1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, which he's created using a bad faith lawsuit that a federal judge challenged as being in bad faith and not a legitimate lawsuit to then use his captured Department of Justice that he controls, his captured Treasury Department that he controls, his captured Internal Revenue Service that he controls, his captured private lawyers that he controls to enter into a FOTE settlement to create a fund under his control. away from congressional oversight. And now we've got, in breaking news, a new hero. We got a resignation of the top Treasury official, Brian Morrissey.

2:19Michael Popok:He's the general counsel, or was, of the Treasury Department, handpicked by Donald Trump, had served in the first Trump administration of the Department of Justice, had been a partner in a law firm that I worked for called Sidley Austin out of Chicago, who had clerked for Clarence Thomas. And he apparently has some gravitas, some cojones, because he's quit moments after the settlement was announced. In response to it, in protest to it, the timing suggests yes. I'm Michael Popak. You've got great timing. You're on the Midas Dutch Network and Legal AF. Let's get down and update you about a pot shot taken by Judge Williams as she departs the case.

3:05Michael Popok:I don't think it went far enough, but certainly was her attempt to lay the groundwork for a future lawsuit. I want to talk about the memo given by Todd Blanche to the Treasury Department to set up the fund and what I think is really strange about it. And the part where I think Judge Williams is not going to be happy is that they continue to use, here's the first page of the settlement agreement, which they did not have to add the lawsuit. They could have just said it's a settlement, but they had a lawsuit. So they put the style or the caption of the case. I think this is, again, them using the federal court and the imprimatur of the federal process that she should do something about.

3:52Michael Popok:I'll talk about that in a moment. Let's start at the resignation. Brian Morrissey, not my politics, but certainly a fine lawyer, worked in the Department of Justice in the first Trump administration, clerks for Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court, worked at Sidley in Austin, was handpicked by Donald Trump to be the head of the Treasury Department's legal department, right? One that would side off on this. And we know from other reporting that there was a lot of hand-wringing and a lot of head in hands about Donald Trump corrupting his DOJ, IRS, and Treasury Department to settle with him. That was the problem that Judge Williams in Miami federal court had.

4:38Michael Popok:Where are the adversary parties here? You control everything? It's Trump v. Trump? Well, then you can't have a legitimate lawsuit. And if there's not a legitimate lawsuit, get out of my courtroom. She was about to toss the case. She ordered the Trump side to issue and submit briefs about how she even had jurisdiction, how this was a legitimate federal case. Because if this isn't an imminent real lawsuit, if it's just a piece of paper, then what are you settling? Then under the statutes that allow the Department of Justice to settle and compromise, they're inapplicable. That was her argument. But wouldn't you know it, just before they had to file the brief with her and she had already gotten guidance from three outside lawyers that she asked for, they settle the case and file a notice of voluntary dismissal with prejudice in her courtroom.

5:29Michael Popok:They don't attach the settlement agreement. They just say, we're out, judge. There's been no answer filed and we don't need your permission and we're gonna dismiss, which is true under Rule 41 with one caveat. There were a lot of protests internally against the settlement because it didn't pass the straight face test nor the legal test, including being, I'm sure, they consider that it violates the domestic or presidential emoluments clause. An emolument in the Constitution, based on the time, is anything of value, right? A gift, a bonus, a commission, anything above the president's salary that he gets, economic or non-economic, from a state or from the United States.

6:16Michael Popok:In this case, the United States violates the emolument clause. That's what the lawsuit that's coming out of this fact pattern is going to allege. So Brian Morrissey's like, I'm out. I don't want to be associated with that settlement fund, for the anti-victim weaponization fund. And then I read the settlement agreement, which we'll post on Legal AF Substack for you to read. And it talks about in the recitals, again, not telling the truth about the lawsuit that was filed in front of Judge Williams. It says there was a civil lawsuit that was filed on January 29th, 2026, that President Trump also submitted.

7:00Michael Popok:Oh, listen to this. Made up facts that nobody ever heard about. Recital section two, paragraph a counsel for plaintiffs. That's Trump's per private counsel have indicated that, but for this settlement, they would intend to amend their complaint, including in order to likely add a putative class claim. How are you going to add a putative class claim to a suit that the judge is about to dismiss, right? And they don't mention that the judge by her orders was about to dismiss this lawsuit. There's nothing to amend when your suit is filed in bad faith. Judge Williams and the federal court getting used again as a pawn.

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9:04Michael Popok:And then it talks about that the case has been closed, but they skipped the part about Judge Williams questioning the legitimacy of the case. And then, of course, we have the order. Let me read to you from, let's switch gears and go to Judge Williams, also in the last 24 hours. In her order of closing the case, here's the potshot she takes. Now, I agree that she had no choice but to dismiss the case and close the case under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, just because of the tactics used by Trump gives him the right to dismiss. she still has inherent authority over the administration of justice in her courtroom.

9:48Michael Popok:And if I were her, especially now having seen the settlement agreement, I would do an order to show cause. I would have done it before she issued her order. Maybe she amends her order and says, I've now seen the settlement agreement. I see you're using my case. I see you reference my case and the attempt to amend my case when you knew or should have known that I'm about to dismiss the case. I want all the lawyers in here. I want fact-finding and go into a fact-finding in order to show cause about whether sanctions should be issued. But here's her parting shot, which I think will help the plaintiffs against this settlement in a future federal lawsuit.

10:26Michael Popok:I'm sure that will be filed this week. Because the notice does not reference any settlement or include a stipulation of settlement, says Judge Williams on the bottom of page two, there is no settlement of record. Additionally, defendants of federal agencies represented by the Department of Justice, which has an independent obligation to uphold the public's strong interest in knowing about the conduct of its government and expenditures of its resources and the fair administration of justice, neither submitted any settlement documents nor filed any documents ensuring, right, ensuring that a settlement was appropriate where there was an outstanding question as to whether an actual case or controversy existed.

11:11Michael Popok:That's the ticket. That's the little bit of a stab there by the judge that will be picked up, I'm sure, along with the outline of the framework of the lawsuit that was created by 93 members of Congress who yesterday filed an amicus brief request and their brief arguing violation of the emoluments clause, violation of all the statutes related to DOJ's ability to settle cases. That, Judge Williams' comment, ends up baked into a future lawsuit, I assure you. But I really wanted to focus on not so much the direction. And we have, of course, the memo that's now come out from Todd Blanche. You know, and the IRS chief financial officer and lawyers for Donald Trump, including one that operates out of a mailbox USA in Boca Raton, Florida.

12:09Michael Popok:Right. But I wanted to focus on Brian Morrissey because there needs to be more Brian Morrissey. So they got to do something before settlements come out, like become whistleblowers. So that's why the courage here is not as great as somebody like Erez Ruveni, who left the Department of Justice after they abused and continued to abuse Kilmer Abrego Garcia. He came out with a 30-page whistleblower statement. You know, we need that before, not after. But I appreciate Brian Morrissey's pangs of guilt, twinges of guilt that led him to depart the Trump administration. which is lawless and rogue. I'll continue to follow it here for Midas Touch and Legal AF.

12:55Michael Popok:Come over to Legal AF YouTube channel, will you? Hit the subscribe button. You might think you're subscribed, but you're not. Hit that button. Help us continue to grow our pro-democracy channel over there. 12 new videos every day at the intersection of law and politics. See me tonight on the Intersection podcast, the Webby Award-winning Intersection podcast, 8 p.m. Eastern time. It's live on the Midas Touch Network. Until my next report, this is Michael. 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.

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