Trump Abandons his Own as He Crumbles Under Pressure

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1:00Michael Popok:Let's get behind the headlines of Donald Trump short-circuiting, literally, on his Air Force One on the way to Davos, and just getting out of the country because he's a coward, old yellow stain, and leaving Lindsey Halligan to resign in disgrace after being slammed by back-to-back federal orders and the last 24 hours all against her to end her masquerading, as one judge said, her impersonating of a U.S. attorney. Sure, you've heard she's resigned, but let's talk about the bigger picture and the broader picture. First of all, Donald Trump's a coward. Can we all agree on that? He leaves Lindsey Halligan twisting in the wind to resign in disgrace after these back-to-back orders where she just barely avoids getting sanctioned by a federal judge to have her law license taken away.

1:47Michael Popok:And Donald Trump says, oh, off to Davos. That's one. Also, Lindsey Halligan now joins a growing list of Donald Trump's political hacks that can't stay in the chair as U.S. attorneys around the country and have had to resign and or been fired. It's not just Lindsey Halligan. It's Alina Habba set the template. She got blocked by the two senators who are Democrats in New Jersey. She knew she was never going to get confirmed. A federal judge found, much like they just found with Lindsay Halligan, that she was improperly, illegally appointed under the Vacancy Reform Act. She resigned. A few days later, Julianne Murray, a political hack who used to be the Republican chairperson in Delaware, she resigned because she knew she was never going to get the job.

2:35Michael Popok:Then you've got two others. The one in Nevada, Seagal Chata, got bounced by a federal judge. It's up on appeal. She's going to lose. Bill Essily in Los Angeles, same thing, fired. Guy from New Mexico, same thing. John Sarkoni III, he just got bounced three weeks ago by Judge Schofield in the Southern District of New York, and he's going to lose his appeal also. So that's the backdrop that you analyze what happened with Lindsay Halligan right now. I also learned that Pam Bondi can't write a note to the public. I was four fifths through her announcement. I had to read it twice to realize that Lindsay Halligan had been fired and or had resigned.

3:25Michael Popok:When you're that poor of a writer, you know there's a problem. So like I'm reading, just to give you an example. So I'm like reading through this. And here's what I come up with, right? Again, I have no idea from, there's no topic sentences, you know, as I was taught to write in middle school. During her 120-day tenure as interim United States attorney, Lindsay Halligan served with the utmost distinction and unwavering commitment to the rule of law. So I saw past tense. So I figured maybe Lindsay Halligan's not going to make it. By prosecuting, and then she goes on bragging about Lindsay Halligan.

4:07Michael Popok:that Democratic senators weaponized the blue slip process and blocked her and that her term expired. We'll talk about that. Hold that point. Despite multiple unnecessary legal obstacles placed in her path, Lindsay stepped forward at this critical juncture. And then I get to the part, finally, when I realize Lindsay Halligan is no longer with the Department of Justice. While we will feel her absence keenly, we are confident that she will continue to serve her country in other ways. Okay. She can't write a paragraph. Lindsay Halligan's gone. To Donald Trump, he didn't even realize what had happened.

4:47Michael Popok:So back in November, a federal judge appointed by the chief judge of the Fourth Circuit, Judge Diaz, appointed Judge Curry from South Carolina to avoid any conflicts, because if there's a vacancy, the judges of the Eastern District appoint the replacement. So they gave it to a South Carolina judge to make a decision for the entire district about whether Lindsey Halligan was legally or illegally appointed under the Constitution and under Section 546, the Vacancy Reform Act. And she determined in a 25-page opinion that Lindsey Halligan was illegally appointed, that there had already been one 120-day interim U.S.

5:30Michael Popok:attorney under the statute. His name is Eric Seibert. He was a Republican. He didn't want to prosecute Letitia James or James Comey. So he got fired by Donald Trump. That's it. After that, the vacancy has to be filled either by the first assistant to that person who'd been in that seat before. So the first assistant to the U.S. attorney or by some other Senate confirmed person in another department, even outside of justice, or the judges have to fill that position. that's it. But that's not what they did. They appointed Lindsey Halligan because Donald Trump instructed Pam Bondi to hire Lindsey Halligan, who had been working for him in the White House as White House counsel.

6:16Michael Popok:No experience, seven years out of law school. She had been an insurance defense lawyer down in Florida, fender bender lawyer in Florida, never a prosecutor. And now she's made instant prosecutor, just to add water. And now she's instructed to go because they're running out of time, 17 days until the statute of limitations run, to go after former FBI Director James Comey for perjury and Letitia James, New York Attorney General for mortgage fraud. And she gets the indictments. Lord knows how. Judges that looked at these issues said she violated the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment in her presentation to the grand jury, meaning the indictments were probably going to be dismissed anyway.

6:57Michael Popok:But the lawyers for Comey, Mr. Fitzpatrick, sorry, Mr. Fitzgerald, and the lawyer for Letitia James, Abby Lowell, they file motions to dismiss the indictment and to find that Lindsay Halligan was illegally appointed. And therefore, her indictments are invalid. Judge Diaz, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, sends it to Judge McGowan-Curry in South Carolina. She conducts a full hearing, briefing evidence looks at the grand jury transcripts looks at everything issues her order november the 24th creates a vacancy in the office finding that lindsey halligan was illegally appointed from that day until yesterday until the 20th the uh department of justice completely ignored judge curry's order although she was given that responsibility by the chief judge said, we don't agree with it, okay, and continue to parade Lindsey Halligan around as the U.S.

7:59Michael Popok:attorney, pissing off all the judges of the Eastern District. They would comment on it in hearings to Department of Justice lawyers, why is Lindsey Halligan still signing pleadings, U.S. attorney, and the like. Okay. My interpretation and any reasonable person's interpretation of the order by Judge Curry on November 24th is that a vacancy was created and that it could only be filled by the judges of the Eastern District. Yet none of the judges stepped forward. The judges' conference didn't step forward to vote on a replacement. And I was wondering why. From November, we get into December, nothing.

8:32Michael Popok:And Donald Trump's abusing this issue, this quote-unquote technicality, to keep her in her chair. In fact, here's Donald Trump back when Lindsey Halligan was bounced as the U.S. attorney by Judge Kerry. Here's what he had to say about the technicality. Go. We saw those cases against James Covey and Letitia James tossed out. But do you still have faith in Lindsay Halligan? Oh, she's great. I think she's great. They got out on a technicality and you'll see what happens from here on. But if you look at the actual charges, I think anybody that looks at it very fairly would say, boy, are they guilty.

9:12So let's see what happens over the next week. You know, the court didn't say you couldn't bring the case, re-bring the case, or appeal the case. So they have a lot of options.

9:22Michael Popok:They're going to call the shot. I'm not calling the shot. But Lindsay's are very talented. Let's be honest, shall we? Modern life is rough on our bodies. Your liver, it's working overtime to filter all of that out. That's why there's Dose. Dose for your liver is a clinically-backed liver health supplement. It's a daily two-ounce liquid shot that tastes like fresh-squeezed orange juice. Dose cleanses the liver of unwanted stressors, slowing it down, and promotes daily liver function with zero sugar, zero junk, and zero calories. Look, your liver, mine too, performs more than 500 functions every day.

10:01Michael Popok:Energy, digestion, metabolism, and vitamin storage. And Dose is designed to support that work. It's also backed by two double-blind placebo-controlled studies showing positive impact on liver enzyme levels. Ready to give your liver that support it deserves? Head to dosedaily.co slash legal AF or enter legal AF to get 35 % off your first subscription. Your body, it does so much for you. Let's do something for it. That's D-O-S-E-D-A-I-L-Y dot C-O slash Legal AF for 35 % off your first month subscription. Yeah, the Constitution is a technicality, right? But the judges never stepped forward. And Judge Curry didn't clarify her order after seeing what the Trump administration, how they were interpreting it, which was, oh, it's just a piece of paper we can ignore.

10:56Michael Popok:Now, the weird thing is they took an appeal of the Trump administration to the Fourth Circuit, but they didn't ask for a stay to stop Judge Curry's order about the vacancy creating, probably because they didn't want to acknowledge what the plain language of the order said, so they didn't want to ask for the stay because they decided to ignore it. They didn't ask Judge Curry for a stay. They didn't ask the judges of the Eastern District of Virginia to put Lindsey Halligan in as interim, which they had the power to do. none of that. They just ran around. It finally came to a head about two weeks ago when Judge Novak, a Trump-appointed judge, issued what I call an order to show cause to go to Lindsay Halligan, an unrelated case, had nothing to do with Lindsay Halligan, to an order to show cause that Lindsay Halligan put it in writing and sign it.

11:47Michael Popok:Why she's impersonating, continuing to impersonate a U.S. attorney after being taken out of the job by Judge Curry's order? Why is she ignoring the order? And why aren't these ethical professional responsibility breaches that could lead to her being disciplined and lose her bar license? The government fought back hard, too hard, with vitriol, as Judge Novak wrote in his order yesterday, attacking the judge, attacking the process, calling him an invalid inquisitor. This was an inquisition that he had no right to conduct, that they just didn't agree with Judge Curry's order, and it's up on appeal, and she gets to be the interim in the meantime.

12:33Michael Popok:And the judge, in a scathing order yesterday, and this is what led, this was the beginning to the end. This was the second to last domino. Two dominoes fell yesterday, and the whole thing led to the resignation and disgrace by Lindsay Halligan, while her patron, was conveniently out of the country, out of his mind. Here's, besides saying that the charade of her masquerading as a U.S. attorney in defiance of court orders must end on page 17 of his order, he also said this about the Department of Justice and Lindsay Halligan and the rule of law. Says on page 11, as he goes through on page 10, all the things she could have done.

13:19Michael Popok:He said on page 10, Ms. Halligan had numerous legal options that could have potentially allowed her to validly identify herself as the U.S. attorney while the Senate considers her nomination, because if she was nominated on the 13th of June, which has now of course been withdrawn, to be confirmed by the Senate. She could have sought a stay from Judge Curry, from Judge Nachmanoff and Judge Walker or the Fourth Circuit. She could have petitioned the district judges to appoint her to the position. She could have filed a motion with the chief judge, allowing her to continue to use the moniker pending appeal or filed individual motions seeking to use it before each district court judge.

13:56Michael Popok:She chose none of these legal avenues. Instead, Judge Novak wrote, she elected to simply ignore valid court orders issued by Judge Curry. This court cannot tolerate such

14:23Michael Popok:He talked a lot about the rule of law, which he put in capital letters. In fact, on page 17, in his conclusion, he wrote the following. And I think these are the final nails in the coffin for Lindsay Halligan, which forced her to resign in disgrace. despite coming, he said on page 17, that the Eastern District has long enjoyed the service of experienced prosecutors with unquestioned integrity from both political parties. Despite coming from different political backgrounds, very different ideological views, they all shared a wavering commitment to the rule of law, putting the interests of the citizens before their own personal ambitions as true public servants do.

15:06Michael Popok:Unfortunately, it appears this ethos has come to an end. And a district judge acting in the direction of the chief judge of the Fourth Circuit has ruled on behalf of the district judges of this district that Ms. Halligan was invalidly appointed. No matter all of her machinations, Ms. Halligan has no legal basis to represent to this court that she holds the position. Any such representation going forward can only be described as a false statement. That was the second shoe to drop that day. Judge Locke, who's the chief judge of Eastern District, she had a whole different analysis, which frankly, I don't agree with, that the vacancy just began on the 20th of January.

15:54Michael Popok:The vacancy was created, as Judge Novak rightly points out, on November 24th. Now, maybe to avoid conflict with the Trump administration, she's a newly appointed chief judge. The chief judge said, well, there's one thing nobody can disagree with. The 120 days under the statute is up today. So I'm going to go with that safer route. But you didn't even mention Judge Curry, which I thought was a slight and a diss on process. But in any event, that pincher movement by those two judges crushed Lindsey Halligan. And what is it proving to us? It proves to us that opposing the Trump administration rigorously on a daily basis, bringing the crowds, bringing the courage means that they're going to fold.

16:41Michael Popok:They do it all the time. Sky Perryman just joined me last night for a live of my podcast, The Intersection, on Tuesday nights on the Midas Touch Network, just as the story broke. And here's how she puts it as the leader of Democracy Forward that has more than 400 matters against the Trump administration, winning more than 90 % of them. Here's Skye Perryman. That pressure matters. Pam Bondi has announced that Lindsey Halligan is out. There you go. Not only is the Eastern District of Virginia a prosecutor, U.S. prosecutor, U.S. attorney, but out of the Department of Justice completely. There you go.

17:19Michael Popok:So, I mean, does that not, let me just read it, Skye, then I'll have you react on the fly to it. Here's Pam Bondi. Of course, she doesn't lead with, she's out. During her 120-day tenure as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, Lindsay Halligan served with the utmost distinction on wavering commitment to the rule of law. She worked tirelessly, what, since October, to protect the more than six million residents of the Eastern District. Despite multiple unnecessary legal obstacles placed in her path, she stepped forward at a critical junction. Her departure is a significant loss for the Department of Justice.

17:56Michael Popok:This is a This is a person who was made a prosecutor in October for the first time in her life. It's a significant loss, apparently, to the Department of Justice. While we will feel her absence keenly, we will be confident that she will continue to serve her country in other ways. That means Donald Trump's going to kick her over to some other organization that he controls. The circumstances that led to this outcome are deeply misguided, blah, blah, blah. All right, now look, with sky on the air, it totally proves your point, does it not? Every day. We see this every single day. They lost twice today, as I joke with you.

18:32They lost twice today, but it's also... About her, I mean. Yes, but it's also, I mean, we see this every day in all these cases. And at the same time, we have to hold that reality, that pressure works.

18:43Michael Popok:Oh, yeah. Courage is the new currency. You're not getting out of this moment without standing up and pushing back. But when you do, it often works. So this matters because we could have just looked the other way and said, oh, that's Donald Trump being Donald Trump violating the Constitution again. No, we have to take a stand. We've got to chop the wood. We've got to chop down the tree every day, every way, with focus, determination, courage, confidence, that the rule of law is on our side. And as she pointed out, the Trump administration and the Department of Justice folds, folds frequently. I'll continue to follow all of their folding here on the Midas Touch Network.

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