Trump Admin Skewered by Pissed Off Judge & Orders Gag

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2:24Michael Popok:We got some breaking and developing news in the Abrego Garcia case. He's waging a fight for his life on two fronts, one in a criminal case in Tennessee, one in a civil liberties case in Maryland. we've got some developments in both, starting with Judge Crenshaw in Tennessee has effectively gagged Pam Bondi, the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and everybody else not named Donald Trump from continuing to talk about the case in the media violating his Abrego Garcia's Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. This is where there's a tension between the First Amendment and the Sixth Amendment.

3:02Michael Popok:You have a First Amendment right in general, but it is subordinate to the Sixth Amendment right of a criminal defendant presumed innocent to a fair trial. And so certain things that you say out loud, and I've got the receipts, I've got the clips, you can say generally, but you can't say when you're a prosecutor or you're on the other side of a case against a criminal defendant, plain and simple. So we see a balancing act by Judge Crenshaw. At the same time, he wants to get to the bottom of indiscovery, meaning the documents provided by the government as to why Abrego Garcia was indicted at all.

3:39Michael Popok:How did it go, as the judge put it, from deport him, but don't prosecute him, to prosecute him and then deport him? Who made that decision? I want to see the emails. What about the missing lawyers, the lawyers who were fired or walked out the door? The judge in camera, meaning in his own review, wants to see documents drafted by Ben Schrader, who walked off the case because he refused to indict the Abrego Garcia. He wants to see all the Ben Schrader documents right away. And then in Maryland, Judge Zinnis is getting to the bottom of why he's being sent, why Abrego Garcia is being sent to Liberia, of all places?

4:22Michael Popok:Is this more of his vindictive behavior by the government? And so we have a hearing there as well. And we've got a curious case of another missing lawyer, Bridget K. Ohickey, who filed a motion to withdraw or strike her appearance. I want to talk about that in a working theory I have. I'm going to do it all right here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. Thanks for being here. Take a minute to subscribe to the Legal AF YouTube channel and, of course, here on Midas Touch. All right, let's start with this battle that's going on on two battlefields by Abrego Garcia. He's represented by lawyers, Sean Hecker out of New York.

5:04Michael Popok:Abrego Garcia, you may recall, in March was illegally, that's the words of the Supreme Court, sent to the torture prisons of El Salvador when he should not have been sent to El Salvador at all because he had an American U.S. immigration judge order keeping him in the United States and certainly not sending him ever to El Salvador. It took multiple orders, including 9-0 from the Supreme Court, to get Abrego Garcia back to the United States. But even then, the Department of Justice indicted him on smuggling or trafficking charges, charges, human trafficking charges in Tennessee based on a traffic stop from three years ago where he didn't even get a speeding ticket.

5:48So we have Judge Crenshaw there.

5:52Michael Popok:That case is going to trial. In the meantime, the lawyers are trying to get the government to shut the heck up and stop talking out loud, ruining his ability to get a fair trial. And that was up for grabs with the judge and discovery, the fact that the government has only produced one piece of paper about the vindictive prosecution motion that's pending. They're going to a hearing on November 4 and 5. I'm hoping that Judge Zinnis makes sure that Abrego Garcia is not in Liberia at that time. Here's what the judge said in his memorandum opinion about the Sixth Amendment right that's under attack by the government.

6:31Michael Popok:Then I'm going to play you a couple of clips. this is what he says here he says that abrigo garcia rightly notes that a trial by an impartial jury is he's entitled to that and that pervasive and inflammatory pre-trial publicity might compromise this fundamental right the court finds that there was a clear and present danger to abrigo's sixth amendment right to a fair trial and trying to balance the first amendment right of people to speak freely with the sixth amendment right he strikes the balance but he focuses on statements that are made by Pam Bondi, Tom Homan and Kristi Noem. And I'm going to show you the clips.

7:08Michael Popok:Here's the clips that concern the judge and that are the basis for the motion. Let's play Bondi first. Our government presented El Salvador with an arrest warrant and they agreed to return him to our country. We're grateful to President Bukele for agreeing to return him to our country to face these very serious charges. This is what American justice looks like. Upon completion of his sentence, we anticipate he will be returned to his home country of El Salvador. The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring. They found this was his full-time job, not a contractor.

7:57He was a smuggler of humans and children and women. He made over a hundred trips, the grand jury found, smuggling people throughout our country. MS-13 members, violent gang terrorist organization members throughout our country. Thousands of illegal aliens were smuggled. This is especially disturbing because Abrego Garcia is also alleged with transporting minor children. The defendant traded the innocence of minor children for profit. There are even more disturbing facts that the grand jury uncovered. It is alleged this defendant is part of the same smuggling ring responsible for the death of more than 50 migrants in 2021 after the tractor trailer overturned in Mexico.

9:01This is part of that same ring. The defendant abused undocumented alien females, according to co-conspirators who were under his control while transporting them throughout our country. This defendant trafficked firearms and narcotics throughout our country on multiple occasions. They were using vehicles, SUVs, with added seats in the back, floors that had been ripped out, guns, narcotics, children, women, MS-13 members. That is what the grand jury found. A co-conspirator alleged that the defendant solicited nude photographs and videos of a minor. A co-conspirator also alleges the defendant played a role in the murder of a rival gang member's mother.

9:59These facts demonstrate Abrego Garcia is a danger to our community.

10:06Michael Popok:OK, she's the head of the Department of Justice. And the judge is very concerned, for instance, that she is commenting erroneously and in an inflammatory way about evidence in the case, about the defendant in the case, and violating all the rules about fair trial. Do you hate heavy, caked-on makeup, the way it feels and the way it looks? I know I do. That's why I'm so excited about this new sponsor, Jones Road. Jones Road has this amazing new product that is healthy for your skin. It doesn't clog your pores, is easy to use, and it comes in this nice little pack that's easy to take with you when you travel.

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12:14Michael Popok:She's not the only one. We then had Tom Homan, the border czar who was caught in a bribery sting himself before just recently and took a$50 ,000 bribe. But he's out talking about somebody else's criminality and ethics. Here's a clip from Tom Homan that the judge doesn't like. We removed an MS-13 gang member, public safety threat, wife beater, designated terrorist from the United States. I mean, again, you can tell they're all reading from the same script, right? Same palm card. Wife beater, child molester, child trafficker. I mean, first of all, it's all wrong. There have been judges that have looked at the file and have looked at the record, including Judge Holmes, who's the magistrate judge in Tennessee, and she found none of this to be credible, none of this to be true.

13:08Michael Popok:Let's just start with the charges. He's not been charged with human trafficking. He's been charged with human smuggling. And there is a difference, right? Trafficking suggests that the person is being captured, kidnapped, and trafficked against their will. Smuggling is, can you get me across the border? You know, and that's a different, and even the law recognized that as being different. Let's watch Christine Oum in action, also troubling to the judge. Let's play that clip. And last but not least, that I'll highlight here individually today is we all remember the story of Kilmar Obrego Garcia, the MS-13 member.

13:46He was a human trafficker, a domestic abuser, a criminal illegal alien, and a national of El Salvador, and a member of MS-13. The mainstream media consistently tries to defend this individual as an innocent Maryland man, but I will be very clear, this man has a history and decades-long ties to a gang that has been convicted of human trafficking and he himself has been deeply tied to those horrific charges and criminal activities. He's here in Nashville currently on federal charges for human trafficking and the grand jury's indictment describes a monster. Abrego was a full time human trafficker who would brutally abuse women under his control and even solicited individuals for child pornography.

14:32Michael Popok:And then he's very concerned also on page three of his order about press releases. They said on April 16th, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security issued a press release. The real story. Kilmer Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member with a history of violence. In that release, Homeland Security cited the following fast facts. When Garcia was arrested, he was found with rolls of cash and drugs, improperly commenting about evidence. He was arrested with two other members of MS-13. That's not true. When arrested, he was wearing a sweatshirt with rolls of money covering the ears, mouth, and eyes of presidents on various currency denominations, an MS-13 gang symbol.

15:16Michael Popok:Two judges found that he was a member of MS-13. That finding has not been disturbed. That's false. Intelligence reports found that he was involved in human trafficking. False. They found that he was involved with human smuggling. And now the judge says on page seven about all these statements, as discussed above, government employees have made extra judicial statements, meaning outside the courtroom, that are troubling, especially when many of them are exaggerated, if not simply inaccurate. These statements made allegations regarding Abrego's character or reputation and expressed government officials' views on Abrego's guilt or innocence, which are all improper, about a MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator.

16:05Michael Popok:And it goes on. And he is locking down those kind of future statements. Separately, he's required that the government provide in-camera, meaning for the court's review, everything that was written by prosecutors who are no longer there and why they're no longer there. Did they get fired because they wouldn't bring a false charge against Abrago Garcia? That's what the judge is trying to get to the bottom of. Let me flip over to Judge Zinnis for a minute. In Judge Zinnes, there was a notice late on Friday from the government just said notice, which is what Zinnes required. She has right now Braygo Garcia under lock and key in Virginia, and she's keeping an eye on him.

16:52Michael Popok:They gave notice that by October the 31st, they plan on deporting him, removing him to Liberia. Okay, judge called a conference. She wants to brief. She doesn't want him going anywhere. She wants it briefed. And she certainly doesn't want them going anywhere before the November 4th and 5th hearing in front of Judge Crenshaw about whether the indictment is phony and should be dismissed for vindictive prosecution. Then there's the curious case of another Department of Justice lawyer who has disappeared, Bridget O 'Hickey. Now, this is a case where one of the major lawyers on the case originally, Erez Ruveni, got fired by the Department of Justice because he told the truth to this Judge Zinnes that the removal of Abrego Garcia was illegal.

17:47Michael Popok:and then he got promptly fired. Bridget O 'Hickey did terribly in court in front of Judge Zinnis just about two months ago, where she couldn't, I don't know, about a month ago, where she couldn't answer any questions being asked by the judge. The judge got frustrated. She had to keep going back and forth. I mean, it's no wonder because Bridget O 'Hickey just came out of the Florida Attorney General's office. She'd never been in the Department of Justice. She'd never been on this case before. This is who they put, this crash test dummy, sorry, they put her in, feed her to the wolves so she doesn't know anything.

18:24Michael Popok:You know, listen, I've been practicing for a long time. I can't tell you how many times judges have made it clear in their own unique way that they do not like lawyers appearing in front of them who don't know the file and aren't the senior lawyers on the case. And that's all the Department of Justice is trotting out. Low-level people with no experience hoping that they'll be able to get through a hearing in peace, in tact, but not reveal anything. And that got called out by Judge Zinnis. And now this particular lawyer is gone. I'm sure there's a backstory about Bridget Ohickey. I will keep an eye on it and keep you posted.

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