Trump DOJ Gives Up as They Screw Up Bad

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2:30Michael Popok:Hear that sound? That's another prosecution of Donald Trump's political critics being dropped because he just can't get grand juries to agree to indict his political critics exercising their First Amendment rights. Now you can add to that six members of Congress, including two senators, Senator Kelly and Senator Slotkin, who Donald Trump and his Department of Justice tried to prosecute under a little known statute that we're going to explore here. 18 U.S.C. 2387, because they made a video to remind the American military of which they were a part to don't give up the ship and don't follow illegal, unconstitutional orders.

3:16Michael Popok:You have a sworn oath not to do that. And it violates the Code of Military Justice and the Nuremberg Principles. And for doing that and exercising their First Amendment rights, Donald Trump tried to prosecute them. But a grand jury about 10 days ago in the District of Columbia following a long line of grand juries that refused to indict Donald Trump's political enemies said, no, it's getting so bad. Grand juries are actually asking to be heard in public. When you indict, when the grand juries indict and they vote to indict, well, that true bill of indictment that's returned is announced. When they don't indict, they just kind of go home after lunch.

3:57Michael Popok:Not so. Grand jurors have figured out that they want to announce that they're not indicting Donald Trump's political enemies. They just did it with Letitia James, the New York Attorney General. And I'm sure that weighed on the mind of Janine Pirro, the political ally of Donald Trump and political hack who runs the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Columbia, who can't seem to get a grand jury to indict. This is a bad narrative for a prosecutor's office. Grand juries don't trust you. Grand juries don't believe you. Grand juries aren't allowing you to indict. And in our system of criminal justice, a criminal prosecution can start without any indictment or criminal complaint.

4:37Michael Popok:But when you want to get an arrest warrant or you want to get a search warrant, you better have at least a criminal complaint. That criminal complaint has to be converted into an indictment by a grand jury, 20, 25 people, and a majority. And they can't seem to do the very basics at the Trump administration. That's what happens when you hollow out a Department of Justice, remove all of its talent, its ethics, its leadership, make it untrustworthy. Federal judges don't believe the Department of Justice. I never thought I'd have to say that out loud. Magistrate judges don't. Jurors don't. Defendants don't.

5:12Michael Popok:And grand jurors now don't. And I guess Janine Pirro was like, I'm not going to try this again because a grand jury already rejected me once. It doesn't mean another grand jury under another prosecutor couldn't bring a case. But I don't see that happening. And I'll go through the six other political critics of Donald Trump and where they are in terms of status, meaning nowhere Donald Trump has not been able to get an indictment against any of these people. The guardrails are holding. The center is holding. We're holding here on Legal AF and Midas Touch. Let's get into the reporting. I'm Michael Popak, by the way.

5:49Michael Popok:Take a moment, hit the subscribe button for Legal AF YouTube channel. No outside investors. We're all people powered. Now, on the 10th of February, we reported that a grand jury in the District of Columbia did not return an indictment against the six members of Congress. They are Senators Kelly and Slotkin, House members, Crew, Goodlander, Houlihan, and Delusio. And they were being prosecuted, apparently, under a statute called 18 United States Code 2387, which I've been doing this 35 years. I had never heard before and had to do some research on, but it basically makes it a crime to undermine or interfere with the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military.

6:38Michael Popok:All they were doing was telling the military the truth. You have your own independent obligation under the Constitution to abide by the Constitution, defend it, and not follow illegal orders. And the Code of Military Justice tells you that. In fact, to remind you, here's the 90-second clip that made Donald Trump call these people the Seditious Six. Play the clip.

7:08Ben Meiselas:I was a captain in the United States Navy. Former 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.

7:40Ben Meiselas:Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right here at home. Our 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.

8:17Ben Meiselas:Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up the ship.

8:28Michael Popok:Now, Donald Trump knows a lot about sedition and seditious conspiracy because there was about two dozen people of the 2 ,000 people that attacked the Capitol that were charged with seditious conspiracy based on his orders, if you will. He knows all about it. It's ironic, right? He knows all about that. Now, the grand jury obviously did not buy that that video was anything other than a proper expression of First Amendment expression, especially when you're talking about members of Congress, one of which, Mark Kelly, sits on the Armed Services Committee, providing oversight to the military. So there's also a separate case involving Mark Kelly and the Department of Defense led by Pete Hegseth, in which they're trying to censure him, knock him down in rank, take away his pension, court-martial him because of the same video.

9:19Michael Popok:A federal judge, Judge Richard Leone, said no. First Amendment expression, First Amendment speech, no sitting member of Congress can be prosecuted or at least have their military career impaired because of that proper expression as a retired member of the military. They're not even in the military. That's been taken up on appeal by Pete Hegseth, but I'm sure that's a loser, just like the prosecution was a loser. Now, let's put this in context. This is not the only reporting that I've done about a prosecution or attempted prosecution of a political enemy of Donald Trump that has failed because of grand jurors or otherwise.

10:04Michael Popok:Six or eight months ago, I talked about Adam Schiff, senator from California. they had opened up a mortgage fraud investigation on him based on allegations made by a puppet of Donald Trump that sits in the federal mortgage regulation world, who's also a Nepo baby. His name is Bill Pulte. Where is that indictment today? Eight months later or so? Nowhere. You know, Donald Trump got his headline, Adam Schiff investigating for mortgage fraud. There's no indictment. This podcast is sponsored by Veracity An all-natural way to slim down, get energized, and sharpen your focus. Veracity is revolutionizing health by tackling the root cause of so many issues, metabolism.

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11:36Michael Popok:Metabolism Ignite features a unique blend of lemon verbena and hibiscus extracts, green coffee bean extract, and magnesium. It's caffeine-free with clinical trials showing no negative side effects from the ingredients. And it is safe for everyone, including new moms. So make the switch to GLP-1 the natural way. Head to veracityhealth.co and use code LEGALAF for up to 60 % off your first order. Once again, that's veracityhealth.co for up to 60 % off. And make sure you use my promo code LEGALAF so they know I sent you. How about Letitia James, New York Attorney General? I just recently interviewed Letitia James about the lawlessness of Donald Trump.

12:24Michael Popok:You know, she has too much grace and dignity to talk about the attacks on her in a panel that we were on. but Letitia James they brought another phony manufactured mortgage fraud case against her not one not two but three grand juries have rejected it one grand jury actually told the judge presiding that they wanted to declare out loud that they were not returning an indictment and they did it in public that must have sent a chill down the spine of Janine Pirro about her going after these six and having a grand jury do that to her. So Letitia James, just to remind you about the strength of Letitia James, here's a clip of Letitia James in my interview with her.

13:05Ben Meiselas:We've been filing a number of cases on a wide range of issues, all of these executive orders, which are illegal and constitutional and do not have the force of law. And judges, we've been winning 80 % of our cases. And it doesn't matter whether or not the judge was appointed by Obama or whether or not the in some cases the judges were appointed by Trump in some cases they were appointed by Bush and Clinton it really doesn't matter the rule of the law is the rule of the law they all respect the rule of the law and that's why we've been winning 80 percent of our cases and then lastly it's unfortunate that the president is weaponizing the federal government and particularly DOJ and it's unfortunate that Pam Bondi is of the belief that she served, that she, that the DOJ is the personal attorney to the president of the United States, as opposed to serving the interest of America and our country and the rule of law and democracy.

13:58Ben Meiselas:That's what's really unfortunate. And it's unfortunate now that we don't no longer have a DOJ and that now it's up to democratic attorneys general who are standing up to ensure that we have liberties, we have freedoms, and that our democracy is in place and that our systems and our institutions obviously are respected. And that's what we do. And that's why we're here. And that's why, obviously, we're in collaboration. Now more than ever, it is up to all of us and to our respecting our each and individual sovereignty and each and every one of our constituents that we serve, that we are here to protect not only our state constitutions, but also the federal constitution.

14:41Ben Meiselas:Now more than ever.

14:44Michael Popok:it's just really up to us now let's turn to james comey remember james comey former fbi director they tried to indict him they had a rush they had 17 days to to get a new prosecutor created in lindsey halligan and rush to get an indictment because they were running out of time under the statute of limitations for alleged perjury before congress giving it a false statement before Congress, a 1001 charge. They got the indictment, but they did it through an illegal and unconstitutional and now disgraced and fired or resigned Lindsey Halligan as U.S. attorney and a federal judge upheld and upheld by appellate courts that Lindsey Halligan was illegally appointed and therefore her indictment is also illegal and on the scrap pile.

15:34Michael Popok:Now they're trying to appeal that, but they haven't been able to get any kind of stay. They've run out of time. And if the judge that ruled against the indictment based on Lindsey Halligan being illegally appointed is right, they've run out of time to ever get an indictment against James Comey again. And they're also boxed themselves in in another way because of their Mar-a-Lago position related to Donald Trump they just recently took, in which they told a federal judge that Jack Smith was illegally appointed, Therefore, his indictment was illegal. Therefore, his report is illegal and you should block permanently his report.

16:09Michael Popok:And she did it. Well, now they're turning around and saying the Department of Justice is saying, uh, Lindsay Halligan was, uh, she wasn't, she was illegally appointed, but the indictment is fine. You can't have it both ways. That's why I think the Mar-a-Lago position taking ultimately kills them as it will be argued in front of the United States Supreme court. Then you've got Jay Powell. Remember him? He's just the chair of the Federal Reserve, runs all of our monetary policy, keeps our American economy tethered to the world and on track despite the turbulence created by the Trump economic policy.

16:46Michael Popok:There's a criminal investigation by the same Jeanine Pirro going up against those same six members of Congress because he's got cost overruns, about 200-year-old buildings that have never been renovated? Are you kidding me? It's gotten so bad that Tom Tillis, the outgoing member of the Senate, says he will not, and he can block himself, he will not approve the appointment of a new member of the Federal Reserve under Donald Trump, the one that Donald Trump wants to elevate to the chairperson in May when Jay Powell steps down from being the chair. He will not allow that approval unless the prosecution led by Jeanine Pirro against Jay Powell is dropped.

17:27Michael Popok:So that's going to happen. Then you've got James Brennan, the former head of the CIA. I've been hearing about a potential indictment against James Brennan for at least six or eight months down in Florida. Hasn't happened yet. The only one, apparently, that's been indicted between the six in Congress, Letitia James, James Comey, Jay Powell and Brennan, the only one that got indicted was Bolton, James Bolton, the national security advisor and former member of the UN, you know, UN representative for the US. because apparently a real prosecutor was able to convince a grand jury that he took home notes and confidential information to use for a book when he shouldn't have.

18:16Michael Popok:Okay, well, if that's a legitimate prosecution, I'm all for it. But the rest, political attacks and retribution. We're going to be seeing more of that this week as a federal judge decides in Tennessee whether Donald Trump's Department of Justice, it'll be the first ruling, whether their Department of Justice criminally, vindictively prosecuted, vindictive prosecution, leading to the dismissal of the indictment with prejudice, somebody named Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who they illegally deported to El Salvador over court orders and over the United States Supreme Court ruling, was his prosecution in Tennessee as a ruse to bring him back and to try to save face for the Trump administration.

18:58Michael Popok:Nothing more than retaliation against him because he got favorable rulings in his favor by a federal judge in Maryland. This will be landmark bombshell and I think this week by Judge Crenshaw in Tennessee. Keep an eye on it. You know where to go. Legal AF, the YouTube channel. Here on Midas Touch as well. Hit the free subscribe button for Legal AF YouTube channel. Come over to our Legal AF sub stack. Become a member there. You like our videos, you like our content. It's the way to support us. So until 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 sub stack every time we mention something in a hot take whether it's a court filing or a oral argument come over to the sub stack 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.

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