Trump DOJ Instantly Trapped as Judge Invites Epstein Lawsuit?!?!

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1:00Michael Popok:On the one hand, a federal judge just denied Representatives Kanna and Massey and their efforts to try to get that federal judge to provide court oversight over the Epstein file production, arguing that the Department of Justice has forfeited any credibility as they continue to bury and hide and disappear millions of documents. Judge Engelmeyer, on one hand, ruled that he doesn't have the power, unfortunately, or the jurisdiction to enter such an order or to allow the Congress people to have such participation in a case that is dedicated to effectively a closed criminal case involving Ghislaine Maxwell.

1:37Michael Popok:However, there is a silver lining, twofold. One, he heard the victims. He heard Judge Engelmeyer from the survivors. In fact, he quoted approvingly of the declaration filed by survivor leader Lisa Phillips. Full disclosure, I represent Lisa Phillips in that matter. So the victims were heard, although the judge at the end, sort of with a little bit of sadness, a little bit of melancholy tinged in his order, said he doesn't have the jurisdiction or authority. But he did invite Massey and Kana or others to file an independent lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Justice and the Trump administration and to do other things in Congress for oversight.

2:26Michael Popok:So I see it as a silver lining. We'll talk about the merits of such a lawsuit here on Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. We've been following this case closely. We jumped off the sidelines, at least I did, Popak Firm representing Lisa Phillips as her survivor, because about a week ago, Judge Engelmeyer, once he was approached by Representatives Massey and Kana, those two bipartisan sponsors, not only of the discharge petition, which got the Epstein files bill to the floor to put maximum political pressure brought by our audience, brought by those that opposed Donald Trump, brought by independent media to bear, leading to an almost unanimous passage of the act and signing by Donald Trump, who was left with no choice.

3:16Michael Popok:With that act in hand, once the Trump administration, Department of Justice started playing fast and loose with missing documents, disappearing documents, so it was some sort of shell game. There are 700 ,000 pages we need to review. No, there's a million documents. No, we think we found 5.2 million. No, and now it's down to 2 million. I mean, that actually happened in court filings and public statements. And that led Massey and Kana to run into court. Who better? The framers, the founders of the Epstein Act. It's like getting the founding fathers of the framers of the Constitution to go into court and talk about the meaning of the Constitution.

3:51Michael Popok:and the problem is it's sort of a narrow jurisdictional ledge that they were walking because this there's a number of judges that are still basically presiding over matters like judge Berman over the Epstein criminal case of course long gone because he hanged himself or died whatever it was and judge Engelmeyer who presides over what's ever left of the Ghislaine Maxwell case which really there isn't anything left because her appeal's been denied through the Supreme Court, and she's toast. She's now representing herself as a jailhouse lawyer with different filings to get out of jail. So with that narrow, limited jurisdiction, Judge Engelmeyer, though, found it interesting that the two sponsors of the Epstein Act were running to him because the Department of Justice had already run to Judge Engelmeyer.

4:38Michael Popok:My argument is there's already been a waiver, right? It's already part of his inherent authority to supervise a process that the Department of Justice has involved him in. It's just that he defined the request by the Department of Justice very narrow and then narrowed his jurisdiction as a result. But he said to the parties, I want to hear from Massey and Kana about why they want to intervene in this case as a friend of the court, what's called an amici, and file a brief to argue for an independent counsel and special monitor. He also looked around in that order and said, I don't see any survivors participating because there's really only two parties in this case, the Department of Justice controlled by Donald Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell.

5:16Michael Popok:Of course, they're not going to raise the issue. So when we read it, we said he's inviting a victim to be heard from again. And this judge in the past had actually been very, very protective over the victims and their rights, excoriating the government on a number of prior orders about how they were handling this matter. So Lisa Phillips put on her cape, doesn't even need a Cape, ran into the burning building and decided she needed to be heard as one of the victims. Another victim also, Ms. Robeson, also filed a letter to the judge. And we were, and I am proudly representing Lisa Phillips in this matter.

5:59And that declaration by Lisa was actually quoted

6:04Michael Popok:approvingly by Judge Engelmeyer. Let me read from his order. Then we'll talk about Lisa Phillips. Then I'll tell you what happens next with the invitation for a new lawsuit and the likelihood that that could happen. So the judge starts with, this is a decision to resolve a motion by two United States representatives to participate in this case as friends of the court. He says that on page one, he then walks through all of their allegations, particularly that the DOJ on page two has falsely blamed the courts for its multiple failures to comply with the act, that without independent oversight, that the representatives do not believe that the DOJ will produce the records that are required by the act and they can't be trusted with these disclosures.

6:46Michael Popok:Then the judge gets to the Lisa Phillips part. The court has since received letters and emails from victims of Epstein supporting the representative's request. These express concern that the DOJ otherwise will not comply with the act. They note, and here's where they quote my client Lisa Phillips' declaration. They note that the DOJ's track record preceding passage of the act has been marked by paying lip service to the victims and failing to treat us with the solicitude we deserve. That's directly from Lisa Phillips' declaration. The questions raised by the representatives and the victims, Judge Engelmeyer says, are undeniably important and timely.

7:25Michael Popok:They raise legitimate concerns about whether the DOJ is faithfully complying with the federal law, but for the two reasons below, I can't grant their relief. His argument, I don't have the jurisdiction. I don't have the authority. My inherent authority as a federal judge does not stretch as far as maybe he would like. But he does open the door to a new lawsuit. Magic Spoon is basically the grown-up version of your favorite childhood cereal. All the fun, nostalgic taste without the sugar bomb. It's a wholesome, high-quality, high-protein, zero-sugar cereal that still hits that Saturday morning vibe.

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8:46Michael Popok:And their Granola Packs, 13 grams of protein with zero added sugar. Perfect anytime. time. Look for Magic Spoon on Amazon or at your nearest grocery store, or get$5 off your next order at magicspoon.com slash legal AF. That's magicspoon.com slash legal AF for$5 off. Because at the end on page seven, in his conclusion, he says that this decision not to allow Massey Khan and the survivors to be heard from on this issue of an independent or special master is without prejudice to the representative's right to initiate a separate lawsuit and, of course, pursue oversight in Congress. He didn't have to write that.

9:29Michael Popok:That's a direct invitation. File a suit alleging a violation of the Epstein Transparency Act. It may not be assigned to Judge Engelmeyer. It'll be randomly assigned. But that is a way to do it. And I think that would be successful. Now, they're going to argue the Department of Justice that nobody has standing to bring such a suit because there's no private right of action or mechanism within the act to enforce it. I don't agree with that. I think if you violate a statute, you violate a law, somebody can run to court with standing. And who better to have standing than members of Congress or a victim like Lisa Phillips?

10:10Michael Popok:Here's what Lisa Phillips said in her declaration that I filed on her behalf. I am a survivor of sex trafficking criminal enterprise led by Epstein and Maxwell. Page one. On page two, she says, I have no confidence in paragraph four that the DOJ, already 30 days late in complying with the act with no end in sight and with its constantly shifting public pronouncements about the volume of the documents subject to review, will produce the Epstein files. Based on my personal experience, their continued failure to comply has caused significant emotional distress and re-traumatization. It undermines survivors' trust in the integrity of the process and in the government's announced commitment to transparency.

10:53Michael Popok:She then says the DOJ has not taken actions to fully comply and will not do so, and that the court has found in the past that the DOJ has paid lip service to the victims without the solicitude that they deserve. That was picked up, as you saw, by Judge Engelmeyer in his order. Lisa Phillips continues, the appointment of an independent monitor or special master would provide needed compliance and protection of the rights and dignity of the survivors who have suffered profound harm and further trauma in the future caused by uncertainty and broken assurances. Now, let me show you a clip from an interview I did live yesterday on the intersection on the Midas Touch Network with Lisa Phillips about this matter.

11:36Michael Popok:And here's Lisa Phillips. Well, I wanted to say what's important is that the federal judge didn't ask for another like political argument or another DOG explanation. He specifically asked whether a victim needed to be heard. So that's the reason why, you know, I spoke to you about it and said, we have to do something because this matters. And up until now, survivors have been talked about. We haven't been centered. And when the federal judge opens the door and says, essentially, is there a survivor who wants to speak to how this is being handled, that's not something you ignore. You know, this was the time to do it.

12:09Michael Popok:Yeah, absolutely. And it's gotten some coverage and some press and even Representative Kana and Massey, in their own filing today, referenced your affidavit along with another survivor, you know, one of the lawyers there wrote a letter to the judge related to it, encouraging the judge to exercise his inherent authority to take the Department of Justice out of the process that they have effectively forfeited their right. They can't be trusted with this process. How do you feel about it? I mean, you were on Capitol, we had a picture of you up there. You've been fighting hard with the other survivors on Capitol Hill, and everything that's happened is really because of your courage.

12:51Michael Popok:You know, the bill getting, the discharge petition getting the signatures, the almost 434 members of the House signing onto it, all of the Senate, even Donald Trump being pressured politically to sign it. It's all because of you. And yet, we're still sitting here six weeks later on the same stinking 12 ,000 pages. What's your view on that? Well, the difference now is survivors live with the consequences of delay and the mishandling. This is like something that we deal with. We're on group chats. We talk about this all the time. it's frustrating for us. And this isn't theoretical for us. The DOJ being late, changing its story, releasing only a fraction of the files that causes real emotional harm and re-traumatization.

13:35And there are 1 ,200 survivors. People need to understand that's a very large number of victims that are dealing with this day to day, whether they're outspoken or not. And the judge needed to hear that directly, not filter through agencies or politics.

13:53Michael Popok:So could Lisa Phillips, could any of the other survivors, and they're all represented by competent counsel as well, file the lawsuit, which has basically been put on the radar screen by Judge Engelmeyer? You know where to tune in to find out here on Legal AF on the Midas Touch Network. Hit the subscribe button for Midas Touch. Come over to Legal AF YouTube. And people are always like, how can we invest in Legal AF and keep you on the air and keep your independence independent forever? Especially under these trying times when the CBSs and the ABCs of the world and other people we thought were independent, maybe not be independent.

14:29Michael Popok:How do we support Legal AF? Okay, now's the time. Think about becoming a paid subscriber. We got different levels there on YouTube. And come over to our Legal AF sub stack, where I will post Judge Engelmeyer's order and Lisa Phillips' affidavit for your review. So until my next video, my next analysis, 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. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call, wait for it, Morning AF.

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