Trump Faces Humiliating Defeat by Reporter in Lawsuit

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2:21Michael Popok:Finally, we've got a win in favor of journalists, media outlets reporting against Donald Trump in the form of a new order by Judge Gardafee in New York, in favor of Simon & Schuster, the publishing house, in favor of Bob Woodward, the investigative reporter who together published over 20 different audio interviews of Donald Trump that Bob Woodward obtained when he was writing the book Rage, and they published it and repackaged it as audio interviews in the Trump tapes. Donald Trump hated that. They made$50 million selling the Trump tapes. Donald Trump wanted all the$50 million, claiming he was a co-author under the copyright statutes.

3:05Michael Popok:I'm going to tell you what Judge Gardafee said. And with one twist here, I'll put you on the edge of your seat at the top of this hot take. Simon & Schuster used to be owned by the Redstone family and Paramount until right before this case was filed. Then it was sold to a private equity firm. If it were still owned by Simon & Schuster, Woodward's publisher, was still owned by the Redstone family, I assure you, I would be reporting on a settlement being paid money to Donald Trump by Simon and Schuster being forced by its corporate parent, just as we just saw in the CBS Tiffany Network throwing its reputation down the sewer and flushing it down the toilet in order to appease Donald Trump while Paramount was trying to get a regulatory approval for a sale of its own business, where Stephen Colbert was apparently the late night host to be named later and was sacrificed in order to appease Donald Trump in that bribery scheme.

4:07Michael Popok:So if Simon & Schuster, this is just fortuitous, that right before the suit was filed, Simon & Schuster was sold by the Redstone family to KKR, a private equity firm. Otherwise, this would be a much different report. But I'm here to tell you what Judge Gardafee said. It's against Donald Trump. It's in favor of Bob Woodward and journalism and the Copyright Act. And I'm going to report on it here on Midas Touch and Legal AF. All right, let's get to it. In 2023, Donald Trump files a lawsuit, starts it in Pensacola, Florida. It gets transferred, of course, because it doesn't belong in Pensacola, Florida, to New York and gets assigned to Judge Gardafee.

4:43Michael Popok:Judge Gardafee, side note, one of the slowest, he's a great judge, but one of the slowest judges around. The New York Post actually wrote an article about five years ago, shaming, trying to shame Judge Gardethy as having the slowest turnaround time for his orders ever, which would explain why we sort of lost track of this case, because this motion to dismiss was filed a long time ago. We now have the 81-page order. It was well worth the wait, Judge Gardethy, about Donald Trump. Here's what happened. Trump agrees on the record. This is no dispute. Trump agrees to be interviewed because he's vainglorious by Woodward to write a book.

5:24Michael Popok:And they have 20 different sessions between 2016 and then 2019 and 2020. Lots of different people attend based on the I'm getting this from the complaint, not not the original complaint, the third version of the complaint. That's how many times it's been dismissed. So they talk about, oh, there were these interviews and hundreds of hours and lots of people attended. it. Kellyanne Conway and Vice President Pence was there and the chief of staff for Donald Trump was there. OK, Trump asked what according to the complaint, Trump asked one question of Woodward. You're just using these tapes for the book, right?

5:58Michael Popok:He said, yeah. Like I'm not doing reporting, like I'm not writing articles about about this. I'm doing a book. He said, OK, there was no discussion about whether the audio tapes were going to be separately packaged or who was going to own them. And the way the law works is that in interviews, when you have question and answer, Trump tried to argue, well, I gave the answer, so it's my copyright. No, that's not how that works. There's a lot of different factors, but the main factor is whoever fixes it, F-I-X, it's a term of art in the world of copyright. Whoever fixes it in a defined permanent medium is the author for copyright purposes.

6:36Michael Popok:So two people could have participated in the project, but whoever reduced it to writing or video or digital or audio, they're the copyright holder. And that's what led Judge Gardafi to say, I know you're arguing that you're the joint owner of the copyright, but you don't have a contract. You have no facts to support it, even your own complaint, because we're here on a motion to dismiss. So the judge has to accept as true whatever is alleged in the four corners of the complaint, the pleading that was filed by Trump to get the case off the ground, but can't look outside of it. So even if you interpret it in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, which is Trump, Gardify was like, you don't have appropriate allegations that you could have reasonably believed that you were the joint owner of the copyright.

7:28Michael Popok:Now, Trump says in his complaint, you know, I ran down and the copyright office recognizes me as a co-owner. Well, what happened is in February of the year that the last interview was done, or February of 2021, Simon & Schuster ran down to the Copyright Office and registered February, actually 2023. February 23, 2023, Woodward obtained from the Copyright Office the registration, the copyright registration for the Trump tapes. Five days later, Trump waltzes in and tries to register as well. Copyright Office doesn't resolve competing claims. Courts do that. So they both are recognized until a court sorts it out.

8:12Michael Popok:And that's what the courts are sorting out here. That's what Gardafee is trying to sort out. So Gardafee in his 81 pages goes through the whole analysis and says, look, I'm looking at your complaint, Trump. You have to allege facts to support that you are a joint author to own the copyright. And I don't see that anywhere in your complaint. In fact, I see counter evidence in your own allegations that undermine your argument that you are a joint owner. And under the copyright law, that's going to kill all your other claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment and the rest, because copyright law is sacrosanct in this area and ousts all common law or state claims that are contrary to the Copyright Act.

8:56Michael Popok:and they've got you dead. Effectively, the judge is telling him, Simon & Schuster has you dead to rights on copyright law. You don't own it. This is all about money, by the way. This is not defamation. This is about Donald Trump wants a major piece or all of the$50 million that was made on the Trump tapes. You know what summer memory always sticks with me? It was that spontaneous weekend trip. No plans, just good friends, cold drinks and sun for days. I didn't overthink it. and it turned out to be one of the best times of my life. That's my summer vibe now. Cool, effortless, and ready for anything.

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10:07Michael Popok:Get breathable clothes you can feel comfortable in all summer. Go to MackWeldon.com and get 25 % off your first order of$125 or more with promo code LEGALAF. That's M-A-C-K-W-E-L-D-O-N dot com, promo code LEGALAF. So at the end of this process, now that Woodward has won, the judge has given, and he's bending over backwards here, because after the second amended complaint, which is the, you know, you have the complaint, your first amended complaint, your second amended complaint. So there's been three opportunities that's been given already to Trump's side to get their pleading straight and to survive a motion to dismiss.

10:51Michael Popok:All failed. Most federal judges would be like, three times you're out. And I see any attempt at you alleging something different to get around the copyright statute or to allege a tort or some sort of contract claim that's independent of Copyright Act that won't be preempted by it is futile. The judge said, I'm not going to find futility yet, which is another doctrine in pleading practice. Because the judge will give you leave to amend a few times unless you could never state a claim under pleading standards and the standards for the particular claims that you're bringing. Then we call that futility or amendment futility.

11:33Michael Popok:And the judges will deny it because they'll be like, I could give you another shot, but you're never going to get it. You're never going to be able to get over that hurdle. So here's what the judge says on page 58, which sort of comes to the end of his order. While it appears unlikely that plaintiff can adequately plead a plausible copyright interest in the Trump tapes or any non-preempted state law claim, this court cannot find at this stage that any amendment would be futile. Accordingly, leave to move to amend is granted. Any motion for leave to file a third amended complaint, that would be the fourth try for a complaint to survive, must be filed on August 18th, 2025.

12:10Michael Popok:So we gave him a month and we'll explain how the new pleading addresses the deficiencies or defects that are cited in this opinion. Because, in other words, they've laid out, he's laid out the blueprint of what the complaint has to look like. And then you have to. So he's going to have to file a motion for leave to amend, attach the proposed third amendment complaint as an exhibit. And then the judge will take a look at it and see if this resolves the problem. I think that Trump is going to lose. I think Trump's best best world scenario is if Simon and Schuster had stayed connected and owned by Sherry Redstone and Paramount.

12:49Michael Popok:So when they wrapped up the whole 15 million slash 30 million slash Colbert's head on a pike settlement, they would have included the Simon and Schuster as a subsidiary in this particular lawsuit. Yeah. So that's the good news here. It also goes to show you how important independent commentary and channels and YouTube channels like this one are, because you see what's happening in the world of corporate owned media. They're throwing the Tiffany Network, Edward R. Murrow's network, Walter Cronkite's network, journalism, the integrity of journalism down the drain. Washington Post owned by Bezos.

13:37Michael Popok:That Washington Post isn't worth the paper it's written on any longer. It's not the Washington Post when Bob Woodward wrote for it in the 70s with Carl Bernstein and the Pulitzer Prize winning exposés about the Nixon administration. L.A. Times, throw that into the, put that at the bottom of your birdcage, owned by a billionaire who doesn't care about the First Amendment or American values. Then you have Colbert being fired, obviously, it's obvious, I mean, come on, let's be frank, just days after he does a scathing rebuke of his corporate parent, Paramount. It's obvious that there was a requirement for him to get canned.

14:21Michael Popok:And then you got people like on our own network, like Katie Fang. We will never get canned. I will never get canned by Midas Dutch for something that I say. I'm not told what to say. They don't speak to me afterwards about what I say. I'm not censored. They rely on my professionalism, my professional maturity, my reputation, my brand to do quality commentary that's based on truth and appropriate commentary around that without blowing smoke or sunshine. That's it. But we need protection and we need to stay on the air at this critical moment in our democracy to be the firewall. So the way to do that is hit the subscribe button for the Midas Touch Network.

15:05Michael Popok:Come on over to Legal AF, the YouTube channel, do the exact same thing. No paywall, no outside investors. We just need thumbs hitting subscription buttons. I mean, I hate to put it that way, but that's what it is. And I'm honored, of course, to be on this network, running the channel with the Midas Touch Brothers and bringing you the Legal AF podcast as well. 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 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.

15:42Michael Popok:You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do called, 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. Come over now to free subscribe. Hi, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Are you looking for a beach read this summer? May I suggest your big wireless bill? It's got suspense, mystery, a slightly flat emotional arc, and a shocking twist where you realize you've been overpaying the entire time.

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