Trump Implodes as Lawsuit Moves to Shut Down Library

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3:45Michael Popok:Oh, we got breaking news. It's coming out of federal court in Miami, Florida, with a brand new lawsuit to stop the Trump library in its tracks because the land grab by Donald Trump, taking what effectively is a$300 million piece of property and poof, making value disappear where you had to pay zero in a two or three step Florida dance performed by Governor DeSantis, the Florida legislature, the Miami-Dade College Board of Trustees, who all breached their fiduciary duty, stealing money from the students, from the alumni, the faculty, the school itself, transferring a piece of valuable almost three-acre parcel of land across the street from the Miami Arena, next to Freedom Tower, next to billion-dollar hotel projects, and Donald Trump got it for free.

4:41Michael Popok:Doesn't that sound like it's a violation of, oh, let's say the domestic emoluments clause of the Constitution, which says that a president shall accept no benefit or gift or bribe of any type from a state? It doesn't matter if it goes to him personally or if it goes to his foundation or his son's foundation or Barron's piggy bank. It is an emolument that is being given to a president and all he's entitled to accept is his salary, his paycheck. That's it. And when a president is in control of funding and job positions like, hey, Florida, you like that NASA that you've got down there for the space program?

5:25Michael Popok:Maybe I'll cut off the funding unless you give me a library. You like disaster relief when there's hurricanes? Maybe I'll cut off the funding unless you build me a library for free, effectively, or give me the land for free. You know, how about we start doing some offshore drilling along your beautiful coastline unless you give me the land for a library? You see how this quid pro quo, which our founders and framers were so concerned about that they actually built it in to Article 2 of the Constitution, which I'll go over with you, and it's at the heart of the new case. Plus I'm missing$63 million, which is also referenced in the new lawsuit.

6:03Michael Popok:I know the lawyers there, Dan Gelber especially. I'll be trying to bring them on to brief on Legal AF. But this is fast moving news. And I wanted to bring it to you from my own backyard. I practice in Miami. I know this courthouse that they filed in. I know this parcel of land really, really well. And we're going to cover it all right here on Midas Touch and on Legal AF. Take a minute, hit the free subscribe button on Legal AF. Now, we've all seen the videos of the AI-generated Trump Hotel Casino Convention Center and, oh, by the way, library. It's like a side gig. 50 stories high to benefit Trump and his family, right?

6:45Michael Popok:That's what the hotel project is. In fact, you know, well, I'll just show you some of the video here. I'm sure you've seen it. that gleaming golden giant, it belongs in Dubai or at least Las Vegas or New York, not in Miami on a 2.63 acre piece of property. Even Donald Trump says he's not a building a library. He admits to the grift and to the theft in a video clip where he talks about, I build hotels. I don't build libraries. Play the clip. I don't believe in building libraries or museums. It's really like the Barack Hussein Obama one in Chicago in not a good location and it's a very unattractive building that's seriously late and seriously over budget I think you're going to see a great one here and it'll go up on time on budget best location in Miami they say it's the best block in Miami will people live in the floors?

7:40no it's going to be most likely a hotel this concept could be office but it's most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby, which is going to be a trick. Now, this is the second lawsuit

7:56Michael Popok:about this piece of property. When the Miami-Dade College, which you may not have heard of, but is one of the largest public universities in the country, it only has an endowment of$260 million. If they sold this to the highest bidder or to Donald Trump at market value, it would have doubled their endowment, there's the breach of fiduciary duty. There's the rub. What university wouldn't double their endowment? Pays for a lot of tuitions and scholarships and physical plan and new dormitories and arenas and libraries and books or electronic books, right? No, because the school is controlled by the governor.

8:37Michael Popok:The governor appoints the board of trustees. They met in secret once and then in public another time to transfer for zero to the state of Florida, the entire parcel, their last most valuable piece of asset for nothing. Puppets on a string, breaching their fiduciary duties along the way. And then, and then of course, DeSantis, who's trying out for a job with the Trump administration because he's term limited out in November of being governor again. He needs a new job. He needs a new job to be a springboard for 2028. So what is he going to do? He's going to to use public money, make$300 million of praise value or market value disappear in order for him to get a job.

9:18Michael Popok:And that's what he did. And along the way, of course, the Florida legislature bound and gagged local government. I've done a lot of local government work in my life, as people know, cities and the county, they have no power now. They have to be completely silent about any development about a presidential library, all under the control of the state, all under the control and under the boot of Ron DeSantis. That is at the heart of this lawsuit. So the first lawsuit that blocked this development had to do with the transfer secretly approved and how that violated Florida Sunshine Law. I'm friends with the lawyer there, Andres Rivera.

9:58Michael Popok:He came on the show to give an exclusive briefing to our audience. And just to frame the issues, here's a clip of my original interview with Andres. I'm going to get right into what happened. But Michael, Michael, I want to comment. And of course, you having been in Miami and being back in Miami, know what we're talking about. I just want to make sure the audience understands. There's almost three acres of land right next to the iconic Freedom Tower. So many people's families in this community, including mine, went through that Freedom Tower. That is the Ellis Island of the southeastern United States.

10:28And not just Cuban Americans, but I'm Cuban American. This is, when I say iconic, this is really an important symbol of this community. It's three acres right there. And as you were saying, the issue is they're giving it away and they're not, there's no guarantee that a presidential library would ever be built there. Let me tell you what, what happened. A professor, I have to give a lot of credit to Dr. Marvin Dunn. Dr. Marvin Dunn saw what was going on and he sort of put out feelers. I had known this Dr. Dunn and got connected to him. And what he was concerned about is what is the truth. The notice given by the college for this transaction, that's somewhere, the real value is somewhere between 350 and 400 million dollars, free and clear owned by the college, is to be given away to the Trump Presidential Foundation in exchange for only this.

11:21Within five years, they have to start building a component of a presidential library, museum, or center, whatever that means.

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12:08Michael Popok:Avocado products are made, not manufactured, and thoughtfully crafted with real materials to deliver lasting comfort and support. Go to AvocadoGreenMattress.com to check out their mattress and furniture sale. That's avocadogreenmattress.com slash legal AF. avocadogreenmattress.com slash legal AF. And now you've got this new set of lawyers who have filed this 57-page complaint upon Legal AF Substack against Donald Trump and the rest, violating Article 2, Section 1, Clause 7 of the Emoluments Clause, which says, and I will read it to you, It says that you are not allowed as president to accept anything else of value other than your paycheck.

12:58Michael Popok:In particular, it says the president shall at stated times receive for his services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected. And he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of them, any of the states. An emolument is a benefit or a profit. It's exactly what he's done. And as the complaint lays out, it doesn't matter whether it goes directly to him or a foundation or Barron's piggy bank. It doesn't matter. This is what the founding fathers were so concerned about when they drafted the Constitution because they had just come out of colonies.

13:41Michael Popok:and states where there was corruption. Ben Franklin reported that in Pennsylvania, you couldn't get anything approved by the governor unless you paid him off and increased his salary. They were always the subject of some sort of bribe scandal or some sort of a kickback scheme. They didn't want that for the president. And so they built it and baked it into the Constitution. This is one of the first cases in which Trump is being sued finally for the emoluments clause violation. How many profit centers has he taken? How many hotels has he operated on the public dime and benefiting himself and lining his pockets?

14:31Michael Popok:And it stops now, says the new lawsuit. This Miami-Dade College parcel needs to be returned to the people.

14:41Michael Popok:The appraised value of this property, next to the Freedom Tower, backed up by the billion-dollar World Center, five-star hotels, its appraised value is$67 million on the tax rolls. It's worth$300 million in the open market. I've talked to my friends in real estate, right? And that's what even you just heard Andreas say it in his own suit, and it says it in this new brand new lawsuit. That's the market value for a piece of dirt like that. And no, Trump wants to build this monument, this testament to him.

15:19Michael Popok:And where the linkage is, is that Trump has the power to benefit or punish Florida. And that is exactly at the heart of the emoluments clause. See, I think this is a very, very well made out case. Here's what they're seeking. I'll read to you for the prayer for relief. They want a, besides the declaration by the judge that the domestic or presidential emoluments clause has been violated, they want an injunction related to it. They want a declaratory judgment that the clause prohibits the president from receiving any benefit, that Trump can't elude those proscriptions by taking the gift through a corporate entity or immediate family member, that in the land transfer, that violated the domestic emoluments clause, that it's null and void, the transaction of the land, the sale of the land, transfer of the land should be reverted back to its original state and other relief that may be proper.

16:22Michael Popok:Now, what's going to happen? As soon as I know who the judge is in this matter, I'm going to have a better handle on what's going to happen next. But it's going to be fast moving, especially with the injunction. But thank you to the lawyers who brought this case. I'm going to try to get them on from the Constitutional Accountability Center and Gelber Schachter in Greenberg to talk and brief our audience in real time about the case. And I'll try to do that on Legal AF for you. In the meantime, hit the free subscribe button. Until my next report, I'm Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal AF?

16:53Michael Popok: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. 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 wear legal AF on Substack. Come over now to free subscribe.

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