Trump Smacked by Multiple Lawsuits from Meidas Hosts

0:00Seriously, why aren't Democrats in Washington doing more to stop Trump? I know. Have you heard about Phil Weiser in Colorado, though? No. Is he different? Yeah. A.G. Weiser sued the Trump administration 65 times. He's beating Trump in court again and again. Things like protecting Obamacare against Trump's illegal tariffs. And he even won against Ticketmaster. So he actually gets results. Exactly. As governor, Phil will fight for Colorado. Paid for by Phil Weiser for Colorado Registered Agent Anna Noskezi. Feel your best and amplify your everyday look with Thrive Cosmetics. Go to thrivecosmetics.com slash shine26 for an exclusive offer of 20 % off your first order.

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1:17I know. Have you heard about Phil Weiser in Colorado, though? No. Is he different? Yeah. A.G. Weiser sued the Trump administration 65 times. times. He's beating Trump in court again and again. Things like protecting Obamacare against Trump's illegal tariffs. And he even won against Ticketmaster. So he actually gets results. Exactly. As Governor, Phil will fight for Colorado. Paid for by Phil Weiser for Colorado registered agent, Anna Noschese.

1:43Popok:Sometimes journalists have to cross the line and fill the void and file cases against the Trump administration when no one else will. And I the honor of interviewing Alison Gill, Mueller she wrote, and Daily Beans, and my friend Katie Fang of Midas Touch of the Katie Fang News Channel about their decisions, their courageous decisions to not only take on the Trump administration from a commentary and legal analysis standpoint, but to go where no one else has gone before and file lawsuits while being commentators and political analysts at the same time. Now, full disclosure, I've represented like the Midas Touch Network in some matters involving famous politicians and the need to get access to information in a public lawsuit.

2:39Popok:That's different than me being the plaintiff in a lawsuit. I'm not saying I haven't considered it, but they took the actual steps. And I think you're going to find that their discussion with me fascinating. In particular, I asked them if the decision has led to trolling or repercussions. And I think you're going to be fascinated by what they told me. They said that at least when it comes to Katie Fang's suit to try to obtain the balance of the Epstein files in unredacted form, including those against Donald Trump, including those in foreign languages for an international child sex trafficking ring, and Alison Gill's suit in the Southern District of California about the slush fund that Donald Trump has tried to make and her argument that like, hey, is the government giving out funds about people who have been victimized by the weaponization of a president?

3:44Popok:Well, I was victimized by Donald Trump, right? Her 11 or 12 year career, the Veterans Administration was dashed because of Trump. They had a very interesting response. Let me play the clips. Let me ask both of you, and we'll go kind of back and forth here to end the segment. Do you have real fear, having brought it, that there's going to be, that you'll be, that will, you know, real, real Trump retaliation will be visited upon you? And how did that go into your decision as to whether to bring it at all? Because you could, you know, Katie, you could never have brought it at MSNBC, right? That would have been your last day on the job.

4:23Popok:But, you know, this gives you the freedom. That's the one good thing about what we do on YouTube and independent journalism through Midas and otherwise is we get to do this. But do you worry about it when you bring the case? Because I'll be frank, I would I'd like to be involved, but I would also think long and hard about the right case at the right moment to do it. Yeah, I'll let Allison have the last word on that. But you're right. It is kind of interesting that nobody in mainstream media with regards to the Epstein Files Transparency Act brought a lawsuit. You would think they'd have the financial wherewithal and the bigger corporate ability to be able to withstand the heat.

5:06Of course, I thought about it because I have a family. I have, you know, I like doing what I am doing. Some factors, for example, have been so far. What has been the reaction from DOJ? Have they been particularly virulent in the way they've responded? Who is the prosecutor that's on my case? Who's responding? I mean, these are things that you would always think about as a trial lawyer, but I think have a little bit more moments now because of what's happening. But I will say something that's been very interesting. Unlike the other stuff that I do on Katie Fang News or, you know, whatever, on social media, et cetera, this particular lawsuit and my role as a plaintiff hasn't generated the type of vitriol that I normally get.

6:00Like I get the death threats. I get the horrible racist gender sexist stuff all the time. It's very boring because it's all the same shit. None of it's original anymore. But the thing is, I have not heard from a single MAGA Republican who's been like, Like, you dumb biatch, what are you doing with your loss of, like, it has been like crickets, which in my mind, I think sends a very clear message to me, which is people want to know, regardless of your party affiliation, they have a very, very invested interest in finding out what is behind those Black redactions on those papers. And so I have been pleasantly surprised to see that that has been at least the public response.

6:47Yeah, well, let me piggyback off of what Katie said. Same, Katie. Like, you're not seeing the vitriol because we're kind of all on the same side when it comes to the Epstein files. Nobody likes this slush fund either.

6:59Popok:And I think that's fascinating that what their argument is, is that MAGA, there's just some things you can't get MAGA to do. They won't ultimately support a child sex trafficker and they want the Epstein files released. And so they're not trolling Katie Fang the way you would have thought. And the same thing for Alison Gill when it comes to the slush fund, which is universally hated. In fact, I asked Katie in particular, and then Alison, why did you bring the case? And are you worried about its implications on your career? And she had a great answer. Play the clip. Katie, you kind of broke the glass ceiling here on this type of lawsuit.

7:48Popok:You've been a chronicler and a follower of all things Epstein from almost from the very, very beginning. If it's not you, it's Ben Micellis or both of you together, along with survivors and victims. But you can't do your job if you if you're being if what's being withheld from you are the core key documents, including about Donald Trump. So when you looked at the landscape of lawsuits that had been considered and Democrats trying to bring things in federal court to get federal judges to get involved and that sort of going nowhere and no one really stepping in, why did you decide I got to file this lawsuit?

8:22I thought the attempts to get the special master by Congressman Ro Khanna and Tom Massey was a spectacular move. I thought it was a wonderful example of bipartisan strategy. And it was going to inure to the benefit of the victims and survivors who are continuously cheated to have justice and transparency, which they are owed and which they deserve. And I understood the judge's ruling in that instance in the Southern District of New York that jurisdictionally there was no standing for Congressman Massey and Kanna. And more specifically, the law itself, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, explicitly did not provide for an enforcement mechanism.

9:08Now, we've talked about the fact, Mike, that Congressman Khanna has said that part of the reason why you don't see a private right to a cause of action in the Epstein Files Transparency Act is it never would have gotten across the finish line with bipartisan support. there was an articulated concern by Republicans, of course, that if you had given that particular enforcement mechanism in the law, that a slew of lawsuits would have ensued, but appropriately so, let's be honest, right? I mean, any victim or survivor who had their name illegally outed and had their confidential information illegally outed should have recourse against this Department of Justice in this government.

9:54So when the special master effort failed, and again, not for any lack of effort, but simply because there was no jurisdiction by this judge that had been presiding over Glenn Maxwell's criminal case, I thought to myself, you know, there's got to be another way to be able to get there. And then I am being represented by the Public Integrity Law Project, which is Brendan Ballew and Sam Ward-Packer. And, you know, it's been great to be able to work with fellow trial lawyers to say, look, we know where we want to go. How do we get there?

10:29Popok:And the same thing for Alison Gill, you know?

10:35Popok:Why did I do it? It's almost as if to say there was a void that needed to be filled and against, what else could he do to me? But this case needed to be filed. Here's Allison of Mueller. She wrote on that same point. Let's talk about what it's like, why you made the decision. And it is one of courage. We just had the Profile of Courage Awards handed out in the last 24 hours. It is courageous to go from commentator and say, there is a hole in the swing here. There is a case that's missing. There is a voice that needs to be heard, and it's mine. So let me start it off with Allison about the 1776 Anti-Weaponization Fund.

11:21Popok:What made you decide, I got to bring this particular case? Well, first of all, thanks for having me on Legal AF. I'm a huge fan of everything that you do, and I think that your work is so very important in this political climate. So thank you for all of that. You know, it was kind of, it started out as sort of a tongue-in-cheek me filing a claim against the slush fund because I had been weaponized against in the first Trump administration when the government decided to investigate my Mueller She Wrote podcast. And eventually that led to me being removed from my public service job at the Department of Veterans Affairs after over a decade.

12:03And when I put that out, because I was specifically asking for$8.647 million in that particular claim, it went viral. And I was contacted by the public citizen litigation group saying, because you're an interested party, and we're interested in perhaps providing comment or requiring notice and being able to provide comment as an interested party, would you be interested in a procedural type of a lawsuit as a plaintiff? And I said, absolutely. You know, I already have open litigation against the government for my removal from my position. And I said, well, if I'm an interested party and there's something I can do to help stop this slush fund or at least question how it was being established, I would absolutely want to be part of that.

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14:21Popok:Like my Lily, make the switch to Sundays. Go right now to SundaysForDogs.com slash LegalAF50 and get 50 % off your first order. Or you can use code LegalAF50 at checkout. That's 50 % off your first order at SundaysForDogs.com slash LegalAF50. One more time, SundaysForDogs.com slash LegalAF50 or use code LegalAF50 at checkout. Now, what I find fascinating is that the attacks have not been coming fast and furious against Allison and against Katie. In fact, you don't even hear a comment. I mean, I know that the press secretary is out of maternity leave, but you don't hear a comment at all going after the integrity of Katie, the character of Allison, because you really can't.

15:21Popok:And I think there's maybe even a begrudging respect by even the White House and the lawyers for the Department of Justice about these two journalists. In a way, you're not seeing, for instance, in the Don Lemon case. I mean, I'm friendly with Don. A Don programming note is going to be on with me this Friday for an interview. I was on his show, and Don was doing his job in St. Paul in that church, covering it during the attack on the community by ICE and the National Guard at, mainly ICE, at Donald Trump's behalf. And he's indicted. He's moving to dismiss for a vindictive prosecution, I'm sure, in the future.

16:06Popok:But you could see how they trolled Don Lemon about the indictment over and over and over again. Here's a clip of the government going after Don Lemon. So this is what the people are trying to protect, because all ICE wants to do is get them out of our country, bring them to prisons and jails and mental institutions from where they came. That's all they want to do. They're patriots and they have to be abused by guys like Don Lemon, who's a loser, lightweight. I saw him the way he walked in that church. It was terrible. I have such respect for that pastor. He was so calm. He was so nice. He was just accosted.

16:44What they did in that church was horrible yesterday.

16:47Popok:And yet you don't see them doing that against Katie or Allison. because I think there's universal acceptance by the public that the Epstein files need to be released. Now, I had Brendan Ballou on, who's a lawyer for Katie, talk about her case for a moment. Her case is heating up. We got a hearing on the 30th of June with Judge Sullivan. She filed her brief in which he pointed out that Todd Blanche effectively conceded that he violated the Epstein Transparency Act, didn't produce documents, never addressed it, never addressed key evidence in the case either. In fact, here's my interview with Brendan Ballew.

17:32Popok:Play the clip. What I loved about your filing was you say right up front in your introduction, I don't know, we got 22 pages from Todd Blanche in opposition to our temporary restraining order, where you're trying to get the entirety of the Epstein files that were mandated to be produced to the American people through the Epstein Transparency Act, including the Trump files, the Trump purported victim files, if you will, were ones that claimed to be victims, the foreign language files, the redaction log, and everything else that's missing. And you say in 22 pages, in not one word, not one page of one word of that filing does he deny that he violated the Epstein Act?

18:15Yeah, it's just incredible. And again, credit goes to my colleagues, Sam and Emily, who are the primary drafters on that brief. But as you said, we have moved for a preliminary injunction seeking pretty straightforward relief where there are these various categories of information where it is just obvious that the government is breaking the law here. And the administration in this response didn't even try to justify it. They didn't say that they were complying with the law. They just said that Katie is not the kind of person who can sue here. And just as a matter of black letter law, they are wrong on that.

18:46So it's very clear that when the government breaks the law and fails to disclose information that it's supposed to, the people who benefit from that information have the right to sue. And so you have case after case where journalists or public interest groups are saying, look, the government said that they were going to disclose something. They never disclosed it.

19:06Popok:You know, we have the right to sue. So I guess at the end of the day, and the point of order here, is that sometimes in this era, especially when it comes to independent journalists, you have to step across the line and courageously file about the stories and subjects that you cover for a living. that's one of the I guess the perks of the independent journalist life that you our audience have provided us because of your generosity of time and spirit and of commitment because there's no way that Katie Fang on MSNBC or MSNOW whatever it is would ever be able to go to her bosses or editor or producer and say you know uh I'm gonna sue Trump she would have canceled herself at that moment and sent her off packing.

20:03Popok:But that's also the difference between our brand of commentary and journalism and other places. And I think that's why you come to Midas Touch and why you come to Legal AF and maybe why you come to my special brand of observational commentary. Because you know it's my commentary. I'm going to give you the facts straight. right i'll give you facts straight no smoke no sunshine but it's mixed in with my experience my commentary through my lens my my you know my body of work as a as a human being and as a lawyer for the last x amount of years and decades and you know that when you listen to me i think you know so you're not coming to me for you know the time and the weather you're coming to me and katie and Allison for a heartfelt, mature set of observations through a lens that you can trust.

20:58Popok:And I thought it was remarkable. There hasn't been enough pat on the back for Allison and Katie about handling these cases, filing these cases at this moment. I mean, there's thousands of cases filed against the Trump administration, but Cady's was the first one about the Epstein files. She's the first plaintiff, so far the only plaintiff. And Allison joined a very small group. You can count on one half of one hand, the amount of lawsuits filed about the slush fund and the anti-weaponization fund. She takes it from the position of, if you're going to have a fund, well, don't drain it, giving it out to Jan Sixers and insurrectionists, leave a little behind for those that were attacked and were the targets of weaponization by Trump 1 or Trump 2.

21:56Popok:See, those are very unique vantage points in which to make the argument. You know, I asked the lawyer for Alison Gill, what was it like to represent Alison in that special unique role of being both a journalist and a plaintiff. And here's what he had to say. When you represent somebody like at the level of Allison in a case like this, I'm sure it presents some interesting additional aspects in her present with a traditional plaintiff without revealing confidences in any way. How did you approach representing her and framing her case understanding that she's in the business of being a commentator at the same time.

22:44Well, thank you for having me on. I think you're absolutely right. There are, unfortunately, today probably a number of commenters who could claim to be victims of weaponization and lawfare, but Allison did step up to be a plaintiff in this case. It is different and somewhat refreshing to I have a client who is familiar with explaining what could be a very dry procedural issue in a way that hits home to regular folks about why this is important. I suppose the normal listener here is not steeped in the Administrative Procedure Act, but it's the basic check on governmental power.

23:31Popok:More so than you'd think after 19 months. Yeah, but it is a basic check on governmental power, and it is designed to prevent agencies from just exercising raw power by fiat to implement new programs or adopt new rules. And so that, you know, Allison is someone who is impacted by the decisions that Department of Justice will make with respect to this anti-weaponization fund, what they call the anti-weaponization fund. So what I thought is I'd put the full interview in the notes below if you're interested in the full, you know, 30 minute interview. But I wanted to kind of wrap this all together for a special Midas Touch presentation of it.

24:20Popok:And I'm glad you're with me. If you like this kind of content, you like what we're doing, keep the gas in our tank. Come over to Legal AF, the YouTube channel, hit the free subscribe button, do the same thing on Substack. So until my next report, this is 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.

24:54Popok: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.

25:13Seriously, why aren't Democrats in Washington doing more to stop Trump? I know. Have you heard about Phil Weiser in Colorado, though? No. Is he different? Yeah. A.G. Weiser sued the Trump administration 65 times. He's beating Trump in court again and again. Things like protecting Obamacare against Trump's illegal tariffs. And he even won against Ticketmaster. So he actually gets results. Exactly. As governor, Phil will fight for Colorado. Paid for by Phil Weiser for Colorado registered agent, Anna Neskazi. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much.

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