Trump Sweats as Whistleblower Reveals Secret Post Office Plan to Throw Away Your Vote

0:01This episode is brought to you by Credit Karma. When it comes to your money, Credit Karma keeps you ahead of the game. You can count on Credit Karma to keep up with your financial needs as they evolve, helping you monitor your progress and giving you personalized recommendations so you can make strides towards your goals. Make sure you're on the right track, no matter where you are on your financial journey. Intuit Credit Karma. Karma you can count on. Download today. This podcast is supported by Anthropic, the public benefit corporation behind Claude. Everyone's got a hard question about AI. Your job, your kids, where it's going.

0:41Anthropic was built to surface those questions and share what it finds along the way. Because there's hope in hard questions. Ask yours at Claude.ai slash Spotify and keep thinking. That's Claude.ai slash Spotify.

0:58Your team just added its 67th AI tool and also your 67th security blind spot. The good news? The Vanta agent works like a GRC engineer in the background, finding every app your team uses, scoring the risk, and drafting fixes for you. Vanta is the platform used by over 16 ,000 fast-moving companies like Ramp, Cursor, and Harvey, who are shaping the future with AI and staying ahead of AI risk. Get started at Vanta.com. hey i'm running out to drop off a stack of letters and packages need anything shipped while i'm gone save the gas stamps.com lets you print postage and schedule pickups right from your desk sync your contacts into the address book get detailed accounting insights and get notified the moment your certified mail is delivered all from my desk all from your desk join the four million businesses using stamps.com right now with code podcast and get your free welcome gift Stamps.com, code podcast.

1:54Taxes and fees apply. By the time I hit my 50s, I'd learned a few things. Like how family is precious. Work can always wait. And 99 % of people over 50 already have the virus that causes shingles. Not everyone at risk will develop it, but I did. The painful, blistering rash disrupted my life for weeks. Don't learn about your shingles risk the hard way. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist today. Sponsored by GSK.

2:24Michael Popok:We got some breaking news. It's about mail-in ballots, and it involves a new whistleblower, a federal official inside the post office, inside the Trump administration, who has blown the whistle, first to Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut and now to the public, about the post office's efforts to create a defective, flawed citizenship portal database to undermine your right to vote by mail. And now we got an insider who's blowing the whistle and bringing the receipts. I've got that insider's letter. I'm going to read from it here on this hot take. In addition, I said the story was fast moving. In the last day, we've had 15 different court filings in a case in front of Judge Talwani up in Massachusetts.

3:11Michael Popok:Judge Talwani right now is the only federal judge standing between you and your, standing between the Trump administration's trying to wreck mail-in ballots and your vote. And she has refused in a lengthy order, which I'll quote from, she has refused the administration's request that she lift her stay of her temporary restraining order while they seek an appeal. And so right now, currently blocked is the implementation of the Postal Service's rules and regulations, including the creation of that database. But despite that block, they are still building that database according to the whistleblower.

3:49Michael Popok:I'm Michael Popak. Let me pull all this together. We've been following that Talwani case closely. And here we've got the whistleblower coming around the bend in a letter that was just written yesterday to David Steiner, the postmaster general by Senator Blumenthal's office. We've got the letter here. We're going to post it up on Legal AF Substack, and he attaches the 20-page letter from Whistleblower Aid, an anonymous whistleblower disclosure of an anonymous federal official. Here's what he says to the postmaster. My office is in receipt of an alarming whistleblower disclosure, outlining the postal services perilously rushed and potentially unlawful implementation of President Trump's executive order seeking to restrict mail-in voting.

4:36Michael Popok:The whistleblower's allegations make clear that the Postal Service lacks the technical or operational capability needed to implement the provisions in a way that safeguards every citizen's right to vote. They're building a database that would take over a year. They're trying to do it in 90 days. Despite this, the Trump administration appears intent on having the Postal Service move forward with its flawed plans, no matter the chaos they may create. Here's what the whistleblower has to say in his letter. Letter, again, is up on Legal AF Substack. It's 14 pages in length. Senator Blumenthal, whistleblower aid represents an anonymous federal official with direct knowledge of potentially catastrophic problems in the development of the Postal Service's new system for handling federal election ballot mail.

5:24Michael Popok:The whistleblower came forward with significant concerns about the secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed process for the creation of an entirely new and untested set of IT information technology systems, including the federal ballot mail portal, the new IT systems, and corresponding protocols that will govern this election. The whistleblower also raises grave concerns that the administration has hidden the high likelihood that the new ballot mail verification process will result in major disruptions in mail ballots ever getting delivered to voters. Here's, listen to this example, where one flaw in one ballot envelope could prevent 10 ,000 ballots, mail ballots, being delivered to voters, eligible voters.

6:12Michael Popok:As presently designed, if even one barcode on one single ballot and a bulk mailing of 10 ,000 ballots fails to properly scan during the verification process, the entire batch is rejected and sent back to the state, effectively stopping the ballots from being mailed to voters. Even under ordinary circumstances, this would be problematic. The whistleblower is particularly concerned that the portal will almost certainly have significant operating problems when released to the public due to the rushed development. And he goes on and gives other examples, including, in the use of these barcodes, including the sloppy and rushed way in which the portal is being developed.

6:57Michael Popok:They also say that the whistleblower says that they are in violation of Judge Talwani's order to stop all work. She ordered that that be delivered, her original order from a week ago, be delivered to the Postal Service under penalty of perjury. And this whistleblower says despite that order, they are still building the database that should have been stopped a long time ago. Now, let me move. By the way, you're on Legal AF YouTube channel. Did I get you excited? Hit the free subscribe button. Help us to continue to grow our pro-democracy channel. Now, let me read to you from one of the 15 different entries in the last 24 hours in the case in front of Judge Talwani.

7:39Michael Popok:It's a combined case brought by Democratic states, blue states, and public interest groups like the League of Women Voters and the American Civil Liberties Union. And here's what Judge Telwani, she already entered the temporary restraining order, which according to the whistleblower is being violated. She already entered that. Now you have the Trump administration asking to have that lifted so they can continue to work while they're on appeal. Also, the judge questioned, how are you appealing my TRO? Temporary restraining orders are not the final word in injunctions before the end of a trial. That's a preliminary injunction, the next step.

8:17Michael Popok:She's holding on this Thursday the preliminary injunction hearing. Trump is trying to do a quick round trip back to the United States Supreme Court by rushing in improvidently on a TRO, temporary restraining order, which should be rejected because it's too early in the filing. They should wait for the preliminary injunction, which is coming off of Thursday's ruling, and then they can try to get it to the First Circuit and to the United States Supreme Court. You may remember that about a week ago, the United States Supreme Court had a ruling about mail-in ballots and the post office, and they said the states were too early because the Postal Service hadn't yet issued its rule and published its rule.

9:01Michael Popok:Well, they published the rule now and we're back at it just about a week later. Here's what Judge Telwani had to say in a very lengthy order, which she posted on the docket. She didn't even bother putting it down on a piece of paper and scanning it. She just typed it right into the electronic docket. Here's what she said. On August 21, the Postal Service issued a final rule concerning mail-in ballots. Okay? Less than 70 days before the November 3rd midterm election. Plaintiff organizations in this case and plaintiff states promptly challenged the final rule. This court found that the standard for a temporary restraining order had been met and stayed for 14 days the mandatory requirements of the final rule as they applied to the midterm election, giving her time to hold her preliminary injunction briefing and hearing.

9:54Michael Popok:This court found that the standards had been met. The defendants now seek to undo the 14-day stay, preserving the status quo in place prior to the federal agency's altering of requirements applicable to the state and local officials on the threshold of the election. These motions are denied. First, although defendants seek a stay pending appeal, the temporary restraining order is not an appealable order under the statute, where it's only in place for 14 days. The court has set a briefing schedule, and on September 3rd hearing this Thursday, on the pending preliminary injunction motions, wink, that's when you have to take your appeal.

10:38Michael Popok:Second, as to the merits Judge Telwani rules, it is likely that the Postal Service lacked authority to issue that final rule and that it is substantively unconstitutional and contrary to the law. And then she goes through the Supreme Court issues. Then finally, third, as to irreparable harm to the plaintiff states and the plaintiff organization, the court reiterates the conclusions laid out in its August 27th order. Plaintiff states election officials maintain that full compliance with the final rule is impossible and that the Postal Service's prohibition on mailing noncompliant mail ballots will likely result in disenfranchisement for the midterms.

11:24Michael Popok:Now, Judge Talwani, just in time for Thursday, has the anonymous whistleblower inside the government saying exactly that and proving exactly that. And then she says at the end, as to the public interest, the court underscores that the late timing of the changes to the state election practices the federal agency seeks to impose in the final rule are contrary to the public's need for clear and settled. rules of the road for the November 3rd midterm elections only two months away. And she then sticks it to Justice Kavanaugh by saying, I'm citing to your case, Justice Kavanaugh. She is setting this case up for the United States Supreme Court.

12:12Michael Popok:Well, I think the TRO gets denied, sorry, the stay against the TRO gets denied by the First Circuit because you can't really appeal TROs. I think they then wait for her ruling off of Thursday, which could come as early as Thursday night or Friday. I'm sure she's already written it. And then Friday, they can take the appeal, the Trump side, again to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. I think they lose at the First Circuit Court of Appeals. And then we're back at the United States Supreme Court as early as over the weekend or early next week. You know, no, justice and the Supreme Court doesn't doesn't take a break for Labor Day, and certainly we won't either, in following this fast-developing story.

12:56Michael Popok:But now with this new whistleblower twist on Michael Popak, I will follow up. You'll hear from me during a live sub-stack later today and throughout the weekend here on Legal AF. Support what we do. Hit that free subscribe button. Until my next report, this is Michael Popak. Popak here. When life changes in an instant because of an injury or the bad acts of another, You need fighters in your corner. The Popak firm is dedicated to helping the injured and their families get justice and the money they deserve. And we don't back down. Contact us today and let's start your fight for justice together.