Trump WH faces Contempt after Ignoring Order

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4:00Michael Popok:The Pentagon is thumbing its nose at a federal judge and in likely contempt of court, issued a new set of orders to continue to bar and ban free press from operating at the Pentagon and reporting about the Department of Defense. This is especially critical during wartime so that the American people get the straight story. But even though Judge Friedman, in an order from last week, ruled invalid certain aspects of the Pentagon's policy to ban members of the press unless they acknowledge that their right of freedom of press is a privilege, not a constitutional right. And unless they acknowledge that they can't use information that they obtained from anybody in the Pentagon without approval, unless they did all of that, they would have their credentials canceled.

4:52Michael Popok:Judge Friedman said not on his watch. Citing to our founding fathers the principles of our First Amendment. So what did the Pentagon do in response? They literally kicked the entire press corps out of the Pentagon, said you can go out here in an annex that we're building but haven't yet built. You can go sit there, get out of the correspondence corridor, continue to refer to the First Amendment as a privilege, not a right, a constitutional right under our democracy. and in addition to that continue to require that they take an oath before they're allowed to get their credentials and you know who's leading the charge here it is tim parlatore a former criminal defense lawyer for donald trump in mar-a-lago because he's now commander parlatore working with pete hegseth i'm glad you're here let's get down to the likely violation of what judge friedman's going to do about it.

5:51Michael Popok:I think this all comes to a head on Friday when Judge Friedman requires a status report because the New York Times is none too pleased that they've replaced one invalid unconstitutional policy in violation of the First and Fifth Amendment with yet another one that does the exact same thing. All right, let's get down to where we're at. Late last week, the judge, Judge Friedman, issued an order citing back to our founding fathers in which he said the following, The primary purpose of the First Amendment is to enable the press to publish what it will and the public to read what it chooses, free of any official proscription.

6:29Michael Popok:It has preserved the nation's security for almost 250 years. It must not be abandoned now. What we're talking about is the independent press being able to ask questions of officials, talk to other people, develop sources, confidential informants and information. We're not at this moment talking about the violation of top secret information, classified information, because this rule that the Pentagon has passed applies to non-classified information as well. They want everything to be tightly controlled by Pete Hegseth, and I guess by this former Trump lawyer, Tim Parlatore, and not allow the press to do its job.

7:11Now, when they issued the initial order, the initial policy, which led to the lawsuit and the order against them, 50 members of the press, including the New York Times, rather than sign that oath, turned in their credentials and marched out of the building. so the lawsuit was about getting them back in and and effectively in one way kicking out the

7:34Michael Popok:new press corps the next gen press corps that trump put in place which is nothing more than right-wing agitators and social media influencers like laura loomer and matt gates and if you think i'm making it up here is laura loomer right who sits in the panhandle of florida i saw an interview about her with a bunch of dogs and cats. But in her spare time, she tries to loomer people and get them fired. She thinks she's some sort of expose investigative reporter. She's nothing more than a right wing MAGA media influencer. Laura Loomer and Matt Gaetz. Remember him? How could you forget him? He was subject to investigations about whether he committed sex crimes.

8:18Michael Popok:And that's reason he didn't become attorney general. Now he's in the press corps. Here's a clip. Yes, Matt. Kingsley, if Nicolas Maduro leaves Venezuela today, what role will the Department of War have in a post Maduro Venezuela? And describe the process the administration will use to determine whether or not current members of the Venezuelan military or Venezuelan government have a role in a post Maduro Venezuela. Thanks for the question. So the department has a contingency plan for everything. We are a planning organization. If anything were to happen around the world, we have a response planned and ready.

8:55So we stand at the president's beck and call our commander in chief to do what is needed if called upon. And that will be what this department continues to focus on and continues to prepare for in regards to our ongoing operations in the Southcom region. Again, our focus is taking out narco terrorists and rooting out that threat that is poisoning the American people. Every single boat that we strike saves 25 ,000 American lives. That is a crucial mission to protecting the homeland, and we're proud to be a part of it. Yes, Laura. Thanks so much for having me here today. Now that the president has started the process of designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign Islamic terrorist organization, will the Department of War still proceed with selling F-15 fighter jets to Qatar?

9:39And how will they be able to train Qatari pilots at their airbase in Idaho if Qatar is included in the designation? Thank you for the question. We take very seriously our partnerships, and we always do thorough evaluations to make sure that they protect our intelligence, our operational security, and that they serve the best interests of the American people. The U.S. military has a longstanding partnership with Qatar, and we look forward to continuing that partnership at our airbase in Idaho. And I would just point out that for reference, you know, the Mountain Home Idaho Air Base is not just Qataris that train there.

10:16There are also Singapore military folks that are there as well. So it is a base that we do a lot of foreign military training. And we are we are thankful for those partnerships and will continue to evaluate all of those to make sure, again, that national security is protected. That is the secretary's utmost priority.

10:31Michael Popok:So that's what Judge Freeman was addressing, getting the legitimate independent media back in the room with proper credentials. And if they're handing out credentials, Legal AF will take one. Thank you very much. Maybe we can get Scott McFarland, our new White House correspondent and bureau chief for Midas to get one as well. Look, starting something new isn't just hard. It can be terrifying. I remember when I first started this YouTube channel and podcast, I kept thinking, what if no one listens or watches? What if I fail? What if I make a fool of myself? What if this just doesn't work? But pushing through that doubt ended up being one of the best decisions I've ever made.

11:09Michael Popok:And honestly, it's a lot easier when you have the right support behind you. It also helps when you have a partner like Shopify on your side. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10 % of all e-commerce in the US, from household names to brands just getting started. With hundreds of ready-to-use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store that actually matches your brand's style. And Shopify is packed with helpful AI tools that write product descriptions, page headlines, and even enhance your product photography. So you can spend less time stressing and more time growing your business.

11:49Michael Popok:Plus, Shopify helps you get the word out with built-in email and social media campaigns so you can reach customers wherever they are. It's time to turn those what-ifs into with Shopify today. Sign up for your$1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash Legal AF. Go to Shopify.com slash Legal AF. That's Shopify.com slash Legal AF. So the judge issued a number of orders, including forcing them to strike the comment that the right, the access to the Pentagon is a privilege, not a right, because that's inconsistent with our Constitution. But they did it all over again. So they replaced a one page offensive policy with now 18 pages.

12:41Michael Popok:And here's what they say about the freedom of the press, which, of course, they don't acknowledge. They say, members on page one, members of the news media, you mean First Amendment, freedom of the press people? Yeah. Do not possess a legal right to access the Pentagon. Rather, such access is a privilege extended by the government. No, it's not. Okay. It's in the First Amendment. It's freedom of the press, meaning you can't control or try to suppress them by cutting the legs out from under them. their confidential informants, their ability to go have coffee with some junior official or junior officer, knock on their door.

13:24Michael Popok:Again, we're not talking about leaking confidential information. We're talking about having access to the Pentagon. So that is already a violation of the judge's order in spirit or otherwise. And then they say, well, we're going to reissue these credentials, including to the New York Times, but under these criteria. and we're kicking you out. This is the headline. We're kicking you. Remember that correspondence corridor? You got to be inside the Pentagon without a credential. No, you're out. You're out. Oh, where are we going to be? Oh, we don't know yet. We haven't built it yet. Some annex. As I joke, they're waiting for Home Depot to deliver some rubber-made outdoor garden shed, which they're going to shove the press into, but they're going to give them, get this, Wi-Fi and cell phone access and maybe coffee.

14:12Michael Popok:Oh, well, that's a good trade for giving up my First Amendment right to report on the government. The Department of Defense actually wrote this in their memo. The DOW, Department of War, you know, the made-up thing that they didn't get approval to rename the department, remains committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust. Really? Is that where we're watching? So here's how the judge, just so you know who we're dealing with here. Here's how Judge Friedman ended his order the last time. And you tell me what you think he's going to do on Friday when he gets the status report and probably a motion for contempt by the New York Times.

14:54Michael Popok:He said in his order, we all know that what seems to be important to people are certain issues which fluctuate from time to time. Issues like the economy, issues like the country security. And as you know, we've been through in my lifetime the Vietnam War and 9-11 and the Kuwait situation. A lot of things need to be held tightly and secure by the government. But openness and transparency allows members of the public to know what their government is doing in times of peace and more important in times of war and upheaval. That's what the First Amendment is all about. I think the public has a right to know a lot of things as elections approach.

15:34Michael Popok:and I think what their elected leaders in the legislative branch and the executive branch are doing. Agreed. This memo, obviously concocted by Tim Parlatore, former President Trump's former criminal defense lawyer, is not going to pass muster under the First Amendment, not going to pass muster under Judge Friedman. And if it makes its way to the appellate court for the D.C. Circuit and then to the United States Supreme Court, I think it'll be shot down as well. They've been monkeying around with credentials for the press for a long, long time. Remember when they banned Jim Acosta a couple of times from the White House press corps in the White House?

16:14Michael Popok:And those were all eventually reinstated. We're in favor of independent journalism here on Legal AF. We are independent journalists. Nobody tells us what to say. There is no censorship. I don't clear anything through the brothers or through Midas Touch. and now that we've got independent journalists joining us like Katie Fang and now Scott McFarlane, formerly of CBS, now with the Midas Touch Network as the Washington Bureau Chief. Looking forward to having Scott join us here on a semi-regular basis on Legal AF as well. I'm glad you're here. Hit the free subscribe button. Help us continue to grow Midas Touch and Legal AF YouTube.

16:58Michael Popok: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. 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.

17:55coverage. I'm so relieved. No problem. I'll be with you every step of the way. One in four was a fraud paying American. Not anymore. Save up to 40 % your first year. Visit lifelock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.