Trump’s Stunt Blows Up as DC Goes Nuclear on Him

0:00In breaking news, we've got the battle of the attorneys general in the District of Columbia. Yes, there are two of them, one named Bondi, but the other one that matters more now is Brian Schwalb. He's the attorney general of the District of Columbia, and he has just filed a new lawsuit on behalf of the mayor, on behalf of the police chief against Donald J. Trump, Pam Bondi, and the rest, because Trump has tried a takeover of the District of Columbia, and through orders by Pam Bondi, has tried to effectively dissolve the police department, undermine and sideline its police chief and its mayor, assign an acting police commissioner who is the head of the DEA, all in violation, not just of the U.S.

0:46Constitution, which I'll explain, but of the Home Rule Act that was passed in 1973 by Congress and Section 740, which says that while the president can request certain involvement and cooperation by the mayor and the police chief. It has to go through the mayor and the police chief. You can't sideline them. You can't take it over. And there's a temporal time quality to this takeover. It's 48 hours, no longer than 30 days. And you have to get permission from a joint resolution of Congress that's set up and is the entity that regulates the district, not the presidency. If you go to the legislation and regulation of the District of Columbia as a federal district is under the supervision and oversight of Article I Congress, not Article II presidency.

1:36Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 says that Congress is in charge of the federal district, not Donald Trump. Donald Trump has a limited, more narrow involvement as president in the operations only when there is, wait for it, an emergency. Donald Trump's two favorite phrases, we have an emergency and two weeks. They all come together here on Midas Touch and Legal AF on Michael Popok. Let's talk about the brand new lawsuit posted now on Legal AF Substack, District of Columbia versus Donald J. Trump. They had a file. They had no choice. Yes. Pam Bondi just issued a new executive order after after allowing.

2:17I mean, that's the wrong term to suggest that she's got the power to do this. But after allowing the police chief to do her job and the mayor to do her job, she then issued a new executive order out of the blue and appointed the Terrence C. Cole, who is the administrator. I'm not even sure he's been confirmed of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. the DEA head, to be the acting police commissioner requiring the police chief to get permission from Commissioner Cole. What is this like, Batman? Commissioner Cole before she can do anything. Here's what the complaint I'll read to you from the relevant part, starting on page two.

2:56Paragraph one, more than 50 years ago, 1973, Congress empowered the people of the District of Columbia to govern themselves. See, D.C. wanted to be sort of its own state. And Congress threw him a bone in 1973 and said, we'll give you a home rule. There was a big movement in the 70s and 80s towards municipalities and villages and towns to get home rule. Take it away from either the state or the feds. And this was part of that movement. And the Home Rule Act, which Congress is empowered to pass because they alone under Article 1 have the power to legislate and give oversight and control everything that goes on in the district, not Article 2 presidency.

3:39Congress gave the inhabitants of the District of Columbia powers of local self-government to elect a mayor and city council. This is all paragraph one, to adopt local laws and reserve, Congress reserved for itself, for Congress, the authority to review the district's laws and legislate on matters of federal concern. But otherwise, they left the operation of the local government in local hands. By contrast, in paragraph two of the complaint, Congress gave the president, Congress gave the president. I know that sounds odd. Donald Trump acts like he takes all power from the people and doesn't have any checks and balance on him.

4:15But Congress gave the president an exceedingly narrow role in the governance of the district. In Section 740, you're going to be hearing a lot about 740 of the Home Rule Act. Congress provided that if, quote, the president determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist. Here we go. Just like having drug gangs in this country for the last 20 years was suddenly an emergency, and he had to invoke tariffs because of a trade imbalance over the last 10 years, 20 years. That's an emergency. Now we have an emergency. What's the emergency? That Donald Trump's teacher's pet, a guy named Big Balls, I'm not making this up, who's 19 years old, got jumped a couple of days before Donald Trump went crazy and started to take over D.C.

4:57because big balls got jumped by a bunch of 14-year-olds. And if I had a guess, and I wasn't there, but if I had a guess, I'm sure big balls, his mouth was flapping. I'm not saying victims invite crime, but all right, so a bunch of 14-year-olds jumped him, and now we got to do a wholesale unconstitutional takeover of a district? Come on. That's the emergency? The weather?

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6:40Michael Popok:Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made. Go to TryMiracle.com slash Legal AF and use the code Legal AF to claim your free three-piece towel set and save over 40 % off. Again, that's TryMiracle.com slash Legal AF to treat yourself. Thank you, Miracle Made, for sponsoring this episode. In paragraph four, it also reminds everybody in the court that the president's authority under Section 740 is limited in time. It must terminate within 48 hours. We're already beyond that. Unless the president sends proper notice to Congress, which he has not. And in all events, it must terminate upon the expiration of the emergency or within 30 days, whichever comes first.

7:24Trump says, no, I'm going to go beyond 30 days, not without a joint resolution of Congress or not. For the president to obtain, and that's just for him to use the Metropolitan Police Department for longer than 30 days, there must be a joint resolution that's passed. And then they say on page three, paragraph six, in violation of section 740, the president announced on August 11th that he was placing the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and that Bondi was going to take command of the Metropolitan Police Department as of this moment. And then he appointed Terrence Cole as the interim commissioner.

8:06and also Gady Seralta, the director of the United States Marshal Service, would be supervising the entire operation of the Metropolitan Police Department. He also falsely claimed that crime, Trump claimed that crime was increasing when it's fallen by almost 30 % since 2024. Bondi then on the night of the 14th, right, just yesterday, this is why the lawsuit was filed, without any advance warning, issued order number 63702025, restoring safety and security to the District of Columbia. You notice there's no resolution, no request by Trump mentioned in the complaint because there hasn't been one. And she purports to put everybody under her thumb at this moment.

8:55Now, this lawsuit is against Donald Trump and the acting commissioner and Pam, Bondi, and a whole list of other people. It then quotes various ways that he's threatened to take control of the District of Columbia. On paragraph 60, he talks about the big balls attack. On August 5th, 2025, in paragraph 60, it says the president told reporters, somebody from Doge, big balls, a 19-year-old, was very badly hurt last night. You saw that. A young man that was beat up by a bunch of thugs in D.C., a bunch of 14-year-olds. And either they're going to have to straighten out their act in the terms of governance, in the terms of protection, or we're going to have to federalize it, run it the way it's supposed to be run.

9:40And then Trump, to distract from his problems with Epstein, problems with his economy, problems with a federal takeover trial going on in San Francisco about the Posse Comitatus Act and all of that, we then escalate. And he tries to invoke Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, but does it in a way that, according to the complaint, violates it. And what's the suit seeking? Let's go to the last page. Again, signed by the other attorney general, Brian Schwalb. They want the court to stay and vacate that Bondi order as an unlawful final action. In other words, it violates separation of powers. It violates the take care clause.

10:25It violates the district clause of the Constitution, the Administrative Procedures Act. It violates self-governance for the District of Columbia. All that. They want the court to issue an injunction about the implementation of the Bondi order, stopping this guy Cole from taking over as police commissioner, a declaration that the defendants have violated the Administrative Procedures Act, declare that Section 740 do not permit defendants to issue the Bondi order, and the declaration that all of this is in violation of the Constitution. and award other relief as interest of justice may require. This is a breaking news story.

11:08They're seeking a fast turnaround on this with a temporary restraining order as well. I expect that this will be in front of the judges, some judge, by as early as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of this coming week. And we'll follow it here. And we'll follow it on Legal AF YouTube. Come over to Legal AF MTN as well. Hit the free subscribe button as we continue to follow So a erratic, out of control, rogue president that we will overcome by linking together here on Midas Touch and Legal AF. So until my next report, this is Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal AF?

11:42Michael 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 where Legal AF on Substack. Come over now to free subscribe.