Trump Targets His Own Judge After She Ends His Plan

On this week’s episode of Legal AF (#8), MeidasTouch’s weekly law and politics podcast, hosts MT founder and civil rights lawyer, Ben Meiselas and national trial lawyer and strategist, Michael Popok, examine Tuesday’s ruling by a Texas Federal Bankruptcy Court judge that the NRA made a “bad faith” bankruptcy filing and could not reorganize just to escape the NY Attorney General’s criminal investigation. As an added bonus, Ben and Michael discuss the flaws in the NRA’s trial lawyers’ decision to allow its client to be filleted during a 11-day trial proving just how corrupt the NRA and its leadership is, while strengthening the future criminal case brought by the NY AG. Next up, Ben a/k/a “Hooded Justice” and Michael “Velvet Hammer” Popok, take on the legality (and weirdness) of Trump using Mar-a-Lago as his personal home by arguing that he is an “employee” of the club, like the guy who cuts the shrubs or mows the grass. Speaking of insanity, the “Analysis Friends” examine whether this year’s “twinkie” defense —“Foxmania” — will allow a Capitol insurrectionist to avoid jail time (spoiler alert—the answer is “no”). The podcast then turns serious with an analysis of the wrongful death suit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, the former Air Force veteran turned Q-Anon terrorist who was shot by Capitol Police before she could lead her angry lynch mob into the House Chamber to kill members of Congress. The hosts then have a brief discussion of possible ways for Congress to limit the jurisdiction of SCOTUS to prevent it from overturning pro-democracy voting rights legislation, without upending the 3 co-equal branches of government. Finally, and in a speed round, Ben and Popok give the Legal AF university “students” what they crave—a tutorial on civil procedure, our state and federal court system, the equitable and legal power of the courts, and the differences between torts, breach of contract, and crimes. - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Maj 20211h 8min

On Episode 7 of Legal AF, MeidasTouch’s weekly law and politics podcast, hosts MT founder and civil rights lawyer, Ben Meiselas and national trial lawyer and strategist, Michael Popok, first drill down on the “dawn raid” and search warrant on former Trump consigliere, Rudy Giuliani based on “probable cause” that the former “America’s Mayor” committed a federal crime related to the Trump Administration’s dealings with Ukraine. And for added fun, Ben and Michael discuss who is leading in the “Fredo” award race – Don Jr. or Andrew Giuliani, while commenting on the rogues' gallery of convicted, soon to be convicted and/or trying to be convicted allies of the Former 45 all attempting to witness tamper. Next up, the “Analysis Friends” tackle the aftermath of the Chauvin conviction in two ways. First, they examine the attack on one of the 12 jurors for posting photos to social media showing that he supported #BLM on his way to a march celebrating MLK in DC, and discuss whether this could give rise to a successful appeal by Chauvin. Then Ben and Michael take a hard look at the DOJ’s decision to not only criminally prosecute Chauvin and the other 3 cops involved for civil rights violations under the 4th Amendment, but to also investigate the entire Minneapolis police department. Ben and Michael then update on the Cyber Ninja/Q-anon “ballot recount” farce playing out in Arizona under Trump’s guidance. And last but not the least crazy, “Miami” Michael walks Ben through the Miami private school whose socialite and DeSantis-supporting owners took almost $1 million in federal bailout funds and then thought it would be ok to violate every one of its teacher’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rights by firing them if they decided to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Maj 20211h 15min

On Episode 6 of Legal AF, MeidasTouch’s weekly law and politics podcast, hosts MT founder and civil rights lawyer, Ben Meiselas and national trial lawyer and strategist, Michael Popok, analyze key decisions this “Supreme Court Season” and take apart SCOTUS’ 6-3 Republican majority and its unrelenting attack on judicial precedent (Stare Decisis) to legislate from the bench and change the law as we know it in the areas of abortion, the Second Amendment (NY State Rifle Association v. Corlett), and criminal sentencing for minors (Jones v. Mississippi). Speaking of SCOTUS, Ben and Michael also take a hard look at Justice “I am Not the Notorious ACB” Amy Coney Barrett and examine why she has refused to recuse (disqualify) herself from a series of recent cases involving her family and PACs that paid a million bucks to confirm her nomination (the Americans for Prosperity case), and how SCOTUS is on the verge of allowing unlimited and anonymous corporate dark money to pour into US elections. The Analytical Friends (is that what AF stands for?) then move into the #LegalWTF segment as they look at various state legislation that seeks to overturn fundamental US Constitutional rights. First up, Oklahoma gives immunity to drivers who maim or kill protestors with their cars, while criminalizing peaceful protests in the streets, and then for good measure virtually bans all abortions despite a woman’s US Constitutionally-protected right to choose. Not to be outdone, Arizona is allowing a made up QAnon conspiracy theorists called “Cyber Ninjas” to gain access to their voters’ sacred presidential election ballots to perform some sort of bizarre and illegitimate “audit” not to overturn the election, but to allow the Arizona Republicans to continue their charade at taxpayers' expense that the election was “stolen.” And of course, Florida Man is heard from, this time it's the governor, who is about to sign a law that likely violates the US Constitution’s Commerce Clause by preventing social media companies from banning political candidates from their platforms or face fines of up to $100k a day. Easter egg alert: Ben considers permanently changing the name of the podcast to LegalWTF, and not only does fan-favorite “financial dominatrixes” make an appearance, but so does cos-play! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

29 Apr 20211h 22min

On Episode 5 of Legal AF, MeidasTouch’s weekly law and politics podcast, Legal AF, hosts MT founder and civil rights lawyer Ben Meiselas and national trial lawyer and strategist, Michael Popok, analyze the jury’s verdict to convict Chauvin on all 3 counts for the murder of George Floyd, and with special guest criminal defense lawyer Alexandra Kazarian, discuss Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines and predict the length of Chauvin’s sentence. Next up, the “Analysis Friends” take a deep dive into Liberty University’s suit against Jerry Falwell, Jr. to claw back the $10 million it paid him because he failed to disclose that he, his wife, and a Miami Beach pool attendant (you can’t make this stuff up), were having a threesome. Returning to the world of criminals, the Legal AF dynamic duo (and with apologies to the Sopranos) tackle the recent inadvertent disclosure by the Justice Department that it had reached its first plea deal with an “Oathkeeper” who attacked the Capitol on January 6th, who in return for turning in his friends and cohorts, won an all-expense paid trip to 3 years in jail and the witness protection program. To round out the episode, Ben and Michael learn to “count to 5” and take a hard look at SCOTUS’s 2010 Citizens United decision allowing for unlimited corporate and PAC money to flood our election system under the First Amendment, and whether there are 5 votes on the current Court willing to allow donations to be made in secret in the new Koch Brothers-backed suit, Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Rodriguez. Special “easter egg” alert: Ben uses the word “sperm” in the context of our high-brow Supreme Court analysis and Michael takes the bait! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 Apr 20211h 4min

On Episode 4 of our new weekly law and politics podcast, Legal AF, hosts MT founder and civil rights lawyer Ben Meiselas and national trial lawyer and commentator, Michael Popok, tackle the NRA’s bizarre efforts to secretly use the Bankruptcy Code to escape liability in New York and re-incorporate in Texas and discuss whether their business model and fundraising smacks of "financial domination." Next up, the conservative members of SCOTUS and especially Justice Gorsuch are leading efforts to thwart Biden’s agenda by stripping administrative agencies such as the EPA and the Department of Transportation from rule-making ability under the little-known “nondelegation” doctrine. Then, the Analytical Friends analyze the civil rights violation that occurred when Lt. Caron Narario, a Black Army officer, was peppered sprayed and almost worse during a routine traffic stop in Virginia. Ben and Michael then take a look at the recent “January 6 Insurrection” federal lawsuit brought by the NAACP and at least 10 members of Congress who feared for their life against Trump, Giuliani, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, for claims under the KKK Act of 1867 for conspiracy to violate the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment. Then, in a new “speed round” segment, Meiselas and Popok take listener’s questions on topics ranging from data breach lawsuits and the proliferation of ransomware computer attacks, to possible class actions against Trump for his deadly mishandling of the COVID pandemic and his role in the attack on the Capitol. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15 Apr 20211h

On Episode 3 of our new weekly law and politics podcast, Legal AF, hosts MT founder and civil rights lawyer Ben Meiselas and national trial lawyer and commentator, Michael Popok, interview two historic candidates, Lucy Lang, candidate to replace Cyrus Vance, and be the first woman to ever lead the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in its 220 year history, and Hydee Feldstein Soto, who is running to be the LA City Attorney, the chief municipal legal office, and its first woman to hold that office in its more than 150 year history. Then, Ben and Michael, applying their “Analytic Friends” superpowers, tackle the current US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) term and recent oral arguments and decisions, including giving our followers what they crave: more analysis of due process and personal jurisdiction(!) by taking a look at Ford losing its efforts to only be sued in its backyard and avoid being sued in the states where its cars injure people. Next up, Ben and Popok try to read the tea leaves of SCOTUS’s recent “hot bench” concerning the antitrust case against the NCAA and its refusal to pay athletes for their work, and whether SCOTUS will expand warrantless searches of homes under the 4th Amendment by creating a new “community caretaker” exception. Finally, they take on the ongoing “Water-Gaetz “ saga with Matt Gaetz being investigated for sex trafficking crimes, and the recent successful prosecution of former Trump HUD official (and Eric Trump wedding planner), Lynne Patton for violating the Hatch Act’s prohibition against “pernicious political activity” by civil servants, for video recording NYC public housing residents without telling them that the clips would be used at the RNC’s presidential convention to promote Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Apr 20211h 17min

On Episode 2 of our new weekly law and politics podcast, Legal AF, hosts MT founder and civil rights lawyer Ben Meiselas and national trial lawyer and commentator, Michael Popok, take a deep dive into Trump lawyer and “Big Lie” shill Sidney Powell’s efforts to dismiss Dominion Voting Systems' new federal defamation case against her, including her eye-popping “defense” that none of her statements of voter fraud against Dominion were true, and that no reasonable person could believe they were “facts”. Next up, a discussion of MyPillow’s Mike Lindell’s hiring of Alan Dershowitz (we guess Rudy was tied up) to bring a defamation countersuit against Dominion, which could lead Dominion to one day owning My Pillow. Later, Ben and Michael explore possible future prosecutions of Trump and his family for sedition for advocating the violent overthrow of the Government, and the “pay to play” scandal surrounding Trump’s pardon frenzy in his waning days, including a link between Florida’s Aleph Institute, the Kirshner family, and the pardons granted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 Mars 20211h 5min

On the kick-off episode of Legal AF, hosts MT founder and civil rights lawyer Ben Meiselas and legal wiz Michael Popok, discuss the “origin story” of their legal and trial work together, including First Amendment and social media cases for MeidasTouch involving Fox News and Kelly Loeffler, Republicans (the GQP) using “cancel culture” to silence critics and attack the free press, and the legality of “blue” state efforts to suppress minority voting under the Voting Rights Act. Later, Ben and Michael take on the ethics of Big Law firms hired to shill for Trump, including McGuireWoods’ secret work to root out anti-Trump staff at Voice of America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 Mars 202158min