Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Federal Judge Sets Perfect Trap for Trump and Musk

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

A federal district judge in DC who was once Trump’s criminal judge has just ruled that a member of Trump’s administration may have lied to her about Elon Musk’s DOGE powers while telling 14 states that she won’t stop Musk dead in his tracks with a restraining order now over his cutting off state funds and contracts, but is inclined to declare that he is unconstitutional and illegal and can’t take such actions at a full-blown trial. Smalls: Head to https://Smalls.com/LEGALAF and use promo code: LEGALAF at checkout for 50% off your first order PLUS free shipping! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We got a new order from Judge Chutkin in D.C. and she believes she may have been lied to by the Trump administration in a filing related to whether Elon Musk can continue to stop funding state programs and fire people. Judge Chutkin is now pleased with a declaration, a sworn statement under oath, that was presented to her on Monday, and she just issued her new ruling. On the face of it, she's denied 14 states attempt to stop Elon Musk with what we call a temporary restraining order. But she does suggest that on the merits, on the merits, the states have the better argument that Elon Musk is effectively constitutionally out of control and needs to be stopped.

She may not handle it with a temporary restraining order, but it looks like she's inclined to handle it with a permanent injunction. I'm Michael Popock. You're on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. Let's get down to it. 14 states filed a complaint alleging that Elon Musk, the head of Doge from whatever perch he occupies in the White House or within the Department of Government Efficiency itself, that he has been improperly unconstitutionally appointed to a position without Senate confirmation,

and it violates the separation of powers as well. They try to shut him down, first with a temporary restraining order. But ultimately what they want is a declaration from the judge that Elon Musk and that position is unconstitutional and can be and should be ignored and permanently stopped or enjoined. Now along the way you try for a temporary restraining order, you try for a preliminary injunction. These are the equitable powers of a judge. Just because you don't get the TRO and the 14 states have not gotten the TRO does not mean, as I've said in the past, that they're not going to win on the merits. Let me tell you about the order. Let me tell you where the judge has

said in a footnote that she believes she may have been lied to about the status and role and power of Elon Musk and I'll do it by reading to you from Actually, judge Chuckin's order judge Chuckin, of course presided over Donald Trump's election interference criminal case So she knows Trump and the Trump administration all too. Well in A ten page order. here's what she said. Now look, I've said this kind of a teachable moment. The focus of a temporary restraining order, you have to prove if you're the 14 states in this example,

you have to prove that you will suffer irreparable harm or you can't get the temporary restraining order. It is the fundamental, it is the sin qua non of getting a TRO. A reparable harm is sort of what it sounds like. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube, right? You can't put the spilt milk back in the jar. You can't fix it with money.

Problem is the states talked about a lot of what ifs if Elon Musk stops funding to the federal, to state programs. If he stops certain programs, it'll impact citizens in their states. But they didn't identify any particular funding that had been stopped by Musk. This is separate and apart from him rummaging around in the servers and rummaging around

in our private information. This was about whether he is going to decimate federal offices and federal departments and agencies to the injury of the states. Her problem, Judge Chutkin's problem is, show me the proof right now in order for me to enter a temporary restraining order. But this is in contrast to the substance of the actual case,

which is if she's able to ultimately declare that Elon Musk is illicit, is illegal, if you will, is unconstitutional, she can do that without having to decide right now whether there's irreparable harm. But I'm telling you straight from the way this is written, in my experience of reading orders like this over 35 years, it's gonna be very difficult if not impossible

for the states to prove irreparable harm. Doesn't mean they're not gonna ultimately win their case. I think they are, but not on a temporary restraining order basis, which judges are very circumspect about granting, they don't like to use their power unless they really have to. not on a temporary restraining order basis, which judges are very circumspect about about granting. They don't like to use their power unless they really have to. So here's where we go. First page, January 20th, Trump establishes the Department of Government Efficiency. Elon Musk directs the work of Doge personnel, but is formally classified as a special government employee.

directs the work of Doge personnel, but is formally classified as a special government employee. Now here's where she takes the government to task. I did a hot take recently about a filing that was made by Joshua Fisher, the director of the office of administration. He filed an affidavit with this judge on Monday in which he actually had the balls to say that Elon Musk does not have actual formal authority

to fire people or make personnel actions at any of the agencies. What he said in particular, this is on the footnote on page one, page one, a footnote one on page two, neither of the president's executive orders regarding Doge contemplate much less furnish authority to order personnel actions at any of the agencies.

However, she said based on the executive orders plain text, new career appointment hiring decisions at each federal agency shall be made in consultation with the agency's DOJ team lead. And agency shall not file or fill any vacancies for career appointments that the DOJ team lead assesses should not be filled unless the agency head determines the position should be filled.

At a minimum, the judge says, this language contemplates Doge's authority over personnel actions. Defense counsel is reminded of their duty to make truthful representations to the court. That's a nice way of saying, she just got lied to by the Department of Justice. When I married my wife,

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What are you waiting for? Give your cat the food they deserve. Head to Smalls.com and use promo code LegalAF at checkout for 50% off your first order plus free shipping. That's the best offer you'll find, but you have to use my code LegalAF for 50% off your first order. One last time, that's promo code LegalAF for 50% off your first order plus free shipping. Now, what she's saying is this goes down to a reprobable harm and that is her entire focus. The problem she has with the way the papers were written

is that in order to obtain it now or in a preliminary injunction, they have to establish that they have a reprobable harm. It is a threshold requirement. What she says on page six is page six of her order says, on the record before it, the court cannot conclude that plaintiffs, those 14 states, satisfy the high standard of irreparable harm. Plaintiff's declarations, those are affidavits under oath, are replete with attestations that if Musk and Doge defendants cancel, pause,

or significantly reduce federal funding, or eliminate federal state contracts, they will suffer extreme financial and programmatic harm. But then she cites to all the ifs, but the court is aware that Doge's unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents. But the possibility that the defendants may take actions that irreparably harm plaintiff

is not enough, not enough again for irreparable harm to support a temporary restraining order. That's different from the merits of the case. Here's her next example. On page eight, she talks about the merits of the case, and this is why I think the plaintiffs are ultimately going to win. That said, Judge Chutkin says on page eight, plaintiffs raise a colorable Appointments Clause claim, that's the Constitution, about who can be appointed to certain positions and how they have to be confirmed by the Senate, with serious

implications, she says. Musk has not been nominated by the President nor confirmed by the U.S. Senate, with serious implications, she says. Musk has not been nominated by the President, nor confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as constitutionally required for officers who exercise significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States. Bypassing the significant structural safeguard of the constitutional scheme, Musk has rapidly taken steps to fundamentally reshape the executive branch, and she's citing United States Supreme Court cases for that. Even defendants concede that there is no apparent source of legal authority granting Doge the power fundamentally reshaped the executive branch, and she's citing United States Supreme Court cases for that. Even defendants concede that there is no apparent source of legal authority granting Doge the power to take some of the actions challenged here.

She continues on page nine, "'Plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by Congress, over which it has no oversight. In these circumstances, it must be indisputable that the court acts within the bounds of its authority."

So what she's saying, let me translate that, you're likely to win on a permanent injunction and you're likely to win on the merits of the case, but I'm not giving you a TRO temporarily right now. Instead, she directed the parties as follows. For the reasons explained, it's ordered that the emergency motion is denied. It is further ordered that the parties, that's the Department of Justice for the U.S. and the 14 states, meet and confer, get together and talk. If, if the plaintiffs intend to move for a preliminary injunction, the party shall

file a proposed briefing schedule and state their position on consolidating the merits of the case with the preliminary injunction briefing and she wants to know by tomorrow at 5 p.m. So here's how I think we can break all this down. No temporary restraining order because it's going to be very difficult, nigh impossible, for the states to make out their irreparable harm burden. But you don't need irreparable harm to win on the merits. And the merits, the judge has already said, this looks like an unchecked, unelected, unconfirmed person who's taken a wrecking ball to the government even Congress doesn't have control

of. Meaning, you're likely on the Department of Justice and the defendant side going to lose on the constitutional issues. And then that'll of course will go up as all roads all do lead to the United States Supreme Court. So I'm going to continue to follow what happens tomorrow on the 19th with what they propose. If I'm the Attorney General, the 14 of them led by New Mexico, I sort of take the hit and I tell the judge we want to go to permanent injunction, declaratory, have a declaration by the court that Elon Musk is invalid and

unconstitutional and we want to do that with full briefing before the month of March is over. February almost, you know, we're already kind of halfway through February here and we won't go for the preliminary injunction, Judge. We hear you, we hear you loud and clear. We took your advice. We're going right to trial on the merits. That's what I would do. I'll report back after I see what they finally decide.

That's my suggestion, and we'll continue it all right here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. Follow us on the Legal AF podcast every Wednesday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on all podcast platforms. Me, Michael Popock, here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. Follow us on the Legal AF podcast every Wednesday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern time on all podcast platforms. Me, Michael Popock here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF, the YouTube channel. So until my next reporting, I'm Michael Popock. In collaboration with the Midas Touch Network, we just launched the Legal AF YouTube channel. Help us build this pro-democracy channel where I'll be curating the top stories, the intersection of law and politics.

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