Legal AF by MeidasTouch - GOP Leader LOCKS DOOR on Musk to STOP HIM

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

The chaos engulfing the Trump Administration in just its 14th day has claimed a new hero— a Republican just appointed to run the USAID organization to promote US policy and interests in 120 countries, barred Elon Musk and DOGE from entering the offices, and was promptly fired. So now even Republicans are taking a stand against Trump from within his own administration! Michael Popok takes a closer look at how shuttering USAID will no doubt be a gift to our Russian and Chinese adversaries, who will gladly step in to bring those countries into their orbit against America. Head to https://zbiotics.com/LegalAF to get 15% off your first order when you use LEGALAF at checkout. 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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Two weeks in, the Trump administration marked by chaos. And now we've got a profile in Courage, where even Republicans that Donald Trump just appointed to do his work for him have said enough, have refused, and are being taken out in the back and removed from their office as a result. Mark Hopson, the latest profile in Courage, who was just appointed to be by Donald Trump the chief of staff for US aid? Okay, that organization that is responsible for not only alleviating poverty and disease around the world, but

also promoting US economic interests? Well Donald Trump got on his mind with Elon Musk that needed to be shuttered, that it was filled with corruption and left-wing whoever knows what. Well Mark Hopson, as the chief of staff, again appointed by Donald Trump, said no when the Doge Mafia and Elon Musk showed up to start the takeover and he was quickly and brusquely fired along with over 600 employees who all have their lights turned out by Donald Trump ultimately by Elon Musk and you're on the Minus Touch Network and Legal AF. I just did a profile in Courage just last week about one of the inspectors general who they had

to pull out kicking and screaming and I mean that in a dictified way in order to oppose Donald Trump and now we've got Mark Hobson who said enough is enough now Marco Rubio stepped into it as the Secretary of State he said well I'm the acting director now of USAID it'll be merged in the State Department it'll remain some sort of humanitarian aid. This is a gift to the Russians and the Chinese. I think every other hot take I've done on Might as Touch or on Legal AF, the YouTube channel, I've said we are forcing allies and people around the

world to move into the welcoming arms of the Chinese and the Russians who are more than willing to accept these people. Every time we turn down aid, every time we turn down some sort of alleviation of poverty, of disease, of famine, if we don't do it, the Chinese will. And where do you think those people's interests are now aligned with our enemies? That's just a gift. There must be an office in China and in the Russian government

that's just about what are the organizations and funding that Donald Trump has turned off so that they can step in and turn it on and be the hero in those people's minds. That's why the African continent is oriented more towards Russia and China than it is North America and the United States. Donald Trump just got it. I mean, you think he didn't pay the bills. I mean, this is like somebody

showing up and you find out the water doesn't work, the electric's been turned off, the gas been turned off. How do you get it all turned back on? Donald Trump walks in and he says, let's shut off funding to US domestic programs. All those entitlement programs people rely on, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, disability checks, turn those offlement programs people rely on, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, disability checks, turn those off. Turn off all the payments made to states to run their government programs using federal funding. Turn that off. Take the US out of the US economy. On top of that, let's pull ourselves out of all of the treaties and World Health Organization and organizations

that require us to spend any money to alleviate disaster, poverty, and other problems abroad. And let's get rid of US aid while we're at it, because who needs to help alleviate world crises and promote US business interests as a result? See, that's the thing Donald Trump doesn't understand. These were strategic investments that were made in order to bolster the brand of democracy that America promotes around the world. Yeah? Instead, I'll ask this rhetorical question again.

Is Donald Trump making any new democracies around the world? Is he strengthening any of the existing democracies around the world? Or is he emboldening our adversaries in Russia, North Korea, China, and the rest? Are we creating more enemies as they get a foothold in all the areas that we've been promoting with US aid? Is there corruption in US aid? I don't know. They had an attorney general atop US aid forever

and at the State Department. If there was mass corruption, which Elon Musk who has no basis been outside the government his whole life, if it was really true, wouldn't they have rooted it out instead of Donald Trump rooting out the inspectors General? Yeah, that's a, that is a canard. That is a red herring. It's not true. Whatever they call fraud everywhere in order to get their hands inside of there

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Now 120 countries are hanging by a thread, right? Because we cut off aid like that. No time to plan, no time to organize. It's not even like a sundown program. Like let's do this over time to ameliorate the harm to the people that are already disadvantaged and underprivileged. Nope, that's not Donald Trump's approach.

Turn off the American spigots. Turn over all the money to corporate America through the use of tax cuts. Yeah? So the inhumane set of policies that we're watching Donald Trump do, including this one, and his failure to recognize the impact of the US economy. Because for every aid, for every $50 billion, $100 billion of aid, there is an American contractor behind it. There's an American manufacturer, distributor, or supplier behind it, I assure you. So the entire aid supply economy, which is US-based, is wrecked because of Donald Trump, which means

American jobs and another aspect of the American economy because he doesn't understand how it hums or what makes it hum. So you got that going on at the last minute. Who campaigned on this? He campaigned on this? I would have heard it. So you've got the total disarray. NGOs, non-governmental organizations like the Red Cross and other organizations are not going to be able to pick up the slack.

What's Donald Trump think? Private sector is going to step in here? Facebook is busy writing checks to curry favor with Donald Trump and spend 30, $40 million in order to pay him back for having him off his platform. They're not paying to help the impoverished in the Sudan or to help maintain as part of state department diplomacy. See, that's the reason Donald Trump doesn't understand diplomacy. This aid organization is within the state department

in order to promote our interest abroad. No one's gonna step forward. Who, Bezos? He's gonna have a slightly smaller yacht next year, and he's gonna use that money to go help the impoverished, the disadvantaged, the famine relief. I don't see that. Only person I've ever seen ever try to do anything like that

is Bill Gates, and he's strangely quiet these days. So Mark Hopson, you know, joining the pantheon of heroes who stood up to Donald Trump, even at great personal and professional sacrifice, to stop Elon Musk from taking over at Doge. We saw a version of it, you know, in the treasury department with the guy that was responsible for all the payment systems. He just retired though. He's like, I'm out, I'm out. You want to give Elon Musk, who's unconfirmed by the Senate,

access to how Americans get $4 trillion worth of payments? I'm out. But Hobson stayed, made a record, got dismissed and dispatched, never heard of again. I feel like I'm living in China. They took him in the back and shot him for all I know, rhetorically. So I'm going to continue to follow it all right here on The Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. Subscribe to both places. We're building both things together collaboratively at the intersection of law and politics. And I'll continue to follow it all right here. 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. Go to YouTube now and free subscribe at Legal AF MTN. That's at Legal AF MTN. That's at Legal AF MTN. same Vegas strip excitement MGM is famous for. When you play classics like MGM Grand Millions, or popular games like Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette, with our ever-growing library of digital

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