Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Judge Catches Trump in the Act with Zero Evidence
Episode Date: March 25, 2026In breaking news, the lead deputy for US Attorney Jeannine Pirro in the DC has admitted to a federal judge in a closed-door hearing that the DOJ has “no evidence” that Fed Chair Jay Powell committ...ed any crimes to support their criminal grand jury investigation into cost overruns in the remodeling of the Fed campus. Popok examines this shocking development, along with a surprising and crafty lineup of lawyers the Fed and Chair Powell have hired to defend them, including Joe Biden’s former special counsel investigating his document handling, and the former General Counsel for Fox News and News Corp, whom Pirro reported to. MUD\WTR: Start your new morning ritual & get up to 43% off your @MUDWTR with code LEGALAF at https://mudwtr.com/legalaf #mudwtrpod Subscribe: @LegalAFMTN Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! 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 Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show The Ken Harbaugh Show: https://meidasnews.com/tag/the-ken-harbaugh-show Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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to support a criminal prosecution even being opened against Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell.
That's something that was confessed and admitted by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
in the District of Columbia by Janine Piro's right-hand person and the head of their criminal
division in a hearing that we didn't know about until just the last 24 hours before Chief Judge
Jeb Bosberg. Now we know why the subpoenas were quashed by Jeb Bosberg against the Federal Reserve
Chair Jay Powell. This all has to do with a $2.5 billion project related to the Federal Reserve
and remodeling two 100-year-old buildings.
But Donald Trump wants to harass and intimidate Jay Powell
to get him to resign or to step down as the chairman
of the Federal Reserve and to cut interest rates.
That's what this is all about, not about a criminal case.
I mean, it is very unusual, almost unprecedented,
for a federal judge to quash subpoenas
finding that the prosecution and investigation
were commenced in bad faith.
He has to find at the very, very core of the case
that this was meant to harass and intimidate the person
not for legitimate criminal investigatory purposes.
And that's what the judge did, but now we know why.
In his brief, relying on a hearing transcript
we didn't have our hands on yet,
the judge said he offered the government enclosed door
in his chambers, the opportunity to present any evidence they had to show that the couple of
billion dollar cost overrun, which by the way is not unusual, given the size of the project
at all, is the result of fraud or criminal fraud. And the judge said, I gave them the opportunity
and the government at the hearing declined to offer any other evidence, nor did they supply any
for the judge's personal review.
But it's worse because in the transcript that's now been released,
the head of the criminal division for the Department of Justice's U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C.,
a guy by the name of George A. Masuko Latayev told the judge that he doesn't have any evidence at all.
The judge says, why do you think there's even the right to open up a criminal investigation?
he said, well, the project is $1.2 billion in cost overrun.
So therefore, there's 1.2 billion reasons why they need to open up a fraud criminal fraud investigation.
But they don't know of any evidence right now.
This completely blows a hole into the argument that Donald Trump is in good faith through his Department of Justice pursuing Federal Reserve Chair J. Powell.
And as I've said earlier, that this has painted Donald Trump into a quarter of,
of his own making.
I guess all quarters you paint yourself into
are of your own making because now he can't get
his new Federal Reserve Board of Governor Pick,
picked, confirmed.
He can't get that person to be elevated to chair
by May 15th because Republicans are blocking it
on the Senate Banking Committee,
Senate Finance Committee,
that has oversight over the Federal Reserve
because they don't like the criminal case against Jay Powell.
I'll bring it all together here
with this new reporting about the transcripts,
that kills the case against the government here on Midas Touch and on legal A.F.
I mean, Donald Trump can't even get the numbers right about the cost overrun.
Yes, we will all admit there was a cost overrun.
Just as the big golden ballroom for Donald Trump is double the price that he said it was going to be,
now upwards of half a billion dollars.
And then Donald Trump has the brass ones, the gold ones, to say out loud,
that two giant buildings that are 100 years old that have never been renovated for the Federal Reserve at all,
with asbestos and old electrical and old elevators,
that it would just be $25 million to renovate those buildings,
not what he said was $4 billion.
First of all, it's $2.5 billion.
The question is whether they're $1.5 billion or $1.2 billion over budget.
He can't even get numbers right.
Here is Donald Trump with the Japanese prime minister.
who visited him.
And when he wasn't insulting her,
reminding her about Pearl Harbor,
oh yes, he went there.
You know something about sneak attacks, don't you?
He then blurted out these false numbers
because he's claiming as Bob the Builder President,
he'd be able to do the whole project for $25 million.
Really?
Your Golden Ballroom went for $200 million
to $400 million and rising. Play the clip.
He's building a complex over there
that's under his jurisdiction.
He started it.
and it's out of control.
It's billions of dollars for a little building.
I could have done that building
and made it beautiful for $25 million.
$25 million, and it would have been beautiful.
Look what I've done at the White House, fixing it up.
I mean, the place was in bad shape.
You see the floors and everything?
It was in bad shape.
I could have made that building beautiful
for $25 million.
They're spending $4.4.
billion dollars now we got the order from jeb bowsburg the judge on march 11th in which he quashed
the subpoenas he ended the criminal investigation but now we know why because he asked the
the head of the criminal division the right hand person for jane piero mr musco la taif what do you got
you got evidence he's all it's a 1.2 billion cost overrun well that can't be it just to give
And this was submitted by the lawyers for the Federal Reserve and for J. Pell, just as an example.
The Department of Homeland Security, you know, in the news a lot, it's St. Elizabeth Campus is, as of 2014, was $1.5 billion over budget.
That's 2014 money, and it's not done yet in 2026.
So we're talking about several billions of dollars in cost over on Department of Homeland Security.
Nobody's claiming that's criminal.
Even Donald Trump thinks it may be the contractor, but not Jay Powell.
Capital Visitor Center, twice the budgeted amount to finish.
The Reagan building at the International Trade Center, twice the amount.
Donald Trump's ballroom, twice the amount.
This is what happens, especially when you're not even building from scratch, you're renovating.
two aging old buildings that haven't been touched in a hundred years.
You know, and you're using old plans.
You know, I've done construction litigation cases.
You know, contractors get in there, they're like,
where did this come from?
Why is there a giant pipe in the middle of the foundation?
You know, why is there granite in this spot, you know, or things like that?
Or, well, we thought we could salvage the electrical system, but we can't.
Or, you know, the asbestos remediation was more costly than we thought.
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Now, there's also interesting lineup of lawyers here that I wanted to bring to your attention as well, along with this new transcript information, which totally blows the doors off of what Janine Piro told the public.
Remember when Janine Piro didn't like the result?
And she said, oh, Joe Bozberg, a radical leftist judge, has bathed the head of the Federal Reserve and immunity.
No, he just heard what we just heard, which is your right-hand person, said there's no.
evidence to support a criminal case and know the dollar amounts are not indicative of a fraud.
I mean, what's the argument that J. Powell lined his own pockets with money from the construction
case? That's what I said at the top of this hot take. I can't even envision what the criminal
case would look like. Is there a money trail? Do they have deposits in J. Powell's bank account,
you know, from kickbacks from the contractors or subcontractors or material suppliers? I mean,
if they did, then I would support him being prosecuted. But if they don't, this is what
what Jeb Bosberg said, the judge said.
This is about intimidation and harassment
to get him to resign, to get him to lower interest rates, or both.
That's all it is.
Here's, who can ever forget, Janine Piro
and her unhinged press conference play it.
The American public is fed up with public monies
that seem to go into a black hole,
especially in D.C., where no one is held accountable.
One of the age-old tools that all prosecutors have to investigate any crime, including cost overruns, is a grand jury subpoena.
Today, however, in Washington, an activist judge has taken that tool away from us.
By inserting himself and preventing the grand jury from even obtaining, let alone hearing evidence, he has neutered the grand jury's ability to investigate crime.
As a result, Jerome Powell today is now bathed in immunity preventing my office from investigating the Federal Reserve.
This is wrong and it is without legal authority.
Now let me give you the lineup for the lawyers.
I think it's very interesting.
The Federal Reserve has hired Robert Her.
Now, Robert Her, you may remember,
was the Special Counsel Merrick Garland picked, a Republican,
used to be the Maryland U.S. attorney
to investigate Joe Biden in his handling of the documents.
You know, the boxes of documents in Joe Biden's garage.
that he forgot about. And this is the guy that wrote the 300-page report where he said,
oh, you know, Joe Biden's losing it. You know, his memory's failing. He's a nice old man,
and I'm not going to prosecute him. Remember that? I just summarized 300 pages. But that's
palsy, right? Robert Herr, former special counsel, special prosecutor, hired by the Federal
Reserve, a Republican, you know, it's an insulator, right? How are you going to attack Robert
her. He helped he helped uh, uh, Trump by trashing Biden at that moment in time and that release in time.
So you got her. He's also been brought in in some other cases like Harvard brought him in to
negotiate against Donald Trump. Interesting. And then I found a very interesting who Jay Powell hired
on his team because he has a team also. Yeah, we're all paying for this by the way. This is all
taxpayer dollars. Jay Powell hired Gerson, uh, Swefack, who used to be.
be the general counsel, meaning the top lawyer, top law enforcement, top legal counsel inside of Fox News,
News Corp. Janine Piro used to work at Fox. I'm sure she knows Gerson. So they brought in somebody
that like knows Piro used to be Piro's, I would say boss from the legal department standpoint.
I mean, I was a deputy general counsel in a large company as well, so I get it. But I just think
the chess that's being played strategically with these different lawyers.
is being hired, I think is also kind of, you know, inside baseball stuff, but really, really
fascinating. Hopefully for me, and I've made it for you as well. So we're going to, we're going to,
follow this story. It's in Donald Trump's hands. All he has to do is tell Janine Piro
to take the loss. Just take the loss, take the knee. Don't appeal the quashing of the subpoenas
and the investigation. There is no investigation. We all know it. Then, once that's done,
as Jay Powell says he's not going anywhere.
Remember when he was interviewed during the rate cutting a week or so ago, he said, I'm not leaving.
I'm not leaving until the investigation is over. Play it.
If there's no Federal Reserve chairman confirmed on May 15th, would you stay on?
So if my successor is not confirmed by the end of my term as chair, I would serve as chair pro tem.
That is what the law calls for.
That's what we've done on several occasions, including involving me.
And it's what we're going to do in this situation.
And while I'm at it, on the question whether I will leave while the investigation is ongoing,
I have no intention of leaving the board until the investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality.
And I would refer you to the statement that was in the Fed's brief that you all have seen,
and I won't have anything more for you on that.
On the question of whether I will then continue to serve as a governor, after my term ends and after the investigation is over,
I have not made that decision yet.
And I will make that decision based on what I think is best for the institution and for the people we serve.
Figuring you probably were going to set the dominoes off there.
So what do you do?
You just take the loss, don't appeal.
Then Tom tell us the Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee will vote in favor of Kevin Warsh,
your pick to be the next Federal Reserve chair.
Jake Powell will slide down to be a regular guy.
governor. He stays until 2028 and we're done. Donald Trump doesn't want that. He wants
Jay Powell off so that he can get the fourth seat of the seven member board of governors and take
control ultimately of interest rates. That's what we're watching. And Donald Trump,
rather than logically think this through from a game strategy standpoint, he can't because he's
incapable because he's gone round the bend. He's gone bonkers. And those around him only enable him.
So I'm going to continue to follow it.
I'm glad you're here on Midas Touch.
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Until my next report, this is Michael.
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