Legal AF by MeidasTouch - PANICKED Trump SUES JUDGE in Criminal Trial

Episode Date: April 8, 2024

Trump has just SUED JUDGE MERCHAN by filing an “Article 78” case in the appellate court to desperately try to stop his 15 April business fraud criminal trial. Michael Popok compares this to Trump’s losing effort last fall TO DO THE EXACT SAME THING against the civil fraud judge Judge Engoron, that resulted in the appellate court rejecting the stay and Trump quickly dismissing the suit. Same defendant, same trick, same result. Head to https://TryFum.com/legalaf and use code LEGALAF to save 10% off when you get the journey pack today! Visit https://meidastouch.com for more! Join us on Patreon: patreon.com/legalaf 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 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 Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/lights-on-with-jessica-denson 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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fraud and election interference. That involves the Stormy Daniels hush money cover-up affair. Now we've got Donald Trump pulling an old entire trick out of his bag Filing what's called an article 78 proceeding Against the judge effectively a lawsuit against the judge It's an effort to take a fast-track appeal by filing a lawsuit that gets heard at the appellate court Let me explain that rather than a direct appeal to the appellate court. Let me explain that. Rather than a direct appeal to the appellate court for the rulings of Judge Mershon that they don't like, the ruling to gag Donald Trump, the ruling that Judge Mershon was not

going to throw himself off the case because he happens to have a daughter who works, the order related to Donald Trump improperly raising presidential immunity for things that happened before he was president. Those series of decisions that we reported on here form the basis, I am sure, of an emergency application. Rather than appeal, Donald Trump is using a little known or little used technique that's unique to New York procedural law called an Article 78 proceeding.

You generally bring that, I'll speak to you from a New York procedural law called an Article 78 proceeding. You generally bring that, I'll speak to you from a New York practitioner standpoint, you normally bring that against an agency or a department of the state to get them to do something like a mandamus. But you can in rare circumstances bring it as a direct petition, a direct lawsuit, and file it not with the trial court level, but with the appellate court level, in this case, the Appellate Division First Department that sits in Manhattan over Judge Mershon, basically Judge Mershon's bosses. And what is obvious that Donald Trump is trying to do is exactly what he tried to do and failed to do in the New York civil

fraud case in front of Judge Angoron. Some of our audience, the ones that follow us closely are probably thinking to themselves, haven't I heard Popak or Ben or Karen talk about Article 78 proceedings? And you have, because back in September and October of 2023, when Donald Trump didn't like the way the New York Attorney General's civil fraud case was going for him and the rulings he was getting from Judge Angoran and Judge Angoran forcing him to go to trial, does this sound familiar? Donald Trump filed an article 78 petition where the defendant is listed as the judge,

in this case Judge Angoran. Now who represents the judge there? The New York attorney general, just as she'll represent her office, will represent Judge Mershon in this case. And in that case, Donald Trump lost. He argued that the judge was making improper decision-making, the judge wasn't ruling fast enough on summary judgment, the judge was acting like he wasn't going to comply with prior appellate division rulings, and we need to stay of the case. Now, they did get, and it caused a lot of agita, a lot of heartburn as a legal terms in the legal watching world,

when they did get one justice who was like the emergency duty judge that day, Judge David Friedman of the Appellate Division First Department in the Angoran Article 78 proceeding to issue the stay, but it was a temporary stay. He also set an immediate briefing schedule and referred it to the full, it'll be five justices of the Appellate Division that sit as a panel to hear these issues. So he temporarily stayed the case, it was like two or three days tops, but it got fully briefed and argued and heard in front of the appellate division and they completely rejected the Article 78. The Article 78 was ultimately withdrawn with prejudice, dismissed with prejudice by Donald Trump.

And later the appellate division in October in that case ruled against the stay request outright and also any other relief Donald Trump was seeking and we know what happened there. Right on time without really any delay, an 11-week trial happened and Donald Trump got hit along with his organization and family with a $465 million award. That's going to happen here. There's nothing about what Judge Mershon has done in the criminal case that should subject him to an Article 78 reversal by the appellate division, not the gag order, regagging Donald Trump so he couldn't attack friends

and family of the judge, including his daughter, not the decision that Donald Trump waited too long, almost two and a half years to file a motion to dismiss on the eve of the trial, arguing he had some sort of immunity, or arguing that why don't we just wait till the United States Supreme Court rules on the, you know, after oral argument at the end of this month about whether I have immunity from criminal prosecution, from federal criminal prosecution. Judge Marchand's like, okay, A, you're late and B, this is ridiculous. You don't have presidential immunity for the things alleged while you were running for office against Hillary Clinton. And that's only federal immunity anyway, not state immunities.

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and will.com slash legal AF. And then the judge right on cue. They are continuing to try to pressure the judge, try to create error or create appeal ability or article 78 bases. They argued that Judge Mershon again needs to be disqualified or removed because his daughter works for Democratic campaigns in her position in a Chicago political media

firm. Of course, no connection to the judge. He doesn't get any money from that firm, doesn't get any money from his daughter. He never worked at that firm. Why can't he preside over a case involving Donald Trump is beyond everyone, including the judge who denied the exact same motion less than a year ago based on him getting advice from the judicial ethics committee that he did not have to remove himself. So these are the grounds and they're really the only ones, gag order, the immunity motion and the decision here recently about Judge Marshawn not recusing himself. If those are the bases for the

Article 78, he's now Donald Trump's lawyers, led by Todd Blanch. We've heard little from Chris Kisow. Todd Blanch is going to have to go down today. We'll report on a new hot tick. It'll happen quick. And try to get a duty emergency justice, hopefully not Justice Friedman, who's been wrong twice, to listen in their little chambers. There's no court reporter. The attorney general is going to have to run down there on behalf of the judge and represent the judge. The judge won't be there per se in person for this small hearing in this small room about this big decision. And then we're going to find out, we'll report it right back here, tune back in here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF

about whether the judge even preliminarily on an emergency basis granted to stay. Now all that would mean is like today it would be stayed. It doesn't mean that they couldn't still start on the 15th if he even went down the road or she went down the road as a judge to stay the matter, it would only be temporarily stayed with full briefing, I would predict, at the full five-person panel that hasn't yet been selected and then they will hear argument.

And if they do exactly what the panel did with the Judge Angoran last-minute transparent effort to try to stop the trial, they will deny it quickly and Donald Trump once again will be forced to dismiss this Article 78. But a lot of activity here. We got to explain it. We're doing explainers all the time on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. I'll continue to bring it to you. With my experience as a longtime practitioner of New York law and New York criminal law

in courtrooms and courthouses just like this one, and this is where we do it. We'll tell you about it all. We'll explain Article 78, the proceedings, how he's doing it, why he's doing it, and who's going to be there, and the type of hearing that's going to be conducted. Then when we get a result, tune back in. We'll give you the update, I assure you. It'll be one of the leaders of Legal AF. If you like this kind of hot take at the intersection of law and politics, you'll love Legal AF. Join us on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Eastern time. You'll find out why we call it Legal AF. It's for good reason.

We curate the top five stories and developments like this one, and we bring it to you. On Wednesdays, I do the show with Karen Friedman, a former prosecutor, Manhattan DA. And I do it on Saturdays with Ben Miscelis, co-founder of the Midas Touch Network. So you've got lawyers talking about things at the intersection of law and politics that they know what they're talking about. How refreshing. And then if you really like the deep dive, kind of geek out on some of these legal concepts in a way that's both hopefully entertaining and rewarding for you, we have a new Patreon. It's patreon.com slash legal AF. And where I'm posting a video and Ben's posting videos

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this is Michael Popak reporting. to know and we discuss every day on Legal AF. Exclusive content you won't find anywhere else, all for the price of a couple of cups of coffee. Join us at patreon.com slash Legal AF. That's patreon.com slash Legal AF.