Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Pissed Off GOP Judge goes Berserk on Trump in Open Court

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

In breaking news, a Senior Federal Judge in Philly has BLOCKED Trump’s efforts  operate his own Ministry of Truth to whitewash slavery out of American History, and deface and destroy a national monument in Independence Hall Park dedicated to George Washington’s first house and his enslavement of 9 people.  Popok reports on Judge Rufe quoting from George Orwell, and takes on Trump whom she calls a base “chief magistrate” who is not allowed to both sides the slavery in America facts just because he is in power. Upwork: Visit https://upwork.com right now and post your job for free! Interview with PA Governor Josh Shapiro: https://youtu.be/OCAe7cMyIQk Interview with Retired Federal Judge Michael Luttig: https://youtu.be/sDuv6yyixXc Subscribe to  @LegalAFMTN  for more! 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 Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats 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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George Washington because Donald Trump finds it distasteful. And Judge Roof is showing what federal judges in year two of this administration, now robust, now with courage, now willing to take on the Trump administration in a way they were to a year ago what they're doing about it. They're quoting George Orwell. They're telling the world that Donald Trump is not able to erase facts and history that are meaningful to the American people or otherwise as Donald Trump is busy trying to put back up Confederate generals as statues and put their names back on military bases. I mean, the fact that he, I'm going to show the clip in a minute, the fact that he sent a couple of National Park Service lackeys to go with their bare hands and rip down these plaques from

the president's house, which commemorates the location where President Adams and President Washington resided in the cradle of our democracy, Philadelphia, where I've been since I was a child, which I've frequent, and I've been to Independence Hall, the reproduction of where the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were signed to the Liberty Bell exhibit, which is next to this president's house, to the Betsy Ross Memorial about, the person who allegedly, mythically, created the flag. Donald Trump has no respect for anything that has to do with our history. He allowed the Capitol, another cradle of our democracy, to be attacked and burned.

For the first time since the War of 1812, and Judge Roof, senior status judge Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and people like Governor Josh Shapiro are putting a stop to it. I'm Michael Popok, you're on Midas Touch and Legal AF. I'm fired up. I'm glad we have judges like Judge Roof, and I'm glad the senior status judges are leading the way once again, citing too frequently George Orwell. Now, this all comes down to a plaque, a set of plaques. I'm going to show you a video of it being torn down in a new memorial called President's House, which Philadelphia and Pennsylvania found through historical research, which is the place where Adams and Washington lived. And this was a memorial to the nine, I'm going to read their names in a minute, the nine enslaved people who worked, no, nine enslaved people who were enslaved to do jobs for George Washington. That's the right way to put it. And Donald Trump wants to change that.

So three weeks ago, he sent a couple of guys in to rip the signs down. Now, this is a joint collaboration of the federal government, the Interior Department, the Park Service, and Philadelphia and Pennsylvania to operate this, this second. but they can't deface it. They can't rewrite it. They can't put their Trumpian graffiti on it. Here's a clip of these guys ripping down the signs. Developing right here and right now tonight on Independence Mall, a piece of Philadelphia history was removed this afternoon by the federal government. Cruz dismantled plaques telling the stories of the nine enslaved people who lived in the president's house and were owned by President George Washington. Last year, President Trump ordered National Park staff to flag any displays that might be seen as disparaging to America's past.

Philadelphia Mayor Shue L. Parker says the city is conducting a legal review of this tonight. An attorney who advocated for those plaques in 2010 called the removal quote outrageous and blatantly racist. Here's how the judge, Judge Roof, in granting a preliminary injunction against the interior department, forcing them to restore the site the way it was. here's what she says to lead off on page one, her order today. All history was a palim set, scraped clean and re-inscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible once the deed was done to prove that any falsification had taken place. George Orwell, 1984.

The judge kicks off her order this way, as if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's 1984 now existed, with its motto ignorance is strength. This court is now asked to determine whether the federal government, government has the power it claims to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts, it does not. The president's house is a component of the Independence Historical Park that commemorates the site of the first official presidential residence and the people who live there. These are the first presidents, including people enslaved by President George Washington. On January 22nd of 26, the National Park Service removed those panels

as you saw and displays and video exhibits referencing slavery. The judge goes on on page 31 of her order to talk about these enslaved people. And Donald Trump can't whitewash history away, not on her watch. She says on page 31, quoting from a research book and an amicus brief, the people who President Washington held in slavery, which the commemoration of them on those panels include

O'Ne Judge, who is held in slavery as a maid, Austin, Austin, Odie's brother, Christopher Shields, held in slavery as Washington's butler, body servant, Giles as a carriage driver, Hercules Posey held in slavery as a chef, Joe Richardson held in slavery as a coachman, mall as a nanny, Paris as a stable worker, Richmond, the son of her. Hercules held in slavery as a chimney sweep.

She then quotes George Orwell again about the attempted rewrite. And listen to what she calls Donald Trump in this section. She says the largest section, quoting Big Brothers domain in 1984, the largest section of the government's records department consists simply of persons whose duty it was to track down and collect all copies of books, newspapers, and other documents, which had been sued. superseded and were due for destruction. In other words, recalling and rewriting again and again

without admitting any alteration or admitting any forgery about what had just been rewritten. The government here, the judge says, assert truth is no longer self-evident, but rather the property of the elected chief magistrate and the appointees and delegates. That's you, Trump. As to his whim, to have it scraped clean, hidden or overwritten. And why? solely because he has the power. Listen to this quote she takes from oral argument. This is what the Department of Justice lawyer under Donald Trump, an officer of the court sworn to uphold the Constitution,

who went to a law school program like mine, this is what this person had the Tamari to say out loud in court. At least he admitted it or she admitted it. Although many people feel strongly about this one way, other people may disagree or feel strongly another way. We're both siding slavery? What's next? were both siding the Holocaust.

There were good people on both sides, the Nazis and the Jews and the gypsies and the Russians. Ultimately, it is in this context that the government gets to choose the message and wants to convey. Yeah, only in George Orwell's 1984. The message that the government chooses to convey is for the government to choose.

I don't get to choose, the lawyer says, what the message is, and it's our position that the city, or by implication, the judge doesn't either. An agency. the judge continues. Or any agency cannot arbitrarily decide what is true based on its own whims, the whims of new leadership, regardless of the evidence before it.

Preliminary injunction granted, arbitrary and capricious action. You cannot rewrite history. Conclusion, page 40, the defendant shall reinstall all panels, displays, and video exhibits that were in place. They shall prevent any additions, removals, or destruction, or further changes to the president's house, except in a mutual written agreement between the defendants and the city of Philadelphia. An order will be entered. I had Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, joined me for an interview about how to oppose a lawless president doing lawless and rogue things.

And he had this to say to me in the interview. Play the clip. Where you are eviscerating the trust between law enforcement and community, as we're seeing in Minneapolis, where you're leaving families to be hungry. as you see because of the way in which he ripped snap away. And I think what we have to do is, yes, we got to win in the midterms. But before that, we need people standing up every single day, not being afraid to speak up, standing up and fighting for what's right.

Sometimes it's in a court of law, as I do. And sometimes it needs to be people who are peacefully protesting and standing up to this administration. I think it is all critically important. And I just want to celebrate the people who do stand up for the rule of law. day and do stand up for what's right. Scaling a business doesn't mean doing everything yourself. The smartest teams, they delegate faster with the right freelance talent. And that's where Upwork comes in.

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are about. And I predict, and I think I'm going to be right about this, or I wouldn't make the prediction, that more and more federal judges are going to be holding the Trump administration, the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, Interior, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and anybody else in contempt. Somebody, many people are at risk to going to jail in the Trump administration, not waiting around for the new Department of Justice in 28 or 29, but now, on the receiving end of a contempt order by a federal judge, that ceiling was broken by Judge Bozberg last year in D.C. in a case involving 137 men made to disappear in El Salvador and him starting criminal contempt proceedings against Christy Noem.

But other judges are going to pick up the mantle. They have the courage. In fact, I asked Judge Ludick former Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals who should be our Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court about what's the big change with federal judges. He talks to them regularly. This is what he had to say to me.

Frankly, every American is against Donald Trump today, except his die-in-the-wall Maga, I believe. And, of course, the Congress of the United States. right so but that you know tsunami that didn't begin until a month ago was the saving grace for the lower federal courts you know whatever cliche you want to stiff in their spines but actually

no, more appropriately, it gave them the courage, the needed courage from above them or outside them, to do what they knew they had to do and wanted to do all along. And that's why you've seen floodgates, every single thing leading up to most recently. and this had begun four months in the last four months of last year, where, well, six months of last year, actually, where it began the Department of Justice and every other government official that appeared before the courts, including the Solicester General of the United States, another law clerk of mine. I'm just going to say, don't leave out John Sauer or your other clerk. Don't you worry. And all of those officials begin addressing the federal courts of the United States in court with open contempt. Yeah.

And actually lying to the federal judges to their faces. And that, you know, that began, that. The federal judges begin to push back on that the last six months of last year. Now, when it's clear to, you know, that they're going to do this for the next three years, those same federal judges, meaning all of the lower court federal judges, they're not going to have it. So we will continue to follow what happens next as Donald Trump tries to rewrite history and write out in whitewash slavery here on Midas Dutch Network and on LegalAF.

Take a minute, hit the free subscribe button here. Come over to LegalAF YouTube, do the exact same thing. Until my next report, I'm Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal AF. Me neither. That's why we form the Legal AF substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or an oral argument,

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