Legal AF by MeidasTouch - STUNNED Trump makes DESPERATE Filing after GAG Reinstatement

Episode Date: December 4, 2023

Trump’s lawyers, cutting and pasting from their DC appeal filing, have filed an emergency petition to have NY’s highest appellate court remove the gag order to allow his lawyers and him to bash the judge’s imperiled law clerk some more. Michael Popok of Legal AF explains what goes wrong with the new filing and why it is likely to lose. 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! 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

Michael Popock, legal AF. We got a new attempted appeal by Donald Trump of the gag order that's been reinstated in New York against him. Just on the 30th of November, Donald Trump doesn't like it. And he's asking the first department of pellet division, the appellate court that sits over all Manhattan trial courts, like the one that's presiding over his civil fraud case to allow him to take an expedited appeal to the highest court in New York, which is the court of appeals in New York and laying out in a petition signed by Cliff Robert, one of the many lawyers for Donald Trump in the civil fraud case and arguing at its core, and I have a copy of the motion here, the petition here, arguing at its core, the Donald Trump, because he is a candidate for president has a first amendment right that can be

not impinged. It's an unfettered, sacrosanct right, sacrosanct right, according to the papers, for Donald Trump to continue to bash the principal law clerk and staff that work for Judge Angkoran. It is just mind-boggling being a lawyer that practices regularly in front of these same courts, including these same judges and these same law clerks, for you have to be somebody like Chris Keiss, who's not from around here. Or Cliff Robert that practices out in Long Island, to be able to bring this motion with a straight face.

They say that basically, Donald Trump can do or say anything because he's running for office. He has a first amendment right to uphold the rights of tens of millions of other people. I guess that's his social media feed population. I'm not sure what the 10 million people represents. But he says, Donald Trump and 10 million people have the right to hear Donald Trump. What? Bash the principal law clerk, make scurrilous, unfounded, scandalous, defamatory statements about her, because they need to quote unquote, make a record. Let me explain all of this.

The judge in New York is the trior of fact because there's no jury, which means that judge with assistance of his staff needs to be able to consolidate, reconcile, and resolve thousands of pages of documents, which we call exhibits, witnesses that have testified 25 already for the New York Attorney General, another dozen or so for Donald Trump and all of their days and days of testimony, wearing week nine of the trial. That's, that's not a job for any person. I mean, he's wearing a black robe. He's not wearing a cape. He's not a superhero with super robe. He's not wearing a cape. He's not a superhero

with superpowers. He's a human being. And he takes notes. And there's a transcript and there's documents. And there is a principal law clerk assigned to each judge who is a lawyer that assists the judge, just like a partner or associate in a law firm, assist me when I'm trying a case. They assist him. But they don't like that because they're losing in the courtroom. Donald Trump wants to get media attention every day. That's all that this is about. And so in his briefing, he says he has the right to make a record that the principal law clerk is also running for judge and as a Democrat.

Okay, first of all, he's made that a pellet record. What he's referring to there just to explain sort of a quick briefing on a pellet practice is that if things happen in a trial setting that need to be appealed, you need to preserve the record. Meaning you need to make a record literally with a court reporter and you raise the issue and once you raise the issue, once,

and it's preserved for appeal, that's it. You don't keep raising it every day. I mean, if I try a five or six or eight week trial, that same issue that I've already preserved on appeal on the record may come up a dozen more times. But once the judge says you've preserved that for appeal and it's on the record, you're done. You don't keep making, you don't keep bringing it up

every day. But today, judge, I want to raise that same issue about the evidence that you admitted yesterday in the court. We did that already. The record is preserved. So for them to say at the core of their filing, we need to continue day by day to point out

that the principal law clerk is assisting the judge, which is not controversial at all, is allowed by the rules and is her job. That's why she's getting paid by the state. What do they think the principal law? Here's a question for Chris Keiss and Alina Habba and Cliff Robert. What do you think the job of the principal law clerk is? If you don't like her assisting the judge, if you don't like her passing notes to the judge about testimony, where she may have spotted something in the testimony that's inconsistent with the testimony

of her current witness, completely fair game and appropriate. In fact, if I were the judge and my law clerk didn't do that, I'd fire her or him. So I think that's a good way for if it ever gets to the Court of Appeals. I think that's a great way for the Court of Appeals to start the argument with the lawyers for Donald Trump, which are just recycling the exact same arguments, same phrases, same sentences. So almost like AI, except I don't want to give them the credit for intelligence, that they use the DC Court of Appeals that's currently considering a gag order that Judge Chutkin imposed in the criminal case in DC.

It's almost the same brief, just a redux version, right, like a reader's digest version. So I would ask them if I were one of the judges of the court of appeals, I would say explain to me what you think the principal law clerk is supposed to do and how this goes beyond the boundaries of what she's supposed to do. And then my second question as Justice Popak, if I ever got that opportunity, would be explain to me why the record

hasn't already been preserved on the issue and why your client, who's a participant in the civil fraud case as a defendant, has to take to the airwaves and social media hasn't already been preserved on the issue and why your client, who's a participant in the civil fraud case as a defendant, has to take to the airwaves and social media and in the courtroom every day in order to bash this same lock clerk, even now knowing that the lock clerk has been subject, along with the judge to death threats into the hundreds and thousands because of the attacks by the former president, explained to me that.

So this again, we always have to explain for Donald Trump, who's not a normal litigant, and I mean that on many, many levels. Why is he doing this? It's not working in the courtroom. He is losing the case in the courtroom. We've been following the case every day. We've been watching the courtroom. He is losing the case of the courtroom. We've been following the case every day. We've been watching the evidence. We know Judge Angora and already found that the Trump organization and all of its executives, including Donald Trump, has committed persistent

fraud. And he's made that decision as far back as a year ago when he imposed a monitor, a former judge to monitor the day to day activities of the Trump organization and Donald Trump. So we know he's losing in the courtroom and nothing's getting better for him in the defense. So what's he left with? Attack the New York Attorney General, Leticia James. They actually had the brass ones, I'll leave it at that, to accuse the New York Attorney General of politicizing this case by having what they call frequent press conferences. She's having frequent press conferences. Donald Trump every day, he was at trial at breaks and sometimes not anything

coming back from the break on time, pissing off the clerks and the staff would go into the hallway and hold court. No pun intended with Fox News and other right wing magma media to give them, you know, talking points every day. The New York Attorney General was just responding to that to give her version every couple of days of how she saw the trial going. She was only doing that to counter Donald Trump getting the last word and an incorrect, incorrect word.

It ain't a wrong set of statements. She was trying to correct the record. So she's politicizing it, talk about gaslighting. All right, so that's one. Two, the record to answer their other question. How do we preserve the record? The record on appeal has already been preserved. The first time you raised the issue in court, Alina Habba raised the issue.

Chris Keist raised the issue. Cliff Robert raised the issue in court. Alina Haba raised the issue. Chris Kice raised the issue. Cliff Robert raised the issue. All lawyers for Donald Trump, same issue every day bashing the, the principal law clerk. They don't like the Chi rights notes. They don't like that she makes comments. They don't like that she rolls her eyes when they make ridiculous arguments. I got news for them. A jury would be worse for them. Maybe they've never tried enough cases, but they also don't understand the fundamentals of New York practice as it relates to the principle of locklark. And that ignorance, that ignorance is laid bare in their own filing and they don't even know it or they don't care about it.

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today. That's TRYFUME.com. Use code legal AF to save 10% off the journey pack today. Chris Kaisu used to have a decent reputation when he was the solicitor general down into Florida. He's lost it. He when the judge having learned that the appellate court on Thursday reinstated his gag order, he let it be known in court. I am I plan on wr plan on rigorously and vigorously enforcing the gag orders on this issue. You, everybody should know that that order has been reinstated. And Chris Kies said, we, we, we understand it, your honor. And it's,

uh, and it's a sad day. It's a sad day for democracy. It's a sad day for justice. Chris Kies's comment was, we're aware it's a tragic day for the rule of law. I got news for Chris Kies. It's tragic to watch how you and your fellow lawyers, most of which are participating in this court by permission of the court, because you're not barred in the state of New York, are trampling over the judicial process and making a mockery out of it and attacking people that are just doing their job. You may not like their politics, Chris.

You may not like that she's a Democrat. I don't like that you're a Republican, but that doesn't matter. We're supposed to be calling balls and strikes. We're supposed to be advocating zealously for our clients, but we're supposed to preserve the sanctity and the dignity of the court process. Where is that? It's nowhere. It's these ridiculous statements that Chris Kaizen and others make in their filings.

Donald Trump has a sacrosanct, first amendment unfettered right to do whatever he pleases because he's got 10 million social media followers. I mean, I can't even get that statement out without laughing. That can't be the grounds for your appeal. So let's make the prediction, the popok prediction, the legal AF prediction. Maybe, maybe, 6040, the court of appeals grants the right and the first department grant the right for an expedited appeal, maybe. The other timeline that you got got to look at is this

trial that we're talking about is going to be over in the next four weeks. The trial setting is probably going to be over in the next two weeks. And then there's going to be the or the closing arguments in January. Judges already set that. We're a month away from this whole thing being done. But that doesn't mean the principal law clerks should be subject to continue doxing and bashing by the former president of the United States and subject to assassination attempts and threats.

I don't think that should happen in America. So that's one. So they're worried about that. And they're worried that Donald Trump could end up being imprisoned. They actually say this in the brief We're worried that judge and Goran continuing to enforce the gag orders will ultimately try to imprison President Trump only love that being barter and go to Riker's island for a week or two That's a sobering event in his life

But let's set that aside for a minute prediction one 60 40, 60, 40 chance that they'll take up the appeal in time. Then they'll have to set an expedited emergency briefing schedule to get this thing done in the next week. We'll see. And even if that happens, based on the law and the facts, I had a stutter on that last word, facts that they're alleging and their interpretation of constitutional law, which is wrong They're not going to win that appeal and the court of appeals is worried not about so much about Donald Trump Although they are worried about Donald Trump. They're worried about the next Donald Trump

What is the lesson that's being imparted to other Participants in the civil not even criminal civil process participants in the civil, not even criminal civil process. Thousands and thousands and thousands of cases are on the docket in New York every year that go to trials civil disputes, business disputes, personal injury disputes, landlord, tenant disputes, trust in estates disputes, you know, products liability disputes, important stuff. And we're gonna give the permission slip to all people in New York to act like Donald Trump because if you let him act like that, how do you not let the next guy act like that?

Well, Donald Trump gotta wait with it. There's a case that says, I'm allowed to do this. You can't gag me. I can go out every day and bash you, your wife, your loved ones, your staff, it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. I have a First Amendment right. You don't. Part of your First Amendment right. You don't.

Part of your First Amendment right is left at the courthouse steps when you enter the courtroom, either against your will as a criminal defendant or you've been sued or are suing as a participant in civil justice. That's just the way it is. It's the way it's always been. I don't have a First Amendment right.

In fact, it violates my code of ethics to attack judges that I'm appearing regularly in front of. And judges can't attack me regularly that I appear in front of either because you don't have an unfettered first amendment, right? You certainly don't when you're the defendant a civil fraud case and you're a participant in that process. You can try your case in the courtroom. But everything that they cite in their briefing has nothing to do with the courtroom. He has to be able to tell his 10 million social media followers that he doesn't like the law clerk.

Why? What does that have to do with the administration of justice in the courtroom? What does that have to do with the right and the ability to do process in a court of law? What does that have to do with the with the ability to either win or lose your case in a civil fraud matter? Zero. And that is where the court, whether it's the first department, a pellet division that

just ruled on the 30th or the new court of appeals that will rule in the future, they have to preserve and protect and defend to use the phrase that's uh oh, karate right now, the justice system. Because if this out of control maniac and his lawyers do it now, you can imagine anarchy that results in the future from a court order that allows Donald Trump to do this and continue to do this. Today, it's the principal law clerk and the wife of the judge and the judge tomorrow, who knows a preschool child of a judge? How low will Donald Trump and his lawyers sink?

They're already hit rock bottom and they're starting to dig as far as I'm concerned. How low will they go? Is there a child of one of these participants that happens to be disabled or have a handicap in some way? Why don't we attack them? You know, there was a big attack, criticism about how the media followed Baron Trump. And Melania was all upset about it, our former first lady. But her husband has no problem coming after the elderly wife of a judge wrongly, by the way, claiming that she was posting things on social media when she was not.

And that was a fake account or some or not even her account. But this is Donald Trump out of control. If these events, if you want your former president to stoop so low that he would, in a defamatory and disgusting way, attack a lot of women, by the way, women and others, law clerks and judges. If that's what you want in your brand of, of, of president, I can't talk you out of it. If you're okay with this, if you don't find that these activities are disqualifying events for this person to ever hold high office again, there's nothing that we can say on legal A for the mightest touch network that's going to convince you.

But keep an open mind. Let the scales drop from your eyes and watch what is happening and decide if this person aligns with your values, your morals, your political leanings. And if he doesn't, then don't vote for him. But we'll continue to bring it right here on legal a f the leading podcast of the intersection of law politics and justice. Follow me every Wednesday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Only on the Midas touch network. We got the long form podcast goes for about an hour or five topics like this

one. And I got co anchors, former prosecutor, Karen Friedman, Knifelo, civil rights lawyer, legendary, then my sellers on Saturdays, and then we're on audio podcast platforms of your choosing. So until my next hot tick, till my next legal AF, this is Michael Popak reporting. Hey, Midas Mighty. Love this report. Continue the conversation by following us on Instagram. At Midas Touch to keep up with the most important news of the day.

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