Legal AF by MeidasTouch - TERRIFIED Eric Trump RUNS AWAY from Court Testimony, GIVES UP

Episode Date: December 6, 2023

Eric Trump is taking his ball and going home and refusing to testify in the NY civil fraud trial to defend his father’s business practices UNLESS he gets to bash the judge’s law clerk like daddy does. Michael Popok of Legal AF explains why the Trump defense has thrown in the towel and has stopped defending itself knowing that they have lost the trial, and are using any excuse they can think of to save face. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://TryMiracle.com/LEGALAF and use the code LEGALAF to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. 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 a upstop the presses. We thought we were going to hear from Donald Trump again, Eric Trump again. Don Jr. again in Ivanka, Trump testifying in the New York civil fraud case. Because I don't know, their business life is on the line in that case. You've got a judge who holds their entire business assets and all of their ability to ever do business again in New York in his hands. You think they put on these witnesses again to try to convince the judge once and for all that there was no persistent fraud, no material misstatements made

and the insurance procurement in their ability to obtain loans from Deutsche Bank and others, no fraud in the statement of financial conditions. You know, the things that are at the heart of the case brought by the New York Attorney General. The New York Attorney General already brought Donald Trump in. You remember we reported it here on the Midas Dutch network. Ivanka, Trump, Eric, Trump, all that. Don Jr. already testified. So he sort of done. But we thought for sure they tried to bring back Eric Trump. He did such a terrible job. Bit off all of his fingernails. I'm not kidding. Go look at the pictures. During the testimony, the hostile witness testimony where he was compelled to testify to the New York Attorney General and he had to admit that he had an involvement with the with the statement of financial condition

preparation, which the New York Attorney General claims is fraudulent, inflated and cooked that the numbers should really total one billion when they were when they put three billion down on the paper in order to borrow more money, they were entitled to get insurance that they weren't entitled to get approvals for buildings and projects that they were entitled to refinance things they were entitled to and the like. We thought well, Eric did terribly. They're at least going to call him back and probably Donald Trump, too, right? Because Donald Trump didn't do well either in trying to, to, to fend the heart of the case that his statement of financial conditions weren't fraudulent, that the inflated numbers

used for Mar-a-Lago and 40 Wall Street and Bedminster and all of that were not true. This is his opportunity. But instead, Donald Trump and his lawyers have been bashing the principal law clerk that works for the judge as if that's giving them a defensive any kind. And then when they got gagged and then they took the appeal and they got the appeal against them. In other words, the appellate court just recently last Thursday ruled that Donald Trump and his lawyers should shut the you know what up and be gagged and stop attacking the principal law clerk. They took that up on appeal and they tried to take

it up on an expedited appeal, but they screwed it up because they don't understand New York law or New York procedure. And so Chris Kice made a fool of himself trying to convince a attorney and a clerk down at the filing office for the appellate court to accept his papers. I've been in that room before, by the way. And the clerk said, we're not, no, it's on Madison Avenue in New York. That's not how it works. You can't get a duty judge, administrative judge. You got to go through your full appellate panel that you just argued your case in front of and lost. And so that delayed things.

So they went before judge Angkor on today and they said, oh, we want to delay the testimony of all the Trump people until after the gag order issue is resolved on appeal. We're not even sure it's going anywhere on appeal. The first department said, yeah, fully brief. It will see you in the middle of December. Maybe the case will be over by then. If there's no guarantees, it's going to, it's going to be taken up to the highest court in New York, the court of appeals. So they asked Judge Angor on, can we delay the testimony of Donald Trump? And I guess now, Eric Trump, until after the

appellate court may be rules in our favor, the judge looked at the New York attorney general and said, what do you think? They said, absolutely not. The judge said, absolutely not. We agree. No, we're going forward with this trial. The appeal issue notwithstanding. Now, we thought it was just a Donald Trump issue.

All right, Donald Trump's not going to testify. All right, big deal. That's just a circus that comes to town, craps all over the court system and leaves. Anyway, leaving the New York Attorney General, Leticia James, cleaning up behind it. But Eric Trump, we thought, why is Eric Trump not going? Does Eric Trump feel like I can't testify unless I have also for good measure attack the principal law clerk?

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They got an issue with the principal law clerk. They think she's biased, that she's a democratic operative, that she's, you know, Chuck Schumer's girlfriend or whatever they think about her. They've already preserved that issue on a for appeal. They preserve the issue for appeal. There's a way to preserve something for appeal. You make a record. They made a record. They don't have to make a record every day. It's not a broken record. It's a record. You make a record. You say, Judge, this is what I would argue and you make your argument. And then it's preserved on the record for appeal. And then if you, when the case is over, you can go take it up on appeal. Bringing it up every day and every morning for a week, bashing the principal awkward is not

making a record in good faith on appeal. And so they already made it. So I don't get why Eric Trump now, as the reporting has come out, is has said, I'm not going to testify either. So they're going to adjourn all of Wednesday in the trial. You've got a limited amount of time here, Trumpers, to try to convince this judge and turn this ship around.

This judge has already ruled a year ago on a standard that there was persistent fraud in a Trump organization to require a monitor, an outside former judge to monitor the all of the business operations and financial dealings of the Trump world. He already found that. He already found on summary judgment nine weeks ago, right? Before the October start of the trial, already found that then that there was persistent fraud

and found summary judgment without the need for a trial on the first count of the petition, the first count of the complaint. This is just about how many more counts of fraud within, with an intentional component to it are going to be tried in front of the same judges. There's no jury. And so you think you try everything. Everything within decorum, reasonable good faith things in arguments, merit, merit-based arguments, not meritless ones, not abusing the staff and the law clerk, not violating your, your oath as a lawyer, as a bar member, the ethics that you're sworn to uphold, not that.

So Donald Trump doesn't want to testify because he doesn't want to testify and he's looking for an excuse. They know they've lost with this judge. So they don't want to put Donald Trump back up there to be embarrassed across examination by the New York Attorney General. So they looked for an excuse, aha, I have my excuse. Here's my excuse. I wanted to continue to bash the principal law clerk and looked for an excuse. Uh-huh, I have my excuse. Here's my excuse. I wanted to continue to bash the principal law clerk

and I don't want to be able to, I don't want to testify until then. Really? That's an excuse. That's a smoke screen, that's a cover. That's a diversionary tactic. Donald Trump was never gonna testify and now they found their excuse.

So judge, yeah, we don't, we're, he's not going to testify. And I thought, all right, let's, let's go to Eric Trump. Eric Trump's not part of the gag order. He's not the one that's been bashing the principal law clerk. But now they've said they're going to withdraw, um, they're going to take their ball and go home with Eric Trump. Well, if no one's going to testify, except for the Deutsche Bank bankers who did not do well for Donald Trump, some other experts who aren't expert on the issue that's at the core of the case. And so their testimony will be quickly dispatched by the judge. If that's your case, then they're just trying to get the case over with oral arguments,

final arguments in January, the that judges issues is ruling in January, and then they can take their appeal to the first department of palliative vision, a new four judge panel of that, which is the intermediary of pellet court in New York, and they can take their highest level appeal to the court of appeals. But they'll lose, and then they'll try to post a bond money, big money, because this is going to be a big number. This is going to be like a half a billion dollar number. And Donald Trump's going to be forced out of business in New York, and his companies

are going to be dissolved. And his trust is going to have to replace its trustee. And Donald Trump and others aren't going to ever be able to be New York corporate officers and directors ever again, at least for a long period of time. So it's a big deal. He'll try to post a bond and argue for a stay that these bad things don't happen while he's while he's off on his appeal world, which could take another year.

None of this affected by whether he runs for president wins the presidency doesn't win the presidency. This is state court action. This will be over. If he doesn't want to prosecute his appeal while, you know, while he's campaigning, that's up to him. But this is the headscratcher and the only explanation for why Eric Trump is not going back up there and a bunk of Trump is not going back up there is because they're, they're

phoning it in. They're now phoning it in. They're pulling in their oars. They're taking their ball and going home, putting your own metaphor. They're done. Put a fork in it. Case over for the defense. They're going to

take their licks with an order they know is going to be against them by a trial judge who is ruled consistently against them from the beginning based on evidence and facts. And that's the end of it. And I guess they'll they'll be heard out of the corner of our ears and eyes to blame the principal law clerk. As they go over the cliff, it was the principal law clerk, as they go over the cliff. It was the principal law clerk the whole time. And they can take that story because that's all it is to the appellate courts and see what happens. And that's it. That's over. They got one stop. There's no Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court involved. This is all state court proceeding. First Department of Pellate Division on Madison Avenue sits over the trial court level, which is called the Supreme Court, and then if they get an appeal, they can take it to the court

of appeals, which will hear the case in New York, and that's the end of the show. Speaking of the end of the show, I've reached the end of my hot take, but not the end of my involvement with the Midas Dutch Network and their YouTube channel. That's where I do all of my work, my legal analysis at the intersection of law. Politics and justice here on hot tics and on our special curated podcast, we call legal AF, only on the Midas Touch Network exclusively there. Wednesdays and Saturdays, we do stories. If you like hot tics, you gotta love our legal AF Wednesdays, Karen Friedman, Agniflo Saturdays, Ben, Myceles, and me on both shows. We break it down for you on hot takes like this one, except there's two of us. If you like what I'm doing, leave me a thumbs up.

Seriously, it really helps with the ratings, helps keep me on the air. If you want to keep me on the air, give me a thumbs up. And until my next hot take, until my next legal AF, this is Michael Popak reporting. Hey, MidasMiddi. Love this report? Continue the conversation by following us on Instagram. At MidasTouch to keep up with the most important news of the day. What are you waiting for?

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