Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Top Trump Official Under Investigation for Financial Crimes?!

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

A new Senate Probe is focused on whether Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick— the architect of the Tariff scheme— violated insider trading laws and other securities law violations along with his sons and their family business Cantor Fitzgerald, when that company reportedly set up a business to profit on the Trump Tariffs being STRUCK DOWN by a Court. Michael Popok reports. Done With Debt: Visit https://DoneWithDebt.com and talk to a strategist for FREE! 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 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 On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leading Senate Democrats have started a new probe of Howard Lutnik, the Commerce Secretary's former family business, the one that's currently being run by his sons and led by Brandon Lutnik. I think he's 28 years old because Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden, the two ranking Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, want to know more about what was reported last month that Kanner is betting against Donald Trump and his tariffs by offering to buy, buy potential refunds from companies who are being overcharged on tariffs

that are likely, as we have reported, likely to be struck down as an improper exercise of presidential power. So let's get this straight. Cantor Fitzgerald, a family business run by the family, the sons of the Commerce Secretary, where the Commerce Secretary has control over the tariffs, is betting against the tariffs. that was the reporting from a month ago in Wired magazine by offering to sell a instrument or a product to its counterparties to its clients that would allow them to effectively sell

their potential refunds for cents on the dollar, where Canter would reap hundreds of millions of dollars. And now Elizabeth Warren wants to know more about that. Michael Popak, and hopefully you want to know more about it here on the Midas Touch Network and Unlegal A.F. Okay, let's get to the story. What happened? I did the report originally here on the Midas Dutch Network about the instrument,

the product that Canter Fitzgerald was selling. Now, look, Canter Fitzgerald may no longer be run by Howard Lutnik any longer, but only by his two sons. However, it's also done an extraordinary job since the election at increasing its revenue. Now, people there say they're not getting inside information from Howard Lutnik, who recently departed and sold the business to his sons under a trust or whatever it is, But, well, they know how Howard thinks. And so they're just doing things knowing what, it's almost like, what would Howard think?

That's how they're doubling their profits. Does anybody really believe that? But in any event, then the announcement came that they are effectively betting against the Trump policies, which struck people as, you know, inappropriate, if not downright odd. Here's what the letter to Brandon Lutnik, chairman and CEO of Canter Fitzgerald at 110, East 59th Street says, Mr. Lutton, We write regarding recent reports that your investment banking subsidiary, Canter Fitzgerald & Coe, has created a financial product

for the purpose of betting on the outcome of litigation related to President Trump's tariffs. Specifically, Canter has created a litigation finance product that places the company in the position of betting that courts will strike down Trump's tariffs, given that one of your purported architects, one of the purported architects of President Trump's tariff policy, is Comrade Secretary Howard Lutnik, your father and the former chairman and CEO of the company, these actions raise obvious conflict of interest and insider dealings concerns. And then they go on with the rest of it. And what they want is the following. This is on page two. How many tariff refund agreements have been drafted to date? How many have been

finalized? Is Canter or any affiliated entity, the counterparty, in any tariff refund agreement? In other words, are they a participant? And if they aren't, which Canter entity is? Did Canter create the tariff refund agreements at the request of a specific client, or did Canter originate the agreements? Has Canter sold its rights under any of the agreements? Please provide the language used to assign potential refunds. Does the language in the tariff refund agreements with duty-paying companies, meaning those that had to pay the tariff only apply to refunds as a result of litigation or to any potential refund as a result of any action? Has anyone at Canter or Canter Fitzgerald communicated with any person within the executive branch, including President Trump,

Secretary Lutnik, any individual employed by the Commerce Department, about tariffs. That's a good question. Or about the court cases. We are concerned about the negative impacts of the tariffs and seek additional information regarding efforts by can or two profit from them. Sincerely, Ron Wyden, Elizabeth Warren, ranking members, committee on banking housing and Urban Affairs and Committee on Finance. Now, let me break this all down for you.

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Canter Fitzgerald is a financial services business. Full disclosure, I worked there a million years ago as global head of litigation for them. But I don't have any insider knowledge about what's going on there. I left a long time ago. Now, Canter, as part of its business, has counterparties and conducts transactions and sometimes creates products. And the reporting from Wired magazine that I relied on, and so did Elizabeth Warren and Senator Wyden, is that they decided to profit by selling a product where they, Cantor Fitzgerald, would buy cents of the dollar opportunities

for people to get refunds on tariffs. So let's say I thought I overpaid my tariffs by 10%, overpaid in tariffs 10%. And let's say that's $10 million. Well, Canter would buy it from me for $1 or $2 million. And if the refund gets overturned, Canter profits the extra $8 million. Do you see?

They pay cents on the dollar, It's sort of like these companies that are out there buying your tax refund or other types of refund or your lottery winnings. You know, it's like that. It's like the viaticals business. So that was reported and it was weakly denied, if at all, by Cantor Fitzgerald at the time. Just all the news reports about that is not accurate. There's been a lot of news reports coming out of Canter Fitzgerald that they're making money hand over fist, mainly because they're following. What would Howard do as a model?

That's what they want us to believe. this comes out. I report on it and we train our fire on it. And now it looks like they're no longer going to go into the business. Their new story is, well, we thought about it. We were approached by a counterparty to do it, but we ended up not doing it. That sounds like weasel words to me. And if it's true, then let them give full disclosure to the Senate, let them trot down one of their executives to go and peer in front of a bank of microphones in front of senators widened and Warren, and they can answer all those questions. But that doesn't sound like an honest answer to me.

Well, somebody came to us, and they talked to us about doing this, but we thought better of it and we never did it. Okay. I think what, I'll give you my version. The media, including Midas Touch and Legal A.F, focused on the hypocrisy of Howard Lutnik's family business run by his sons, profit. on going against Trump policy and the irony of that. And we weren't the only ones, but we were one of the leaders.

And then it looked bad for Canter, who always is worried, as most financial services companies, are about their reputation, their brand issues. And so they thought, well, that looked a little too on the nose, a little too close. Why don't we not do that anymore? And maybe that was killed by some executive committee within the company. we have a right to know, and it looks bad, and it smells bad. What's the phrase for that? The optics are terrible, and let's get down to it.

Now, Howard Lutnik announced to the world when he sold off his company to his sons, that he was very ethical. There are no conflicts of interest. He solved all the conflicts of interest. He turned the company over to his sons, the 28-year-old, the 27-year-old. And that's what we're supposed to believe. But I don't think the senators here, Wyden and Warren, should be focused on that. I think they should be focused on getting real true answers and determine

if we have a real ethical conflict of interest and whether there's insider trading issues and they're allowed to do that. And that's what senators do on those committees. So I'll continue to follow the probe of Canter Fitzgerald, a family-owned business that recently was owned and controlled by one Howard Lutton, Congress Secretary under Donald Trump. And because it's the right thing to do. I'll continue to follow it right here. While you're here, hit the subscribe button on Midas Touch. Slide over to LegalAF YouTube channel. Do the exact same thing and follow me on podcast. Legal AF, the podcast, on Midas Touch Wednesdays and Saturdays. And my other podcast, The Intersection, Tuesday nights, 8 p.m. Eastern Time, also on Midas Touch.

I'm Michael Popok. Until my next report. In collaboration with the Midas Touch Network, we just launched the LegalAF YouTube channel. Help us build this pro-democracy channel where I'll be curious. the top stories the intersection of law and politics go to youtube now and free subscribe at legal a f mtn that's at legal a f mtn