Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump Called out for Blatant Contempt in Open Court

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

Trump’s pressure campaign of his own Kennedy Center board of Trustees, in a. “Breathtaking act of defiance” voted to put his name BIGGER on the Kennedy Center than before, in direct violation of Judge Cooper’s 96 page order. And Trump sat on the phone call to make sure they did it! Popok has the latest “Joint Report” filing in hand, and explains what will likely happen next in Judge Cooper’s courtroom —hint: he’s not going to be happy. Spring Sleep: Thanks to today’s sponsor, Spring Sleep: eXciteOSA is an FDA-cleared, prescription-only device for primary snoring and mild obstructive sleep apnea. Go to https://springsleep.com/legalaf and unlock 20% off with the code LEGALAF Pre-order the new book from MeidasTouch, WTF America?!: The Way Out of This Hell and Back to Democracy, today: https://bit.ly/wtfamericayoutube 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 The Ken Harbaugh Show: https://meidasnews.com/tag/the-ken-harbaugh-show 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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the Kennedy Center and their trustees that they are and reminded them that they are fiduciaries, that they have a fiduciary duty of loyalty, they have a duty of prudence, they have to make good decisions in the public's interest, not in Donald Trump's, and they can't put his name on the building. Remember the whole scaffolding and tarp, which is still up over the Kennedy Center issue? It all came to a head because there was a board meeting in the middle of August. The court, of course, knew about the board meeting, and said, you know what? Do your board meeting. You do you. And if you're going to shut down the Kennedy Center, which is a violation of the organic statute

about the Kennedy Center, you better make a good record to show that you were prudent in your decision-making. I don't think the judge is going to like the fact that they made the decision to shut down the Kennedy Center and stop programming for the community based on two slides of a slide deck, a PowerPoint consisting of two slides. How is that showing prudence? And more importantly, the open childish active defiance to try to put his name, Trump's name, back on the Kennedy Center. Now it's going to be even bigger than JFK's own name, the only living memorial to JFK that exists in the D.C. area after his assassination. Now, instead of just being one line of text that says to John F. Kennedy Memorial Performing Arts Center, there's now going to be two more lines of text, probably bigger with Donald Trump's name on it and a plaza renamed after Donald Trump in direct violation of Judge Cooper's order, which in a way has been affirming.

by an appellate court and of the statute establishing the Kennedy Center, an act of Congress. I'm Michael Popock. Where are you? You're the Midas Touch networking on legal A.F. It's an upside down, topsy-turvy day in America. And to paraphrase Ronald Reagan at the wall, tear down that name, Mr. Trump. Now, Trump, if you can believe it, according to Joyce Beattie, who's the representative from Ohio who brought the case, He was an ex-officio member board of trustees.

He actually phoned into the August 13th board meeting. Nothing like bearing down and pressuring and putting your big fat thumb on the scale as the board tries to do its fiduciary duties. We should know better. You know who's really running the show for Donald Trump? Howard Lutnik, the Commerce Secretary and his wife, Alison Lutnik. When Discovery opens up, I'll give you a path for discovery. Get all the text messages between Alison Lutnik and Howard Lutnik.

since she's on the board. Get all the text messages between Usha Vance and J.D. Vans. Get all the text messages between Paolo Zempoly, who's on the board, Donald Trump's modeling career buddy, who introduced him to Melania Trump at the Kikkat Club, who said, the letter should be as big as possible. Get the text messages between Trump and Zampoli. Here's Joyce Beattie talking about the phone call that she was on as a board member

and Donald Trump listening in. Play the clip. The entire meeting, which was about an hour in our meeting time. It was very interesting because we're just revisiting the same thing. This time, he wants to put an inscription at the bottom of the John F. Kennedy Memorial name. But my lawyers will file a joint report on this Tuesday, and which will notify the court about the actions that were taken in the board. meeting in the latest development. The government must also already meet the court's order to talk about when the tart will come down. And so we are going back to court. This is something that the board

has brought up again. And of course, you have to remember that the $257 million that was in the bill, government taxpayers' dollars. So again, Donald Trump wants to take credit. And you use this as a billboard for his name. And we're going to go back to court as much as it takes. We've been victorious on this because it's unreal. Now it brings us to the resolution. Of course, the court was wise to the fact it was going to be in August meeting. And he wanted an immediate status conference within five days or joint status report within five days after that meeting.

You want to know what happened at the meeting? Well, here's a resolution that will post on legal A.F. substack for you, and here's what it says. Whereas the center has been in dire need of funding, it is losing $100 million a year, whereas Donald J. Trump has successfully engaged in raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the center, whereas the center would be in financial ruin without President Trump's unique stature as a world-class developer, be it resolved first that the center desires to honor the president's contributions with an inscribed recognition on the building just below the name of the center. So they wanted to read, at least

in the short term, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Performing Arts, restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump. How is that not a violation of the court's order and the statute establishing the memorial, which says there shall be no other names in memorial or otherwise at or around the center? But it gets worse, because then the resolution goes on to say that if they raise $100 million, everything's for sale in Trump world, then he gets a third line of text. Yes, then they'll add endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund. So there'll be one line of text for the memorial and two lines celebrating Donald Trump that was supported by his lackeys.

Now, people like Howard Lutnik and Allison Lutnik know better, they've been on boards, they've got companies with boards, they should know their fiduciary duties, especially after Judge Cooper came out and said in his order, they can't do it. In fact, Howard Lutnik recently said that he's in charge to make sure that they're in full compliance with the court's order. What lawyers are advising you? Here's Howard Lutnik on that very point. Given some of the recent legal battles surrounding the Kennedy Center,

can you give us any insight into where the president's plans for renovation stand and what we can expect for the center in the near future? The president wants to take this amazing institution. which was built, you know, long ago, right? And it needs a renovation, okay? It's got safety issues, it's got air conditioning issues, it's got elevator issues, it's got water issues. It's just got age issues.

And the president wants to make the place glorious. I mean, he's not only the commander-in-chief. He's the builder-in-chief. He's the greatest builder in the country, and he's the president, and he wants to take this amazing center, right? which should be the most glorious performing arts center in the country and put it back at that spot. And that's what he's trying to do. And that's what he wants to do. And my guess is I'd always bet on President Trump because generally he does what he thinks is the right thing to do. And he'll get this through the courts. We'll resolve it. And this center will shine like it's never shined before.

Do you think his name will be able to come back on the branding or is that? Well, tell. Well, the way it will. it should be different, right? But that'll go through the courts and we'll see what happens. But in the end, the president's going to make this building amazing. Do you snore? Did somebody

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Not for everyone. Individual results vary. Risks and benefits at spring sleep.com. Let me read to you by the Joint Status Report. Now, a joint status report is when both parties are required to tell their side of the story. You know, it's like two kids running a mom and dad. Mom and dad, in this case, being federal judge, Chris Cooper.

Let's just take it from the mom's side, shall we, Joyce Beattie? Plaintiff's statement. Page five. First, at the August 13th board meeting, defendants voted to add Donald Trump's name back onto the facade and grounds of the Kennedy Center. This latest move is deeply concerning. They knowingly voted to violate their own organic statute in seemed intent on defying the court's decision. They also say that the pretextual justification for the tarp, yeah, that tarp is still up on the building, block in the name. That's done as a pretext in order to avoid returning it to pre-leasing. litigation status quo. They also say on page 6 that the defendants are defying this court's decision on renaming

by putting his name back onto the facade. Now, they've said they won't do it any earlier than September 8th. That just means Judge Cooper is going to have to issue a new order blocking the renaming all over again. And holding people in contempt for that facade and that a tarp still being up. On page 7, they say on August 13, plaintiff's counsel contacted the defendants counsel who committed in writing that they will not they will not effectuate the facade plaza resolution until august 27th i've heard that's now been moved to

september 8th this ensured plaintiff could inform the court of this astonishing development in this joint status report page 9 on the law the latest renaming resolution is a breathtaking act of defiance and they later say it is childish adding the words restored and renovated by or endowed by before President Trump's name provides no lawful basis to ignore this court's decision and impose Donald Trump's name on a memorial dedicated by Congress exclusively to a different president, citing to the statute 20 U.S. Code 76J.1, establishing the Kennedy Center and stating that, Act of Congress, no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

And the court underscored that with its own order. And creating a Trump Kennedy Center fundraising arm doesn't give you the right to throw Trump's name next or on top of the Kennedy Center. It is a defiance of the status quo, as they say later, in their filing. And then they go for what they really need to get, which is they need the discovery, discovery in the form of emails and text messages and correspondence. They need to get a hold of that two-slide slide deck presented by the Delta Consulting Group, which said, yeah, go ahead and shut down the Kennedy Center for two years. We can't do phased renovation so that we can keep it open and keep the programming going to the people

as required by Congress. Why can't you? Well, we have a five slide deck that says, we can't. Well, no, you actually don't. Because when you take away the title pages and the introduction and the biography of the guy who did the analysis, you're left with two pages of substance that was given to the board two days before. That is not, and it's by definition, not prudent decision-making and a violation of their fiduciary duties. But they want depositions, the Joyce BD side. They want emails. They want text messages. They don't want it curated or

spoon-fed to them the documents by the board who can't be trusted. So this is what I think. think is going to happen. I think the judge is not going to be happy. I think Judge Cooper is going to call the parties in together. He's going to hold an evidentiary hearing. He's going to grant the request for discovery. He's going to require board members to sit for depositions and turn over their phones and their emails and their texts.

He's going to issue a stay to block any name change to the plaza or the facade until he rules. he's going to order that the tarp come down. He's going to let the other side on briefing schedule file their motion for a new preliminary injunction on the new naming resolution so that we have a clear set of pleadings. And then he's going to make a ruling probably be sometime in late September. And from there, anybody who's on the losing side, and I'm looking at you, Trump and the Kennedy Senator Board, you can go run to your local federal appellate court and try to get two judges to rule in your favor.

If you don't like that ruling, you can try to. to take it up to the United States Supreme Court, who know how to read, by the way, including the organic statute set by Congress. And no amount of, well, the board wants to celebrate the genius of Donald Trump and put his name on there, that is not an excuse to violate a statute. We still operate under separation of powers. The executive branches to execute the law, not make new law, or not breathe down the neck. of his self-selected board of trustees and force them to put his name back on. I mean, this isn't Trump derangement syndrome.

This is megalomaniacal narcissism. Why do you have to put your name on everything, like some sort of Roman emperor? Why does it have to be in gold? Why do I have to spend money and time and waste valuable taxpayer dollars to restore Washington by ripping down Donald Trump's edifices, names, ballrooms, Kennedy Center, arches, and whatever else his lame brain administration decides that they're going to give him as tribute. I'm fired up, I'm back here on the Midas Dutch Network in Legal AF. Take a minute, hit that free subscribe button on LegalAF YouTube channel.

If you want to read all these filings, go over to LegalAF substack, become a paid member, and you can read it in Filings AF. Until my next report, I'm Michael Pope. 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 curating the top stories, the intersection of law and politics. Go to YouTube now and free subscribe at LegalAFMTN. That's at LegalAFMTN.