Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump Gets Rude Awakening as Newsom Gets Major Win

Episode Date: December 10, 2025

In breaking news, a Senior Federal Judge, declaring Trump’s transparent attempt to create a “national police force” and “standing army” in violation of our Nation’s founding principles and Constitution, has ordered that the Trump “federalized” state National Guard in California end, yet another victory for Governor Newsome and Attorney General Bonta, and a resounding loss for Trump. Michael Popok dissects the new order, what will happen next on appeal, and how this case fits into the Supreme Court’s awaited ruling about Trump’s abuse of the National Guard. Check out the Popok Firm: https://thepopokfirm.com 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 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canada's Wonderland is bringing the holiday magic this season with Winterfest on select nights now through January 3rd. Step into a winter wonderland filled with millions of dazzling lights, festive shows, rides, and holiday treats. Plus, Coca-Cola is back with Canada's kindness community, celebrating acts of kindness nationwide with a chance at 100,000 donation for the winning community and a 2026 holiday caravan stop. Learn more at canadaswunderland.com. In breaking news, a scene your federal judge has found it, quote, unquote, shocking and called out Donald Trump's attempts to create a national standing army in violation of our constitutional principles and the founding of this nation by continuing to nationalize and take over state militia in places like California, particularly in California, under some sort of ruse that there's continued violence in the streets that is stopping the president from execution. federal law without the National Guard. And Judge Breyer, who is the brother, the older brother of former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, has had enough and has decided, citing to the founding fathers and the framers, that the National Guard in California must be returned to Gavin Newsom as the

governor, that the federalized troops of Donald Trump must go. Subject, of course, to an appeal likely by Monday. I'm Michael Popak. You're on the Midas Dutch Network. I've got the order in my hands. I'm going to read it to you right here. Take a minute, hit the free subscribe button over on legal AF YouTube. We're at 980,000 subscribers. We've got to get to a million to prepare ourselves for 2026. And with your help, we will. Okay, let's get to the new order. Let me read to you from the parts that Judge Breyer found shocking. I mean, when a federal judge once again has to cite to the federalist papers and our founding, you know, we're in trouble, but we're also in good place by having a judge like Breyer protecting democracy. Here's the shocking part. He says on page 10 of the order

granting the preliminary injunction and banning the National Guard from being taken over anymore by Donald Trump, because Donald Trump just tried to extend the federalization in October, although there's no violent problem, there's no protest problem in California, stopping him from being able to execute immigration law. Here's what Judge Breyer says. He said, defendants attempt, and that's the Trump administration, attempt to circumvent the scope of Section 12406, that's the statute by which a president can take over under limited circumstances, state militia and violate federalism. It's what Congress has delegated to the president

under a unique and discreet set of circumstances that are no longer present in California. He said the attempt to circumvent the scope of the Section 12406 by characterizing the orders by Pete Hegsef as just extensions of federalization, which they argue are therefore outside the statute's reach. Indeed, at the motion hearing, Judge Breyer continues, defendants confirm their position that after an initial federalization, the initial takeover,

all extensions of the federalization orders are unreviewable by a court forever. This is shocking, says the judge. Adopting defendant's interpretation would permit a president to create a perpetual police force comprised of state troops so long as they were first federalized lawfully. Such a scenario would validate the founders. widespread fear of a national standing army, which they believe pose an intolerable threat to individual liberty and to the sovereignty of the separate states. He actually launches into the order granting the motion for preliminary injunction.

And this is a big win for Governor Gavin Newsom. Once again, just on the heels of his Prop 50 win about the congressional maps, Gavin Newsom and his valiant, intrepid attorney. General Rob Banta, who's going to be with me for an interview exclusively on Friday about this case. They get the win here, folks. Here's what Judge Breyer, senior status judge in San Francisco had to say to start his order. Page one, the founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances. Defendants, Trump, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one. Six months after they first federalized the California National Guard,

defendants still retained control of approximately 300 guardsmen, despite no evidence. that execution of federal law is impeded in any way, let alone significantly. What's more, defendants have sent California Guardsmen into other states, effectively creating a national police force made up of state troops. In response, the plaintiffs, California, moved to enjoying this conducts. Defendants take the position that after a valid initial federalization, all subsequent re-federalizations are completely and forever unreviewable by the courts. Defendant's position is contrary to law.

accordingly the court enjoins the federalization of California National Guard troops. And then he cites James Madison in the Federalist Papers number 51 to talk about how the various separations and checks and balances are supposed to work. James Madison observed, to what expedient then shall we finally resort for maintaining in practice the necessary partition of power among the several departments? That's the balance of power. as laid down in the Constitution.

In other words, he's positing, how do we keep the separation of the co-equal branches of government? How do we keep it and how do we enforce it? He answers it this way. The only answer that can be given is that as all these exterior provisions are found to be inadequate, the defect must be supplied by so contriving the interior structure of the government

as that is several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places. So it's the friction between the various co-equal branches, the judiciary, the legislative, and the executive that we get our checks and balances, not the blank check. Hey, everybody, Ben Mycelis here from the Midas Touch Network. I wanted to let you know about my podcast partner,

Michael Popak's new law firm. It's called the Popak firm. Michael Popak's pursuing his dream of starting his own. law firm, really based on the popular demand by all the mightest, mighty, and legal A. Fers who were approaching Michael Popak with their cases and saying, can you help us? And at that time, Popak was not able to. So he went out on his own. He started the Popok firm where he is now handling catastrophic injury cases like car accident cases, trucking cases, malpractice cases, big negligence cases, wrongful death cases. So if you were someone,

you know have a case like this the consultation with popock's firm is free give him a call see if you have a case it's the popock firm dot com the popock firm dot com or you can call 877 popock a f p o k a f so 1 877 p o k a f give michael popock a call and i'm really proud of you popeck thanks for all the hard work you're putting in now You might have remembered that we've talked about senior Judge Breyer before because he's issued orders. He already issued an order that's up on appeal that Donald Trump violated the Posse Comitatis Act by using federal armed forces on domestic soil for domestic law enforcement purposes in violation of the Possecomitatis Act. And we're now, you know, we've got that appeal about what are the remedies that a judge can use for having

found violation of the Posse Cometatis Act. Can an injunction be one of them? This judge also came out of the box early on and said that the nationalization of the National Guard initially by Trump was unconstitutional. That that got reversed by a panel of the Ninth Circuit. But we're now talking about whether in October of this year, months after any protests in front of the ICE facilities happened,

whether Trump can just reauthorize through Pete Hegeseth, his beleaguered defense secretary. He can just reauthorize without court review because he says so. And the judge says no. And that's a shocking display of raw power to create a standing army that would have made our founding fathers and our framers headspin. This will go up on appeal. First of all, Judge Breyer, knowing that the parties need to appeal this built in an appeal process. He said, I'm going to stay my order on my own until Monday. File your motion, emergency motion, if you will, to the Ninth Circuit.

A new three-judge panel will then make a ruling about whether I'm right or I'm wrong. He also admitted, as any good jurist would do, that he's been wrong in the past. He said, my interpretation of Section 12406, which is the governing statute, that's the delegation statute between Congress to the President, to allow the President to call up the National Guard. Normally, that's a power of Congress. But there's limited circumstances if the president has determined through court review, after court review, that he cannot execute federal law

without having used regular forces. And we'll talk about regular forces in a minute. What that means, he can't do it. He needs backup then and only then can he cross over and grab the state militia and federalize them. And only for the period of time that's necessary. Donald Trump sees it as an interminable period of time, an indeterminate period of time, if you will,

which also sticks in the craw of constitutionalists like Judge Breyer. So regular forces means what? Judge Breyer interpreted that, as many judges had, meaning you try to use your regular security forces for ICE, you know, your border patrol, your local law enforcement, the sheriffs, you know, the local police. And if only that and only then, you still can't execute on your immigration policy. You can't get the people into the facility. You can't get them to court or whatever. Then you can go get the state militia.

That's the requirement to cross over and violate state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment. There's another interpretation that regular forces mean the regular forces of the armed services, the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Space Force, the Coast Guard, etc. Either way, Judge Breyer said, even if it was what I thought it was, which is local law enforcement plus security forces, or it's the armed forces, there is no showing in the record that Donald Trump called up the armed forces or properly used security forces,

and failing those efforts, still could not, or using those efforts, still could not execute on federal law, and therefore needed the National Guard. That issue of what is regular forces before a president can go grab as backup the National Guard, and cross over sovereignty of the state, that's before the United States Supreme Court right now. The judge knows it, and he cited to it.

He said, we're still waiting coming out of an Illinois-Chicago ruling of a judge, similar to this one. We're still waiting for the Supreme Court to give us guidance about what is regular forces, what is inability to execute under the laws. But he can't just sit around, like, nope, I'll just sit around and wait for the Supreme Court to give me some rulings. He's got a job to do.

They got wood to chop. You know, judges, trial court judges got work to do. Appellate court judges got work to do. They can't just sit around and gaze at their navel waiting around for the United States Supreme Court to get off its ass and issue a ruling. Now, if the ruling is different than what Judge Breyer just proposed, and I think he left a wide berth to make sure his opinion would still be valid, you know, recognizing what the rulings could be. I think what he's saying is regardless of what those rulings are, my ruling should still be intact. But we'll see. If he has to modify it because of the Supreme Court decision, he'll do it. It'll go up to the Ninth Circuit. They'll have to make decisions waiting for the Supreme Court.

This may actually lead to the Supreme Court finally getting off their ass and making the ruling. And then we'll have to come back and talk about the impact of that. Rob Bonta, the Attorney General, the winner here for democracy and for America, is going to join me on Friday on Legal AF for a brand new interview about the results in this case. strategy tactics and all of that, as they appeal in real time, the Trump administration will appeal by Monday to try to get a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit to rule in their favor and block Judge Breyer's order while the appeal is continuing. In the meantime, you're on the Midas Touch Network. Hit the free subscribe button here. Come over to Legal AF YouTube, do the exact same thing to get

us to one million subscribers. Make us big, make us robust, make us muscular before 2026. We all need it. Until my next report, I'm Michael Popock. Can't get your fill of legal A.F. Me neither. That's why we formed the legal A.F. Substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call, wait for it, morning A.F. What else? All the other contributors from legal A.F are there as well. We got some new reporting. We got interviews. We got ad-free versions of the podcast and hot takes. Where? Legal A.F. A.F on Substack. Come over now to free subscribe.