Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump in FULL PANIC MODE over Federal CRIMINAL ARRAIGNMENT

Episode Date: June 13, 2023

Michael Popok of Legal AF and a practicing Miami attorney explains what is going to happen on Tuesday with the Trump federal criminal arraignment, from arrest and booking to who will be the magistrate judge for arraignment, to answering your questions about Judge Cannon and whether she remains assigned to the case. Learn more than ever from important non-fiction books at https:/shortform.com/legalaf and receive 5-days of unlimited access and an additional 25% discount on the annual subscription. SUPPORT THE SHOW: Shop LEGAL AF Merch at: https://store.meidastouch.com Join us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/meidastouch Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601 The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 The Weekend Show: https://pod.link/1612691018 The Tony Michaels Podcast: https://pod.link/1561049560 American Psyop: https://pod.link/1652143101 Burn the Boats: https://pod.link/1485464343 Majority 54: https://pod.link/1309354521 Political Beatdown: https://pod.link/1669634407 Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://pod.link/1676844320 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Michael Popok, legal AF. Let me try to explain what's going to happen on Tuesday with Donald Trump's booking, processing, first appearance, a rainment, all on Tuesday. Let me tell you who he's going to be in front of, who's going to be involved, who he's not going to be in front of,

and what could happen next so that you have a full picture and understanding. I'm going to tie it all together on this hot tick. I practice for 32 years, including in the on this hot tick. I practice for 32 years, including in the Southern District of Florida, where I practice for over 20 years. I know this courthouse and the judge as well. Let me give you my my learned reasoned opinion. First of all, we're going to be the arrangement and first appearance part of this process, which is sort of at the end, the arrest processing

part happens first all at the courthouse, but we're going to be inside of the courthouse a 13-3 at 3 p.m. on Tuesday for Donald Trump to come in with federal marshals, with the secret service, with his attorneys to stand in the dock of the court in front of a judge. I'll get to who I think that judge is going to be the magistrate judge and do first appearance and arrangement before being let out on whatever bail or bond conditions are set. And apparently attending some sort of fundraiser later that day. I mean, his goal knows no boundaries, but let's talk about process. That's why we're here.

In the federal court system, the magistrate judge, not the district court judge. So not judge canon, which has been the reporting. I'll talk about why it may not and probably will not be canon. But it's the magistrate judge that do all the heavy lifting when it comes to criminal first appearances and a rainment, not the trial judge. And I don't expect anything differently here. In fact, there's already reporting that judge or magistrate judge Goodman, who happens to be the duty judge, just the person assigned to work on Tuesday as a magistrate judge for random assignment, is going to be handling the first appearance

and potentially the arrangement. I'll talk about why that's odd because for a number of reasons, the indictment itself on sealed last week was unsealed by a different magistrate judge. The chief magistrate judge sits in Miami, Edwin Torres, who works for the chief judge judge, Altenaga. He unsealed the indictment, but now there's reporting that it's going to be the duty judge, judge Goodman, who's going to do the first appearance and arraignment. Hold that for a minute. Let's start from chronologically from the beginning. Donald Trump is going to show up with Secret Service in tow. He's then going to be accompanied by the US Marshal, as soon as he hits the underground garage at the Wilkie Ferguson courthouse in Miami. That is the new courthouse that was put up in the last 10 years. That is really where except for some other

events that happen at a couple of other federal courthouses downtown. That is where the action is in Miami court federal practice. So that is where this defendant former president is going to be processed. There is an underground tunnel in the garage. I am sure they're going to use it. He will then be met by US probation department personnel, continued US martial personnel for the arrest processing, booking, fingerprinting, photographing mugshot. And I don't see a way around at this time. New York state chose not to mugshot him. I don't think that's going to happen here. I don't think he's going to be handcuffed. He's already in protective custody with the secret service. But the rest of that process needs to be done. There's no former president exception

to arrest processing and the like. And then there's going to be like a cooling off period. Because they're going to finish their work I don't know if he's coming in in the morning or coming in in the early afternoon, but there's going to be some time when Literally Donald Trump will be under arrest and in custody and not yet make his first appearance in front of a magistrate judge in the courtroom. So he's going to be detained and they're going to let him cool his heels somewhere and probably some conference room with Secret Service in US Marshall on top of him. Will he be able to use his cell phone and do social media posting? I don't know. I doubt it.

When all criminal defendants come through the process, they have to leave their electronics behind. And so I don't think he's going to be able to do any kind of real time social media posting from there. I mean his henchmen can do it, but he won't be able to do it. And he will be also be accompanied by his attorney, which looks to be based on the fact that Donald Trump just fired his regular Mar-a-Lago defense counsel in Jim Chuss, Jim trusty and John Rowley. Looks like it's going to be Todd Blanche, the lawyer he's using up in New York for his other criminal matter and a local Florida attorney because they're

going to need local counsel who practices in the Southern District of Florida. Maybe Lindsey Halligan, I doubt it, given that she's also in the crosshairs for her involvement in the search process at Mar-a-Lago back when they were finding documents. Now he's pro, Trump's process, he's sitting, he's cooling his heels, and then he's gonna be brought in by federal marshals, the Secret Service and his lawyer into the courtroom. There are no cameras in the courtroom.

There will be no video that we will be able to show you or any other media network will be able to show you. Only those people that are in the courtroom and there's one overflow courthouse courtroom they're gonna use apparently are gonna be able to see what's happening and report on it. I assume in real time, they usually confiscate

your laptops and things, unless you have a special pastor permission, but I expect the media will have some sort of pool reporting to report and will report off of that reporting. That's where we are. So no cameras in federal courthouse or courtroom or court procedure and you're not going to see it here for Donald Trump. There's going to be a person in a black robe in that courtroom in 13-3 and we believe

it's going to be Magistrate Goodman, who's the second highest ranking Magistrate in Miami. Now, it's weird. Let's get to the weirdness of this because on the indictment, Magistrate judge Reinhart is listed. That's the Magistrate judge that actually issued the search warrant, but he doesn't seem to be involved at all. And he sits up in West Palm Beach in the unceiling of the indictment, which happened later in the week. It was Edwin Torres, the chief magistrate judge who sits in Miami,

doesn't have any connection to Judge Cannon. And now we've been told that it looks like it's the duty judge, just the random wheel, oh, you good man, come here, but on your robe, get on the bench, you're being the magistrate judge for the arraignment and First appearance. And Cata may be nowhere to be found at all, even if she is still the judge on Tuesday,

because all of this is generally handled by the Magistrate Judge. It is weird for the federal judge, district judge, to step in and do any part of this process. So if it is Goodman, which we expected to be or a magistrate judge, they will do what's called first appearances. The defendant will be brought in. His lawyers will make an appearance so that the court knows who the lawyers are. The initial charges will be read, but not in the official way. A summary of the charges will be read, not in the official way for the arrangement proceeding portion of the process. The plea will not be taken at that time, and they'll kind of get right to pretrial detention,

bond conditions, bail conditions, and the like. They'll hear from the government first, the government will make a proposal as to the amount of the bond that they're looking for. We expect that to be something in the millions of dollars that have to be posted by Donald Trump. They'll talk about whether the passport for Donald Trump should be picked up restrictions on his travel. Of course, the other side's going to argue, First Amendment rights. He's a candidate, you know, a leading candidate for the Republican Party for President and he needs to be able to travel and talk and speak. They'll talk about discovery and a protective order for the exchange of information, really the information that comes from the

government to Donald Trump, the defendant and how that is protected from public disclosure and release with grand juries that are still in process that need to have themselves protected. They'll talk about all of that. Oh, this is one of our favorite new partners. Short form. Short form isn't just some run-of-the-mill product. This is truly amazing at its core short form is condensed books look we're all incredibly busy and reading an entire book That's challenging in 2023. Well with everything else going on in our lives I mean I read a lot to prepare for legal AF in my law career But that's exactly why short form is great for

so many people like you and me. First, I love the condensed information. Short form provides the most important information about what you're reading so you don't have to worry about missing out on any key information. Also, after a chapter or an idea is presented, they'll have these journaling moments where they'll ask you questions to make sure you're keeping yourself engaged. The combination of reading and reflecting, that keeps your mind sharp and it's awesome. I love this app and I'm so happy, the response of Legal AF. They have a great range of books like Kobe Bryant's The Mamba Mentality, which was a powerfully motivating read for me.

The Power of Habit by Chris Doohig, exploring how to develop and maintain positive habits, and hyperfocus by Chris Bailey, which allowed me to learn to be more productive and creative, and so much more. Short form has new books and articles every week, and if you're a subscriber of the Legal AF podcast, you'll get a free trial and an additional 25% discount on the annual subscription. Join short form through the link shortform.com slash LegalAF. That's a free trial and an additional 25% discount on the annual subscription of short form

at shortform.com slash LegalAF. And at some point, either Judge Goodman or whoever the magistrate judge is gonna be, is gonna get to the portion of the process called a reenment where they're gonna read aloud the charges, make sure that Donald Trump acknowledges those charges and then puts in a plea as the each of the 37 counts against him. And we expect him to plead not guilty to all 37 counts.

That all gets that done then. That process will probably go from three o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesday. Maybe it gets to four o'clock. It doesn't generally with a garden variety defendant, but it may go a little bit longer because it's Trump. But I think by four o'clock, maybe four, 15, this is over. And he will now have the conditions

of his pretrial release established. He'll now be under the custody ultimately of the probation department. They'll have to enforce those regulations, those rules that have now been set about his pretrial release. He's not gonna get detained pretrial for those. They're like, put him in jail, hold him in the federal detention center until Trump, not happening.

We can talk about another hot take while that's not happening, but it's not happening under the way the statutes that govern these things look at the crimes that have been charged. I mean, they're terrible terrible crimes against the American people in espionage act, obstruction of justice and conceal, and false statement. But these are not crimes that put you away in federal detention while you're awaiting trial. Because remember, for those that follow our justice system from other countries, you are innocent until proven guilty, despite the amount of evidence that is in the indictment.

And it is substantial. Or to paraphrase Bill Barr, Donald Trump's former attorney general, he's toast. It is that, you know, half that amount of evidence would convict him. He is innocent until proven guilty and we don't put innocent until proven guilty people in jail unless there's other reasons. Of course, him tweeting and social truth and rallying about second amendment solutions and to call his followers and supporters to Miami to riot.

You know, listen, the magistrate judge has eyes and ears. Federal government, I'm sure, is going to be watching carefully what happens next, all the Magah Republicans that are calling for armed violence to protect their president and see what happens on the streets of Miami while this thing's going on at three o'clock. That will end up in the courtroom, that information about what is happening in the streets is going to end up in the courtroom because the federal prosecutors are going to bring it up. I'm sure we'll see Jack Smith and one of his other leading prosecutors there, probably Jay Bratt, who signed the indictment and signed the paperwork related to the indictment when it was filed and the case was filed. So we'll see that.

And then it'll end. And Donald Trump will get back, you know, walk out the courthouse front steps, not through the tunnel, maybe through the tunnel for security purposes. With federal marshals, we'll hand them back over to the Secret Service. Secret Service will take him out in his SUVs and he is released until the next court appearance. And so that is what's going to happen on Tuesday. Why do I continue to believe that Eileen Cannon is not going to be the judge? First of all, everybody's very excited because her name was stamped on the top of the indictment.

But then so was Judge, Magistrate Judge Reinhardt, and Magistrate Judge Reinhardt is nowhere to be found. Also, they interviewed apparently the New York Times, the clerk of the indictment. But then so was judge, magistrate judge, Reinhardt and magistrate judge Reinhardt is nowhere to be found. Also, they interviewed apparently the New York Times, the clerk of the court sitting in Miami, Madam, Madam Noble. And she said, no, there's no other real way for things to be assigned back. And it was randomly assigned because there's really only two active judges that are up in the West Palm Beach area near Mara Lago, judge Middlebrooks. And he takes half his cases from Miami and so she was the next available judge and that's why she got it and there's no real way to get it away from her. That's not true. First of all in the administrative orders of the

Southern District of Florida, the chief judge has the power to change the judge assignment. And Judge Altenaga is a very wise and sober justice judge. I've been in front of her, both in federal court, and when she was in state court process, she was a former county attorney in, in, or city of Miami attorney before she hit the bench. And so she can make that ruling. Uh, uh, Canon, on her own, based on the fact that she made two reversible

error decisions in interfering with the criminal investigation, which is at the heart of the indictment when Donald Trump filed his now infamous lawsuit to stop the search warrant or to stop the collection review of documents off of the search warrant in August of last year during the middle of an impending running criminal investigation. She was thrown, she was slapped twice by the 11th Circuit, her bosses, the appellate court that sits in Atlanta by the chief judge, not once, but twice. She was wrong twice. And she was told she was wrong twice and to fix her orders.

And she had to, the only thing she did right is that she didn't fight the 11th Circuit and she did dismiss the case and dismiss the special master that she had appointed and the case ended. That involvement may be enough for her to recuse herself as being not impartial and having factual knowledge about the underlying matter that makes her improper to sit in the big chair. If she doesn't do it, look for the federal government and the prosecutors, even as early as Tuesday, to raise the issue of their moving to disqualifier, recuse the judge and have it go either to likely to the 11 circuit and have the 11 circuit pick the right judge to

match the gravity of this case and to give the public confidence in the ability of the justice system to do the right thing here, not show fear, not show favor or privilege towards Donald Trump. Canon being the judge is not going to do that. And so I know the 11th Circuit is going to be concerned about that and the justice system and that all could come to a head as early as Tuesday when we see who is the officially assigned trial judge. Is it really canon? And if it's not canon because she's taken herself out by voluntary recusal, disqualification, or the chief judge has taken her out.

If that hasn't happened and the assignment hasn't moved off of her, look for the federal government to make their motion. We're going to follow all this on Tuesday on the Midas Touch Network where I'm a regular legal analyst at the intersection of law and politics. I do hot takes just like this one about every day. It looks like lately, every hour. And if you like what I'm doing here, you can give me a thumbs up, helps with the quantity and the quality of things that we do.

We curate the best of these stories that we think are important to you to hear at that same intersection on a podcast only on the Midas Touch Network called Legal AF on Wednesdays and Saturdays. And if you like what I'm doing, I'm Michael Popock, and you can follow me on all things social media at MSPOPOC.

This is Michael Popock, LegalAF reporting. Hey, Midas, Mighty. 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? Follow us now.

you