Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump INSTANTLY handed MAJOR LOSS on SENTENCING

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

In a fast breaking story, Judge Merchan just DENIED Trump’s last minute efforts to block his sentencing on Jan10 of the 34 crimes he committed, as Trump moves on to the appellate court to try to get the same stay. Michael Popok examines the Court’s new order, and predicts what will happen next later today with Trump’s filed appeal, and Trump’s lashing out at Judge Merchan in the middle of the night to accuse him of criminality. 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

With TD Direct Investing, new and existing clients could get 1% cash back. Great! That's 1% closer to being part of the 1%. Maybe, but definitely 100% closer to getting 1% cash back with TD Direct Investing. Conditions apply. Offer ends January 31, 2025. Visit td.com slash dioffer to learn more. Judge Mershon in a fast-moving story has just denied Donald Trump's efforts to try to block his January 10th sentencing for the 34-count criminal conviction. That off of briefing that just happened today. This story's moving so fast with briefing that already one that I just did about how the Manhattan DA opposed stopping the sentencing already went stale

because Judge Bershaw already ruled that he's not stopping the sentencing, which means what? Which means Donald Trump, who's already filing his appeal later today, although he's told us that, with the Manhattan Appeals Court, he's now us that, with the Manhattan appeals court, he's now gonna have to ask them for the stay because this trial judge is not giving it to them.

On Michael Popak, you're right where you need to be. Legal AF and the Midas Touch Network on this fast moving story. Three different pieces of paper, all momentous, all in one day. I'm gonna cover it for you right now. How do we get here with Judge Mershon reaffirming that this this guy Trump's getting sentenced on the 10th

subject to whatever the appeals court says? Because on Friday Judge Mershon in a surprise move, you know, one we don't totally agree with here on Legal AF, decided that he was going to sentence Donald Trump on the 10th of January. I like that. I asked and called for sentencing before the before the inauguration and then he tipped his hand and said I'm not going to give him any jail time. I mean I'm still going to listen to the parties but right now I'm inclined not to give him any jail time and do an unconditional disposition. We were like no don't do that and we were having and pawn about and debating it on Legal AF over the weekend. Monday right on time

right on cue Donald Trump's two of his three main lawyers, not all three, two out of his three, Todd Blanch and Emile Bovet, filed a request or notice of stay claiming there was absolute immunity right now, there was immunity that divested the trial judge of jurisdiction immediately because they were using the immunity word. And my response to that, and I think I did a hot take that went up already, my response to that was, what immunity I did a hot take that went up already, my response to that was, what immunity? This Stormy Daniels hush money cover-up case is about actions Donald Trump took before he was even president in 2016.

He was tried, he was prosecuted and tried before a jury before he was president. He was convicted before he was president. And he's going to be sentenced on the 10th before he's president again. So what's the immunity? The whole Supreme Court immunity decision is about not prosecuting a guy or a person who's in the office of the presidency about his conduct while he was president

because he has some level of immunity potentially, temporary immunity or absolute immunity depending upon the conduct. What does it have to do with a case that's already cooked, done and buried? This is there's one thing left. There's just the sentencing, which is the final shoot a drop before anybody can take an appeal like Donald Trump. He should want the sentencing because then he could take the full appeal, but he doesn't want to be sentenced. So he wants to argue and kick and scream about it in front of the trial judge, then try to convince the appellate court to give him the same stay. So here's my prediction once again.

It's right what Alvin Bragg just said in his recent filing. There is nothing about this case that is about immunity. The judge has jurisdiction. It hasn't been divested just because Donald Trump became certified today as the president-elect, and the judge should not exercise his stay authority because Donald Trump's gonna lose. And so the balance of equities tips in favor of the prosecution, the people to know the outcome, and he's gonna lose on his arguments that the judge did anything wrong during the trial. That's basically what the people's motion just filed about an hour or so ago read. And I said after reading this and quoting from it, I said that the judge is going, here's

my prediction, the judge is going to deny the motion for stay. And if the Donald Trump wants to get a stay, he's gonna have to get it from the appellate court. And that's exactly what's happened. Here's the order. Defendant's motion for stay of those proceedings, including the sentencing hearing scheduled for Jan 10, is hereby denied. Nothing in this decision and order shall be construed in any way to preclude defendant, that's Trump, from pursuing any and all other forms of relief he may be entitled to. That would mean go to the appellate court.

So now Donald Trump is gonna have to go to the appellate court with his filings and ask them for an emergency stay. It's really gonna depend on who's on duty, which justice of the Supreme Court, sorry, of the appellate court in Manhattan. He may get the stay, he may not. I don't think he gets the stay. I don't think he's entitled to the stay. I think the appellate court in Manhattan. He may get the stay, he may not. I don't think he gets the stay. I don't think he's entitled to the stay.

I think the Appellate Division First Department, of which I am a member and officer of the court, proudly having argued there, sworn in there in 1991, they are going to reject all of this. They're gonna let, they're gonna sit on their hands, they're not gonna say a darn word, they don't have to, and they're gonna just sit on the emergency application and they're gonna let Judge Marshawn sentence him to an unconditional discharge without sent, without a jail sentence, and then when

Donald Trump appeals they'll address all the issues. And if Donald Trump doesn't like that, if he doesn't get his emergency appeal granted by the state court. He'll try, I assume, to lob in, jump the tracks and lob in an emergency application to the United States Supreme Court. But the first stop on that train is Sonia Sotomayor. And I don't see her giving her the emergency injunction. Now she may turn it over to the full court, but if I were her, I wouldn't. I would just deny it, which is her right as the justice over the Second Circuit and over New York. And, you know, they may try to aim for a different justice,

but she's the one for New York. So I think she gets it first coming out of this territory. And then the appellate court in New York can just make its decision, right or wrong, in four or five months, but it's with the full record, including the sentence of no jail time. And then the Manhattan DA has a decision to make. Are they gonna argue for jail time

and that the judge was wrong on that issue or are they just gonna relent? I'm not sure yet. I know what my argument is. Go for the jail time. Whoever loses the Manhattan Appeals Court goes up to the court of appeals, the highest court in New York. We don't call our highest court the Supreme Court. We save that for

the trial court just to be confusing. So that's where I think this is all going to end up in this very fast moving story. So fast moving, I got like paper cuts, you know, getting this stuff off the printer. But we wanted to bring it to you really, really quickly. So that's what we do here. And hopefully that's what you've come to expect, this rigorous analysis at the intersection of law and politics, commentary, and analysis like no other. I think that's the reason we're like top 10 in the world now for a podcast, Legal AF, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Come on over to my Legal AF YouTube channel, Legal AF MTN from Midas Touch Network, and hit the subscribe button.

We're trying to get to half a million before our six month birthday. And we can do it with your help. I have no doubt about that. So here, that's where we're at. Donald Trump got denied on his motion directed directly to the trial judge, Judge Mershon. And then two last things before I depart the hot take.

I don't think it's helping matters that Donald Trump's been attacking Roshan and Alvin Bragg. He actually said in postings last night, that that Judge Roshan is a political hack, who is conflicted, and who is being directed like a puppet master by Joe Biden. There's no proof that a state court judge who's elected is being controlled by the federal head of state in the like a puppet master by Joe Biden. There's no proof that a state court judge who's elected is being controlled by the federal head of state in the presidency.

Or, and that Alvin Bragg didn't really wanna bring this case either, but he was forced to by Joe Biden. Now that's a lie. First of all, Donald Trump has said time and time again that Alvin Bragg campaigned to go after him, that he's a George Soros prosecutor that wanted to go after Donald Trump. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This is not a case that Alvin Bragg wanted. Alvin Bragg inherited the prosecution or the investigation. It was in two parts. It was about Donald Trump's fraud in his business dealings, which became two different cases, one led by the attorney general in collaboration with the Manhattan DA, which became the $450 million civil fraud case.

And then the second part of that became a 19 count felony conviction that Alvin Bragg obtained against Donald Trump's companies for fraud. Alvin Bragg is the only prosecutor, it will go down in history, in his obituary, as the only prosecutor to take down Donald Trump with convictions twice.

Won his companies for 19 counts and 34 counts personally against Donald Trump. I mean, that's pretty outstanding. But to say he wanted the Stormy Daniels case, it's the opposite. Cy Vance, his predecessor, had the case, didn't do anything with it. Turned it over to Alvin Bragg.

Alvin Bragg took one look at the case. He didn't like it either. He primarily didn't like Michael Cohen as a witness. Michael's candid about it. He's on our network. I've interviewed him. He didn't get right with Michael as a potential candidate because of some baggage that Michael has as a witness. So he didn't. And that pissed off a couple of special councils, Mark Pomerantz and Kerry Dunn, and they noisily quit and attacked Alvin Bragg and said, oh, you should have brought that case. And then, then Mark Pomerantz got in trouble

and almost got found in contempt of Congress and had to take the Fifth Amendment because he wrote, and he wrote a stupid book that he never should have in violation of his ethics. That's Mark Pomerantz. And so, how did Alvin Bragg, what was the metamorphosis? What was the evolution of his thinking to get him right with the Stormy Daniels case?

I'm assuming now he's close to Letitia James, the New York Attorney General. She said Michael Cohen did a good job and helped her get the $450 million judgment. And then Alvin Bragg thought better about Michael Cohen and then started meeting with him and felt better about the case and then decided after he made his own decision, not one he inherited, he made his own decision

to bring the case and he was right. And he got a 34 count felony conviction. That's Alvin Bragg. It had nothing to do with Joe Biden. And it's actually something that I think should go into the sentencing memo against Donald Trump for making basically false allegations of criminality against the trial judge and the prosecutor.

That's a big no-no. And the judges pointed it out before. He just told Blanche and Bovet for Donald Trump in a footnote recently that they crossed the line by attacking him, the judge and the prosecutor with false allegations of criminality. They just wrote it.

And then John Sauer has now disappeared. John Sauer did not write this last filing this morning. Maybe he's working on the appellate brief, that may be. But maybe he thought the arguments raised by Bovet and Blanche were so beyond the pale he didn't want to join in on them. In any event, we've got the new ruling. Mershon denies the stay.

We'll see what happens next. Tune in here. Legal AF and the Midas Touch Network. This is Michael Popock. In collaboration with the Midas Touch Network, we just launched the Legal AF 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 Legal AF MTN. That's at Legal AF MTN.