Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump LOSES MIND after TWIST in $450 MILLION FRAUD Case

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

Trump and his legal team are in dismay learning that they are not losing the $450 million civil fraud trial judge Judge Engoron, to reassignment after all! Michael Popok reports on Trump and the parties being told that the case was being reassigned to a Republican Staten Island judge who is embroiled in a series of ethical scandals which probably made Trump happy, but then the Court telling them that Engoron is not going anywhere after all. Head to https://qualialife.com/LEGALAF and use promo code: LEGALAF at checkout for 15% off your purchase! 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

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to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Donald Trump's lawyers thought they were getting rid of Justice Angoron, the justice who presided over the $450 million dollar civil fraud case. Not so fast. They got one email that said the case was being reassigned to another justice in Staten Island, a Republican stronghold, and a justice that has her own ethical dilemma

and problems to boot. But then, an hour or two later, they found out they're not losing Justice Angoron after all. That's good news. I'm here to report on it on the Midas Touch Network and Legal AF. Justice Angoron sits on the Supreme Court of New York, that is the trial level court in New York. And you'll remember, oh, about a year ago,

he presided over a case involving Donald Trump and all the Trumpers and their organization, which was brought by Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, on a very unique set of fraud statutes in New York. And Judge Angoron found that Donald Trump and his companies committed persistent, continuous fraud, insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, false financial statements, found that Donald Trump was a liar when he took the stand himself about certain aspects and compromised

his own credibility. Well, the automated system woke up, I guess we're after January 1, automated system in New York woke up and said, your case has been assigned or reassigned to judge Judith McMahon of Staten Island. I am sure there were early morning champagne bottles being popped by Donald Trump. They couldn't believe their luck. They got Judith McMahon.

Now, Judith McMahon sits in Staten Island. For those that don't know New York well, Staten Island is the reddest of boroughs in New York. It's a heavy Republican enclave. McMahon and her husband, Mike McMahon, who was the prosecutor, the DA there, they've been accused of double-doubled dipping on their pensions for years. So Trump is like, wait a minute, somebody who's been accused of corruption and double dipping for ethics, that's my kind of judge. I can't believe our luck.

High five, not so fast. Because somebody woke up and realized that the automated computer had made a mistake and they reassigned the case back to Justice Angoran. Now the trial level is over. So what would Justice Angoran do? Well, the appeal is not over. It's been fully briefed. It's sitting right now, it's like parked

at the Manhattan Appellate Court. I call it the Manhattan Appellate Court. Technical name is the Appellate Division First Department. I'm a member of it. That's where I was sworn in in 1992. It's a beautiful ceremonial courtroom. If you're ever around Madison Park, down in Midtown, stop by,

you can go see the ceremonial courtroom where we argue our cases. So that was argued before the first department. Now the first department is notorious for having a big pair of scissors in cutting down large awards. They do it to everybody. In fact, we have a joke in the New York bar

that don't celebrate you obtaining a large jury verdict or judge decree in your favor until you get through the Appellate Division, First Department buzzsaw, because they're gonna cut you down. So that $458 million with interest is probably pushing 500 million dollars is going to be let me manage expectations It's gonna be cut down by the Appellate Division First Department They've been sitting on it for about four or five months now March or April

It's coming out any day now because usually it takes them about four to six months to make a ruling and never takes them a year So I think we're gonna start seeing a ruling. They were probably waiting for the election, waiting for the criminal cases to sort of wrap up or get sentenced. They have eyes and ears. I think we're gonna get it in some time in January, maybe February, March at the latest.

And it's gonna be, there's gonna be a haircut on the $458 million. I don't know, they're gonna to cut it in half or they're going to cut it somewhere in the two with a two handle in the beginning, but they're not going to throw out the case. I'd be shocked if they overturn Judge Angoran's labor-intensive work and good judgment in rendering that decision. He had six or eight weeks of testimony, dozens and dozens of witnesses, what he referred to as a mountain of evidence in the room that he and his principal law clerk,

who by the way, got elected as a judge, there's a little PS here, you know that law clerk that Donald Trump kept bashing? Oh, she's the code judge, she's got a terrible face, she's a horrible woman, she's dating Chuck Schumer, all lies. She got elected as a judge, because she's a horrible woman, she's dating Chuck Schumer, all lies. She got elected as a judge because that's what happens, that position, the principal law clerk often gets, that's like a training academy for judges, they end up running or getting appointed

to a position. In fact, that's how Judith McMahon, the judge who almost got the case in Staten Island, who's married to the DA, that's how she got elevated because she started as a principal law clerk and then got appointed there on that. I want to tell you about one of my favorite brands in the entire health and wellness world, Qualia. I've never felt better lately, in part because of the Qualia's products I'm using regularly. Qualia's science team is tackling some of the most challenging aspects of health and wellness that we all face. Human longevity to optimizing mental health. Qualia's health formulas meticulously blend many ingredients with complementary relationships into easy once-a-day formulas. This makes supporting some of our most nutritionally complex health needs. Very simple. Qualia conducts pilot studies and double-blind placebo-controlled clinical studies on many

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physical energy associated with that, you know, middle-age feeling. Take a look at Qualia's line of truly inspired health formulas. Go to qualialife.com slash LegalAF and use code LegalAF at checkout for up to 15% off your purchase. That's q-u-a-l-i-a-life.com slash legal AF for 15% off your purchase. Thank you Qualia for sponsoring this episode. So the case after the 250 could still be returned to Justice Angoran, the presiding trial judge for further proceedings in the case. There's things like, do we still need it? Does soon to be President Trump still need a monitor over all of his finances?

That's still in place with Judge Barbara Jones, retired federal judge. Does that still need to be? How big should the bond be? Right now it's $175 million bond that Donald Trump has posted. Does it need to be. How big should the bond be? Right now it's a $175 million bond that Donald Trump has posted. Does it need to be bigger? Until they get through the collection process and the final award and then an appeal to the Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York, the trial judge

still has a role if the case gets returned to him for further proceedings. I would rather it be, and Justice would rather it be in front of Justice Angoron, and not start all over again with a Republican, died in the red Judith McMahon. Now let me talk about her for a minute, just in case the case somehow ends up there. She's already got her own problems. She and her husband have been accused,

even by MAGA or a media like Fox, of double-dipping into their pensions. They're drawing apparently about $600,000 a year in pensions. She gets a pension from being a law clerk now. She's getting a salary as being a judge. He's getting a pension from something and he's also, he's currently the DA. When you add it all up, that family's bringing in $600,000 and people are upset about it. She was supposed to retire in 2022, but apparently she didn't

because she didn't want to cut into her income apparently. But that's not the kind of judge we want presiding over whatever the Appellate Division First Department says. In fact, there could be, I mean, I think it's a slim chance, maybe 5%, 10%. If the Appellate Division First Department overturns and sends it back for a trial, sends it back for a trial. We want that trial in front of Justice Angoron as a bench trial,

not a jury, because that's what's allowed under the law, not this new Judge McMahon in Staten Island with the reddest of red. And God forbid it turns out to be a jury. We don't want a jury in Staten Island, which is going to run 90% Republican and Trumpers. It's just historically how Staten Island has always been. So I'm going to continue to follow bad day for another bad day for Donald Trump. He's had a series of bad days in the criminal justice system and in the justice system in the last week. Just a recap. You know, just a recap. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rules against his attempts to block the final release of the final report for Jack Smith of the D.C. election interference case. That's a thousand pages

we expect to get sometime early this week. The Supreme Court, U.S., and Amy Coney Barrett fails to bail him out on avoiding sentencing in the 34th felony count conviction in front of Justice Mershon, another New York State Supreme Court judge and a jury. And he got sentenced and is now indelibly inked as a felon. So that happened. He tried to stop that. Then you've got the E. Jean Carroll case.

The appellate court denied his attempt to try to get rid of his $5 million judgment against him. I'm sure they're going to do the same thing with the $83 million judgment for the sex abuse that was proven before a jury, along with defamation and punitive damages. Then we haven't even talked about MAGA. Rudy Giuliani found in the same week, contempt twice by two different federal judges. So, you know, for those that said he's skated by

and nothing goes, he always gets the bend over backwards. I understand your point. And I certainly have followed it closely for you on Legal AF and Midas Touch. But we are seeing justice, some brand of justice being meted out to Donald Trump. And he's been on the losing end, including this wake up like, oh, we lost Angora. No, you didn't.

Sit down. So until my next hot take and my next legal AF, you know how to find me. Here on the Midas Touch Network, let's say I do about 14 or 15 videos. We call them hot takes at the intersection of law and politics and other topics here on the Midas Touch Network. Then I got a show, Popak Live, on Tuesday nights, a live show. I take questions, I give answers, I don't take prisoners, I'm unfiltered, I'm unplugged. Popak Live, Tuesday nights, 8 p.m. here on the Midas Touch Network.

Legal AF, the podcast. Five years old, hard to believe. Five years old, top 10 in the world. We just got those rankings. thanks to you and our audience. That has nothing to do, well, has a little bit to do with us, but certainly you. That's Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and hour length podcasts at the intersection of law and politics. And then we've got a brand new channel, Legal AF, the YouTube channel

that I curate along with Midas Touch. And right now we just hit, we just went over 400,000 subscribers in our first four months. Our goal is 500,000 before our half birthday. With your help, we will get there. The bigger we are as an independent media for commentary and analysis, the more your voice is heard.

So until my next reporting, I'm Michael Popak. In collaboration with the Midas Touch Network, we just launched the Legal AF YouTube channel. So until my next reporting, I'm Michael Popak.