Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump Panics and Fires Team Who Ratted Him Out
Episode Date: May 16, 2025Trump just had his Director of National Intelligence fire his intelligence community experts because he hated their conclusion that he was wrong about proclaiming that we are at war with Venezuela. M...ichael Popok reports that Trump is firing people who tell the truth to the American people again. 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
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Here's the new lesson for today. If you tell the truth to the Trump administration or to courts
in defense of the Trump administration, you're going to get fired because Donald Trump doesn't
want to know about the truth. He wants to bury his head in the sand and he wants to tell lies to the
American people and if he can get away with it in the courtrooms themselves. And now new reporting
is that Trump has had his national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, fire the authors of that memo
that just came out of being classified,
the declassified memo from just a week ago
that put a lie to Donald Trump's arguments
about his use of the Alien Enemies Act,
because the memo prepared at the request of Tulsi Gabbard
by her national intelligence people told her in a written
report that Venezuela was not under the control of Tren de Aragua, that terrorist gang that the
Maduro regime was not under the control of, nor using Tren de Aragua in order to destabilize
America. That put a lie to everything Donald Trump is saying
about his use of the Alien Enemies Act,
and Donald Trump didn't like it.
So he had Tulsi Gabbard fire the authors.
See, this is what happens in a tyranny.
This is what happens in fascism.
If you don't like what academia is saying,
if you don't like what your
national intelligence community is saying,
if you don't like what the press is saying, if you don't like what your lawyers are community is saying, if you don't like what the press is saying,
if you don't like what your lawyers are saying in court,
off with their heads, behead them.
They're the enemies of the people.
I see them as heroes.
We're gonna talk more again
about that unclassified document, how it came to be
and the firings right here on the Midas Touch Network.
Let's dive in.
Couple of weeks ago,
and I have it up on the Legal AF Substack,
there was big new reporting that a memo
had become unclassified or declassified
by way of a lawsuit.
There was a public interest group that filed a lawsuit
through a Freedom of Information Act request
in order to get a copy of everything related
to the intelligence community's analysis of Venezuela
and its connection to the Trin de Aragua,
the terrorist gang Donald Trump is using
as a military combatants or a foreign terrorist organization
in order to use the Alien Enemies Act.
And as part of that, the Freedom of Information Foundation
was able to obtain that declassified memo, which I have as well.
And I'm gonna read you to it.
I'm gonna read you from it.
And when I'm done, you're gonna understand
why Tulsi Gabbard and Donald Trump
just fired these people today.
Here's the memo, which again is up on, here it is,
is up on our sub stack for Legal AF.
Venezuela examining regime ties to Trende Aragon.
Now I wanna make this clear.
This is dated the 7th of April, 2025.
This is not a Biden document.
This is not an Obama document.
This isn't even a Hillary Clinton document.
This is a Joe, this is a Donald Trump,
this term, this April document
that was prepared at the behest
of his own national intelligence director
and to her.
They just didn't like the answer.
And so they fired everybody today because of it.
And here's the conclusions.
Besides the fact that TDA is a decentralized entity
that doesn't have a command and control function
and that is not at war with America, here's what it has to say.
Trans, TDA is a transnational gang based in Venezuela that has spread to at least
seven South American and Caribbean countries operating in loosely
organized cells of criminal networks. Okay. TDA formed in 2007. All right. In recent years, its leadership has faced setbacks. It has
spread to other countries, aided by the movement of a larger body of Venezuelan migrants in Bolivia,
and Chile, and Colombia, and of course the United States. All right. Now under the header, Maduro
regime probably not directing TDA activities. I am sure this is
what's stuck in Donald Trump's claw, because he's telling as part of his proclamation of war, if you
will, that the reason he gets to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1898 is because we're at war with
Venezuela. The Venezuela has been taken over by TDA and or vice versa. Not according to his national intelligence community.
Here's what it says. While Venezuela's permissive environment enables TDA to operate,
the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA's
movements to and operations in the United States. Well, there you have it folks. It's not a foreign
terrorist organization being directed by another country at war with the United States. Well, there you have it folks. It's not a foreign terrorist organization being directed by another country at war with the United
States at all, says Donald Trump's intelligence community, at least as of
yesterday. The IC, the intelligence community, bases this judgment on
Venezuelan law enforcement actions demonstrating the regime treats TDA as a
threat. Maduro's threatened by the TDA just the way we are. An uneasy
mix of cooperation and confrontation rather than top-down directives
characterizing the regime's ties to other armed groups. See, this regime, the
Maduro regime, when it wants to have a close relationship with armed groups, it
knows how. It's just TDA is not one of them. They go on to say that most of the
intelligence community judges that intelligence
indicating that regime leaders are directing or enabling TDA migration to the United States
is not credible. Now the FBI with Cash Patel, they wanted to differ on a couple of these points,
but fundamentally as they reflect in this memo, even the FBI agrees
with the intelligence community assessment
and the lack of links between the two entities.
Now, Donald Trump hated that because lawyers
and parties were able to use that against him
and his use of the Alien Enemies Act.
I mean, five judges have looked at the Alien Enemies Act
and Donald Trump's use of it,
and four have said it was an illegal
unconstitutional exercise of power.
We just had a ruling in Pennsylvania
with one judge who said, well, maybe it is.
Maybe he can do it.
Maybe they are an enemy combatant.
Now, when you have that, the memo writers,
we now have the new reporting I'm doing on this hot take.
They've all been canned.
So in particular, let me just read to you
who she's fired, which is effectively the authors.
She's fired Michael Collins,
the acting chair of the National Intelligence Council,
as well as his deputy, Maria Langham Ryckhoff.
Another purge of these entities.
You know, again, we're just trying to get rid
of the truth tellers in the Trump administration
and only surround him with sycophants and bootleggers.
Here's what Tulsi Gabbard said,
the director is working alongside President Trump
to end the weaponization and politicization
of the intelligence community.
I'm concerned.
All right.
So we know why they got rid of them.
And the Democrats are concerned
because certain ranking members
on the house intelligence community said,
I'm concerned about the apparent removal
of senior leadership at the National Intelligence Council
without any explanation,
except vague accusations made in the media.
And this is one week after that memo I just wrote you,
it is up on the sub stack, was released.
And this is coming at us
some really great reporting by the Washington Post.
But it doesn't surprise me. I mean, the Department of Justice about a month ago And this is coming at us a really great reporting by the Washington Post.
But it doesn't surprise me. I mean, the Department of Justice about a month ago fired one of the lawyers who have been there for 12 or 14 years in their immigration unit, because he told the truth to Judge Judge Boasberg. when he said, yeah, I don't know why those planes were sent to Venezuela, and I'm trying to work
with my client to get them returned.
And also, yes, at Braco Garcia's rights were violated,
he confessed when we sent them to El Salvador
when he should not have been, and ICE knew
he should not have been sent to El Salvador when we did.
That guy lasted another day, and then he was fired
by Todd Blanch and Pam Bondi.
But this isn't part of the resistance,
not because I think they did anything wrong,
but just because they did put in writing
at a critical moment in our history,
the national intelligence community,
that Donald Trump is lying to the American people.
It's sort of like the, you know, the,
you know, the leaks that were done during Vietnam War
or during the Civil Rights Movement to the New York Times.
This is important.
And as I've said before, I'll say it one more time,
this is the leakiest presidency I've ever seen.
And the reason for it
is because that's an element of resistance.
When all of this information sort of leaks out
to the press on purpose, it's a form of resistance.
We'll continue to follow it.
We're a form of resistance.
You're here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF.
Take a minute, hit the subscribe button,
come over to Legal AF, the sub stack as well,
and you'll find this particular document present there.
And of course, on Midas Touch, subscribe to Midas Touch,
continue to grow this pro-democracy channel.
We've got Legal AF, the YouTube channel,
and Legal AF, the podcast, all for your listening,
watching, and other enjoyment.
So until my next report, I'm Michael Popak.
Can't get your fill of Legal AF?
Me neither.
That's why we formed the Legal AF 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 AF, What Else?
All the other contributors from Legal AF are there as well.
We've got some new reporting, we got interviews,
we got ad-free versions of the podcast,
and hot takes where Legal AF on Substack.
Come over now to free subscribe.