Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump Sinks to New Low and Rejects Order on War Powers

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

A new constitutional crisis has broken out with the Trump Administration refusing to comply, again, with a Federal judge’s orders. In a new filing, The Trump Administration just confessed to violating a Court Order to stop Trump’s unconstitutional exercise of war powers to deport hundreds of people to El Salvador and Honduras in violation of a DC Chief Judge’s order blocking that action, and the ACLU representing Plaintiffs have filed this morning their Notice to the Court outlining that the ways in which Trump has violated the Court’s order, and demanding that the Court intervene and take action. Michael Popok breaks down what has happened in the last 48 hours, and what will happen next in court. To get our $297 when you buy a PAIR offer, including a free charger, head to https://ShopMDHearing.com and use code LEGALAF. 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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calling it out and saying the federal judge has no power over a president who has unlawfully and unconstitutionally exercised war powers to deport people, including as young as 14 years old from American soil, despite a temporary restraining order, a court hearing, an order from the bench requiring them to do exactly that, to stop deporting people pursuant to the Aliens Enemies Act until the briefing schedule and hearing was set and is completed this week by the judge. Donald Trump's position which has been expressed by his press secretary and others is that until an appellate court tells him

otherwise he's going to completely ignore a federal judge's orders. They have this new phraseology that you hear over and over again. A single judge in a single district can't make a ruling against the president of the United States. That is a lie. I'll break it down for you here on the Midas Touch Network and Legal AF. We've got two competing filings,

one late yesterday, one this morning, one from the Trump administration explaining why they, basically why they violated the court's order not to deport people with 200 or more Venezuelan and other undocumented and people who are alleged to be part of a gang delivered to the quote unquote philosopher king dictator of El Salvador President Buckele. And so all of that was going on during the hearing and after the court had already ruled, right,

before the court had already ruled that these people should not be deported, especially to El Salvador. They were already on their way to El Salvador, including a number of planes, according to reporting that went out after the judge had already made his order, meaning when the judge said, turn the planes around,

the planes hadn't even launched yet, they launched after. This is a constitutional crisis of epic proportion. Let me tell you first what the notice to the court was that was filed late yesterday by the Trump administration, and then I'm gonna read to you from the American Civil Liberties Union and the plaintiffs in the case and what they have told the judge. There are so many holes in this notice, so many confessions and

admissions of violations of the court order that the response by the ACLU was relatively straightforward. Here's the Trump administration notice signed by Pam Bondi, the attorney general, and Emil or Amal Bovay and Todd Blanch and all the other former criminal defense lawyers for Donald Trump now in the Department of Justice. For the reasons, this is from the Trump filing, for the reasons explained on the record, federal defendants object to this court's assertion of jurisdiction, including over the president's exercise of powers vested in him by Article 2. I mean, that's what federal courts do for a living in the checks and balance system.

They often check the power, unconstitutional exercise of power, by a president pursuant to Article 2. So that is a nonsense start to this notice. But it continues. The Trump administration says, subject to that objection, the federal defendants were promptly notified of the court's temporary restraining order issued in the morning and the 7.26 p.m. minute order that temporarily enjoined any removals pursuant to the presidential proclamation. Let me unpack that. Friday, we got word that Donald Trump was going to make a presidential proclamation to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 from the Adams administration, which

has never been invoked in peacetime, requires that there be an invocation of war powers after a declaration of war by Congress that has not happened. And that got signed and issued on Saturday. The judge had already, in a prior temporary restraining order, stopped the deportation of at least five or six Venezuelans. Then when they ran into court on Saturday, they had a hearing on Saturday

at five o'clock Eastern time in Washington. Yes, the courts are open on Saturday. By then, the ACLU representing the plaintiffs had new information because we now have the actual proclamation of attempting to exercise that particular war power. So the judge expanded his injunction considerably to include no one. He certified a class, everyone subject to that particular war power exercise, or attempted war power exercise, and enjoined or blocked it,

and ordered during a hearing that the flights, if they're in air, if the birds are in the air, turn them back around. He also acknowledged during the hearing, the judge, Judge Boesberg, that if Plains had already landed he may have lost his jurisdiction so he's trying hard to make sure that the Trump administration isn't purposely trying to deny a federal

judge jurisdiction by taking these people surreptitiously to a foreign country like El Salvador and dropping them off in their notoriously abusive jail system and detention center. So when they say, well, we didn't get word until 726 of the minute order, that's a lie. The lawyers were in court, the judge issued from the bench his order in the six o'clock range and it looks like planes went out after the order. That's the point. And they sort of fudge that wallpaper over that in their filing. The Trump administration continues in its notice going forward, and in the absence of appellate relief, federal defendants will continue to protect the United States using

authorities other than the proclamation. That's interesting. So they're saying that until we're just going to continue to act lawless in a lawless fashion, in an unconstitutional fashion, unless we're stopped by an appellate court and we're going to ignore a federal judge, see the constitutional crisis that we are heading for and we are already in? Federal defendants further report based on information from the Department of Homeland Security, that's Christie Noem, that some gang members subject to removal under the proclamation

had already been removed from the United States territory before the issuance of the court's second order. That's a lie, apparently based on media reports. First of all, it's over 200 people, including as young as 14 years old, was turned over to the El Salvadorian regime and it's a black ops detention center. And that was not after the second order. They were sent in violation of the second order. It was great seeing my mother-in-law from abroad

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On page one, the government's own notice raises serious questions. Plaintiffs therefore respectfully request that the court seek immediate clarification from defendants in one or more sworn declarations under oath about their conduct regarding this court's order. The government's letter stated that the court's order was issued at 7.26 p.m. on Saturday, March 15th, but that was the time the written order was issued. During the Saturday hearing, between 6.45 and 6.48, this court orally and unambiguously directed the government to turn around planes carrying individuals being removed pursuant to the proclamation. This one about the Alien Enemies Act. And then they quote from the judge.

And they also remind on page two, everybody, that the oral order of the court is binding. It doesn't have to be in writing. Second, on page two, plaintiffs remain extremely concerned that regardless of which time is used, the government may have violated the court's command. The government states that some gang members, subject to removal, have already been removed from United States territory under the proclamation before the issuance of the court's second order. That phrasing from the Trump administration, according to this filing by the ACLU, strongly suggests that the government has chosen to treat this

court's order as applying only to individuals still on US soil or on flights that had yet to clear US airspace at 726. If that is how the government proceeded, it was a blatant violation of the court's order. And they then object to the fact that they were turned over to foreign governments to try to attempt to have the court lose jurisdiction.

On page three, the filing on behalf of the plaintiff says, based on publicly available information, it appears there were at least two flights that took off during the hearing, but landed after this court's written order, meaning that defendants could have turned the plane around without handing over individuals subject to the proclamation in this court's temporary restraining order. And then they list a couple of flights, Global X Flight 6143 and Global X Flight 6145, one that landed in Honduras, the other one that landed in El Salvador. Third, the plaintiffs continue, if only the written order is, and even if the court had only meant to order defendants to turn the planes around if they were still on US territory, plaintiffs still have serious concerns

about the government's actions. According to at least one media report, one of the planes departed the US after the written order was issued. Then on page four, they talk about the role of the White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, also a White House counselor, and the Department of Homeland Security, Christie Noem, chose not to turn the planes around, although they had the opportunity to do that,

meaning they're willfully violating the court's order. They then quote from an Axios article and statements by, who else, the White House press secretary, Carolyn LeVette. And this is what Carolyn LeVette had to say, although she also misidentified the use of, she said an aircraft carrier was used. I think she meant an airplane. But in any event, here's what Carolyn LeVette said, the administration did not refuse to comply with the court order, the order which had no lawful basis. Oh, now we're just going to, on our own, use self-help and ignore federal court orders. The written order and the administration's actions do not conflict.

Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear, here's the great legal scholar, Carolyn LeVette. Federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the president's conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil. That's not how the Constitution works. That's not how Supreme Court and federal courts work in trying to check the unconstitutional assertion of power by a president. How does she think all the cases related to all the precedent cases about presidential power, where does Carolyn LeVette and the administration think they came from? From federal courts making rulings about whether the Constitution has been violated or not.

That is their job. She continues on page five, the press secretary continues, a single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from US soil. You're wrong on so many counts, Caroline, including the facts. First of all, it wasn't an aircraft carrier, it was a plane, or several planes. Secondly, they say it was full of foreign alien terrorists. It was certainly filled with 230 or 240 primarily men who were turned over to the El Salvadorian government and it looks like the Honduran government and a single judge can do that having certified the class and having issued an injunction

or issued a nationwide injunction. That's what federal judges do. We believe, according to this White House official, we believe this is a baseless legal ruling no matter when the flights took off. Finally, some of the public comments made by the defendants and the president of El Salvador reinforce the plaintiff's concerns. I mean, even the self-proclaimed philosopher king of El Salvador, Naib Buckeli, tweeted a New York Post headline reading, Fed judge orders deportation flights carrying alleged Venezuelan gangsters to return to

the US blocks Trump from invoking Alien Enemies Act and added the comment, oopsie, too late. Secretary of State Marco Rubio retweeted this post from his personal ex-account. In sum, given the careful phrasing of the government's letter, the ACLU continues, the publicly available data, the government's own statements, and the numerous media reports that the government may have chosen not to abide by the court's order, plaintiffs request that the court immediately direct the government to submit one or more sworn declarations from individuals about the flights and about their timing and about the knowledge of the order and the directions of the judge to tell everybody in the government about the order signed by a

whole series of people with the ACLU. What's going to happen next? Judge is going to either take them up and ask for declarations or he's going to call for a court hearing. I expect that to happen sometime later today. At which time, at the same time that the Trump administration is due to file a brief, we'll see if they're going to just flout the rules and not file their brief and be in default. Or they're going to file the brief that was ordered by Judge Boesberg. He set a briefing schedule very quickly this week, Monday with a filing by Donald Trump,

Wednesday by a filing by the ACLU, and a hearing on Friday, while Donald Trump took his appeal to the D.C. Court of Appeals. He has not gotten a stay, he's subject to the temporary restraining orders, and he, as has been outlined in this new filing by the ACLU, is in violation of them. Next step, the ball is in the

judge's court. And we're going to continue to follow it right here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. I'm Michael Popak and I'm reporting. 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, intersection of law and politics go to YouTube now and free subscribe at legal AF MTN that's at legal AF MTN