Legal AF by MeidasTouch - War Crimes Prosecutor Makes His Move Against Trump

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

A US war crimes prosecutor and US Army veteran Eric Iverson has no choice but to file a new federal lawsuit against Trump and his Administration because Trump’s putting his employer, the International Criminal Court and its Chief Prosecutor on a blacklist to block its assets, and ban people from providing services to it is so over broad, that Iverson can’t do his job to go after bad guys in Darfur of all places. Michael Popok looks carefully at Trump’s Executive Order and explains why this suit should be yet another loss for the Trump Administration. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://TryMiracle.com/LEGALAF and use the code LEGALAF to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. 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

All lawyer Eric Iverson, an Army veteran, wants to do is prosecute war crimes at the International Criminal Court, particularly in Darfur. And now he's had to file a federal lawsuit against Trump and the Trump administration because Donald Trump doesn't like the International Criminal Court. We're already not a part of it as Americans. He doesn't like it because they're going after Israel and some other places. But he's taken it one step further once again and put the International Criminal Court and everybody that works for it on a watch list, a block list, a black list, and authorizing the Treasury

Department to go after these people. Well, Eric Iverson's a lawyer. He's an American, but he's a lawyer in The Hague, in the Netherlands, prosecuting war crimes. Every administration's been about prosecuting war crimes, but not the Trump administration. And certainly not allies of Donald Trump. So they issued in February something I covered then, a declaration against the International Criminal Court,

and now Eric Iverson has said, I can't do my job, and it violates my First Amendment right. I just wanna be a war prosecutor in the Hague. Yeah, I'm an American, but now you're gonna put me on a treasury block list, you're gonna go after my assets, you're gonna find me because I'm doing my job at the International Criminal Court. Side note, ICC is also where Jack Smith,

the special prosecutor came from for Donald Trump. Now he was assigned to the Kosovo unit, but it's the same thing, same difference. So this lawsuit now filed is gonna get to the bottom of it once and for all. It's one thing to say America is not gonna be a signatory and be a participant in the International Criminal Court because we don't want foreign tribunals

to be used against Americans. It's another thing to stop Americans from working at the International Criminal Court. And it's not just Eric Iverson. There are dozens and dozens and dozens of Americans or people affiliated with Americans that work for the International Criminal Court. I mean, George Clooney's married to one of them. So I think we got to draw the line in the sand and start saying that as Americans, Americans

exercising their First Amendment right can go work at places like the International Criminal Court, even though we are not direct participants in it, nor do we fund it. I'm Michael Popock, you're on the MidasTouch Network and Legal AF. Hey, you wanna know how to help us here as we talk about this hot take? You can hit the subscribe button for MidasTouch.

You can come over to Legal AF, the YouTube channel, and hit the subscribe button there as well, and help us continue to grow this pro-democracy channel. And we've got a legal AF substack. We'll put up some info about it now at the intersection of law and politics. So let's get down to this particular lawsuit. Eric Iverson, Army veteran.

He's assigned to a very narrow niche. He's a niche specialist, Darfur War Crimes, but he got sucked up by the imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court, February 5th executive orders. No other way around it. And what he wants the federal judge to declare is that his First Amendment rights have been violated. He can't do his job. Let me read to you from page 23.

It says the executive order on paragraph 65 prohibits Mr. Iverson and others like him from engaging in speech and advocacy that defendants determine constitutes the provisions of services to Kareem Khan, who's the chief prosecutor and the head of that office. Mr. Iverson wishes to continue pursuing his investigational and prosecutorial mandates in Darfur at the direction of the criminal court but has been chilled from doing so because of the substantial risk that he will be penalized for providing services for the benefit of prosecutor Khan. Because Khan is listed by name in the executive order appendix as being blacklisted, including

having his property blocked. But this guy works for Khan, effectively. It's his boss. Right? So there we have that. Now the organization, I think it's very interesting. The organization that's brought this case is the human rights first. See out of the forest fire of Donald Trump has now popped up a number of different new public interest groups and law firms. Abby Lowell, who represented Hunter Biden,

just left his law firm, created a new law firm, and their sole focus is on helping people who have been vindictively prosecuted or investigated or blacklisted by the Trump administration. And business will be booming, I assure you. That's one. The weather, it's heating up and your nighttime bedroom temperature

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Secondly, you've got the other groups like Democracy First, Democracy Forward, here Human Rights First and all of that. You've got a lot of groups there that are bringing these kinds of lawsuits. And they have to do it. This is again, Donald Trump using his bully pulpit to go after organizations that he doesn't like or that he

sees as enemies of his allies. But we have to draw a line somewhere as Americans. We may not want the International Criminal Court to be used against us, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't support its principles against people who violate the rule of law internationally. In fact, on paragraph 27 of the filing, this new lawsuit, Eric Iverson's lawyers say that every administration from George W. Bush to the present has supported the prosecution of those culpable for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against the humanity in Darfur. He just wants to do the Darfur thing. He's not even involved with Israel in any prosecutions there. But why

would you want to pull the rug out from under these kind of prosecutions because nobody can understand how broad the executive order is. And that's why the suit has been brought against Trump and Bondi and Marco Rubio and Scott Besant because all this guy's trying to do is avoid being sanctioned, having his paycheck confiscated and being put on a blacklist, a travel list, blocking him from travel, a ban, because he's doing God's work, so to speak, working for the International

Criminal Court based in The Hague. Trust me, this guy can make tons more money if he was in the private sector. He doesn't have to do this. It's not about the money. And we're going to continue to follow it all. Look, the reason these things are all important, whether it's federal judges fighting back against Donald Trump, law firms fighting back against Donald Trump, law firms fighting back against Donald Trump, lawyers at the International Criminal Court fighting back against Donald

Trump. Because if we don't, you see what the bully in chief will do. He will defund, he will destroy, he will dismantle. And we'll have to just, in four years or three and a half years, we're going to have to put all this back together again. And the more that we can do now, the more the federal courts can protect us and protect ultimately and put a ring fence around the rule of law, the better. And, you know, we're not, what we're watching is the battle between the Trump administration and the federal courts. And so far, federal courts are winning that battle.

Donald Trump is losing 90% of the cases that have been filed against him, and 90% or more of the injunctions that have been filed against him, and even has a losing record at the United States Supreme Court. So I'll continue to follow this particular case. I think it's very important about our place as leaders of the free world. I'm not here advocating that we directly sign the International Criminal Court governing documents. But I am saying we should allow Eric Iverson to go after bad guys in Darfur for war crimes

and genocide. And I think all free thinking and moderate people and freedom loving people and rule of law people would feel the exact same way. So until my next reporting, you know where to go. Legal AF, the YouTube channel, Legal AF MTN, Legal AF the podcast here on the Midas Touch Network, and of course Legal AF the sub stack for all the information like this particular filing that you'll only find here on All Things Legal AF. So until my next report, I'm 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.