FURIOUS GOP Judge EXCORIATES Trump and BLOCKS ATTACK!!

What this episode is about

A Republican-appointed judge, Judge Leyon, has ruled against the Trump administration's attempt to censure and prosecute Senator Mark Kelly for his criticisms of military orders, affirming that retired military personnel, like Kelly, have the right to express their views on government conduct. The ruling highlights significant First Amendment protections and addresses two major policy issues tied to the Trump administration, emphasizing the importance of oversight from elected officials.

Key takeaways

• A Republican judge wielding exclamation marks sends a message: even DOD can't silence First Amendment fun!
• Retired military officials share insights, not sedition—time for the Trump administration to learn a thing or two.
• Blocking criminal prosecution of Mark Kelly? Judge Leon reminds us there's no 'hanging' without due process, folks.
• A grand jury, not impressed by Trump's prosecution attempts, says 'no thanks'—America's conscience has spoken!
• When a dance photographer moonlights as a prosecutor, you know the legal drama is about to hit high notes!

Who speaks in this episode?

• Michael Popac (Host) · 13 min speaking
• Judge Leyon (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• Pete Hegsth (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• Mark Kelly (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• Janine Piro (Guest) · 1 min speaking
• Elise Slotkin (Guest) · 1 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Judge Leyon, Senator Mark Kelly, Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Pete Hegseth, Janine Piro, Chris Duzio, Congressman Jason Crowe
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Delete Me, Judge Leyon, Alyssa Slotkin, Maggie Goodlander
4. 9:00 – 12:00: Bob Dylan, Judge Leyon, Pete Hegseth
5. 12:00 – 14:46: Janine Piro, Judge Leyon, Alyssa Slotkin, Elisa Slotkin

Notable quotes from "FURIOUS GOP Judge EXCORIATES Trump and BLOCKS ATTACK!!"

• Trump to call for their hanging and to say that George Washington would do the same thing. I just read Judge Leon's order. It is chock full of exclamation marks. I've never…

  about Judge Leyon · at 0:56

• Senator Kelly's motion for preliminary injunction is granted. You're here on Legal AF and on the Midas Touch Network.

  about Senator Mark Kelly · at 2:43

• We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now.

  about Maggie Goodlander · at 4:57

• Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me now at a special discount for our listeners. You can get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to.

  about Delete Me · at 7:25

• Threatened constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees. After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. citing to Bob Dylan subterranean homesick blues from 1965.

  about Bob Dylan · at 11:30

• Sand and told her lawyers told the prosecutors they should immediately be dismissing this prosecution. This Janine Piro is the same one who's going after the Federal Reserve…

  about Janine Piro · at 12:34

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Judge Leyon — Person · Key decision-maker (federal judge issuing injunction) · 6 mentions · first at 0:02
  The episode analyzes his order granting a preliminary injunction to Kelly, rejecting jurisdictional and First Amendment arguments attributed to the administration, and using notable rhetoric (exclamation marks, Bob Dylan quote).
• Senator Mark Kelly — Person · Central subject of legal dispute (plaintiff / protected speaker) · 3 mentions · first at 0:16
  The episode centers on a federal judge blocking alleged Trump administration/DoD retaliation and attempted prosecution targeting Senator Mark Kelly for a video about refusing illegal orders.
• Pete Hegseth — Person · Referenced government official accused of retaliation (DoD leader/Secretary figure in narrative) · 5 mentions · first at 0:05
  Portrayed as leading efforts to censure/demote/prosecute Kelly and labeling the group the “sedicious six,” with the judge’s order directly criticizing his position.
  Constitutional officers to uphold the Constitution and not follow illegal orders. That led Pete Hegsth to call them the sedicious six. that led Donald Trump to call for their…
• Donald Trump — Person · Referenced political figure (head of administration in dispute) · 3 mentions · first at 0:02
  Presented as driving or endorsing punitive actions against the lawmakers in the video and as the political context for DoD/DOJ actions discussed.
  Pete Hexth, the Department of Justice and Donald Trump want him hanged, want him criminally prosecuted.
• Janine Piro — Person · Referenced prosecutor (U.S. Attorney figure in narrative) · 4 mentions · first at 3:12
  Described as the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in D.C. who sought a grand jury indictment related to the video; the grand jury allegedly refused.
• Alyssa Slotkin — Person · Referenced participant in the video (member of Congress) · 3 mentions · first at 4:33
  Named as one of the lawmakers in the “refuse illegal orders” video; also credited with surfacing an older clip of Hegsth saying similar things.
  Or taking any steps towards demoting him, criminally prosecuting him or the rest. Now, Elise Slotkin, who got invited by Janine Piro in to talk to the prosecutors before they…
• Elisa Slotkin — Person · Likely misidentified/variant mention of Elissa Slotkin (same person) · 2 mentions · first at 3:23
  The transcript alternates between 'Alyssa/Elise/Elissa' for Slotkin; context indicates the Michigan senator targeted in the same prosecutorial effort and issuing a public response letter.
  Powell because of cost overruns in a building construction project involving the Federal Reserve. Here is Elise Lockin. Earlier today, I sent a letter to Attorney General Bondi…
• Bob Dylan — Person · Referenced cultural figure (quoted in judicial opinion) · 3 mentions · first at 10:12
  Cited by the judge to emphasize the obviousness of the constitutional violation (“you don't need a weatherman…”).
• Maggie Goodlander — Person · Referenced participant in the video (member of Congress, as stated) · 3 mentions · first at 4:38
  Named as part of the group delivering the message to military/intelligence personnel.
• Chris Duzio — Person · Referenced participant in the video (member of Congress, as stated) · 2 mentions · first at 4:35
  Listed as one of the six lawmakers addressing service members about refusing illegal orders.
  We want to speak directly to members of the military and the intelligence community who take risks each day to keep Americans safe.
• Congressman Jason Crowe — Person · Referenced participant in the video (member of Congress) · 2 mentions · first at 4:41
  Named as part of the group; the video describes military background (paratrooper/Army Ranger).
  Former CIA officer. former Navy, former paratrooper and Army Ranger, former intelligence officer, former Air Force.
• Chrissy Hulahan — Person · Referenced participant in the video (member of Congress) · 1 mention · first at 4:39
  Included among the lawmakers speaking to the military/intelligence community; described as having prior Air Force background in the video.
  We want to speak directly to members of the military and the intelligence community who take risks each day to keep Americans safe.

Sponsors

• Delete Me — Product · Sponsor · 2 mentions · first at 6:41
  Promoted as a service to remove personal data online, mentioned during an ad segment.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 In breaking news, a Republican appointed judge, Judge Leyon, has just ruled against the Trump administration and its Department of Defense leader Pete Hegsth and has blocked his efforts to censure reduce in rank to uh court marshal and to criminally prosecute Mark Kelly, the senator from Arizona who flew 39 combat missions as a Navy captain, an aviator, and also a shuttle commander. He's also on the Armed Services Committee providing oversight and legitimate criticism to the Trump administration. And the Trump administration didn't like that he along with five other members of Congress who served in the military created a video to remind members of the military that they have an obligation as constitutional officers to uphold the Constitution and not follow illegal orders. That led Pete Hegsth to call them the sedicious six. that led Donald Trump to call for their hanging and to say that George Washington would do the

1:01 same thing. I just read Judge Leon's order. It is chock full of exclamation marks. I've never seen so many exclamation marks uh tapped out by a federal judge in an order against the Trump administration. He also has to remind the Trump administration that while service members in the active military may have limited First Amendment rights, retirees like Mark Kelly who are also sitting senators, they enjoy wide birth to criticize the government. And uh and Judge Leon also said, "Look, there's been two major major policy transgressions by the Trump administration. one involving the takeover of the National Guard and the other being the lethal strikes on human beings in the Caribbean. And of course, the judge says that Mark Kelly as a senator has a First Amendment right and a senatorial right to comment on it, to provide oversight about it. Let me read to you first as we start this hottake

2:02 from Judge Leon's conclusion. It's always good to start at the back of a 29page decision. Rather than trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired service members, Secretary Hegsath and his fellow defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired service members have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our nation over the last 250 years. If so, they will more fully appreciate why the founding fathers made free speech the first amendment in the Bill of Rights exclamation part uh point. Hopefully, this injunction will in some small way help bring about a course correction in the Defense Department's approach to these issues.

2:43 Senator Kelly's motion for preliminary injunction is granted. You're here on Legal AF and on the Midas Touch Network. I'm Michael Popach. Let's get to the 29page decision and how we got here. And I'll connect it, weave it, if you will with a rejection by a grand jury just yesterday to indict Senator Kelly. I mean, they're going they're not just doing censure and a slap on the wrist. Pete Hexth, the Department of Justice and Donald Trump want him hanged, want him criminally prosecuted. So Janine Piro right on Q, the U the US attorney uh for Donald Trump in DC brought a indictment, tried to get an indictment from a grand jury against Mark Kelly, against Elise Slaken, the senator from Michigan and and four others. and the grand jury, which is the conscience of the American people, said, "No, we're not indicting them for that."

3:36 Of course, it didn't help that the new reporting is that Janine Piro sent in effectively a part-time prosecutor who on the side has a dance photography studio. I'm not making this up. And who has no federal court experience, and that's the one that went in for the indictment. But be that as it may, that's just a technicality. The fact that they were even trying to prosecute Mark Kelly for this 92 video in which all he and the others did was properly state the code of military justice, the Nuremberg principle, that as a federal officer sworn to uphold the Constitution, you need to follow the Constitution and you can't follow illegal orders.

4:16 Before I read the order of Judge Leon supporting Mark Kelly and in stopping Pete Hegsth from censuring him and penalizing him, retaliating against him under the First Amendment. Let's play the now famous video. Play the video.

4:33 I'm Senator Alyssa Satkin. Senator Mark Kelly. Representative Chris Duzio. Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander.

4:39 Representative Chrissy Hulahan. Congressman Jason Crowe. I was a captain in the United States Navy.

4:44 Former CIA officer. former Navy, former paratrooper and Army Ranger, former intelligence officer, former Air Force.

4:51 We want to speak directly to members of the military and the intelligence community

4:55 who take risks each day to keep Americans safe. We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now.

5:01 Americans trust their military, but that trust is at risk. This administration is pitting our uniform military

5:07 and intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore an oath

5:12 to protect and defend this Constitution. And right now, the threats to our Constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.

5:20 Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You can refuse illegal orders.

5:26 You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution.

5:32 We know this is hard and that it's a difficult time to be a public servant. But whether you're serving in the CIA,

5:37 the Army, our Navy, the Air Force, your vigilance is critical. and know that we have your back

5:43 because now more than ever, the American people need you. We need you to stand up for our laws,

5:49 our Constitution, and who we are as Americans. Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up the ship. Now, right around that same time, Hegth calling them the sedicious six seems to have forgotten that about 10 years ago when he was at a military academy, Pete Hgse said the exact same thing as this video. And I guess he was hoping that nobody would find it, but Alisa Slackin found it. And here it is.

6:17 Uh, if you're doing something that is just completely unlawful and uh and and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that. That's why the military said it won't follow unlawful orders uh from their commander-in-chief. Uh there there's a standard, there's an ethos, there's a belief that we are above uh what so many things that our enemies or others would do.

6:35 Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. Puts a little fly in the ointment, don't you think? In the conversation, delete me makes it easy, quick, and safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. Delete Me does all the hard work of wiping your and your family's personal information from data broker websites so you don't have to chase it down yourself. As someone with an active online presence, privacy is really important to me. There's so much personal information floating around out there and you often don't even realize it until you go looking. If you've ever worried about identity theft, harassment, or doxing, or you know someone who has, delete me can help by removing that data from hundreds of broker sites.

7:25 Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me now at a special discount for our listeners. You can get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/legal AF and use promo code legal AF at checkout. But the only way to get 20% off is to go to joinedme.com/legal AF and enter code legal AF at checkout. One more time, jointme.com/legal AAF. Code legal AF. So they argued in court before Judge Leyon that he has no jurisdiction. This is a military tribunal issue. In other words, they get the first crack at at the First Amendment analysis. And the judge rejected that. They also said he it's the same. Service members have limited First Amendment rights. And the judge says, "Yeah, but he's a retired service member, and therefore your argument, your principles don't apply in this situation." Here's what the judge says uh about this retired naval officer with

8:30 an illustrious career and his role as a senator to provide oversight to the Trump administration and speak out. He goes he goes through the timeline first the judge about all the ways that he's been censured and retaliated against by the Trump administration. Then on page 19 of his order, he says, "Let's start, well, let's start with the basics." I like the way this judge writes, "Under ordinary first amendment principles," on page 19, the judge says, "The speech at issue here is unquestionably protected speech. Speech on matters of public concern lies at the core of First Amendment protection. It includes opposition to national foreign policy and even vehement, costic, and unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials." By the way, that video is none of that. It wasn't even a It wasn't even addressed to Trump.

9:23 Wasn't even critical of Trump. It was reminding these officers of their duty under the Constitution and Military Justice Code. Here, the letter of censure identifies a sustained pattern of public statements, including the November 18 video. Defendants rest their entire First Amendment defense on the argument that more limited First Amendment protection for active duty members extends to a retired Navy captain. The judge says that does not apply. The case law does not apply. On page 21, he says, "The same rationale does not hold true for retired service members and certainly not those in Senator Kelly's position of being a sitting senator with oversight cap uh uh uh capacity." And here's more of the plain speak of Judge Leyon with a lot of exclamation marks and references to things including Bob Dylan songs. He says on page 22, as applied to a sitting member of Congress, uh the the rule about limiting first

10:23 amendment speech of a active military member has even less force exclamation mark. Uh our system of representative government requires that legislators be given the widest latitude to express their views on issues of policy. Uh then he goes on to say, "Let me give you the reference." Bottom of 22, defendants respond that Senator Kelly is seeking to exempt himself from the rules of military justice that Congress has expressly made applicable to retired service members. Horse feathers, the judge writes, exclamation mark, bottom of page 22. Earlier, he makes a reference in a footnote to Bob Dylan in his opening.

11:11 He says, um, worse still, on page one over to two, Secretary Hegsth contends that this court is not yet competent to decide the issues in this case. This court on page two, the judge Leon writes, has all it needs to conclude that defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms and threatened constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees. After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. citing to Bob Dylan subterranean homesick blues from 1965.

11:45 To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their government and our constitution demands they receive it. Wait for it. Judge Leon drinking game exclamation mark. So, we have these two cases going on, right? the grand jury rejecting the indictment of Mark Kelly and right on the heels of that, Judge Leyon stopping the defense department from censuring him, retaliating against him or taking any any steps towards demoting him, criminally prosecuting him or the rest. Now, Elise Slotkin, who got invited by Janine Piro in to talk to the prosecutors before they went to the grand jury, respectfully uh rejected that and and said, "Go pound sand and told her lawyers told the prosecutors they should immediately be dismissing this prosecution." This Janine Piro is the same one who's going after the Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell because of cost overruns in a building construction project involving

12:50 the Federal Reserve. Here is Elise Lockin. Earlier today, I sent a letter to Attorney General Bondi and to the lead Department of Justice lawyer in DC, Janine Piro, telling them one, I will not be complying with their inquiries and sitting down for an interview based on a 90-second video I filmed, and number two, urging them to retain their records on this case in case I decide to sue for infringement of my constitutional rights. So, if the Trump administration, Department of Justice, Pete Exit, they don't like this ruling, and they're not going to like this ruling, they can go take Judge Leon up to the DC uh Circuit Court of Appeals.

13:28 If they don't like that, they can take it to the United States Supreme Court. But if they think even the MAGA six on the Supreme Court is going to rule that a sitting member of Congress, a United States senator highly decorated like Mark Kelly or anybody can be censured for expressing his First Amendment rights as a retiree when he has oversight committee obligations as a senator. They got another thing coming. Exclamation mark horse feathers. I guess I guess that's the I guess to to uh pay tribute to Judge Leon. I'll put it I'll put it that way. So, I'm glad you're here. Hit the free subscribe button.

14:03 Come over to Legal AF YouTube. Do the exact same thing. And I'll see you in my next video. I'm Michael Popac. 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 called, wait for it, Morning AF. What else? All the other contributors from Legal A are there as well. We 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.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "FURIOUS GOP Judge EXCORIATES Trump and BLOCKS ATTACK!!"?

Michael Popac (Host), Judge Leyon (Guest), Pete Hegsth (Guest), Mark Kelly (Guest), Janine Piro (Guest), Elise Slotkin (Guest).

What is "FURIOUS GOP Judge EXCORIATES Trump and BLOCKS ATTACK!!" about?

A Republican-appointed judge, Judge Leyon, has ruled against the Trump administration's attempt to censure and prosecute Senator Mark Kelly for his criticisms of military orders, affirming that retired military personnel, like Kelly, have the right to express their views on government conduct. The ruling highlights significant First Amendment protections and addresses two major policy issues…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

13 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Judge Leyon, Senator Mark Kelly, Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump, Janine Piro, Alyssa Slotkin. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "FURIOUS GOP Judge EXCORIATES Trump and BLOCKS ATTACK!!"?

The episode runs 15 min; the transcript is about 2,428 words in 31 timestamped sections.

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