Transcript

Melania Trump BEGS for Judge Cannon to BAIL HER OUT

From MeidasTouch · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 16 min · 2,731 words · 21 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Melania Trump BEGS for Judge Cannon to BAIL HER OUT", an episode of MeidasTouch published January 6, 2026 (16 min, about 2,731 words). It mentions 35 people, works and ideas, including Michael Wolff, General jurisdiction, Southern District of Florida, Personal jurisdiction, Judge Sarah L. Cave.

What this episode is about

Melania Trump is seeking to evade legal proceedings by arguing she was not properly served in a defamation lawsuit filed by journalist Michael Wolf, despite claims that her doorman received the service. In her recent court filing, she aims to move the case from New York to Florida, potentially to influence the presiding judge, and her strategy raises questions about her willingness to confront the allegations stemming from Wolf's reporting.

Key takeaways

  • Melania's dodgeball skills might rival Mike Tyson's, but in court, service is no game.
  • A billion-dollar defamation threat? Sounds like Melania's taking intimidation to a premium level.
  • Moving a case to Florida for a friendly judge? Classic political play or just legal misdirection?
  • Wolf's legal strategy is a masterclass in First Amendment chess against Melania's funding-fueled checkers.
  • Dodging service may work in poker, but in the court of law, it's a losing hand for Melania.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Alejandro Breurto, Judge Aileen Cannon, Lolita Express, Mara Lago
  2. – 6:00: First Amendment, New York State Supreme Court, The Daily Beast
  3. – 9:00: General jurisdiction, Midas Touch, Personal jurisdiction, Trump Tower
  4. – 12:00: General jurisdiction, Personal jurisdiction, Alejandro Breurto, Fort Pierce, Florida
  5. – 15:00: Southern District of Florida, General jurisdiction, Judge Aileen Cannon, Service of process
  6. – 16:23: First Amendment, Legal AF Substack, Midas Touch

Notable quotes from "Melania Trump BEGS for Judge Cannon to BAIL HER OUT"

  • What she's really trying to do as a fall back is get the case moved from New York to Southern District of Florida where she may get Judge Cannon. Is this all a ruse to get…
    about Southern District of Florida · at
  • Girls and that right and made some comments about what happened on the Lolita Express and where maybe Donald Trump and Melania had sex for the first time. all coming out of the…
    about Lolita Express · at
  • Declare that the threat that's being made is an attempt unconstitutional attempt to chill Michael Wolf's first amendment right in free speech.
    about First Amendment · at
  • Dodging service. In fact, that's her number one argument in the new filing in federal court. No personal jurisdiction over me, judge. Right? Because you keep you keep playing…
    about General jurisdiction · at
  • Call jur personal jurisdiction falls into two main categories. General jurisdiction or specific jurisdiction.
    about Specific jurisdiction · at
  • In federal court to federal court in Southern District of Florida where and near where she lives in Palm Beach County. Well, there's only three judges near where she lives in…
    about Palm Beach County · at
  • We anticipate filing a motion to dismiss for insufficient service of process. See they lead off with their what they think is their strongest argument. The door man got served. What a coward. Lack of personal jurisdiction. You can't sue me.
    about Service of process · at
  • Margalago. And what's going to happen here is Wol's lawyers are going to ask for jurisdictional discovery and determine where she really lives.
    about Jurisdictional discovery · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Michael Wolff — Person · 18 mentions
  • Judge Sarah L. Cave — Person · 5 mentions
  • Judge Aileen Cannon — Person · 4 mentions · first at
    Back is get the case moved from New York to Southern District of Florida where she may get Judge Cannon. Is this all a ruse to get before Donald Trump's favorite judge? We talk…
  • Alejandro Breurto — Person · 3 mentions · first at
    On letterhead from Donald Trump's lawyer representing Melania, a guy named Alejandro Breurto, demanding a billion dollars from journalist Michael Wolf because there was reports…
  • Judge Robin L. Rosenberg — Person · 2 mentions
  • Karen Shectman — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Practice in New York, but apparently is going to be filing a motion to become admitted, and Karen Shectman at DA Piper, who's Donald Trump's corporate lawyers that I think they…
  • Ben Meiselas — Person · 1 mention
  • Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks — Person · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

  • Southern District of Florida — Company · 5 mentions · first at
  • DLA Piper — Company · 4 mentions
  • Popok Firm — Company · 4 mentions
  • Midas Touch — Company · 3 mentions · first at
    Ruse to get before Donald Trump's favorite judge? We talk about it here on Midas Touch and Legal AF. I'm Michael Popach following closely all things Melania and Michael Wolf.…
  • The Daily Beast — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    Alejandro Breurto, demanding a billion dollars from journalist Michael Wolf because there was reports in the Daily Beast and other places. Michael's been very public about his…
  • Southern District of New York (SDNY) — Company · 2 mentions
  • New York State Supreme Court — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Places. Well, Michael beat her to the punch. He filed a lawsuit in October and it landed in New York State Supreme Court, the trial level court in New York. Smart move. I…
  • Legal AF Substack — Company · 1 mention · first at
    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.

Concepts & topics

Places & events

  • West Palm Beach, Florida — Place · 3 mentions
  • Mara Lago — Place · 2 mentions · first at
    It, moving around like you're some sort of MX missile, or you're some sort of shell game moving between Mara Lago and Trump Tower and Bedminster and occasionally the White…
  • Trump Tower — Place · 2 mentions · first at
    Of MX missile, or you're some sort of shell game moving between Mara Lago and Trump Tower and Bedminster and occasionally the White House. Catch me if you can. Well, that…
  • White House — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Shell game moving between Mara Lago and Trump Tower and Bedminster and occasionally the White House. Catch me if you can. Well, that doesn't work in federal practice. We'll…
  • Palm Beach County — Place · 1 mention · first at
  • Fort Pierce, Florida — Place · 1 mention · first at
    County. Judge Rosenberg in West Palm Beach, Judge Middlebrooks in West Palm Beach, and Judge Cannon in Fort Pierce, Florida. And Middlebrooks, I think, is I think is senior…
  • Palm Beach, Florida — Place · 1 mention · first at
    The court should transfer the case to the Southern District of Florida. She is doiciled in Palm Beach, Florida within the Southern District of Florida. Now, Judge Vocasile…
  • Bedminster, New Jersey — Place · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

Same old Melania, still dodging service like she's some sort of Mike Tyson, doesn't want to get served by a process server for Michael Wolf, the journalist lawsuit in New York, and is using that as continued grounds to get his case to stop her $1 billion defamation case against him from getting off the ground. that in a brand new filing that just got made by Melania Trump in the last several hours in federal court in New York. She complains about a lot of things in her letter brief. Um, and we'll talk about the procedure there, but her fundamental argument, her primary argument is that the door man got served. I didn't get served. Well, maybe that's because you've been dodging service, bobbing and weaving to avoid it, moving around like you're some sort of MX missile, or you're some sort of shell game moving between Mara Lago and Trump Tower and Bedminster and occasionally the White House. Catch me

if you can. Well, that doesn't work in federal practice. We'll talk about that and why that's a losing argument. But what she's really trying to do as a fall back is get the case moved from New York to Southern District of Florida where she may get Judge Cannon. Is this all a ruse to get before Donald Trump's favorite judge? We talk about it here on Midas Touch and Legal AF. I'm Michael Popach following closely all things Melania and Michael Wolf. Now, journalist Michael Wolf got a demand letter back in October threatening him on letterhead from Donald Trump's lawyer representing Melania, a guy named Alejandro Breurto, demanding a billion dollars from journalist Michael Wolf because there was reports in the Daily Beast and other places. Michael's been very public about his journalism about comments Michael made primarily repeating what a um subject for his book Jeffrey Epstein told him about Melania

and then other things that are public and other things that Michael through his investigative reporting uh ferreted out and connected the dots between Epstein and Melania and Trump and Epste and Melania and models and bottles and girls and that right and made some comments about what happened on the Lolita Express and where maybe Donald Trump and Melania had sex for the first time. You know, all coming out of the mouth and typewriter of Michael Wolf. In fact, to remind you, Michael Wolf has been on Legal AF before more than once.

Here is a clip to remind you of things Michael Wolf has said about Melania. Let's play the clip. I just want to note that um uh Melania Trump um um has filed a suit against you and you have filed a suit against her for suppressing her your freedom of speech.

Let me just slightly correct you on that. She has threatened to sue me for a billion dollars. Um, I acted before she did and sued her and um, I have now yet to hear anything from her. She hasn't reacted in any way. She certainly has not sued me. And um um so all everything that we anticipated that that she would counter sue that she would move to change jurisdictions. We're suing her in in um uh in New York has not happened. So we are proceeding with our suit against her. she is may have decided to um um to cut her losses and um and not only not sue me but run in the other direction. Well, she's threatened a lot of people and what's interesting in your case is that and in others is she hasn't formally filed in a court of law and maybe these are simply attempts with lawyers letters to intimidate anybody

which is which is exactly the basis on which we are suing her. It's it's um she is we we are maintain suing under the anti-slap laws in New York State which pre which precisely go after the uh the idea that someone can use liel law or the threats of liel suits to shut you up. That's in New York State that is illegal.

Yeah. So, here's a question. Um, would you be surprised if she were mentioned in the Epstein files?

I I would not. I, you know, I know that um that um that Epstein knew her, that Epstein spent a lot of time talking to Donald Trump about women, including the women he um uh he marries. Uh now he gets a demand letter as a journalist for a billion dollars unless he retracts apologizes for these defamatory statements and she listed a bunch in the uh from the Daily Beast article in other places. Well, Michael beat her to the punch. He filed a lawsuit in October and it landed in New York State Supreme Court, the trial level court in New York. Smart move. I practice law. New York State Supreme, good place to go rather than federal court for a case like this. And he asked for a declaration from the judge to declare that every one of those statements is either true about Melania and Epstein or otherwise or can't be the subject of a defamation case. and to have the judge declare that the threat that's being

made is is an attempt unconstitutional attempt to chill Michael Wolf's first amendment right in free speech. Relatively straightforward. Well, they didn't like that suit. Now, in order to get a lawsuit off the ground and commenced, you have to serve it on the other side. Filing it in court is not enough. You have to obtain service over the person. There's also jurisdictional concerns, but you have to get service. You have to do generally unless you're allowed by the judge or by some statute to effectuate alternative service or substitute service, you generally have to hand the document with a process server just like old timey times uh into the hands of the defendant. Well, Melania has spent most of no October, November, and through the holidays dodging service. In fact, that's her number one argument in the new filing in federal court. No personal jurisdiction over me, judge. Right? Because you keep

you you keep playing whack-a-ole with the process servers. Now, in federal court, that doesn't generally work. First of all, there's ways to obtain from the judge approved alternative service. If a if a person's really evading service, you can ultimately serve the secretary of state of that state and publish it in a newspaper and that can be service. The judge can say just put it here or put it there or email it or what the judge can come up with other methods of service. Hey everybody, Ben Myelis here from the Midas Touch Network. I wanted to let you know about my podcast partner, Michael Popox new law firm. It's called the Popac firm. Michael Popox pursuing his dream of starting his own law firm really based on the popular demand by all the mightest mighty and legal aferers who were approaching Michael Popac with their cases and saying can you help us and at that time Popac was not able to. So he went out on his own.

He started the pop firm where he is now handling catastrophic injury cases like car accident cases, trucking cases, malpractice cases, big negligence cases, wrongful death cases. So if you or someone you know have a case like this, the consultation with Popox Firm is free. Give them a call. See if you have a case. It's the popfirm.com. the popfirm.com or you can call 877 pop af P O P AF. So 1877 P O P AF. Give Michael Popac a call and I'm really proud of you, Popac. Thanks for all the hard work you're putting in. What did they do? They handed it to a door man at Trump Tower.

I mean, her name's on the building. Uh and also sent it to her lawyer. They obviously know about the lawsuit, which is what you want to ensure happens with service because they're filing papers around it. So, if I'm Michael Wolf's lawyers, I say waiver. You've waved this argument. And in federal court, you can't f around with service because there's methods and methodologies to shift the burden back to you. They can send a notice to her lawyers and say, "You got 60 days to accept service. If you don't accept service, you're going to pay the cost of us having to serve you." and federal judges, even ones like Judge Vocasil, who was appointed by Donald Trump, they don't like defendants evading service. That's her first argument. I'm going to read it to you.

Her second argument is no personal jurisdiction over me in New York, which is sort of laugh out loud funny. We know for people that are in and around New York that Melania is here an awful lot. shopping sprees, spa days, ladies who lunch, charity, keeping an eye down Fifth Avenue on her son Baron. She's in New York a hell of a lot. And to say that there's no jurisdiction over her, there's two arguments there. We'll do a little teach out. One, if you we call we call jur personal jurisdiction falls into two main categories. General jurisdiction or specific jurisdiction.

General jurisdiction is you are so much in that state like where you live that we can sue you for anything anywhere in your state. That's general jurisdiction over you. Specific is you don't maybe live in the state but you're there enough or the events around the cause of action arose or occurred in New York. Now look, the demand letter sent by Alejandro Breurto, the lawyer for um uh Melania and Donald Trump was mailed to Michael Wolf in New York making the demand. I think they're screwed in New York is what I'm trying to say. And then lastly, they're arguing at the last moment, judge, even if you kept the case in New York because there's a there's a there's going to be motion practice now about whether the case stays in New York or not, it should be transferred by you in federal court to federal court in Southern District of Florida where and near where she lives in Palm Beach County. Well, there's only three judges

near where she lives in Palm Beach County. Judge Rosenberg in West Palm Beach, Judge Middlebrooks in West Palm Beach, and Judge Cannon in Fort Pierce, Florida. And Middlebrooks, I think, is I think is senior status. So, it's really going to be a 50/50 shot. They're shooting for Canon. You can tell, you know. So, the Wolf side, just to keep score, want to keep the case in New York State court. the Melania side want to transfer it to federal court, have it dismissed because she hasn't been served andor there's no personal jurisdiction over her in New York and failing that have it transferred to federal to federal down to Florida. Now, here's what the let me let me read to you from the u the letter that was just filed. This is how it works in federal practice in New York.

You have to ask permission before you file your motion. In state court, generally, you just file your motion. Uh here, you need to have a conference call with the judge. I've I've participated in dozens of these. During the conference call, you effectively argue your motion. It's like a ghost motion. You haven't filed it yet, but you start arguing it and you argue against it. Judge listens to the argument, says, "Yeah, that sounds like it has merit. File the motion." And then you have the formal filing and the briefing schedule and oral, sometimes an oral argument, not always in federal court. Sometimes it's it's a it's resolved by the judge on the on reading the motion uh papers.

I've filed dozens and dozens of motions to dismiss in federal court. I think I had oral argument once. Here's what it says. We represent the first lady of the United States. And who's the Wii? Well, it's Alejandro Breto, but it's this other firm, DA Piper. Who's Da Piper? Well, in 20 in 2020 2021, they said Donald Trump was unfit for office. But in 2022 and and currently they represent Donald Trump and Truth Social on all their corporate affairs. So we represent the first lady. We anticipate filing a motion to dismiss for insufficient service of process. See they lead off with their what they think is their strongest argument. The door man got served. What a coward. Lack of personal jurisdiction. You can't sue me in New York even though my name's on the building. and failure to state a claim or to transfer the case to the Southern District of Florida. See, I think that's the one they really want. They want to

get this in front of Judge Cannon or try to. Then they go through all of their arguments about, you know, uh the service of process is defective. She hasn't been personally served and she needs to be. Spends about a third of this argument on that issue. Then they argue that there's no general jurisdiction over her, that she lives at Mara Lago. I'm not sure she lives in Margalago. And what's going to happen here is Wol's lawyers are going to ask for jurisdictional discovery and determine where she really lives. Who whose bed is she in, I guess, is the right way to put it. And where and for how long. So that that door has been open. And then finally, but here's the part I think is really what they're seeking. This is on page three. Lastly, if the court is not inclined to dismiss the case on the grounds set forth above, the court should transfer the case to the Southern District of Florida. She is

doiciled in Palm Beach, Florida within the Southern District of Florida. Now, Judge Vocasile, even though she's a Trump appointee who's helped Trump in the past indirectly, she can't, Judge Vocasil can't place the case in Judge Cannon's hands. She can send it to the Southern District of Florida clerk. they can lodge it in the West Palm Beach Division and then through random wheel it'll either be Rosenberg or Cannon and we'll be holding our breath to see which one. Um, so they end it with this case should be dismissed and if it proceeds at all, which it should not, it should proceed in the Southern District of Florida, signed Alejandro Breurto, uh, who is not admitted to practice in New York, but apparently is going to be filing a motion to become admitted, and Karen Shectman at DA Piper, who's Donald Trump's corporate lawyers that I think they should get First Amendment lawyers involved in

this. Their main argument on the merits is that you can't run into federal state court or any court ask for a declaration that comments that are made are not defamatory. Sure you can. Absolutely you can. Or that this is a slap strategic litigation against public participation uh case to try to chill somebody's first amendment rights. I totally disagree. I don't think they know what they're talking about. And we'll have to see what Judge Vocasil does next. Follow it here on Midas Touch and on Legal AF. come over to Legal AF, the YouTube channel, Legal AF the Substack, where we're running a sale 20% off on annual memberships uh this week. So, until my next report, I'm Michael Popach. 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 AF 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

What is "Melania Trump BEGS for Judge Cannon to BAIL HER OUT" about?

Melania Trump is seeking to evade legal proceedings by arguing she was not properly served in a defamation lawsuit filed by journalist Michael Wolf, despite claims that her doorman received the service. In her recent court filing, she aims to move the case from New York to Florida, potentially to influence the presiding judge, and her strategy raises questions about her willingness to confront…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

35 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Michael Wolff, General jurisdiction, Southern District of Florida, Personal jurisdiction, Judge Sarah L. Cave, Judge Aileen Cannon. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Melania Trump BEGS for Judge Cannon to BAIL HER OUT"?

The episode runs 16 min; the transcript is about 2,731 words in 21 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.