Trump DOJ Judge Complaint BACKFIRES with TOTAL EXONERATION

What this episode is about

The complaint filed by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi against Judge Jeb Booseberg has backfired, as Judge Jeff Sutton of the Sixth Circuit has exonerated Booseberg, highlighting the Trump administration's ongoing defiance of federal court orders. This situation underscores the judiciary's commitment to uphold the rule of law, amidst accusations from Trump’s camp that the judges are biased against them.

Key takeaways

• When federal judges become targets, it's a sign of hitting the legal panic button—Trump plays chess with checkers.
• Exonerated Booseberg is the judiciary's nemesis to Trump's defiance; a 'judges judge' shows the law can't be bent.
• Ethics complaints filed as thinly-veiled strategy? Call it a contemptuous tantrum from a defiant administration.
• Booseberg's 'predictions' are living proof: federal judges aren't in the business of picking favorites; they're enforcing order.
• Claims of bias after losing isn't new; shouting at the judiciary for doing its job? Classic deflection 101.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Michael Popach (Host) · 12 min speaking
• Pam Bondi (Guest)
• Jeb Booseberg (Guest)
• Chad Meiselle (Guest)

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Jeb Booseberg, Donald Trump, John Roberts, Legal AF
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Donald Trump, Jeb Booseberg, Jeff Sutton, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Popac Firm, Midas Touch Network, Jeff Sutton
4. 9:00 – 12:00: Legal AF
5. 12:00 – 14:50: Legal AF, Donald Trump, Michael Popach

Notable quotes from "Trump DOJ Judge Complaint BACKFIRES with TOTAL EXONERATION"

• Circuit Jeff Sutton has exonerated chief judge Jeb Booseberg of the DC district court Donald Trump doesn't like him because he wants to hold the Trump administration department…

  about Donald Trump · at 0:11

• Ruling apparently came out on December the 19th, the media, we are just getting it now. I'm Michael Popach. I'll break it down for you right here on the Midas Touch Network and…

  about Legal AF · at 2:31

• Of staff for Pam Bondi, now out of the government back in Florida, where he was the chief of staff for her in Florida when she was the attorney general there.

  about Attorney General Pam Bondi · at 5:15

• Know about my podcast partner, Michael Popox's new law firm. It's called the Popac firm. Michael Popox pursuing his dream of starting his own law firm.

  about Popac Firm · at 7:35

• Appellet courts, occasionally the United States Supreme Court. And we got to just keep doing that. As the ACLU says, I'm probably going to butcher this. We have to delay, defeat, and dilute, right? using crowds, courts, and courage.

  about American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) · at 12:52

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Donald Trump — Person · Referenced political figure / subject of criticism · 5 mentions · first at 0:00
  Central figure accused of encouraging attacks on judges and of executive-branch defiance of federal court orders; his administration is the litigant in the discussed contempt/ethics dispute.
• Jeb Booseberg — Person · Referenced judge (subject of ethics complaint) · 5 mentions · first at 0:15
  Portrayed as the DC district chief judge targeted by an ethics complaint after rulings and contempt proceedings involving alleged executive noncompliance; later “exonerated” by Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Sutton in the narrative.
  Because the chief judge of the sixth circuit Jeff Sutton has exonerated chief judge Jeb Booseberg of the DC district court Donald Trump doesn't like him because he wants to…
• Michael Popach — Person · Main speaker / host (segment presenter) · 2 mentions · first at 2:36
  Narrates and analyzes the judicial-ethics complaint and Sixth Circuit dismissal; identifies himself as the presenter on Midas Touch Network and Legal AF.
  The 19th, the media, we are just getting it now. I'm Michael Popach. I'll break it down for you right here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. While you're here, hit…
• Jeff Sutton — Person · Referenced judge / decision-maker in ethics matter · 3 mentions · first at 0:11
  Identified as Sixth Circuit chief judge who dismissed the judicial-misconduct complaint and “exonerated” Booseberg, emphasizing lack of evidence and that merits disputes belong in appeals/recusal motions.
  They don't like and they don't like their rulings has hit a major roadblock because the chief judge of the sixth circuit Jeff Sutton has exonerated chief judge Jeb Booseberg of…
• John Roberts — Person · Referenced judicial figure (conference host) · 3 mentions · first at 1:05
  Mentioned as hosting the judicial conference where Booseberg allegedly made remarks; described as Booseberg’s friend and as having placed him on the FISA court (“spy court”).
  Booseberg is middle of the road Republican. He was nominated by Obama, but also nominated by Bush. He's friends with John Roberts who put him on the spy court. He was the…
• Attorney General Pam Bondi — Person · Referenced political/legal figure (criticized) · 2 mentions · first at 0:00
  Presented as aligned with Trump in a strategy of attacking judges; referenced via her (then) chief of staff’s role in filing the ethics complaint described in the segment.

Companies & orgs

• Midas Touch Network — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at 2:38
  A network hosting podcasts and content, including Legal AF, focusing on legal and political issues.
  Ruling apparently came out on December the 19th, the media, we are just getting it now. I'm Michael Popach. I'll break it down for you right here on the Midas Touch Network and…
• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — Company · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at 4:08
  An organization representing individuals in legal cases, mentioned in the context of defending Venezuelan men.

Products & tech

• Legal AF — Product · Business focus · 5 mentions · first at 2:40
  A podcast and Substack platform discussing legal and political issues, actively promoted by the host.

Sponsors

• Popac Firm — Product · Sponsor · 2 mentions · first at 7:41
  A law firm started by Michael Popach, mentioned and promoted within the podcast.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Pam Bondi and Donald Trump's well-worn strategim of attacking federal judges they don't like and they don't like their rulings has hit a major roadblock because the chief judge of the sixth circuit Jeff Sutton has exonerated chief judge Jeb Booseberg of the DC district court Donald Trump doesn't like him because he wants to hold the Trump administration department of justice and Christine ultimately in contempt. He's made a series of rulings that shows that the Trump administration has been openly defiant and contumacious of his decisions and they don't like it. So they immediately ran and filed some ridiculous manufactured ethics charge claiming that four days before Jeb Booseberg was even assigned the case, which we call JG, about 200 Venezuelan men who who Donald Trump tried to make disappear in the middle of the night without due process over federal court orders by Jeb Booseberg. He didn't even get the case

1:01 until uh March of 2015. On March 11, he was at a judicial conference hosted by Chief Justice John Roberts, a friend of his. And he said that he had a fear of open defiance. This is Jeb Booseberg, open defiance, and that the Trump administration would not comply with court orders. That was March of last year. Boy, was his crystal ball right. But the Trump administration didn't like that because within days, he found that the Trump administration was in open defiance of his orders. They said, "Aha, look, he was at a judicial conference.

1:36 He said it out loud. He prejudged the case. He was always going to find us to be in contempt." No, you're in contempt because you are openly defying the defying uh defying the case law and the orders of federal judges. We just had a federal a chief judge in all of the Minnesota federal courts, Judge Schultz, say out loud in an order that in the month of January 2026 alone, one month that ICE had violated orders of those courts 96 times in one month more, the judge speculated than some agencies or departments of the government have ever violated in their entire history. So they didn't like that they ran. They filed an ethics charge in front of the chief judge of the DC uh circuit court, Judge Tvenasan, who sent it to the sixth circuit to avoid a conflict. And even though the ruling apparently came out on December the 19th, the media, we are just getting it now. I'm Michael Popach. I'll break

2:38 it down for you right here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. While you're here, hit the free subscribe button here, but come over to Legal AF YouTube channel and help do the exact same thing. continue to build our uh our pro-democracy independent network there as well. All right, let's talk about what happened March 11th judicial conference hosted by the Chief Justice. Now, as a as a bit of a background, Booseberg is middle of the road Republican. He was nominated by Obama, but also nominated by Bush. He's friends with John Roberts who put him on the spy court. He was the roommate in in law school with Brett Kavanaaugh on the Supreme Court. He's a well-liked judge, a judge's judge. They just don't like the fact that he's trying to hold the Trump administration accountable. He He pulled everybody into a hearing on March the 15th and he issued orders to stop planes from going in the middle of the

3:32 night any longer to El Salvador CC cop prison without due process. He was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court who said, "Habius Corpus is the right thing to do to bring these people in on due process wherever they reside." Yeah. I mean, they quibbled about his procedure, but not about the underlying substance. He then started criminal contempt proceedings after these planes continued to fly. Well, what happened to those 200 men? They were eventually horse traded through the Trump administration with El Salvador back to Venezuela before Donald Trump took over the oil fields of Venezuela, hoping that they would get out from under federal jurisdiction. But no, the American Civil Liberties Union, who represents those men, is still representing them. and and Jeb Booseberg is still involved with the case. We've got a filing that'll be coming out late uh uh today by the by the Department of Justice. There's a

4:23 hearing a week from today about due process that the Trump administration will have to provide these 137 men who are now spread out among Venezuela and other third countries. So all of this came to a mix because the Trump administration got pissed off by these rulings. And so in July, several months after March, they filed a judicial complaint alleging that he had violated these cannons of ethics because he made this statement allegedly at the judicial conference and because he's ruling against them. So the judge Sutton in his memorandum and order, which I have up on on legal a Substack, he says two pro, let me summarize it, then I'll read I'll read parts of it.

5:08 The judge says, "You're coming to me with two complaints." And this is made by Chad Meiselle, who was the then chief of staff for Pam Bondi, now out of the government back in Florida, where he was the chief of staff for her in Florida when she was the attorney general there. Two complaints. One that Jeb Booseberg at a judicial conference hosted by the Chief Justice Roberts on March the 11th made a comment about his fear that the Trump administration would openly defy federal court orders. How's he doing with that prediction?

5:40 Don't I start every hottake with another federal court order has been in contemaciously violated, willfully violated by the Trump administration. Oh, they said, "Oho, you can't make that statement. That's prejudging. That's engaging all of the judges in these issues and it's far a field from what uh you should be discussing at a judicial conference." And the uh the chief judge of the sixth circuit where it got sent to resolve said no. First of all, you didn't give me the piece of paper, the exhibit that you say represents that statement that he made. I know the Federalist Society has reported on it. I know that the Fox News has reported on it. But where's the evidence? You need to carry the burden of evidence. So the judge says, even if you gave me that piece of paper, which you did not, even if that statement was made, it is not so far a field from the tradition of the conference that a judge can't make that

6:30 ruling, especially given the Trump administration. So for that X a no no uh ethics charge. The second one he said you're really complaining about his rulings. Okay. I'm not a court. I'm an ethics panel if you will and I'm dismissing your complaint. He said if you got a problem with his rulings in this case, some of which have been upheld, some of which have been uh reversed by various appellet court judges and you don't think he's following the law. Okay. Then argue that it's misconduct. file a motion for recusal or disqualification and let it work its way up the court system. If it gets recused and removed, the chief judge in that circuit, Judge Tvenasan, can reassign it to another judge or use that as a basis for an appeal. But you've come to the you're barking up the wrong tree. You've come to the wrong court. And so, and I don't see anything based on the rulings that have been made that would make me change my mind.

7:29 Complaint for ethics dismissed. Hey everybody, Ben Myelis here from the Midas Touch Network. I wanted to let you know about my podcast partner, Michael Popox's 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 Afers 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 Pope 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.

8:27 The popfirm.com. Or you can call 877 popc. So 1877 Pop 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.

8:45 Let me just read you from how the judge got here. He said um after conducting an initial review, this is on page um three over to four, the chief judge of a circuit may dismiss a complaint of judicial misconduct if he concludes that the claim conduct, even if it occurred, is not prejuditial to the expeditious and effective administration of the business of the courts, is directly related to the merits of a decision, is frivolous, the complaint is frivolous, or lacks any evidence. And then he says the complaint here warrants dismissal under all these grounds.

9:23 Uh and the main one is they didn't come forward with any evidence. He says on page four uh the department identified one source of evidence attachment A. This is the first full paragraph for the judge's statement and for the setting in which it occurred. The complaint did not include the attachment. That's the document making the charge. The DC circuit contacted the department about the missing attachment and explained that if it failed to submit the attachment, they would consider the complaint without it. The department never supplied that evidence. You lose.

9:53 You lose. And but of course, he goes on to say, even if you submitted it, uh you're it's not going to help your case. Now, let's talk about defiance of court orders. I don't know. I've done a couple of thousand videos in the last in the last uh four years including the end of the first Trump administration and now the start of the second Trump administration. Uh certainly hundreds and hundreds in this administration already. How many of them have been about court defi uh defiance by the the department of justice ICE the Trump administration whomever of a court order? you know, hundreds, hundreds. In one court alone, as I said, 96 orders in January. So, you just have to multiply that. It's tens of thousands of orders have probably been violated. And we're allowed to comment on that. We're allowed to comment on what we are watching, you know, under First Amendment, under litigation privilege,

10:50 whatever you want to call it. We don't we can't we we're not bound and gagged like, "Oh my god, there's a there's another violation of a court order. I can't say anything because because why? This is this is not how this is not how democracy, our constitutional republic, our rule of law works. But they try. You see, whether it's attacking the press, the media, the independent journalists like Don Lemon or the Washington Post reporter or going after ABC or CBS or the Pulitzer Prize Board or the New York Times or Might as Touch or Legal AF.

11:24 They're or here going after judges. It's trying to change their behavior to chill their conduct, their first amendment expression from doing their job. Look, I've spoken off off the record with federal judges, ex-federal judges who have appeared on the show or preparing for a story and they've told me it is having an impact. Some judges are like, "I didn't sign up for this. I don't if I I would normally write this sentence in my opinion, but I'm not going to because I don't want my family or me doxed, attacked, the vitriol, the ethics charges. You know, we'll never know the sentence, the opinion, the order not written because of Donald Trump's abuse.

12:10 Now, some of course are profiles and courage. We've talked about those judges. Judge Schultz, Judge Menendez, Judge Tashrip in Minnesota, the federal judges against Donald Trump's birthright citizenship decision, the three or four federal judges on the United States Supreme Court that we talk about at length, those in Massachusetts, in Rhode Island, in New Jersey, in New York, in California, in Washington State that stand up for justice every day. And there are dozens and dozens and dozens of federal judges. And by and large, we are prevailing in the courts, especially the district courts, usually the appellet courts, occasionally the United States Supreme Court. And we got to just keep doing that. As the ACLU says, I'm probably going to butcher this. We have to delay, defeat, and dilute, right? using crowds, courts, and courage.

13:11 Slow the bad things down that we can slow down, reverse the ones that we can get courts to reverse, or challenge the Trump administration into blinking and playing chicken with them, which we often do and win. That's why there's billions of dollars of aid to states and organizations still flowing because the attorneys general, the the public interest groups ran to court and the Trump administration folded quietly, didn't take the appeal, didn't follow through with the appeal, funded the money. I could do I could do weeks of episodes just where the Trump administration folded and the American people were benefited. But in order to do that, you got to be in court and you got to be here on Legal AF and I'm Mightest Touch. Thanks for being here.

13:55 I'm Michael Popach. Hit the free subscribe button. Help us over on the Substack for Legal AF where I'm running a 35% sale for annual membership just to get that get that uh that that uh ecosystem up and running. Um thank you very much until my next report. Can't get your fill of legal AF? Me neither. That's why we formed a 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

Who speaks in "Trump DOJ Judge Complaint BACKFIRES with TOTAL EXONERATION"?

Michael Popach (Host), Pam Bondi (Guest), Jeb Booseberg (Guest), Chad Meiselle (Guest).

What is "Trump DOJ Judge Complaint BACKFIRES with TOTAL EXONERATION" about?

The complaint filed by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi against Judge Jeb Booseberg has backfired, as Judge Jeff Sutton of the Sixth Circuit has exonerated Booseberg, highlighting the Trump administration's ongoing defiance of federal court orders. This situation underscores the judiciary's commitment to uphold the rule of law, amidst accusations from Trump’s camp that the judges are biased against…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Donald Trump, Jeb Booseberg, Legal AF, Michael Popach, Midas Touch Network, Jeff Sutton. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trump DOJ Judge Complaint BACKFIRES with TOTAL EXONERATION"?

The episode runs 15 min; the transcript is about 2,481 words in 19 timestamped sections.

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