Transcript

Trump QUIETLY SURRENDERS as TOP ATTORNEYS get FIRED

From MeidasTouch · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 18 min · 2,964 words · 23 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Trump QUIETLY SURRENDERS as TOP ATTORNEYS get FIRED", an episode of MeidasTouch published December 18, 2025 (18 min, about 2,964 words). It mentions 18 people, works and ideas, including United States Ambassador, Interim United States attorney, Federal prosecutor's office, True bill, Talking Feds.

What this episode is about

The discussion examines Donald Trump's purported yielding to legal pressures regarding the appointment of interim U.S. attorneys, with specific focus on the controversial nomination of Lindseay Halligan, who lacks relevant experience. The analysis highlights the implications of the Department of Justice's response to legal challenges and underscores Halligan's questionable qualifications and the motivations behind her selection.

Key takeaways

  • Interim US attorneys: Trump's attempt at legal improv comedy, but without the laughs.
  • Filled with error: Trump's interim picks underscore his affinity for beauty over legal expertise.
  • Court evictions for interim picks: Judicial version of 'you don't have to go home but you can't stay here.'
  • Confirmation sidestep: Trump's legal tango invites chaos, compromised indictments, and lost trials.
  • Submission as sabotage: Naming Halligan is Trump's way of saying 'FU' to a lawful nomination process.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Interim United States attorney, United States Ambassador, Beauty pageant contestant, Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA)
  2. – 6:00: United States Ambassador, Talking Feds
  3. – 12:00: True bill, United States Ambassador
  4. – 15:00: United States Ambassador, Federal prosecutor's office
  5. – 18:00: Main Justice, Talking Feds

Notable quotes from "Trump QUIETLY SURRENDERS as TOP ATTORNEYS get FIRED"

  • You had basically Pam Bondi and Lindseay Halligan worked to submit Hallagan's name. She was the interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who was…
    about United States Ambassador · at
  • Unqualified. And by unqualified, person who's never worked in a federal prosecutor's office in her life.
    about Federal prosecutor's office · at
  • Fake legal instructions to the grand jury to submitting an indictment as though it was the true bill. as though here's the indictment as it relates to Comey that the full grand jury never even saw.
    about True bill · at
  • Let's bring in Harry Litman from the Talking Feds Substack podcast and YouTube channel. Subscribe to Talking Feds on YouTube. Harry, this is your piece. And you don't just focus on Halagan, but you focus on how, you know,.
    about Talking Feds · at
  • People who have been prosecutors in the offices before. Same with choosing people in main justice. But I want to say thank you for your summary and my having demonstrated…
    about Main Justice · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Companies & orgs

Concepts & topics

Full transcript with timestamps

is Donald Trump and his corrupt DOJ quietly surrendering in their fight to continue to bring on what they refer to as interim United States attorneys. Is it a quiet surrender or is it a also very loud surrender because we and others are bringing attention to it? Take a look at this article right here that Harry Litman published. Quiet surrender. Why is the Department of Justice yielding to the law? Yielding. Trump yields to the law on US attorney appointments. And one of the points that Harry Litman makes is that very quietly you had basically Pam Bondi and Lindseay Halligan worked to submit Hallagan's name. She was the interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who was ruled to be an unlawful interim because there was already an interim appointed. You only get one shot as an interim, as you all know, by watching these legal recaps. And she was disqualified. And while she was still

putting her name on the pleadings, she submitted her name. It's arrogant what she did frankly to them. But she submitted her name to the United States Senate to be formally confirmed or go through a confirmation process where the Senate will now have to vote on whether to confirm the very unqualified Lindseay Halligan, who's not just very unqualified. And by unqualified, I mean, you know, person who's never worked in a federal prosecutor's office in her life. She was an insurance attorney, beauty pageant contestant before then. Was not known to be a good lawyer, even as an insurance lawyer, didn't work at any firm or have any cases of note. Just kind of viewed generally as like who who is this person? She kind of worked her way into Trump's world somehow. Figure out how that she worked her way into his world. And then she then Trump picked her specifically to go after his political enemies, New York Attorney

General James Comey. And we know how that is gone. So even if you view her being a fake interim as the trial audition, you couldn't have done a worse job. I mean, and I'm serious. And I'm a law professor at USC. And the law students, okay, who take my class for about two days would do a better job if they were appointed as an interim United States attorney. I guarantee it. Than did. She made every mistake and not just mistake engaged in malicious and in my view deeply unethical behavior. From putting on a witness in a grand jury who was tainted because they saw attorney client information to providing fake jury instructions to the grand jury, fake legal instructions to the grand jury to submitting an indictment as though it was the true bill. as though here's the indictment as it relates to Comey that the full grand jury never even saw.

And I I guess it was good fortune, if you will, for Halligan that she got disqualified because the courts didn't get to rule on all that other unethical stuff. She just got disqualified. But then they submit her name to the Senate to say, "Hey, Senate, we think that she's qualified." Now, it's obviously ridiculous if the Senate confirms her. I don't think they will confirm her. I don't think she'll get through the blue slip process in Virginia. I think Trump's doing this to just whine and say, "Ah, look how unfair it is." I mean, the mere submission of her name is the biggest FU to our justice system.

But then again, the entire DOJ has just isn't totally imploded and is viewed now as basically some scammy law firm at this point. Unfortunately, is the DOJ's reputation amongst federal judges. But we're not just seeing it with Hallagan. Let's bring in Harry Litman from the Talking Feds Substack podcast and YouTube channel. Subscribe to Talking Feds on YouTube. Harry, this is your piece. And you don't just focus on Halagan, but you focus on how, you know, there's that ruling in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals that Alina Haba, who was one of these fake interim United States attorneys in New Jersey, she got removed, basically evicted because they disqualified her. She refused to leave.

And now the the circuit courts are basically doing eviction orders like yes by disqualified we meant to get out because the Trump regime argued disqualification doesn't mean I have to leave and the circuit courts are saying yeah what do you think it means get out the Delaware United States attorney same thing we're seeing proceedings now in the ninth circuit because Trump's do this is Trump's overall strategy don't go through a confirmation process which is required by law just I'm going to do it but now as Your article says quiet surrender. Talk to us about it, Harry.

Okay, so first point is maybe this is Trump's strategy, Ben. It might be that somebody with some uh presence of mind in DOJ is saying let's keep kind of pushing forward and placating the boss. But there is a big problem here with these legal rulings in other areas. they sort of will just ignore them and barge forward. But what's happening for these US attorney rulings, it's happened, it happened with Hallagan, it happened for Alina Haba, and it doesn't have to be the reprisal prosecutions. If you're an illegitimate United States attorney, every um indictment that you oversee is in some peril. So you will see a until they figure this out, a series of defendants coming forward for anything, including really serious crimes, saying, "Hey, guess what? Um, you know, Alice in Wonderland over here indicted me. That means it's a she was a nullity. That means it's a nullity. That means I go free and we start again." And that means

big cost to public safety and uh, you know, a political cost to the Trump administration. What was really interesting to me and thanks for mentioning the Substack is not that they're doing it all together and I think they've thought it through but really quietly there was no fanfare to the um the Katherine Levit fielded a question the White House spokesperson and says yes Heligans her n our uh Trump's nominee but they otherwise would have just presented it quietly and the the real uh thing that happened she subitt submitted her Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire. I'm here to tell you, having submitted a couple of these, they are no walk in the park.

They represent a ton of work. And in her case, they represent a public document that's going to have some very interesting uh entries because among other things, you're supposed to put down your five or 10 most important and pertinent cases to your nomination. as and as you say, uh there was that insurance coverage involving the dog and the Buick. I mean, she's got nothing and so it's going to look so threadbear. And then there are other things, too. You go back to birth in terms of where you've lived and getting people who can the FBI talk to because it's the basis for the full background search that they do. So, that's the second thing, a big um undertaking. And yes, it would look like uh oh, this is how we square everything and make it kosher because what all the courts have said is just as you were saying after you do the interim now it's time to put up or shut up. Let's see your actual nominee. You can nominate

anyone you want. We'll see what the Senate does with them. And it but before that, it's the court that appoints. Well, this is their way of making it look like they're trying to do it on the square, but it's clearly a joke isn't the right word. Anyone who's thought about it there and somebody has knows it is completely DOA. For starters, I don't I think if it actually went to a vote, no way she gets no way every Republican steps up and says this uh pretend prosecutor who made these ludicrous mistakes somehow could be qualified to serve. But you pointed up the blue slip process. There are two Democratic uh senators in Virginia, uh Kaine and Warner. They're not they are just not going to submit their blue slips. And same thing uh is the is the case in Delaware. And remember, Trump went after Grassly on just this. Grassly and everybody in the Senate could can't bow low enough to uh whatever Trump says

with this exception. The senators do not want to give up their, you know, fairly anti-democratic. It's been controversial forever, but they have the power with the blue slip to say if this nominee is from my state, I'm not going to let him or her go through. And there's zero chance or maybe less than zero that they both submit their blue slip, meaning Lindsay Hagan doesn't go forward. So now the question is, so why are they doing it? Because anybody has to know that maybe it's just a sort of, you know, uh, peace with honor as they see it. Maybe Trump has in mind a kind of of going to war against the blue slip itself and the corrupt Democrats, blah blah blah. or maybe just someone at the White House was able to say, "Yeah, we're still pushing, boss." Uh, but then giving her the the kind of exit uh strategy, but the quietness of it, Ben, really struck me. You know, same thing happened with

the Leticia James indictments. A little far field, but they very quietly went back in without doing anything and got their uh teeth kicked in again when there wasn't a true bill. Haba, the same thing. She could have tried to stick in there brassally as she did for the third uh uh circuit uh when after it came out uh until it came out. But they're they are seeing it's not even the writing on the wall. That's the writing on the papers that judges issue and understanding that if they took their normal uh to quote the life tenure Emil Bet [ __ ] you uh stands to the courts the the immediate upshot could be a huge cost in um public safety. you know, the EDVA where Halligan's uh been they they wanted to get her and it's the biggest district in the country for like national security, big defense fraud and the like. So to have every case that comes out of there be so jeopardized and questioned, that's really, you know,

completely guns up the works. they most want to do Trump spitting but this but bringing whole offices to stop you know I think they know they just can't do it and they have to quietly retreat

now I want to give a shout out though a serious shout out to the insurance lawyers out there both defense and plaintiff side and

I'm sorry and and and to be fair you know look I worked as a plaintiff's lawyer on cases and I have a respect and we both do for the plaintiff's bar and the defense bar in civil litigation. We know we have a lot of listeners who are there and and your work is important. I think you would also acknowledge that your work doesn't necessarily mean that tomorrow you're going to become the United States attorney and become a federal prosecutor and do you know there are expertises and this is a helpful note for our audience.

People take certain career paths in law that bring them certain places. And when you are in law school, oftentimes the jobs you take guide you. Sometimes you zigzag into different places that you don't think you're going to be at. For example, you could be a litigator, then end up as a YouTube podcaster one day. But in all seriousness, you know, there are paths where you take a path like Harry. Harry goes to top law school. He clerks for justices, Supreme Court justices. You work at a federal prosecutor's office. You may go back and forth into private practice, but then back into the federal prosecutor's office. You climb the ranks to reach certain ladders. Uh and climb the ladder to reach certain ranks after getting certain positions. You've prosecuted enough cases. You've you've had leadership positions and then you are viewed as someone who's now qualified for a more senior role. You show that

you've done a good job in that senior role. Then you get to a more senior role and then maybe you could be contemplated for being a you know number two or a United States attorney and someone like Harry does come in there you know with a certain political belief. I mean, Harry, you know that someone may be somewhere ideologically, but you must demonstrate, and I'll let you speak, Harry, that your political ideology is left at the front door when you are a prosecutor. and your experience showing that no fear or favor is the way you've gone about your career is what sets you apart from someone who's purely a partisan politician type of person who's out there for political purposes. And once you clear experience, uh, letting people know that you can be no fear or favor in your prosecutotorial ethos, um, then you still may not be confirmed by the Senate and it's a very rigorous process. And then ultimately,

if you don't get confirmed, and Harry was somebody who was a United States attorney, um, and went and and Harry knows this process better than anybody. Um but at at the same time you know you may not be confirmed and then they then you pick somebody else who does get confirmed and that's life that's the process and so when I approach this I truly try to approach this from non-political like this is about experience qualification so Harry I'll let you have the last word there but I wanted to explain that to people as well because people just have different specialties in the law and the path that you embarked on as a top prosecutor computer is different than one that insurance lawyers embark on, is different than ones that trust and estate lawyers is different than ones that transactional lawyers embark on.

Yeah. So, first point well taken. What I meant to say as you and I it's my impression that uh Lindseay Hagan's experience as an insurance lawyer was fairly threadbear when she came to Trump's attention. Obviously, uh you're right, there are different practice areas. It's also true though when you're when you're choosing top criminal prosecutors, you you really look for people who have been prosecutors in um the offices before. Same with choosing people in main justice. But I want to say thank you for your um summary and and my having demonstrated hopefully uh justice without fear favor. It is also the mindset of the system. So when I became US attorney, both senators who did submit blue slips were Republican.

Uh but the idea that like, okay, he's a Democrat, not our first pick, but he's just going to do it on the square. So that it's not simply that you know you show it yourself but the system depends on it that sometimes there are Democrat presidents sometimes they're Republican presidents and what you really want is someone for whom you know it just doesn't matter very much. You hear this a lot about uh Justice Alito was the US attorney in New Jersey and we there's a regular on our podcast who was his first assistant said never even knew what party he was. That's just not it just doesn't come into play. Compare and contrast with Alina Haba who's now stepped aside. She literally became uh when she was u chosen for for US attorney internally. She said, "I hope I can use this position to help turn New Jersey red." You know, if I had said anything like that about, well, keep Pennsylvania blue or whatever, I should

have been thrown on my ass and immediately it's a nonpartisan position. So, we start with the problem of these people who aren't legally appointed properly that in addition their real credentials are not the conventional prosecutotorial chops or knowledge. They are there to do political bidding. exactly the antithesis of what uh US attorneys are supposed to be. So, it's that combination as you mentioned, Ben, it's compounded with someone like Haligan who had never been in US attorney's office even and all the real blunders and uh constitutional errors she made in the grand jury. But that combo of inexperience and partisanship in the Donald Trump model, that's really what what's made it uh you know completely uh untenable and I think has required them to sort of see a little bit reason even as as adamant as Trump has been and Bondi has been president gets to choose his person. And it's like, nah, I don't think this is going

to fly, guys. And they are quietly walking it back. Harry Litman runs the Talking Feds YouTube channel. So, search Talking Feds. Subscribe now. Subscribe to the Talking Fed Substack and podcast. Thanks, Harry. We appreciate you.

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Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Trump QUIETLY SURRENDERS as TOP ATTORNEYS get FIRED"?

Ben Meiselas (Host), Harry Litman (Guest).

What is "Trump QUIETLY SURRENDERS as TOP ATTORNEYS get FIRED" about?

The discussion examines Donald Trump's purported yielding to legal pressures regarding the appointment of interim U.S. attorneys, with specific focus on the controversial nomination of Lindseay Halligan, who lacks relevant experience. The analysis highlights the implications of the Department of Justice's response to legal challenges and underscores Halligan's questionable qualifications and the…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

18 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including United States Ambassador, Interim United States attorney, Federal prosecutor's office, True bill, Talking Feds, Chuck Grassley. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trump QUIETLY SURRENDERS as TOP ATTORNEYS get FIRED"?

The episode runs 18 min; the transcript is about 2,964 words in 23 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.