Trump's DOJ Has Stopped Making Sense | Legal AF
Defending Democracy with Marc Elias
Democracy Docket
4.9 • 702 Ratings
🗓️ 1 May 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
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Summary
Michael Popok (LegalAF) joins Marc Elias to break down the recent indictment of James Comey, the Department of Justice losing credibility with federal judges, and the latest updates in the Epstein Files saga.Subscribe to our free newsletters or upgrade to support our work: https://bit.ly/3OK7w4A00:00 Today's Guest: Michael Popok01:47 DOJ Has Lost the Court's Confidence06:43 Trump Gets Away With Everything10:11 Did Trump Dictate this Court Filing?17:31 The Comey Seashell Indictment25:10 Trump Can't Escape the Epstein Files32:10 Republicans' Redistricting Gamble May Backfire37:37 Florida Redistricting Updates39:54 How Michael Popok Built Legal AF on YouTube----Democracy Docket is the leading digital news platform covering voting rights and elections in the courts — from an unapologetically pro-democracy and independent standpoint. Covering election and voting litigation is central to our mission. But today’s battles over democracy — access to voting, gerrymandering, executive overreach, the rule of law and more — also play out in Congress, in the Trump administration and in states around the country. As Trump and his GOP allies work to dismantle our democracy, we’re committed to exposing the threats through in-depth reporting and expert analysis you won't find anywhere else.Catch up on our latest reporting: https://www.democracydocket.com/Sign up for our free newsletters: https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/youtubeFollow us:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/democracydocket.comX: https://x.com/DemocracyDocketFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/democracydocketInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/democracydocket/Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/DemocracyDocketTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@democracydocket
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Donald Trump's Department of Justice has simply stopped functioning. |
| 0:03.0 | They're filing court motions that read more like true social posts and legal documents. |
| 0:07.5 | They indicted James Comey for posting a picture of seashells on the beach. |
| 0:12.6 | But look, these aren't rinky-dink lawyers. |
| 0:15.0 | This is the Department of Justice, and they're acting on Donald Trump's behalf. |
| 0:19.7 | While Michael Popak, he's covering all of this. |
| 0:22.6 | He's a trial lawyer who co-founded Legal A.F, one of the leading YouTube channels for in-depth |
| 0:28.4 | analysis on the latest political and legal news. Michael joins me today to discuss all of the |
| 0:33.8 | right-wing attacks on democracy, the latest updates on redistricting, and why Donald |
| 0:38.5 | Trump is still being haunted by the Epstein files. Michael Popak, welcome to defending democracy. |
| 0:43.9 | What people may or may not know about you or maybe don't know about me is that we actually |
| 0:49.5 | went to law school together. Yeah, we overlapped a year. I was doing my prep for your show, and I'm like, wait, |
| 0:56.0 | he's Duke 93. I'm Duke 91. And I was just at our reunion. So I'm sure somewhere in the |
| 1:03.8 | hallowed halls of Duke Law School, you and I over a vending machine or something bumped into |
| 1:09.8 | each other, overlap with each other. So great |
| 1:11.6 | to be back with you here. And so glad to be in the fight with you. And we probably learned our |
| 1:16.8 | constitutional law from one or both of the same professors. Who was your con law professor? |
| 1:22.3 | My con law professor was Walter Dillinger. Me too. Walter Dellinger, for people who don't know, |
| 1:32.3 | a famous constitutional scholar, he was taught for many years at Duke Law School, but also became the acting solicitor general and argued several very |
| 1:39.4 | important cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. |
| 1:42.0 | He died a couple of years ago, but really a wonderful professor |
| 1:46.7 | and a wonderful man. Let me jump into sort of where we are today when there are less |
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