Big Law, A Ball Cap, & Kermit The Frog
Donald Trump has singled out 14 law firms and forbidden them to enter federal buildings, forbidden them to be able to do their job.
Timecoded AI Generated Transcript
[0:05] Thanks. Yeah. We got some Big Law representatives here today. You know, the reason I gave you those books and those name tags is because, and one of the reasons I enjoy leading this club is because I want everybody to have the same level of confidence that I have, the same level of confidence that Corine displayed up here today. That's what I want. That's what I want for everybody. It's really all I care about. And why do I care about that? Because a society needs strong, confident individuals. And that brings me to the upcoming commencement this year at the University of Maryland, a prestigious university that sits in the shadows of Washington, D.C. Probably a quarter million dollars, something like that, to get an undergraduate degree. And their commencement speaker this year is going to be a guy named Matt Vogel. Anybody? Matt Vogel? Ever heard of Matt Vogel? Yeah, me neither.
[1:07] Matt Vogel replaced Jim Henson as the voice of Kermit the Frog. Kermit the Frog is going to be the commencement speaker at the University of Maryland. And the reason they hired Kermit the Frog is because they're afraid an actual human might say something that might offend somebody. So let's bring in an amphibian. In fact, not even a real amphibian. A fake amphibian. Literally a sock puppet. Students at the University of Maryland are calling this their Kermencement.
[1:47] In addition to Kermit the Frog, something happened to a Canadian yesterday. This is all from this morning's New York Times. Something happened to a Canadian yesterday that cannot happen in this country. He went to see a professional baseball game, Toronto Blue Jays, and he wore a red ballcap that says “Canada Is Not For Sale.”
He's mocking the Trump ballcap? That's what he's doing, doing a little parody, a little satire. Well, he had to leave the stadium. He got thrown out of the stadium because on the ticket it says, you know, if you do this, this, this, or this, or you do something political, we can force you to leave because, you know, somebody might be offended.
[2:30] And then finally, Big Law, this morning's New York Times, an editorial by Robert Smith. They put his credentials right at the top, a former student and visiting professor of Colombia Law and a partner of Paul Weiss, one of the biggest law firms in the world. They put his credentials at the top, you know, so that we bow to his credentials when he tells us “It's easier to encourage others to defy the government than to do it yourself.” Well, I have defied the government. Many times. When Barack Obama illegally and unconstitutionally bombed Libya, involving the U.S. Armed Forces in the Libyan Civil War I was the only citizen to sue the United States and Barack Obama. The only one. Two million lawyers in the United States, and me, high school graduate, convicted felon, was the only one to file a lawsuit and say, “Hey! This is unconstitutional. This is illegal. You have no authority to do this. I voted for Barack Obama.
[3:39] I spent 1992 and part of 1993 in five different federal prisons. I was so good at suing the government that the Clinton Justice Department, another Democrat I voted for, had me shipped out from a prison that had a law library, to a prison that didn't have a law library. And the reason that prison didn't have a law library is because they were building the prison. And I went up to the warden on my first day in this prison. I said, “You know what? I just got here. I noticed you guys don't have a law library. And I don't know if you've ever had a prisoner that wins all his cases that he files, but I am that prisoner. And I showed him the list. I said, you don't want me here. I don't want to be here. At four o'clock the next morning, the marshals came. They chained me at the ankles and the hands. They bolted my hands to a leather belt and they sent me back to the prison with the law library.
[4:37] People at that prison, thought they were seeing a ghost. They couldn't believe I was back, But I stood up.
Donald Trump has singled out 14 law firms and forbidden them to enter federal buildings, forbidden them to be able to do their job.
[5:07] The reason I was able to stand up to Barack Obama, the reason I was able to stand up to the Justice Department as a Federal prisoner is because of the First Amendment. The First Amendment brings with it the right to access the courts to anyone under the jurisdiction of the United States, whether you're a citizen or not. And what makes this a relevant speech today is that yesterday, the Trump administration loaded a half a million civil detainers into a database, not criminal detainers. If you're in this country illegally, it is not a crime. It is a civil offense. So now, if some goofball cop at three in the morning rolls up on you and you have one of these civil detainers, you're going off to prison. Just like I was, though I had been duly convicted of a crime.
[6:00] The problem for local cities, towns, municipalities, and counties is when those governmental instrumentalities arrest these people, they are going to get sued. Because detaining people in cages for civil offenses that aren't criminal is unconstitutional, and that is well-established. So there are going to be all kinds of lawsuits and all kinds of victories on behalf of these people who are alleged to be here illegally. They have committed no crime, but they're going to be in the same cage as people who have committed crimes. And in some cases, they're just going to be shipped off like people were shipped off to Guantanamo, some spending upwards of 20 years there without charges.
[6:50] One law firm, Perkins Coie, has stood up to the Trump administration. And the other article in today's New York Times was about the fact that none of the other law firms will stand up. And that has been my experience in dealing with every law firm. Last year, different companies I have needed to hire lawyers four times. And every time I have to hire a lawyer, I have to have the same conversation. They want me to sign the agreement, and I turn to the next to the last page, and there they are, the magic words: Binding arbitration. The First Amendment gives me the right to access the courts, as it does for any personal organization in the United States. And here the lawyers are, the people who I'm hiring to protect my rights, asking me to agree to binding arbitration, to waive my right to access the courts if they screw up my case. I have a rule. Delete that paragraph or you can’t be my lawyer. I set them up. I ask them ahead of time as I'm thumbing through the agreement. “Would you agree with me that the First Amendment provides me with the right to access the courts?” And they all say, “Yes.” I say, “Then why are you asking me to waive that right?”
[8:12] That’s when it gets really uncomfortable.
[8:19] People wonder how you get to the point where you have somebody who holds the highest office in the land, the most powerful office in the world, who would deign to single out 14 law firms. Forget equal protection of the law. We're just going to carve out a space for these 14 law firms based on a personal problem the individual has who happens to be president of these here United States. This isn't the first time presidents have done this. When Obama didn't get what he wanted from the legislature, he said, “If they won't do it, I will.” That's a quote. Executive orders. This has been happening more and more over the course of the last 30 years. And then one day you wake up and you've got a guy who really needs to be held in check. Here's the good news.
[9:14] Donald Trump is going to make the United States a better place to live He's going to make the Constitution stronger. People are paying attention more than ever and 100 out of 100 Federal judges will agree that what he did to these 14 law firms is illegal, even though most of these firms are not standing up for themselves and indirectly are not standing up for you.
[9:46] Everything is legal and everything is constitutional until a judge says otherwise. So, it is a gift that this guy sees himself as all-powerful because he is not. He fantasizes out loud about a third term. That will never happen. There are 50 secretaries of state who would face litigation, impeachment, and removal if they ever dared to put Donald Trump on the ballot in 2028. It will never, ever happen. And the fact that people believe it's possible says a lot about the fact that we live in a nation with a lot of over-educated idiots.