Trump BLINDSIDED as California PROBES $120 Million Trump "BACKROOM" Deal

Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian cover California's lawsuit against the Trump administration and Golden State Wind LLC over a backroom deal that cancels a planned 2-gigawatt floating offshore wind farm near Morro Bay in exchange for refunding the company's full $120 million lease payment, funded through the federal Judgment Fund normally reserved for legitimate legal settlements. Brian explains why Attorney General Rob Bonta calls this an extortion racket: the Department of the Interior structured the payout as "settling litigation" that Golden State Wind never actually filed, challenging federal action DOI never actually took, all to manufacture legal cover for handing back money the company should have forfeited. Shant notes this is part of a nationwide pattern, following a similar $928 million buyout of TotalEnergies' leases off North Carolina and New York and an over $111 million deal with Invenergy for a second Morro Bay lease, adding up to roughly $2.6 billion in taxpayer-funded payouts to kill offshore wind nationwide, with the freed-up capital redirected toward oil, gas, and geothermal projects. Brian details California's broader list of grievances: a forced restart of a Santa Barbara-area oil pipeline shut down after past spills, a $75 million coal export terminal Oakland never wanted, threats to the Coastal Commission's federal funding, and a lawsuit over the state's stricter vehicle emissions standards. Shant's bottom line: California invested over $100 million preparing ports and infrastructure for these projects, and the administration is now asking taxpayers to fund the reversal.

Kabateck LLP: Call 1-844-74-CIVIL for a free case evaluation or visit us at https://www.kbklawyers.com/

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@LegalAFMTN?sub_confirmation=1

Become a member of Legal AF YouTube community: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgZJZZbnLFPr5GJdCuIwpA/join

Become a member of the Legal AF Substack: https://michaelpopok.substack.com/20off

Follow Legal AF on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/legalafmtn.bsky.social

Follow Michael Popok on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mspopok.bsky.social

Subscribe to the Legal AF podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legal-af-by-meidastouch/id1580828595
Subscribe to the Intersection with Michael Popok podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-intersection-with-michael-popok/id1818863274
Subscribe to Unprecedented with Michael Popok and Dina Doll podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unprecedented-by-legal-af/id1867023089
Subscribe to Court of History with Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-court-of-history/id1867022920