Journalist Michael Phillips Blows Whistle on Court Corruption
By Richard Luthmann with Michael Volpe and Michael “Thunder” Phillips
A Knife, A Consent Order, and a Decade of Hell
Jeff Reichert was a rising star in Maryland’s legal community. A former Army JAG, an experienced attorney, and a devoted father, Jeff Reichert never imagined the custody case involving his son would turn into a high-stakes political chess match—one that left him cut off from the boy he raised.
The marriage to his ex-wife Sarah lasted less than two years. The divorce began almost immediately after their son was born. Early on, Sarah allegedly pulled a weapon on Reichert during their honeymoon.
“Shards of glass, cut him open,” said family court journalist Michael “Thunder” Phillips on The Unknown Podcast. “That’s the woman who now has custody.”
Despite Sarah’s history of “mishaps”—driving drunk and passing out drunk while caring for the child—Reichert initially secured sole custody under a court-approved consent agreement. Sarah’s visitation was supervised only.
The agreement had a critical clause: disputes would go to mediation, not court. But Sarah filed repeated, allegedly frivolous protective order applications.
Courts entertained each one. Eventually, custody flipped.
Reichert, the father who raised his son, can no longer see him.
Reichert’s son was on video during the custody trial saying, “I want to live with my dad.”
But Maryland’s judiciary ignored it. “This isn’t just a custody case,” said Phillips. “This is political.”
According to Phillips, the case involves lawyers and judges connected to both former Governor Larry Hogan and current Governor Wes Moore.
“There are deep political connections,” Phillips warned. “It’s unclear who’s pulling the strings.”
Thunder’s Own Storm: From Father to “Monster”
Michael “Thunder” Phillips knows the pain firsthand. Like Reichert, Phillips lost access to his son through false protective orders and biased judicial rulings.
“I haven’t seen my kid in over a year,” he told hosts Michael Volpe and Richard Luthmann.
Phillips’ case also began shortly after his son’s birth. He was never accused of abuse or wrongdoing—yet a court narrative quickly turned him into “a monster.”
“It doesn’t take facts,” he said. “It doesn’t take evidence. Just a narrative.”
At his last pediatrician-supervised visit, Phillips’ son clung to him and wouldn’t let go.
“He kept saying, ‘I want to be with you, Dad. I love you. I miss you.’”
That moment haunts him.
Both men have been diagnosed with PTSD.
“The court gives you the trauma,” Volpe said bluntly. “They can’t acknowledge it, because they’re the ones causing it.”
Luthmann added that courts in all other circumstances consider legitimate psychological evidence if it meets Daubert standards.
“You can get brain scans admitted in a personal injury case,” Luthmann said. “But bring the same evidence into family court? They toss it out.”
The contradiction is stark.
“Trial lawyers created this system of acrimony,” Luthmann said. “They get paid in family court and then use the opposite arguments in tort court. It’s rigged.”
Thunder Strikes Back: Celebrities, Secrecy, and the Illusion of Justice
Even billionaires don’t escape the custody court meat grinder—but they get luxury treatment the average dad doesn’t.
“Elon Musk has joint custody,” said Phillips. “But he’s rarely present. His daughter said he wasn’t involved.”
According to Volpe, Musk’s daughter called him “a bad guy” and claimed he left the kids with nannies while parading one son around at the White House.
Musk’s custody case with singer Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, is sealed. So is the case of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
“Only rich guys get that,” Volpe said. “They don’t want their business in the open.”
Post Malone’s case illustrates the complexities of jurisdictional disputes. He filed in Utah. His ex filed in L.A.
“It comes down to who filed first, who got served, and where the child last lived,” Phillips explained.
Even Kanye West, who owns a house next to Kim Kardashian, alleges he’s being denied access.
“He filed a cease-and-desist demanding to see his kids,” said Phillips. “He’s trying.”
But Luthmann raised an eyebrow: “Nobody says crazier stuff than Kanye. That’s going to be a factor.”
Whether it’s Musk, Kanye, or Malone, the message is the same: family courts bend when celebrities push.
But most parents get crushed.
Thunder Strikes Back: The Great Alienation Debate
At the heart of the conversation was a single phrase: “parental alienation.” Phillips cautiously used it.
Volpe pushed back.
“Everyone calls it that,” Volpe said. “But it’s vague. It means whatever people want it to mean.”
Phillips agreed the term is overused.
“It’s like Kleenex,” he said. “It’s just a brand now. Not a diagnosis.”
“Many advocates say parental alienation is real,” Luthmann added, “but it’s not in the DSM-5. That’s by design. If pharma could sell a pill for it, it’d be in there tomorrow.”
Instead, courts use the term as an excuse to appoint armies of “experts.” In one case, a mother had 12 professionals assigned after an alienation accusation.
“They created a feeding trough,” said Volpe. “It’s about money.”
The panel favored the Arizona reform model: strip family courts down to custody and property disputes determinations—and nothing else.
“Get rid of court-appointed experts. Get rid of guardian ad litem immunity. Enforce the damn court orders,” Luthmann said.
Phillips agreed.
“We need to stop forcing parents to use these labels just to be heard,” he said. “Teach them how to fight smarter.”
THUNDER STRIKES BACK: FIX THE COURTS OR LOSE THE KIDS
Family court in America is a weapon.
It’s manipulated by powerful insiders, abused by the rich, and rubber-stamped by judges who refuse to enforce their own orders.
In Maryland, a decorated lawyer like Jeff Reichert got steamrolled. In South Carolina, a mechanic can’t file a motion. And everywhere, traumatized parents cling to vague labels like “alienation” just to explain their pain.
Phillips said it best: “We grab onto whatever we can, like a light pole in a flood.”
It’s time to drain the flood—and fix the system that feeds it.
