Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast - Inside the Largest Auto Fraud Case in History | Elon Musk, Gavin Newsom & More

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

Stop leaving yourself vulnerable to data breaches. Go to my sponsor https://aura.com/matt to get a 14-day free trial and see if any of your data has been exposed⁣ ⁣ Matt Cox hosts attorney Jason... Ingber to reveal how Toyota’s “green” hydrogen cars became one of the biggest automotive frauds in history — leaving drivers stranded and taxpayers footing the bill.⁣ ⁣ Jason's links⁣ https://www.instagram.com/jasonmingber/⁣ https://jasoningber.com⁣ ⁣ Get 10% sitewide for a limited time. Just visit https://GhostBed.com/cox and use code COX at checkout.⁣ ⁣ Do you want to be a guest? Fill out the form https://forms.gle/5H7FnhvMHKtUnq7k7⁣ ⁣ Send me an email here: insidetruecrime@gmail.com⁣ ⁣ Do you extra clips and behind the scenes content?⁣ Subscribe to my Patreon: https://patreon.com/InsideTrueCrime ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ Follow me on all socials!⁣ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insidetruecrime/⁣ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matthewcoxtruecrime⁣ ⁣ ⁣ Do you want a custom painting done by me? Check out my Etsy Store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/coxpopart⁣ ⁣ Listen to my True Crime Podcasts anywhere: https://anchor.fm/mattcox ⁣ ⁣ Check out my true crime books! ⁣ Shark in the Housing Pool: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851KBYCF⁣ Bent: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV4GC7TM⁣ It's Insanity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KFYXKK8⁣ Devil Exposed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TH1WT5G⁣ Devil Exposed (The Abridgment): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1070682438⁣ The Program: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0858W4G3K⁣ Bailout: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bailout-matthew-cox/1142275402⁣ Dude, Where's My Hand-Grenade?: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXNFHBDF/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1678623676&sr=1-1⁣ ⁣ Checkout my disturbingly twisted satiric novel!⁣ Stranger Danger: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSWQP3WX⁣ ⁣ If you would like to support me directly, I accept donations here:⁣ Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/MattCox69⁣ Cashapp: $coxcon69 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The largest fraud in automotive history. Elon Musk, who's interviewed a few times about this, and he's like, I don't want to talk about this. I sued Governor Gavin Newsom because it's hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars that are being spent. It's the largest fraud in automotive history. The problem is it's only in California, and it's such a subset that it hasn't gone national. But Toyota is like a, it's a family business to this day. Okay. And they start in the early, like, or late 1800s.
Starting point is 00:00:31 It's just they're doing wooden looms. And then this guy sees his mom's a seamstress, Saccichi, Toyota, whatever his name is. And he invents the first electronic, like a machine-powered seamstress machine. Okay. And he has this vision of selling cars, and he keeps that in the family. And eventually they make cars. And then they start gaining success in the United States. Right.
Starting point is 00:00:53 They have luxury exports to the United States. This is probably what in the 70s and 80s? Yeah. Okay. They couldn't break into the market because the terrain of Japan is so vastly different from the highways here. So they were making bigger, bulkier cars and people wanted more muscle cars. But they figured that out and then they started making luxury cars, luxury experts
Starting point is 00:01:10 in a nice, Lexus, they had that brand. And then in around probably the 80s, right? So before I'm born, they already can see that electric batteries are going to be the next thing. Japan has the highest holdings in liquefied natural gas of any country. They brokered Australia. They're big player in that region. Okay. So they need to have some kind of way to keep LNG relevant
Starting point is 00:01:35 because they're also the largest automaker of ice engines, internal combustion engines. Okay. Tell me again, LNG. Liquidified natural gas. Okay. So it's like fossil fuels. All right, whatever, boring stuff.
Starting point is 00:01:46 LNG. In any event, they come out with this idea of hydrogen. Okay. It's an abundant resource. hydrogen is the most abundant resource on the planet, and they're going to be able to steam reform methane, okay, and that keeps it, it's a fossil fuel.
Starting point is 00:02:04 No carbon capture, so it's bad for the environment, but this at least keeps them relevant. Are you following? Yeah. Okay. It's not like here. Elon had a brief stint in the government, but otherwise, no private company
Starting point is 00:02:16 has any seat at the table in the government officially, right? They do a lot of lobbying, but in Japan, in the ministry is the CEO of Toyota. I mean, it's the backbone of their country. It's a huge part of their GDP. So they're really pushing this hard. They sell this in Japan, and the only other market that they bring this to is California.
Starting point is 00:02:34 Okay, so in the early 2000s, through Governor Schwarzenegger at the time, they start building the California fuel cell partnership. Fuel cell is the technology to generate hydrogen into a car. So it's basically hydrogen powering an electric battery in a car. I'll get to the fraud in a second. Okay. No, no, you know, I'm not in a hurry. No, I'm just thinking, what is the process very dumb down of turning hydrogen into liquid hydrogen? I think of hydrogen as a gas.
Starting point is 00:03:05 Yeah. So they're isolating hydrogen. I can only give you the dumb down version. They're isolating hydrogen from methane through just extreme heat. They're able to isolate those particles. Then they don't clean up any of the bad stuff. So that goes into the environment. Okay.
Starting point is 00:03:22 But then they have hydrogen. And then they're able to pressurize it. It has to be pressurized the equivalent of five miles into the ocean. So it's extreme PSI. Right. And it has to be chilled like many degrees below zero. Okay. And then they have this.
Starting point is 00:03:37 So now you've got a block of ice hydrogen. Well, they have it. They have it in different forms, actually. You're right. They could do it in liquid. They can do it in ice. They can sit in this in our car. Right.
Starting point is 00:03:49 But it's gas. They store it at this really cool temperature. Okay. So, and they, at the same time that they're developing, the, this bizarre technology that you're identifying kind of already sounds a little weird. They, they're already starting to roll out the cars, right? And they commercially, the cars hit California in 2015 and 2016. And they start selling them in Japan, too. Only other place that they sell it.
Starting point is 00:04:09 Okay. So you're selling cars, so the cars, um, the cars as fuel is liquid hydrogen. Correct? Liquid hydrogen or gaseous hydrogen. Is it? Gaseous. Okay, gas, okay, hydrogen. That's what the, that's what the vehicle runs on.
Starting point is 00:04:29 Correct. Like, what are they marketing in as? Like, hey, we have a new. Yeah, they market. Exactly. I went into Toyota of Santa Monica to pose. So I get a call. This is how it starts for me.
Starting point is 00:04:40 Okay, I represent a thousand people that are suing Toyota. Not like I filed one class action and then I'm hoping that other people will be able to be part of this class. I represent a thousand different people. Right. I'm in a telegram chat with them. I got like 300 people in one telegram tribe. Do these huge zooms, town halls with like updates on the case.
Starting point is 00:04:56 Have you ever Googled your name? With one quick search, I can find all of your information on very sketchy websites. Your phone number, your old addresses, want to know how scammers get your information? This is it. And that's why today's video is sponsored by ORA. There are companies called data brokers that take your personal information without asking and sell it to anyone, marketers, scammers, even stalkers. That's why your phone blows up with spam and weird texts.
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Starting point is 00:05:55 It's like locking every door in your digital house. Go toora.com backslash Matt to try Aura for free for 14 days. You'll see exactly where your information is being sold. I'm not leaving myself wide open. You shouldn't either. Once again, that's Aura.com backslash Matt for a free 14-day trial. This woman calls me. I'm already like what, a year into practicing my own firm.
Starting point is 00:06:20 I'm kind of scrappy just doing things for friends and family and stuff like that. This woman calls me, Hey, I, you know, I was recommended to you and Toyota sold me this car and the car don't work. I can't get fuel. And it's,
Starting point is 00:06:33 it's cooking my ass, Jason, it's cooking my ass. And I'm thinking like, this sounds insane, right? She sounds crazy. Right.
Starting point is 00:06:42 So the heatseaters on the generation one would turn on randomly. And you couldn't turn them off. She literally would have to put towels on the seat in order to, because it's hot. And she was in Northern California. It gets hot in the summer. So if you're ready, it's out, the ambient temperature is outside like 100 degrees. And you have heat cedars.
Starting point is 00:06:57 I mean, you are in trouble, right? So she's like, it's cooking my ass. So I'm thinking like this woman's nuts. I don't want to, Callie Williams. I love you, Callie. Really. And she keeps calling me. She wouldn't stop calling me.
Starting point is 00:07:09 She's like, no lawyer wants to take this case. I cannot get a single lawyer to listen to me, but Toyota is making unreliable cars. They fooled me. And I'm getting the car towed. I'm constantly getting stranded. I can't get fuel for this car. She sounds insane. She sounds insane.
Starting point is 00:07:23 And she's telling you that's a hydrogen. I'm like Googling it. I never even heard of it. What are you talking about? Right. Okay. That she wouldn't stop calling me. You have gas and electric.
Starting point is 00:07:31 That's it. There you go. I go into other lawyers offices. I put her on speakerphone. I'm like, boom. And they're like, you cannot, even if she's saying anything that's true, right? Which they're like, we don't believe her. She sounds nuts.
Starting point is 00:07:41 Like, we're not, we're not going to deal with this. Fine. Her son finally calls me. And he's like a calmer dude. He explains the situation. And I'm like, okay, this is, there's something here. send me your paperwork because there's no way once I digested it and explained it to the other attorneys
Starting point is 00:07:54 they're like there's no way that they didn't sell it with these disclosures up the wazoo like you go skiing you can't sue me you know if something happens whatever course so I'm like that's for sure nothing right there's not a single they don't mention that there's this alien technology that you're getting involved in so I'm like oh that's fraud right you can't sell
Starting point is 00:08:13 and the second generation looks like a Lexus it's built on the same frame so I went in around this time I go to Toyota Santa Monica myself and I'm like are you guys selling this mark? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're totally selling it. I'm like, oh, yeah, tell me about it. It's the next best thing since sliced bread. It's the next Prius.
Starting point is 00:08:29 You're getting in early. You should get in on this car and there's all these rebates and free fuel. Free fuel at the time in L.A. Gas went up to like seven bucks a gallon. Right, right. So free fuel, you tell that to someone, that sounds really appealing. And it's Toyota, right? And the salesperson says, we drive.
Starting point is 00:08:44 I'm like, oh, you know, I'm hearing in the media that you can't get, you can't get fuel though. Oh, don't believe that. They're building more pumps. It's going to be amazing. Right. Now, by this time, I represent hundreds of people that are telling me that they're running the same script on them. So, okay.
Starting point is 00:08:58 They're clearly being fed this from corporate to tell them that. Right. By the way, everything until I tell you otherwise is publicly available information. This is not some like tinfoil conspiracy type of thing. Right. So. And the Toyota's saying that the fuel is, it's free. Where do you get it?
Starting point is 00:09:15 Do you have to go to the dealership? No. There's, there are hydrogen. stations around California. So the California energy... It's all California, baby. So we got bleeding green hearts and you're able to just full... They got over $100 million from the state of California,
Starting point is 00:09:31 Toyota, directly, in order to fund this nonsense, right? So the state will help pay for these stations. Okay, each station that gets built inevitably closes down within two years. Because the... Let's say when you go fill up gas, okay, it smells... There's a certain smell. that's put in. That's not natural to the gasoline process, experience finery, right?
Starting point is 00:09:52 They put that in there in case there's a leak, you know. Right, like they do, yeah, like they do with your gas stove. Precisely. Because you have a gas leak. You can walk and go, oh, wow, there's a gas leak. Precisely. Hydrogen needs to be that pure, right? So I told you it needs to be stored like the PSI at five miles below the ocean.
Starting point is 00:10:06 Super cool. It also needs to be that pure that if they even put an odor in, the whole machine would get messed up. All right. Okay, so you're talking about the most, you need to be that pure. I mean, that's insane. All right. Just, just that. basis alone, you know, it's not commercially viable.
Starting point is 00:10:20 There are only two major, there's three, but there's really two major companies that even have it. It's first element true zero, which was a shadiest, most shelly company I've ever seen in my life. You can't figure out really how they're getting money. The only money that they actually have is from Toyota or the California government. Okay. So like 50 million, 100 million from Toyota and then another 50 million from the California government to help them build these stations. Okay. I have another question.
Starting point is 00:10:48 Maybe you'll get to it. But how does the government just give away $100 million to fund a project that Toyota should be funding themselves? If it's there. Well, because they're telling the government that this is going to be green. This is going to become one day the greenest thing. And the government is like, nice. and so each democratically elected governor is just hiking up DMV fees. You know, three bucks here, five bucks there.
Starting point is 00:11:22 Right. And there's the money. There's, you know, 40 million people in California. I know where taxes come from. I'm saying, like, I can't believe that they would, they don't look into this to make sure that it's. No, no, no. It's not even, you don't even look into this. Like I'm saying, everything is publicly available.
Starting point is 00:11:37 Right. So the federal government canvassed all of the California hydrogen stations from 2015 through the second quarter of 2021. So the second quarter of 2021 is really the richest data set because by then stations are already operating. They've sold thousands of these cars, so you kind of know like if there's faulty parts they should have fixed it by then.
Starting point is 00:11:55 The stations were down. According to the feds, that's a pretty neutral place. It's not me getting an expert witness coming up and going around. Yeah, it's not California. It's not California. Who needs to make it look like it's a good thing.
Starting point is 00:12:06 How you doing? The feds conclude that the stations are down more than they're up because they keep going down. for maintenance, right? Because these are extremely complicated machines, right? In order to store it, move it, like get it into the car. A small nuclear power plants that were just placing on the side of the road.
Starting point is 00:12:24 Oh, 100%? Waiting for people to come and use it. And every once in a while, they go offline. 100%. When you say the liquefied thing, you know what makes me think of back to the future when Doc Brown is pulling out the plutonium and it's like steaming and he's like, puts it in the back. Let's go, you know.
Starting point is 00:12:46 Dude, for sure. About a year and a half into the litigation, I got a phone call from this guy. And I'm getting calls left and right, because I'm finally the first, and this whole time I'm in this, even until this day, right? There's a couple other firms that are doing
Starting point is 00:12:58 and I'm helping them, right? But there's really very few people that even know about, like, the litigation surrounding this. And especially not in the beginning, right? I'm literally the only attorney that's prosecuting this. And I've had a couple hundred clients, but there's something in the back of my mind
Starting point is 00:13:12 that's like, this is insane. What is going on? I get a call from one guy, hey, are you doing the hydrogen litigation? I literally like that. And I go, oh, you know, yeah, I think it's another client. And I'm ready to get into my spiel of like, yeah, screw Toyota. This is like, they're making unreliable cars.
Starting point is 00:13:27 This thing's a total fraud. And he goes, ah, no. And something about the way he started talking, he started having a lot of technical information. And I was driving. I pull over. I'm like, where are you? I'm like, I want to come meet you because of how much he knew. This guy's name is my.
Starting point is 00:13:42 Michael Drey. He's an attorney with a background and an alternative energy. His wife was a professor at a UC school. He just happens to sound like a hillbilly. He has the most authentic southern drawl that just like, you just would believe anything this guy says. I mean, but he happens to be a really, he's a beautiful person. Matt Locke. He helped me for years for free. Just that nicest guy. Okay. So I go meet him at his porch in Pasadena. He's always smoking a cigar. And he starts telling me that he got hired by this UC school. They got a grant from the state of California. They're at their UC school, so all their money is really from the state. But they also get an additional grant, some from philanthropy, but some from the state to build a hydrogen station. Now, he has this background in alternative energy.
Starting point is 00:14:24 His wife's a professor there, he gets tapped to manage the project. Okay. And it's millions of dollars. And he figures out, there were certain pressuring systems that weren't working. He figures out how to get it off the ground. And this UC school is actually making green hydrogen. Right? They're making hydrogen fuel you can put in a car from water.
Starting point is 00:14:42 They're the only ones that are doing it. Everyone else is from that weird steam reforming methane thing that I was talking about earlier. Right. Okay. So he's actually making it green. Okay. Toyota, in order to sell hydrogen to the public, you have to go through the California fuel cell partnership, which is this quasi-governmental entity that's essentially run by Toyota.
Starting point is 00:15:02 And this guy named Spencer Kwan, who is like an engineer kind of guy. But he's running these meetings. And when he finally gets, he gets from like the fire department. and all the other necessary certifications in order to make this thing get off the ground and be safe for the public certifiably safe, Toyota goes, yeah, no, this doesn't work for us. We're not, they knock him off.
Starting point is 00:15:26 There's a website, h2fCP.org. That's where people know where the hydrogen stations are up or down. Right. They look like regular gas stations. Sometimes they're in a gas station. There's just one pump that says hydrogen. Right. And Toyota goes, no.
Starting point is 00:15:42 You cannot be, you know, you're, you're off the list. Yeah, you're off the list. It doesn't work for us here. Why? Oh, you don't have a credit card reader. We need a credit card reader because, and they actually can control because they gave these free fuel cards to people. Right. So if you don't have it, they actually have a lot of say.
Starting point is 00:16:00 They can say, if they cancel people's warranties for the car, they threaten them. If you go to fill it up anywhere, if you find some mad scientist on the road that figured out to make hydrogen, we're not going to honor the warranty of this car. Okay. So he has to go put a credit card reader in this machine. He spends, you know, 100 grand of the university money to do that. Oh, well, you know, we need you to store it at this thing. We need you to do that. And they just keep moving the, they keep, right? Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:26 They don't let him on this, on the website. So they have a chokehold on the regulators in relation to this entire industry because they want to keep it gray hydrogen, right? They don't want it to go green. Why not? Because they have holdings in liquefied natural gas. Oh, okay. So they don't want to, if you can suddenly just take salt or sea water, you can take water and do it yourself, then they lose control of their. Which you can't anyways, because it is so energy intensive that it's not commercially viable to the process. I mean, I'm distilling it.
Starting point is 00:17:02 Yeah. But the process of what he's talking about, he had to hire NASA, like jet propulsion engineers in order to get in there and figure out how to even make it happen at all. and the whole thing's being funded by the university this entire time, which is why he's crying in these meetings going, this is state tax dollars. Like, why are we not being allowed to sell this to the public? People would come to him for fuel, and you'd have to turn them away at different times.
Starting point is 00:17:27 The interesting thing is also, this I don't know. I don't know this for sure, but he claims that before they ran this car to the EPA and said that this is, we want to get it certified of what the mileage is on the car. they would go to his station because he had enough control to put more fuel into the car
Starting point is 00:17:48 to get more mileage out of the car. That's what he says. And they said that the car gets 400 miles. I represent like 1,000 people, like I said. Not a single one of them gets more than 250. Now at the time, in 2021, hydrogen fuel for these people, it was like, you know, $10 a kilogram
Starting point is 00:18:05 and it's five kilograms for the car. So it's 50 bucks to fill up the car. It's a lot. 50 bucks to fill up a car? You're from California. That is hilarious. You're griping over $50 to fill up a car? My wife fills up.
Starting point is 00:18:19 Did you have you drive by the thrice? They're like $2.80 a gallon. My wife fills up her whole truck for like $32, $35. And it's a Toyota, by the way. I don't even remember a time in California. I'm sure there was a time when I was alive, but probably not when I was driving. I don't remember when I was driving.
Starting point is 00:18:39 I don't remember when I was. People went nuts because it went to a dollar a gallon. A dollar a gallon. This is communism. That's what I look out. I don't understand. Okay. Well, then this is going to knock your socks off.
Starting point is 00:18:49 It's now $39 a kilogram. So. I thought they said it was free gas or free fuel. They give free fuel to people. They give you a card. But that card's going to run out real quick if it's $250 to fill up your car. Oh, so they only give you, they give you an allowance. Yeah, it's a debit card, a $15,000 debit card or three years.
Starting point is 00:19:08 But I thought I'd buy the car. car and all my fuel is is free from Toyota they pay for all of it no you're saying they give you a debt they say oh $200 a month no no no no they give you a card they tell you that this should last three to six years this card and it's a $15,000 card right so okay so they give you 15 grand worth of yeah but if it costs you $250 to fill up I understand you're only getting 250 miles you're paying a dollar a mile dropping very quickly that card is done within a year easy okay so now this person stranded with a car. They cannot get... So, Callie Williams, the person who was cooking her,
Starting point is 00:19:44 numerous times, and they know this. If you have back-to-back fuelings because of how cold they have to keep it, the pump will freeze onto... If you do a back-to-back-fueling, it will freeze onto your car. It's just a matter for how long. It'll be two minutes, we'll be 10. And if you did back-to-back-to-back fuelings, you could be there for an hour.
Starting point is 00:20:00 It'll just click onto your car, and people... You know, you ever watched the Big Lobowski where the guys are doing that with a bowling ball, right? Yeah. people take cowls in their car in order to like heat it off the car. And like people would go fuel and, and they'd look at the other guy and they'd go, first time, you don't have a towel, you know, like, as if that's supposed to be like a normal thing.
Starting point is 00:20:20 And you're not told any of this when you go to the dealership. Right. So this is pretty crazy, right? They sold 20,000 of these cars. The only other person that got involved in this was Hyundai. They sold about 2,000. Honda sold 100 Clarities. That was their version of this.
Starting point is 00:20:35 No, not only did they say, um, They didn't even let people keep the car. So it was closed in leases. And if I spoke to one person that owned it, they said if I ever complained about, oh, I can't get fuel, they're like, yeah, it's free for this month. You don't have to pay us.
Starting point is 00:20:48 You know, we'll forgive your note, your car note. Okay. The Americans, this Michael Dre with the southern accent, he was there through the inception of this whole fuel cell partnership even growing. And it runs on fuel cells. Like Elon Musk in 2014, he was interviewed a few times about this. And he's like, I don't want to talk about this. This is so stupid.
Starting point is 00:21:06 Like, you'll see the litigating. coming and I'm like I'm that guy I'm the litigation and I came. We should find that clip of Elon Musk. It's like a grainy he like doesn't want to even get into it. He's like this is such a stupid idea. There's public there was in Japan there was a trade show
Starting point is 00:21:21 I guess the guy didn't think that it would make but it's still out there one of the chief design officers of the Toyota Marai Mariah is Japanese for future he says the same thing he goes yeah this was stupid right this is just not working so why aren't they going and saying hey let's swap these vehicles out for cameras
Starting point is 00:21:37 We'll give you a Camry. There's nothing wrong with Camrys. You know, like why not swap them out and try and quash this whole thing? Do they have so much money in it that they... It's not about they have so much money in it. They're trying to create a market that they can control. That, but I think it's more about the fact that they have such large stakes in the liquefied natural gas sphere that if they can divert any amount of commercial activity, consumer awareness or knowledge,
Starting point is 00:22:06 Like we're talking about hydrogen now and make it seem like it's a competitive thing to battery or even that battery is bad. Look, hydrogen to work. Batteries are bad. Like any sort of delay and retarding of the battery adoption, they're winning. Right? It's like a trillion dollar a month. I don't know the numbers. Astronomical insane numbers.
Starting point is 00:22:26 So they can delay it by one day, two day, three, whatever they're delaying it by. Anything that they're delaying, they're winning. Okay. And they're still selling the course. These are, the Japanese, they're still selling the cars. Okay. They're still selling the cars. So, by the one, I don't know when you release these, but whenever you release this episode, a couple weeks.
Starting point is 00:22:43 Amazing. Amazing. By the time you release it, I'll have filed an injunction asking the federal judge to tell them to stop selling the car. And I think I have a 50, 50 shot of winning something like that. I don't know. A federal judge is not really going to, I mean, you're pretty familiar with the legal system. I mean, think about it. A guy in a robe is going to go tell a private company to not sell a car.
Starting point is 00:23:01 It's, it could go either way. It takes big balls for a judge to do that, and I hope one does. Right. I think what I would win is that they should stop negative credit reporting people that stop paying these car notes, because that's what they're doing. A lot of people, like, I cannot afford it. I need it to get another car. But if they live somewhere that's nowhere near a pump and no new pumps ended up coming to fruition,
Starting point is 00:23:24 they can't use the car, why should I still pay for this car note? That's $600 a month, right? It's a luxury car. Right. It's a $60,000 a car. It might be more than $600 a month. That doesn't seem like a luxury. That's more like 14, 1500.
Starting point is 00:23:36 The highest note I saw was like an $8 or $900. What are these five-year leases? No, no, no. They bought them. Okay. They all bought them. And you get a manufacturer rebate. Some of them traded in or brought equity into the deal.
Starting point is 00:23:53 You know, imagine. There's a guy, Zachary Graham. So I have 122 arbitrations, 10 arbitrations, a state case with like 500 plaintiffs, and now I'm launching this federal case. Why isn't Toyota just, as they not come to you and said, hey, look, let's just, like, we'll take the cars back? Like, why can't they just take the cars back? They could do better. They can convert the cars, get rid of this hydrogen contraption, and just make them electric cars.
Starting point is 00:24:18 But they would never do that. They're not going to do that. I mean, I think it would be. For the same reason, they're not going to take back the cars. I'm not going to admit that they messed up on this level. But here's what I really think. They're, you look at like a Mustang or whatever. They'll revamp the whole car, like year over year.
Starting point is 00:24:34 Like American companies are nuts. They'll just like, the Japanese, they'll like add six horsepower. You know, they're very calculated. Yeah, yeah. These vehicles look identical year after year after year. You have to really figure out like, oh, oh, they look. The reflectors are now four inches. They used to be six.
Starting point is 00:24:50 Or now they're octagon shaped. You know, yeah, there's very subtle, if any. Right. They saw this coming, right? And they did a calculation. They said if we only sell 20,000, it'll get diluted. We're selling them. California is a huge market.
Starting point is 00:25:05 20,000 cars over since 2016 to this day, that's nothing. They sell 400,000 cars a year in California. Right. We're talking about a small subset of this market. It's the Pinto. It's the actuary from the Pinto. Yeah, but no one's dying, thank God. If people were dying, I wouldn't have the case, right?
Starting point is 00:25:21 They wouldn't have given it to baby-faced me as you were making sure I knew that I was. They wouldn't have come to me. It would have, if the cars were, but there was a big fire in 2019. There was an explosion at a hydrogen plant. But, I mean, you got to give them credit that none of the cars are blown up. Yeah. I mean, these things are crazy contraptions. Well, they're running on ice.
Starting point is 00:25:40 They're running on ice. It's hard to set ice on fire. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And to get it from the computer within the car to read with the pump, the amount of, you know, computing power and anything could. They created the fueling standard. That was another thing they did to this Michael Dre guy.
Starting point is 00:25:59 They retroactively set a standard that was like really high. you know, things that, anything that could happen and needed to shut off the whole machine because they don't want people dying. That would kill their brand. Right. So. That would bring a lot of attention.
Starting point is 00:26:13 That would bring a lot of attention. The American companies looked at this in the early 2000s and they right away said, like, we're not touching any of this. Like four, whatever. They're like, no, we're not. They had prototypes. They would go to this Michael Drake character
Starting point is 00:26:27 and like fill it up, drive it around, a little of the university. And they're like, eventually they're like, yeah, we're not touching this, their sort of thing. So it's only been this pipe dream basically of Hyundai and Toyota, with Toyota being the 800-pound grill in the room. Okay.
Starting point is 00:26:41 So, I mean, you're saying, are you currently in mediation? I mean, you're currently, are they, are they just saying, go fuck yourself? They're not saying, they're not saying, we'll take the cars back, nothing like that. Or are they fighting it tooth and nail? Or are they saying, let's. They're fighting it, you know, they're fighting it. We're still in litigation. I'm talking about it with you.
Starting point is 00:27:01 If it was settled, I wouldn't be here. I filed an antitrust lawsuit against Toyota, and that was quickly not the route to go, because like lingerie in law, less is more. Right. So it's a complicated thing, antitrust. Antitrust is usually litigated by the government. Right now they're going after Apple. Again, Apple's always getting hit up for antitrust because they're a huge company and they have a chokehold on a lot of different industries. Right.
Starting point is 00:27:27 So like, let's say suitcases, when they first started charging for suitcase, that was a coordinated effort by the airlines and they actually nailed them for that the government antitrust violation it was originally an entire area of law conceived just because of Rockefeller oh yeah the the railroads right and gas and like he yeah exactly so my argument I took intro of business I know some stuff my argument was that look Toyota created this industry of hydrogen powered cars and they have control over it and they're a using that control. And their argument was, no, this is way, this is, there's no subset. There's no hydrogen powered retail market, right? There's just cars. There's retail cars. And we don't have a control over, over retail cars. Right. So they were able to broaden the scope. And I was like, this isn't what that case is about anyways. This case is about when someone goes to Toyota dealership and they're looking for a Camry. Okay. And then the guy's like, no, no, no, you don't want a Camry. You want this thing. You're going to be the pioneer of this and everyone's going to be like,
Starting point is 00:28:34 you're a genius that you got in early. Right. So it's about fraud. It's not about highfalutin antitrust anyways. Right. So I dismissed that and then we just went with this state court complaint because state court, California juries are like, you know, that's the best place in the world to be a litigator, right? You go to, you get 12 retired actors, you tell them a good story. They'll get, they'll pay you. Right. And they, we have this, we have the face of those cases and we're asking now the judge to make Zachary Graham. So he's an active military guy. He was serving in the military, his first tour,
Starting point is 00:29:06 he buys from like Toyota of Orange, he gets a corolla. And he tells them, hey, I'm going to get deployed. I want to be able to return the car. And they say, yeah, no problem. You'll be able to return the car. And he does. He gets deployed out of the country, returns the car. They take it back, cancel the rest of the note.
Starting point is 00:29:23 He's like, that was perfect. He comes back to the U.S. He does some more work for the military here. LA and he needs a new car. So the same thing, he goes to Toyota Santa Monica, and they're like, you want this Marai, you want this hydrogen-powered car. He's like, I might get deployed. They're like, no problem.
Starting point is 00:29:41 So he ends up getting deployed to Virginia for like special ops training or whatever. And because he got deployed within the United States, their program didn't allow for him to just trade the car in. They're like, you're still in the U.S., so it doesn't count. He cannot take the car to Virginia because there's no hydrogen in Virginia. He had to get a loan from the military. That's supposed to be a special loan for like small businesses or whatever
Starting point is 00:30:03 to pay off the car because the car was just going to sit there. So now he's paying interest on money, like double interest. Right. To get out of this situation where they should have just taken the car back. All of the car notes,
Starting point is 00:30:17 like 90% of them, are financed by Toyota Motor Finance. Right. So they're in control of the situation. And it's exactly what you said. They should just take the cars back. That's really, that's really the situation.
Starting point is 00:30:27 But the reality is this is a huge scandal. This is like bigger than the emission scandal. Because it has that component. It has the component of the fact that they're messing up the environment in the name of greenwashing the technology. They're saying hydrogen, it sounds green. They market it as zero emissions from the tailpipe because there's just water that comes out of the tailpipe as the exhaust. And there's like commercials with like a guy drinking the water. And they're like, this thing is just pure.
Starting point is 00:30:54 Wow. Yeah. So people, most of my clients, the overwhelming majority, until they talk to me, they don't even know that it's not green. And they don't care about that ultimately, right? They want to do something good and they're trying to be good people and, you know, just going about their day. And so there was a selling point. But like, they're like, I don't know what that meant, but they're like, they're like, it's not green? You're telling me this isn't even green? I've been drinking that water for two years.
Starting point is 00:31:20 No, that part's true, right? It is just water. I think you'll die if you drink that water. water. But the water part's true, but they're negating the fact. It's like when they first came out with batteries, they weren't telling you how much the mining and the shipping. Like you have to drive it 180,000 miles to get your first green mile out of a battery car. They've gotten way better because they learned how to recycle the batteries. The batteries are much smaller. It's less lithium, less precious metals. So it's a different ballgame than when they first started. But hydrogen is,
Starting point is 00:31:46 was and never will be in our lifetime, green or commercially viable. How many young Chinese children have to die for you to drive that, uh, That battery card, that robo car. Yeah. Yeah. I can see the Chinese. They got them all out there, out there getting that lithium. Little kids.
Starting point is 00:32:09 I mean, we're all complicit in that. Our iPhones. I'm okay with it. You're okay with it? As long as they're not Americans. Oh, God. They're all people. We're all just humans.
Starting point is 00:32:19 They're all just humans. I've also sued Gavin and Newsom. What specifically? Gavin's funding the situation. He's just unchecked, signing off on the legislature, just giving money to these companies. To these companies, you mean like Toyota? Toyota. The companies that are saying it's great.
Starting point is 00:32:36 Shell, also Shell and those companies, first element fuel, the fuel companies. Shell got a accepted a grant for $50 million. I don't know if they actually took the money or if they just accepted a grant. I haven't gotten that far in discovery. What we have seen is that Toyota actually had agreements. with these companies that they're giving money to. I mean, obviously that they would. Right.
Starting point is 00:32:59 So they're basically creditors to these companies, and they gave Shell money too. Shell abruptly in 2023 pulls out. They were supposed to make 50 stations. They had seven, and they just shut it all down inexplicably. They have like a three-line memo that they released on their website. Like, oh, we're not doing this. Thank you so much.
Starting point is 00:33:18 Done. You know, and they got money from the state. Right. I don't know that for sure, but I would. So, all right. Right. So what, I'm sorry, go ahead.
Starting point is 00:33:27 No. And I want to sue, so I want to sue Donald as well. You got to sue Donnie. Donald? Yeah. I know you love him. What do you do do? I don't love him.
Starting point is 00:33:36 Don't do that. We just lost 25% of our viewers just by you saying that. But why? What did you do? Well, he actually did good. So. Well, then T's heads on the chopping block, too. That doesn't make sense at all.
Starting point is 00:33:52 Joe Biden, in the inflation, Reduction Act put an uncapped tax credit for the hydrogen fuel industry. All they needed to do was produce hydrogen. They don't need to sell it. It doesn't need to be green. It doesn't need to do anything. Every kilogram of hydrogen they made, they got an equivalent dollar for dollar tax credit, uncapped. So these companies are just making hydrogen, storing it. They can't get it to people because the stations are breaking. It doesn't matter. There's 20 working nozzles in the entire state of California right now because the stations keep breaking down. Newsom said, oh, we'll have 200 by this day. Newsom's a liar about pretty much everything. He's very villainy and looking. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:37 He's proof that if you're handsome, you can get far. You look like you could be Sebastian and Scalco's like cousin. Have you gotten that before? Sebastian, who is that? You don't know who that is? Who is it? He's the, now you don't know if it's good at that. I'm thinking, my first thought was Lord Farquar. I used to have a The Bastion Manuscalco is an Italian comedian that has hit some monocum of fame. He was just in a
Starting point is 00:35:02 Irishman and he's had a couple specials out. He's very exaggerative in his performance. He's very funny. What do you think? Maybe. I'll put a picture up. I got to make it okay. Okay. I mean, I'm trying out here. Okay. No, I do. I think you do look
Starting point is 00:35:18 like am I stand by that. This guy doesn't always talking about it. He's too far away. He can't see. So, you're In any event, the nozzles that are working are about the tune of 20. Okay, and you go to these pumps, it would just be down. And then imagine you needed gas and you go to a gas station and there would be one out of order. You'd be like, oh, this could be a problem. Right.
Starting point is 00:35:37 You can go down the block. Okay, well, what if the next station's 12 miles away from your house? Right. You're already down. You're already in-defer meeting. So these people are spending a third of their fuel looking for fuel. Okay, that's a problem. And so Trump, what?
Starting point is 00:35:53 He said, no more giving out money for... So Trump cabosh the inflation reduction tax credit for hydrogen. For those companies. So it jacked up the price. It sunsets it in 2026. I think that that might have had something to do with it. But there's also a lot of grants from the Department of Energy. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:36:10 What do you think? Should I sue Donald or not sue Donald? It's good for news. I mean, I don't know. I don't say that. I don't think I can, honestly, even as I'm talking it out loud. The paperwork's ready to go, and, like, really, that's the debate. Because I'm just trying to get relief for these people.
Starting point is 00:36:26 That's another thing, right? Like, if you have a situation where someone gets injured, so the person's injured, the injury happened, you can litigate that to the end of time to make sure that you get the justice that you need. But they're not going to be okay. No matter what, they're not going to be okay. They're not going to be okay. The money, you know, this incredible...
Starting point is 00:36:44 Bob Simon, he's an incredible trial attorney. I read a few of his transcripts to prepare. I did a trial in 2023. where we won. It was a premises liability. We won 500 grand from a jury. Nice. And the closing argument, though,
Starting point is 00:36:56 Bob Simon is essentially, like if you're in a car and Darth Vader, all of a sudden freezes time, opens your car door, comes in your car, and goes, here's a suitcase for you. And you go, what was going on? He goes, there's $3 million in that suitcase. And you open us $3 million.
Starting point is 00:37:13 And you say, okay, this is amazing. What do I have to do? It's not what you have to do. Someone's going to hit your car. and it's going to affect how you can walk and your enjoyment of life, but you get $3 million. No one would take the money.
Starting point is 00:37:27 Everyone would close the briefcase and go, Darth Vader, I don't want the money. But that's what the defendant did to my client. They didn't give him the choice. That's sort of the situation. So in those types of scenarios where someone got injured and it was a one-time thing, you can milk the litigation and just keep going.
Starting point is 00:37:46 And the family doesn't care either. The injury happened. In this situation, I got people calling me every single day. What the heck is going on? I'm still paying $600 a month, $300 a month, whatever it is. Or I'm not paying at all. And my credit, they put it on my fucking credit.
Starting point is 00:38:01 And now I can't get even a car loan for a new car. I can't refinance my house. I got turned down for my security clearance or whatever. There's tons of stuff that you're... The security clearance is, you're right. I don't know how you knew that. But Zachary Graham, I guess. Zachary is not even the only active military.
Starting point is 00:38:19 person that I represent. And that was something that he was like such, it was like grading on him. Like what if I, that's why he took the loan. That's why he took the loan because he didn't want to lose his security clearance if they start negative credit reporting. Yeah. Can't claim bankruptcy. With this for security,
Starting point is 00:38:33 if you have a security clearance, you can't claim bankruptcy. A lot of people will go, they get into debt, they don't know to do. Bankruptcy is a viable option for someone that gets over their head. I mean, it's legal. And it's reasonable. Like the government didn't come up with it because it doesn't happen. It doesn't need to be out there. Some countries don't. They'll throw you in jail.
Starting point is 00:38:53 But the government, the United States said, no, we're not going to do that. We're going to get people a legal reason. The problem is, is that it can affect all kinds of things. One, it affects you for the next like seven years, can affect borrowing money on houses and your security clearance. That's a big thing. So people can lose all kinds of opportunities. Because Toyota gave me a car. I'm paying 800 a month for. They told me, I had $15,000 with a credit. It was only $10 per kilogram, and then they jacked it up to $40.
Starting point is 00:39:27 Like that's, that I can, that I would be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. This was not our agreement. You said it only cost $10. A year and a half later, you jacked it all over. You multiply it at times four.
Starting point is 00:39:38 Where's my, where's the difference? And my, and my ass is hot, to be honest with you. I'm sweating a little, you know? I mean, so. When I initially filed a class action, I was on the defense side. I represented these credit facilities for automakers and automakers in general.
Starting point is 00:39:54 I never lost a motion to compel arbitration. So you're married, right? Even your wife, if you decide to sue your credit card company for something you don't like, they have an arbitration clause. Pretty much everything you buy in America has an arbitration clause. They could make your wife. So some people got clever and they'll make the wife be the plaintiff. Oh, she never signed the credit card agreement.
Starting point is 00:40:14 No, no, no, no. The language says even your affiliates, your friends, whatever, they're subject to this agreement. And we've won that motion. So initially they threatened to compel arbitration. I said, no, let's just go to arbitration. Right, that's why I had 110 arbitrations. But then in state court, I fought the arbitration. Well, it was me and there was one other plaintiff's firm that was grouped into this complex litigation.
Starting point is 00:40:37 And they lost their motion to compel arbitrations. We get to proceed in state court and see a state jury. And then we have one federal action that is going, and I've now subpoenaed through a federal judge, which is great. I thought they'd fight it, but they haven't fought the subpoena yet. I'm sure the day before they're going to. But we subpoenaed the chief design officer for the Marai, the person most knowledgeable for the fuel credits and all these various different things that they got to come and take a deposition.
Starting point is 00:41:04 Now, my buddy's doing the litigation for 9-11. So there was Saudi money connected to the terrorism that happened. And there's a clear link. So the victims of 9-11 are suing the Saudis, the government, the actual country. country, okay, that litigation is still going on in 2025. Yeah, this just could be dragging on forever. Right. The Saudis spent like a year and a half.
Starting point is 00:41:28 The first day they come into court with like, they finally serve them. You know, if they serve them through the hate convention through like Switzerland, literally. Like there's all these different stakes like they couldn't serve shimmy, right? Imagine the Saudis. Okay. So finally they serve or whatever, they get to the courtroom. My buddy's telling me this. They go to the courtroom and they go, we don't like this courtroom.
Starting point is 00:41:44 And they leave. They just don't like the court. The wood paneling didn't matter. And the stakes are so high and the lawyers that they have are so well staffed that they literally fought for a year about which particular courtroom should the proceedings even continue in. I'm basically litigating against the Japanese government. That's what Toyota is. They posted $64 billion in profit last year. It means that if all their accounting wizards got together and they're like, we can't hide $64 billion.
Starting point is 00:42:08 Right. Like this is what we made. This is the profit we got to say. So it's like me, I got like a few other lawyers that I'm working with on this against the Japanese government. So are you working for a large law firm? Like tell me that there's somebody backing you. It's not you in your spare room with six other idealistic lawyers that want to just do good. No, it is that.
Starting point is 00:42:29 Oh, God. Oh, man. I've teamed up with a guy that's very senior. He took Nissan to a class action jury trial for like a much smaller defect. And he won a class action jury trial. So I'm consulting with him and he's doing a lot of work in the background with me and to the four once the litigation even heats up more. But yeah, so it's still pretty early in the litigation.
Starting point is 00:42:52 I mean, 97% of cases settle, right? I don't think the Saudis will settle. I think that you'll actually see in like 10 years. You'll see a verdict. Money means nothing. Right. They don't care about that. So for them, they won't.
Starting point is 00:43:04 They'll be net 3%. But that's a real stat that 97% of cases settle. Did you ever read the book or see the movie with John Travolta in it? It's amazing. A civil action? No. Should I? It's so good.
Starting point is 00:43:20 And it's, it's funny because when people think of lawyers, they think, oh, they're rich. Most of them aren't rich. When they think of, they don't realize that the lawyer has to pay out of his own pocket for this, you know, for this investigation or for this, this guy. I'm out 200 grand on this case. I haven't made a nickel in three years. You know, like. If you don't realize it. And then they're like, he takes 30% motherfucker.
Starting point is 00:43:54 Or 40%, you know, 30 or 40. It's typically it's 30, but that's for like personal injury, but it could be higher, I'm sure. And I'm thinking, what can't go to? Like 50? This guy is so smart. This guy is dialed into the economics of everything. And like the people part of it too. You're like 30%.
Starting point is 00:44:08 I don't want to shortchange you though. So why don't you give you like you're so. Because that's personal injury. And I know that the. more you have in it, the more of a percentage you should get back. I put 50% in my retainers. I don't, I think that ultimately, if it settles, if I, if I have to take it to verdict, I deserve 50%.
Starting point is 00:44:27 No one else even wanted to take these cases. But if it, in the event, it's when we, I used to represent Audi and Volkswagen. We would, we, by statute, in California, the lemon law, you have, the manufacturer has to pay the lawyer. Okay. So the contingency fee is not from the money. of the client. It's a separate fee issue
Starting point is 00:44:49 that even gets litigated separately after the case is settled. So this has Lemon Law aspects to it. You know, I talked about the seat heaters, the battery drains on this car, there's screen glitches, the parking sensors are also too sensitive. So people will be driving on a highway
Starting point is 00:45:05 and they'll think like a deer is coming out of nowhere when nothing's there, a phantom thing, and it just jolts for someone. Like people have had real electrical issues with the car. Right. So there's Lemon Law element So ultimately, I don't think that I would have to eat from the client's share of this. I have it in there to protect me, which is what I've been telling people.
Starting point is 00:45:22 And I think that that will come to fruition. But to your point about costs, when I sued, so when we first sued in the class action space, then stipulated to go to arbitration in the class action on the federal docket, the lawyers that Toyota hired, they also represented the dealerships. I was like, okay, that makes sense. You know, Papa Bear is saying, okay, I'll just handle all of this. Then once we go to arbitration, those same lawyers, after, When we get to the first few arbitrations,
Starting point is 00:45:46 and the lawyers are like, well, you didn't serve the dealership. I'm like, you guys rep the dealership. No, no, no, no. We, you know, we not officially. So they made me go and serve and do the whole, like, I had to spend like 20 grand,
Starting point is 00:45:57 sending a process server to each dealership, reserving them, you know, wasting three months and whatever, a bunch of money on that. And they, they have a lot of these kinds of tactics. Just delay, delay, delay, where you down, where you down,
Starting point is 00:46:08 have run up the bill to the point where you're so desperate that I don't want to, I may end up having to go to the fucking bankruptcy, just to keep fighting for this thing against this monster that's never going to run out of money. Yeah, in the civil action, they go into that. And I only know that, by the way, I know that because my brother-in-law was, once again,
Starting point is 00:46:27 he was a personal injury attorney, and he's the one who's having to pay for this, make deals with doctors to see people promising them, you know, writing up the notes, whatever that form is. Well, that gets really shady. We've talked about another firm that's based out of this state. We briefly on the phone, we mentioned another firm. It's actually kind of how I even got here through that connection. When I was working at that firm, I saw some pretty shady stuff with that. Where doctors are cutting people open and they don't need to be cut open, but they know they'll get paid on the back end.
Starting point is 00:47:06 Yeah, no, this wasn't like that. It can get pretty crazy. No, this is more like you have a back injury and you need to be treated. Yeah, yeah, sure. they're big or it's a what do you call it chiropractor like you know they go to chiropractor and then the chiropractor sees them for they didn't charge them but every time it's a slip it's a slip so it piles up and piles up or certain tests have to it's an MRI we need this we need that well somebody has to pay for that right like somebody has to pay that so my brother-in-law you know so these are the personal injury
Starting point is 00:47:32 attorneys if they're either trying to get a deal or they have to pay for it or somebody's got to pay for it they have to send out investigators that take photos that it the racks up and racks up And I know that. So anyway, I did a mediation with an auto manufacturer. Okay. Was unsuccessful. Right. $25,000, though, to get a federal judge to shuffle back and forth in the room until 2 p.m.
Starting point is 00:47:58 I paid for that. But what were you thinking about the movie? No, in the movie, which is, it's a real movie. It's a real story. It's called a Civil Action. It was a book. The book I've never read, I tried to read it. It's 850 pages or something.
Starting point is 00:48:09 They were outrageous. I just couldn't get through it because it's very technical. It's a lot of, it's a lot of walking in the courtroom, law, this, like, very boring. No offense. He's interviewing. He's interviewing different clients. He's, but it really goes into, especially, and the movie does this too. A lot, you really realize this in the movie.
Starting point is 00:48:31 This guy's getting multiple mortgages on his property to pay experts to do research, to do surveys, to do all kinds of stuff. test the water, test this. And it goes on and on and on. He sells his Porsche. At the beginning of the movie, he's a big shot. By the end of the movie, he is... Destitutes. He's living in the office, sleeping on a couch.
Starting point is 00:48:55 All the staff has been let go. I mean, he's just, he's destitute. He's destitute. If you sleep hot at night, you know how disruptive that can be. Whether you're having trouble falling asleep, you're waking up sweating in the middle of the night or all of the above. That's where ghost bed can help. As the makers of the coolest beds in the world,
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Starting point is 00:50:03 And use code Cox at the checkout. That's ghostbed.com slash com. and use code cox for 10% off sitewide. They just, this company that was poisoning in the water in this small town and 50 people got different lesions and cancer and all kinds of things happened and he knew it and he couldn't figure it out. And he spent millions and millions.
Starting point is 00:50:30 And they just wear them down to nothing. It's at one point, one of the guys that owns like a chemical planter that has involved in this whole thing, comes to him. He's like, what, he got in this? You got to have what, 10, 12 million? And he kind of says, look, let me just give the 10 to drop the, get them to drop the case to this. Like I'll just, he kind of just like, I'll, we'll settle for this. You'll be made whole. They'll get 20,000 apiece. And he's like, they lost their daughter. Her daughter died. You know what I'm saying? Like, he's like, no, I'm not doing that. He's like, you can talk him into it. But he's just because he
Starting point is 00:51:04 knows that the other lawyers know, we've destroyed you. Like, we have. Like, we have. have people look we know how bad it is for you right now we're gutting you and they've got all the money in the world and you know this lawyer and it's always so funny too is like the clients are almost they're angry at the lawyer and the lawyer's like my life is being is ruined it's over i'm going to planning bankruptcy sue and may soon and may end up getting disbarred you know for other whatever things people aren't being paid there's all i'm juggling all kinds of shit like It's fucking, you know, and you're upset with me because this hasn't settled fast enough or because, and then they don't want to take a truck. Because a lot of these, they don't want to take, I want to go to trial.
Starting point is 00:51:46 I want that apology. It's like, you're never getting an apology. It's so, you really, you should, at the very least you should watch the movie because you'd be like, oh my God. Like, it's a great portrayal of how of the stress of representing these clients that can't pay you. I know a ton of lawyers like that where they, they staked. for a years on one case and they were poor until it hit. The clients in this situation... But you're saying until it hit, sometimes they don't hit.
Starting point is 00:52:16 Sometimes you're 300,400, half a million dollars in debt and it doesn't hit. And then you get a letter from someone in prison that reveals that they had no case. No, the clients are super gracious. their frustration is just with Toyota. They're like, Toyota did me dirty. Right. That's it. You know,
Starting point is 00:52:41 and it's just a lot of pressure around it. But they've been very gracious to me. I mean, I'm literally doing everything you can. We're doing a rally. The clients have organized a rally this Sunday in Sacramento. The clients are rallying at City Hall. And then in Los Angeles.
Starting point is 00:52:55 They had tried the vehicles in circles? You should do a. There's live footage. Not, well, it's recorded. Ukrainians used, I don't know how they got their hands on these marais and they're blowing them up in Russian territory. I'm not, I'm not kidding. And that's probably the best use for these cars is to be used as like a war bomb. Some people are joking to light the car on fire.
Starting point is 00:53:18 I mean, I think that would be good for news. But the, by the way, with Donald Trump suing him, there would be reasons, right? He could have sunsetted it sooner. They're still bleeding money on the tax credit. It hasn't been sunset. The Department of Energy is giving a lot. I'm being cavalier about it, but I'm not going to risk my license. But they are planning on doing a rally also in Los Angeles at City Hall.
Starting point is 00:53:42 And I think if this continues, they'll start protesting at dealerships. They'll just be like Toyota Tuesdays. The first Tuesday of every month we'll start protesting at, you know, Toyota of Glendale. And there's over a thousand? Or you have over a thousand. The other plaintiff's firms that I'm in touch with, they have three, 400 themselves. So how many cars were sold total? 20,000.
Starting point is 00:54:01 It's just silly. It's just silly of Toyota. I mean, it would cost them nothing just to go in and say, look, we're just going to buy these cars back. Shut this whole thing down. They're still selling the car. This woman called me two weeks ago. She's got disability. You know, she's a bit kooky, but I love her.
Starting point is 00:54:18 Debbie Alvarez. She's a sweetheart. She just got sold the car like a week ago or two weeks ago, whatever, Toyota of Orange. No disclosures. They're not telling her anything bad about the car. She's a, she, the, I'm not. as buff as you. Okay, I do yoga.
Starting point is 00:54:35 I don't know if you're weightlifting. Yeah, I do yoga. California. Stop making fun of California. California is beautiful place and it's much better than Florida. Oh my God. The humidity.
Starting point is 00:54:44 I was dying out here. It was getting just from my car to hear. The humidity, it's, it's, first of all, you could have just taken an Uber. Why didn't you, why did you get a rent a car? Are you staying here for a few days? This guy is, this really dogging on me. Am I right?
Starting point is 00:54:57 Like, both of us said this on the way. No, it was him on the way or cold. He was like, he's renting a car. I'm like, yeah. He's like, well, he's like, No, I'm taking another meeting near Orlando and I'm flying out of Orlando. Oh, okay. Is this another, is this another mirage?
Starting point is 00:55:09 What's it called? It's the Jen Hardy show. She actually, she's like putting a good word for me with Matthew. Gen Hardy. Yeah, she, voices of justice. She's got 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. She's really. Voices of justice.
Starting point is 00:55:22 She interviews a lot of judges, Jen Hardy. And she interviewed me and a couple clients on Zoom. And then I said, hey, I'm, I got on your show. I'm like, I'll let me make a day out of it. I'll come to your studio. Right. To get the word out like he said about this case. Which I'm grateful for it.
Starting point is 00:55:40 It's, it's, uh... You sound grateful. I think, do I? Well, we got into a bit of a tip with the California thing. No, I think that a big part of why this also isn't explosive in the news, you know, I'm trying to do the... I don't have a problem with California, by the way, at all. I'm serious, serious.
Starting point is 00:55:53 It's the greatest place in the world. No, it's the people that are in California. But go ahead. What's wrong with the people in California? Because they're just so... They're health conscious? No, no. I'm like health conscious.
Starting point is 00:56:02 They care about their health. They're buying cars that are not even green. They think they're green. I mean, if you tell them they're green, you could, listen, if I was active right now, I'd take it all their money right now. If you were active, what a way to say it. What a way to say it. Do you have that itch?
Starting point is 00:56:18 I don't know. You're going to get mad at me if I go weave back into his story. You have that itch. Of course. Like in Ocean's 11, the soon as they get out, they're doing more, they're running more game. Of course. What's a good scan that you see that is not. being exploited by people right now.
Starting point is 00:56:33 I'm being exploited. I don't know about what's not being a exploit. You'd go back to doing the mortgage thing again. Listen, there are, you know, there are these companies that will buy your house. They'll send an appraiser out. And like they're in California or they're in New York or one of those other liberal states. They'll, they'll send somebody out, right? They'll send somebody out to do a dry buy appraisal of your house.
Starting point is 00:56:58 And then they'll say, and they give you an offer. Your house is worth $500,000. And you go, oh, I wanted $5.50 and you can argue with them a little bit, but they don't budge. But they'll close in like five days or 10 days. As soon as they, as soon as you get the title work done. Well, it's the whole thing is like, I don't necessarily have to own the house to get you guys to schedule a closing, fund that closing. And then wire that money into into a bank account that I've opened in that person's name. Right. I could satisfy the most. mortgage on the house, the homeowner don't even have to know. So I can call these people,
Starting point is 00:57:35 schedule it. They send somebody a drive-by. I show up with a driver's license. And I don't even have to go to the actual closing. I can do it remotely. So almost all but like 13 states or something do remote closings. So I could show up and you show them your ID. They see your ID. Yes, it's me. Okay. And they do a notary closing and you close and then they'll wire the money wherever you tell them to. I mean, that that would be of course, now are you on film. Yeah, you're on film, but if you're already on the run and you could do your special powers to get women?
Starting point is 00:58:07 Like, did you, you ever watched How I Met Your Mother with Barney Stinson? There's the elaborate schemes this guy runs in order to get women. I don't think I've seen like one. You've seen them all. Okay, it's the same copy pasta every single time. Right. They're just doing the same 800 episodes. But
Starting point is 00:58:23 the point of that character, which he's a great actor because he's a homosexual, so it's pretty interesting how like he's such a womanizer on the show. But like, you didn't You didn't run game? Like, you know, what's that like being a criminal? Like, the whole thing is, the paradigm is if you're a bad boy, you know, women are into that. And they, you know, they can't get enough of that.
Starting point is 00:58:42 Well, you were literally a quintessential bad boy. Like, what was that like for you when you were running game? I don't think, but I didn't present myself that way. But it does kind of emanate, right? Like if people, they get this feeling like something's not right. Yeah, everyone knows. I remember this one time I was dating this chick. And I mean, this is, let's say, our third or fourth date.
Starting point is 00:59:05 We went out one night, went back to her place. I was amazing. And dated her again a couple times. And so we went out another night. And that day, I had a closing. I told her, oh, I'm refinancing this piece of property. And I needed to get money out. And so I was getting out like 100 grand, but like for some, whatever it was, the lender was like, we only let you get out like a hundred grand.
Starting point is 00:59:35 I was getting out more than 100 grand. So you can get out like, I was trying to get, let's say, 120. And they, at the last minute, they're like, look, we can only give you $100,000 out. And I said, well, wait a minute. I need you to cut a, I need you to cut a, a extra 20,000. I need you to cut that to my second mortgage. They like, you have a, I have an unrecorded second mortgage. and I provide them the second mortgage. And I called it like AG lending. And I said, yeah, and I send it to them. And I send it.
Starting point is 01:00:05 They go, oh, do you have a payment schedule? It's funny you ask. I happen to have one. Here's the last six months. And here's the payoff statement. They were like, okay, no problem. So yeah, we'll lend you the 120. We'll pay off the $20,000, whatever it was.
Starting point is 01:00:17 So they cut the check to AG lending. And then once it's all closed, it's clear. I've got my check. I deposited my bank account. I come back and I go, well, you cut the check. you cut the check here to AG lending, but if you look at the payoff statement, it says down here at the bottom,
Starting point is 01:00:32 please make all checks payable to Amanda Gardner. And they're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I missed that. And so they change it. Now, of course, we sent that to the lender because the lender won't allow a check to be cut to an individual. It has to be a corporation.
Starting point is 01:00:46 So I knew I need the initial check. Once they signed off on it, though, I just haven't have them change it. And I took them into changing it. That's by saying, oh, yeah, look, just, oh, you don't even notice that because they don't know what the lender's policy is. So they change it.
Starting point is 01:00:57 and then I went that night I go to dinner with Amanda which is the girl I was dating at the time and we barely met we we don't even know each other probably was fourth date and we're sitting there and she's like oh how was this oh yeah good oh she's like you want to go to such and say oh I'd love to that big great yeah yeah and we're talking and she says oh you said you had a uh didn't you said you said you have a refinance or something today I was like I was like oh shit yeah hold on and I go and I pull out my thing and I have a check and I have a check and I have a check and I have a And I go, can you deposit this? And she looks in and she goes,
Starting point is 01:01:31 what, what happened? I said, oh, you know, so here, they wouldn't. And then I give her an explanation that they wouldn't allow more than 100,000 issued to me. So I told them that I owed you 20 grand and they just cut it to you. So it's just a glitch. It's just silly. And she was like, oh, yeah, I can, I can, I actually, she all most panic.
Starting point is 01:01:51 Like, I can deposit it tomorrow morning. I'll deposit it. And like, as soon as it clears, like, I'll get you a cashier's check. like I don't know how long they're holding I mean if you want I can go to the bank I don't know where this bank is but I can check and I'm like no no just deposit it once it clears I said if I need the money
Starting point is 01:02:06 I'll ask you for the money she's like well I'll get you the money I went okay well I don't need the fucking money you know it's like I'll just keep the money in your bank account when you get it if I need it I'll take it I said you just give it to me and she was just like holy shit like who is this guy
Starting point is 01:02:22 who is this fucking guy you know he is a cross between Trevor Wallace and Sebastian Menace Galco. I mean, let's talk about a panty dropper. That's right. Give a check 20 grand. I don't know it was 20. I don't know.
Starting point is 01:02:36 It was around that, but it was more money than she'd ever deposited in her bank. I'll tell you that. And it was over after that. It was over. I think she moved in like a week later. I bought her a, what did I buy her? Did you have different girlfriends
Starting point is 01:02:49 for different identities, you know, all the reservoir dog characters? No, no, no. What did I buy? What did Amanda have? She got like a $50,000. It was like an infinity something. No, it was like, was it a something.
Starting point is 01:03:05 It was some kind of a SUV. Let me finish with DeVora Alvarez. Okay. Well, you went on sideways. Oh, 100%. 100%. I keep going sideways. Devora Alvarez, you know, it takes a certain personality to manage 600, 700, 800 clients.
Starting point is 01:03:18 You know what I mean? Right. You got to be a little bit. It's a lot. It's a lot of different personalities, a lot of different people. Yeah. How many people can you maintain a relationship with? There's some thing.
Starting point is 01:03:26 It's like 30 or 25 or something. I don't know what you're talking about. There's actually like a study. There's like a study that says you can successfully manage a relationship with only up to it's like 22 people or something. I'm sure in a professional context has got to be different. I mean, I'm sure,
Starting point is 01:03:42 but still a lot of people to keep track of and kind of remember that, oh, Jennifer's got two kids. Some of them are really kind. They don't talk to me for more than six months. Yeah, I don't necessarily remember Nuggets. Sometimes I save it into my phone.
Starting point is 01:03:52 I mean, I do zooms with them regularly, so I'm able to give updates generally. and people do Q&As and whatever. But this woman, so she buys this car, what I was saying was you go to the gym even more than me. That's how we got on the whole tangent. That's right.
Starting point is 01:04:06 Right, right. A little bit. I have done fuel ups with people for the Mara. It is very difficult to get it off of the car for me. Because it freezes up. She's a disabled woman. Right. She cannot, and I shouldn't be, you know,
Starting point is 01:04:21 I shouldn't have said her name because, you know, I'm kind of outing her a little bit with the medical thing. But it's most of the women that I represent make this complaint. Now, imagine you're a woman and it's 2 o'clock in the morning and you're in a sketchy part of California, which does exist, by the way. So you're in a sketchy part of California. It's 2 o'clock in the morning. You are stuck to the pump.
Starting point is 01:04:40 That's terrifying, right? It's like off a highway somewhere. Right. That's part of the problem. Is this fuel flammable? Yes. Oh, I don't know. I was thinking, like, can't you?
Starting point is 01:04:52 It's the most flammable. It is the most flammable. What are you going to do? Put a lighter there. That's insane. That's insane. Get rid of the problem altogether. Yeah, a lot of problems would we've gotten rid of there and some other bigger ones.
Starting point is 01:05:07 But, you know, so discovery is about to heat up. We have different venues, different legal vehicles, and we're prosecuting this with. And it's just a story of complete corporate disregard, like these people in ivory towers making decisions that are in... People get into... There's a guy DeLoss... He's a cool guy. He has an interesting startup,
Starting point is 01:05:30 a robo-froyo machines. How interesting is that? Robo-Fro-B. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's part of what's great about being a lawyer. You learn so much of it. Frozen yogurt. Oh, okay.
Starting point is 01:05:40 But the whole thing is automated, right? So it drives out to locations and then it drives itself back, but it sells and, like, it's very interesting. So he bought one of these cars. The honor system. Yeah. California.
Starting point is 01:05:53 Oh my God. You see how that's working. He bought one of these cars. He's very forward-thinking. Hydrogen, it kind of made sense. He buys one of these cars. He gets into a tiny fender bender. He was the first person with this problem.
Starting point is 01:06:04 I've since had a lot of people with this. They don't have the parts in California to fix these cars. So they're just saying each one's a total loss. Okay. But there's always a gap in the value of the car and the insurance. Right. So now this guy stuck five, six grand, ten grand. He's under pressure from that.
Starting point is 01:06:22 Yeah. They're all upside down. Oh, I cannot believe I didn't mention this. These cars sell for like 60 grand MSRP. The second you drive them off the lot, they're worth $2,000. Right.
Starting point is 01:06:35 Do you ever heard of that? Depreciating by like 95%. No, that's exciting. And it's a Toyota. You really don't see that coming. So these people, they, after a week or two, they're like, oh, this is a bloody nightmare.
Starting point is 01:06:45 I need out of this car. Right. And then they go back to the dealership. They're like, we'll give you $5,000 for it. They're like, I owe you $30,000. I owe you $40,000. What does that mean? You give me five?
Starting point is 01:06:54 What do you think? If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. And Toyota is now making itself very unreliable to these people in California. Do you remember? Of course, you weren't even born yet. I'm going to say Audi was making 45,000 cars a year. A woman slipped and stepped on the gas and the car shot forward and wrecked into a building. Whoa.
Starting point is 01:07:24 And she, when the cop showed. up, she said, I had my foot on the brakes and it lurched forward. It was the craziest thing ever. And that was her story. I didn't hit the gas. It was, or it was in neutral or it was in and it shot forward. I can't believe this. It's a brand new Audi. And kind of like people were, whatever. And within a day or two, another person said I was sitting in traffic. The car jumped forward and hit this person in front of me and the newspapers jumped on it and said these v iaudis have a major issue they talked to a couple experts who said well i mean yeah it's just if this is wrong or this or the fuel injection or it's very possible that it's clearly there's an issue they jumped from went
Starting point is 01:08:15 from 45 000 cars a year or the next year two years year to two years it dropped to 15 000 they're closed plants they did everything so by the way these weren't the same types of Audi's. They have completely different engines, fuel systems, everything. But because the newspapers jumped on it, it destroyed Audi. They almost went out of business. They were right then, they were just coming up on BMW. This is back in the 90s. No, this is in the 80s. They just were about to approach BMW was doing like 55 or 60. They were just coming up like, hey, we're coming. We're going to be a competitor of it. Boom. All the way back. back down because two women.
Starting point is 01:08:58 I don't know if I know one was a woman. I don't know if both of them. It ended up being two or three because then once the newspapers did it, boom, next thing you know, you got a couple other women and a couple other, I keep saying women. That's horrible. And I feel bad about that. Very misogynistic. As much as I could feel bad.
Starting point is 01:09:13 But it's, yeah, two more people said, hey, the car lurked. Like when there was an accident, bam, guess what? Just lurched forward. Just I was sitting there or I stopped. My foot was on the brakes or whatever. I put in a neutral. I shot forward. And so it just, like I said,
Starting point is 01:09:25 had dropped, but then as they did the research and research and research and they looked into it and the whole thing that came back, they were like, it's not possible. We could not, we could not recreate that in any scenario at all. It's absolutely impossible. Impossible. These people started that. These people jumped on the bandwagon. It almost destroyed an entire company. It wasn't possible. Never happened again. Wow. So I'm surprised you had never heard that about the Audi's. There's so many things like that, but I used to represent a company. I won't want to say the name, so we'll just say what it rhymes with, Schmouty. Okay.
Starting point is 01:10:02 And we were in litigation, and this guy said that the car, it's like an A8, and it just stalls. It just, the gas is not responsive. And I depose this guy, and I'm like, the jury's going to hate this dude. He's like some rich white guy, good looking guy. They're not going to want to give him any money. And I fought the case like crazy. And I was going to take it at trial. And the partner is like, call the expert in Germany.
Starting point is 01:10:33 Set up a call just to make sure because you're really pushing this case. Right. I said, okay. I called the expert. And the expert right away goes, oh, yeah, this is a big problem. Yeah. And I'm like, he's like, tell, he's like, tell them it's a new software update. We'll clean it up maybe in a few months.
Starting point is 01:10:51 I'm like, oh, no, I'm not. I settled that case that day. I just paid them out immediately. I was just like, done. So we're going to do you a favor. Oh, I got a good deal. It was interesting how much it activates like a sociopathic part of me, right? Because I, I, my grandparents suffered at the hands of different German things.
Starting point is 01:11:12 Oh, for sure. And, and yet I was like nickel and diming. Anytime I could win and get an attaboy from like some random corporate guy that doesn't even know me or care. I was like trying to win. You know, when I represented the bank, same thing. I was like trying to win. It's very interesting how that, like this Stanford prison experiment, you really, like, when you're in a certain position at the seat of the table,
Starting point is 01:11:32 you really try and win. I guess maybe just certain personalities. But, um. Have you seen there's a meme of, I forget what his name is. Oh, William Defoe playing the green, the green lantern or green goblin. And he's at the boardroom. And he stands up, he's like, he looks around. He's going, you can't.
Starting point is 01:11:54 do this to me, but the caption is, have you seen it? Yeah, you know what I sacrificed? Yeah, yeah, but the caption is, um, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the United States, you know, Japan, like, it names off all these countries starting World War III without it. And he's like, do you know what I've said? You can't do this to me. Like, I started this. That's fucking great.
Starting point is 01:12:15 Sorry, horrible. What is this costing? I mean, what is the dollar amount to correct this, this massive, you know, cluster fuck? Well, in reality, the taxpayer dollars is like close to a billion dollars. It's hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars that are being spent. Another wise investment from on Gavin News and Spart. Sorry. No, no.
Starting point is 01:12:34 If the technology was green, by the way, I wouldn't have taken the case. Right. I'm okay. You want to try something out? You're making something green and it doesn't work? I'm not going to sue you over that. Right, okay. Someone bought some alien technology.
Starting point is 01:12:48 It's on them. Do more research. They're trying to do something good for the environment. But you're telling me that this thing is sinister. to the bone, it hasn't been green and what isn't going to be green. It's already 11 years into this thing. And the state is just given the money away to build these stations that are helping who? The consumer's getting hurt because the car does not work.
Starting point is 01:13:08 Car can't get fuel. Okay. So who's benefiting from it? The environment's getting worse. It's not helping California's mandate. I'm pretty sure that they're, I don't know if it's directly from Tesla, but they're buying carbon offset credits. It could be from Tesla because these EV companies get,
Starting point is 01:13:23 they get tax credits. They get carbon credits rather. Yeah. So how ironic would it be if I could find in discovery that they've been buying from the EV companies, like Elon Musk is selling them tax credits,
Starting point is 01:13:37 their carbon credits rather, so they can pass this off as green technology. Right. And it's not. So, yeah, hundreds of millions of dollars coming out of California's piggy banks to fund just absolute nonsense.
Starting point is 01:13:50 Just nonsense. There's nothing viable about this. There's nothing commercially viable. It's not helping the environment. It's not helping the consumer. The consumers are trying to, they're screaming from the rooftops. Toyota did this in other countries.
Starting point is 01:14:03 Right. Okay. Scandinavia, Germany. Failed in every single one. They gave the Canadian government 45 Marais and the Canadian government gave it back. They're like, no, we don't want this.
Starting point is 01:14:14 So it's not like they've got a track, or they've got a track record of failure. Track record of utter failure. This is not working. Now, people hate lawyers, okay? Sometimes it makes sense. All right. Sometimes it makes sense.
Starting point is 01:14:25 You know, sometimes you love them. In Russia, you go and try and tell them, oh, yeah, we'll do hydrogen cars. They'll be like, no. You know, they're just not, the government's not even letting you come in to try that. Right. In Norway, where they failed, this, this Marai stuff, or they're just eating mothballs, all these hydrogen stations. And the government eventually steps in. In the United States, these United States, it's the lawyers.
Starting point is 01:14:48 It's private lawyers that keep companies in check. It's much more free market-based. So it's literally up to me and the other lawyers that are prosecuting this to try and knock this off. Right. Because the government is not only not stepping in, they're funding the situation. Yeah, they're giving the money. The only one that's doing that. The Canadian government got it from them for free and said it's failing at the pump two out of three times.
Starting point is 01:15:11 You keep saying the government. You mean the state government? The feds, like I said, were giving through the inflation reduction act, they were giving a lot of tax credits to this too. That was Biden. That was Biden. He's looking good for your people here. No. But, you know, to the point of California, you're making fun of us a lot.
Starting point is 01:15:33 And, you know, I'd take offense to that. But the California consumer-friendliness of the laws. So the lemon law, I was saying before, right, when I represented a company, let's say, Shmouty. It rhymes with Shmoudi. Is the lemon law? Is that a state law? It's a state law. I don't almost like, Florida has a lemon law.
Starting point is 01:15:54 They do. But it is nowhere near California, right? California is like, oh, you messed up. You get triple damages, like off the bat. They have to pay the attorney's fees and costs, right? You sell a lemon in Texas or Alabama. It's like, no, good luck, partner. Like, there's nothing you can do pretty much.
Starting point is 01:16:11 Like, even New York doesn't have good lemon law. Right. California is not just lemon law. The consumer protection is a Consumer Legal Remedies Act. Like, there are so many different consumer laws that just overly protect the consumer. where that's why it's the best place to be an attorney, because the laws there are just so favorable for the little guy. So we're leveraging that. We're leveraging that now to try and bring some justice
Starting point is 01:16:30 and get people out of these cars. Right. So partially the same thing that made it an ideal environment to get this stuff pushed through is also an ideal environment to get it corrected. I interviewed the California Air Resources Board. Yes. Yes.
Starting point is 01:16:46 I interviewed the California Air Resources Board Director, Mary Nichols. She's twice been in that position. It's a very high position. It's the position that allowed the legislature to even be funding this. And like it's just democratic, you know, I mean, I'm pretty, it's labels are unhelpful. And I hate the fact that it's like everything's so divisive and everything falls under two labels, whatever. But like, she just was not getting it. She was just not understanding.
Starting point is 01:17:15 I was like, I represent hundreds of people that have been affected by your policies. that are in this situation. Yeah, well, do you know, Toyota was just trying to do good thing. I'm like, oh, well, it's not green. She's just, like, dodging and weaving throughout this, like, you know, hour Zoom that I had with her. It's just sometimes when people get into these policy situations, they're just driven by idealistic things that never come to fruition
Starting point is 01:17:40 that end up really hurting people along the way. And we're seeing that now with this situation. To be honest, when I first got the case, I didn't, I physically didn't want to suit I'm like, I drove a car. It was the first, like, nice car that I bought. And it was so good. I never had to take it in for service. It was like a beautiful car.
Starting point is 01:17:59 People love Toyota. Yeah. We just bought that. Like I told you, my wife's truck is a Toyota. She loves Toyota. We bought Toyota's because we're like, I'm not spending the next every three years getting a new car. Let's get something that we can drive till the fucking wheels far.
Starting point is 01:18:13 Like, you'd be driving that thing for 10 years. Yeah. You know? And everybody I know that, oh, what's my buddy? Steve, Stefan. Anyway, Steve, he's a, he's a pilot for, what's that horrible air line? Frontier? No, no. Spirit. Spirit. But actually, they never, they never seem to be wrecking or crashing. But anyway, he's a pilot for them. And he's ever since I've known him, he's been like, listen, you get a car, get a Toyota.
Starting point is 01:18:41 Like, he and his wife both drive Toyota. So he's like, you could drive them forever. They never break down. They go and go. Taliban uses them. Those guys aren't fools. You know, they're, they're, they're great. That's why it keeps, that's why I keep thinking like, why not. And like you said, how much money do they make? Or do they make every single year?
Starting point is 01:18:59 Like, you're like a billion dollar company. Like, what's the trillion dollar company? Why don't you just come in and fucking pick these things up? Look, you chalk, chalk it up to, we made a bad decision. We fucked up. You're certainly not the worst fucking decision you've ever made. You know, go in. say, look, man, we're just going to take the cars back. Here's a little check. You know,
Starting point is 01:19:18 there's all you guys. My bad, I'd have more respect for somebody who says, I fucked up. Everybody fucks up. You know, I fucked up. Here's what we did. We made a mistake. Take these back. You guys stopped selling these cars. It's not working. We invested in the wrong thing. And maybe, maybe in 15 years it'll be something. Maybe it'll power satellites or rockets to Mars or something. You know, we've tried a lot of different use cases. The expert that I hired, from my case, he has shown, he's just expert. He's some guy.
Starting point is 01:19:50 I was following him when I was first getting into the case. He's just some guy that's running out of his basement on hydrogen, hydrogen, hydrogen, constantly. And I'm like, oh, I want to hire this guy. He knows. And he had done some very high-level professional studies on this. So I guess I just called him a nerd. I don't know.
Starting point is 01:20:03 But the nerds are running the world now, bro. Right. Thank God. It's my time. The buses, the buses that have tried and failed, all of these city buses, right, They're doing it again in Riverside. They're still spending money on this nonsense, California.
Starting point is 01:20:19 It's unbelievable. The bus failures, because, like you said, oh, maybe it'll power this power. They've tried all these things. It is not commercially viable. This thing is too expensive to store move too dangerous. It's too finicky. Plus the energy to make it, right? You're saying the energy to make it.
Starting point is 01:20:35 You're spending a ton of money on the energy to make a product that doesn't work. Yeah, Musk calls them full cells, hydrogen full cells. Right. Yeah, full cell technology. I mean, Trump just mentioned it into speech, the hydrogen cars. So I'm like, oh, maybe there's some hope. And in Nebraska, while he was campaigning in 24, he mentioned it into speech, hydrogen cars. So I was like, okay, maybe there's something there.
Starting point is 01:20:57 But it's really hard to get to break through. I mean, he sucks up a lot of the news in general. I mean, obviously, there's a lot going on in the world and whatnot. But really, Toyota's ad dollars are just so tremendous. And they employ so many people. And it's just such a great company. Like, obviously you know by now, I'm sure, the McDonald's case with a woman burning the coffee.
Starting point is 01:21:16 I've mentioned it two or three times on this show. Here you go. Same thing, right? Like, in the 90s, the zeit guys, people were like, oh, you're taking advantage of McDonald's. It's like, it's so interesting how that is the way that we perceive. So it's like a lot of people are knocking me, you know,
Starting point is 01:21:29 oh, you're assuming Toyota, why are you doing that? You know, in the car, the car works. Like, I had one arbitrator, tell me that. He's like, you know, if you can't get fuel, why is that Toyota's problem? And I'm like trying to explain that. You were told me there would be fuel stations.
Starting point is 01:21:45 You told me. So his counter to that was, well, if you could just tell, this guy has like 10 Toyotas this whole life, he just loved them. I mean, you're going to get that, right? 110 arbitrators. You're going to get one or two bad eggs. And he's like, what if they built a wall around your car? Would you be able to sue them for a bad car because you can't get fuel? You're a fucking idiot.
Starting point is 01:22:01 I can't talk to you anymore. Like, you're saying, I can't say that to the arbitrator. But you see what I'm saying? Like, I mean, that's, you see what I'm saying? Like, if that's your fucking rationale, rationale, and that's what you just came up with to validate, your stance, then you're not worth talking to. Like, that's, that's ridiculous. Like, we got a big boy studio coming.
Starting point is 01:22:23 That's exciting. You better invite me back. Yeah. Yeah, I was just thinking, like, if you, but, you know, Jesus, California, that's, that's a hell of a fucking flight. But, yeah, it was fun enough. Yeah. Florida's not too bad.
Starting point is 01:22:35 Well, it's, yeah, it is the heat. That's the only thing I don't like about Florida. I hate going outside. I hate walking in the car. You could melt. And I think it is. It's like living on the surface. It's like living on the surface of sun.
Starting point is 01:22:46 Eh, I'll deal with it. It's not even, I'm not even, there's not even a thought in my head that I would think that would be. Have you ever been to California? Multiple times. I go about every two months. And you don't absolutely love it? I love the weather. I love the weather.
Starting point is 01:23:00 You really don't like the people. Well, someone rubbed you the wrong way there. No, yes. I think the whole, I, I feel like I don't understand. the homeless that are everywhere. Because it's better to live outdoors in California than in a palace in Florida. Because they pay them. And that's the kind of logic people use.
Starting point is 01:23:29 Because they pay it. You could be a professional. Because you could be a professional. You make it lucrative to be a homeless person. Like they're being paid. There's a lot of services. A lot of services, right. So there's a lot of services.
Starting point is 01:23:48 And then so, and News and how many times, you know, we're going to get rid of homelessness and then it triples in the next five years because he's coming up with all of these plans. And there's so much fraud with that stuff. Right. And then on top of that, then it's like, then the people running in and just stealing shit and leaving and because we're going to. No, that's media hype. That doesn't really happen. Well, so let me tell you what happened when I went when I went to L.A. and stayed in L.A.
Starting point is 01:24:17 I walk out. Where did you say? I just stayed a really nice place. It was actually an older hotel that they just renovated. It was right. It was in downtown L.A. I can't tell you that I don't know exactly where.
Starting point is 01:24:29 It was also five years ago. It's not a true story. That's five years ago. This guy's recall when he's talking about his running game on people for mortgages. He's like, and it was Wachovia Bank and the guy was a junior VP at the company. And he's like, this thing
Starting point is 01:24:42 of Slandering California on, whatever or something. It's not slender because it's true. So, but I remember walking outside and we were, I was next to these condos, the condos are like one and a half million dollars, right? And there's like one bedroom, one baths, one and a half million. And these are nice new building that I was talking to the person in the, like the clerk in the hotel, right?
Starting point is 01:25:04 Because I walked out and there's a homeless guy who's living in the, in like the alleyway area. And there's homeless people. that have tents everywhere. Like there's tents. There's like five tents. And I'm like, these people are camping out here. And you can tell,
Starting point is 01:25:22 like you can definitely tell, this guy's taking, just taking a shit over here. And what was so funny was, I come in, when I went back, I went down, when I walked into like a,
Starting point is 01:25:32 I'm going to say, I'm sure I got this wrong by them. I'm saying CVS. I don't know if they have CVS is. I don't know. Because the other day I said, 7-Elevens. And I said,
Starting point is 01:25:41 oh, these guys are robin 7-Eleven. There's no 7-Eleven. in Atlanta. That's a lie. Your story's a lot. It's a fucking convenience store. I don't know if it's the 711 It's a convenience store.
Starting point is 01:25:49 Is it a CVS? I don't know. It's like a drugstore. So I went down there because I like forgot hairspray. So I go down there to get hairspray or deodorant, whatever I forgot. Once again, not positive white,
Starting point is 01:25:58 but I had to go in. When I walk in, they had a security guard who's like looking at me and he's like giving me like a heart like practically kind of following me. And everything's locked up. This was maybe a few months, maybe six months or so, they had made that law where it was like, if you steal anything, under $800. And so I go there and I pay for the thing, whatever, and I ask where is there a something? I forget what I asked.
Starting point is 01:26:31 Is there such and such around here? And because whatever it was, they didn't have what I wanted exactly. So I bought what I could get. And then she was like, well, she was like there was, but they closed. And I was like, oh, okay. and then whatever it was I asked I went back to the hotel to ask I said oh yeah yeah I just got said did you get you what you want no they did this they said they said there's another place he said yeah there's a lot of places they're closed down here I said and I said why she said well I mean they're just stealing them blind and I went what do you mean she's well it was like a mom and pop and I went what and then so there's a guy there too he's like yeah there's like the bomb and pop stores can't make it he's like it's only the big chains that are still around Starbucks he starts naming them off and I'm like what do you mean and he goes well they like well they're go in and they just steal everything and then you can't stop them you can't attack them you can't like is that way they have a security guard he's like yeah but he can't really do anything they have to
Starting point is 01:27:21 steal enough for him to try and stop him he's there he's like but he won't he won't grab you he won't touch you and i'm like really he like oh he'll get arrested and i'm like so they just steal and they were like yeah and this is when it was just happening and i was like yeah and i was like what's what the i said so what is the homeless people i said you know that guy took it like there's like this guy said it stinks out there like this guy just took a shit he goes you want to hear it's really funny and I go what he said the police he can shit in front of a cop he said but the guys in the multi-million dollar condos next door if he walks out with his dog and his dog shits he has two hundred dollar fine if he doesn't pick it up and I'm like you're kidding me the laws are
Starting point is 01:28:02 so ridiculously yeah but that that that was under george gascone who was the DA he lost recently there's a new guy Nathan Hawkman in there he's changing things up it's it's it's getting a little bit better. I was actually friends with a homeless guy. He edited about 10 episodes of my podcast. Bumdog. Bumdog, Taurus. Shout out to Bumdog. Great guy. Interviewed him on my podcast. There's a whole psyche. A lot of them are, it's really sad because they are on drugs, so it's really terrible and they're dangerous. But a lot of them aren't. A lot of them just choose that life, that vagabond lifestyle. I agree. I've surveyed many homeless people. And I don't even tell you anything about them. One of the questions was, do you believe that in the next year you will be gainfully
Starting point is 01:28:42 employed and not one of them said, yeah, I'm trying right now. All of them were like, no, no, I'm not even like, are you, are you even looking for it? No, this is it. It's it for me. So the idea that you're going to provide these people who don't even, aren't even trying, and I get it, like a lot of them also have mental problems. Like they're bipolar. They can't seem to get along. Like, I get it. But to incentivize or cater to people that aren't trying to help themselves is it's it is a waste of tax of decent human beings who are working and struggling to take their tax dollars and put it in the hands of people that haven't earned it. It doesn't make any sense.
Starting point is 01:29:26 And absolutely it's absolutely unfair to people that are trying to raise families, people are trying to do decent things with their lives. When these guys are robbing and doing drugs and people. polluting the streets, and by giving them this safe haven, more and more people come there. And you know, where else I went? San Francisco, 10 times worse than L.A. And they were everywhere in L.A. I went down to Skid Row because that's where the guy, soft white underbelly, he used to film out of Skid Row.
Starting point is 01:30:00 It was blocks after block. It's a city. It's a city. There's nowhere in Florida that's like that. nowhere. Drive downtown. Because you'll die outside. It's not because you'll die outside. It's because the sheriff will make your life so overwhelmingly miserable you will want to leave and go to California or New York where they'll be acceptant of you. Or you just make things so difficult for people that they get jobs, clean their lives up, get off drugs, and do the right thing.
Starting point is 01:30:27 You know? The one thing I learned in prison is that some people just need to be permanently removed from society. You know, it's horrible. It's wrong. It's sad. Under what circumstances? I'm not sure exactly all the circumstances I think are different.
Starting point is 01:30:46 I think you have a federal sentencing guidelines. I think they're strict. You know what I'm saying? But I think what I'm saying is giving that person a safe haven. Like you could work a job. By the way, you mentioned Olive before. I think I've told you, I've done some pro bono work for them. Okay.
Starting point is 01:31:03 They only help people that weren't Jewish. They do not only help Jewish people. There's a lot of good organizations that help. I've never seen them help anyone that wasn't Jewish, but I also am not pervy to all of their people that they have. I worked on this freaking clemency petition. I submitted so many to Biden, never got a single one through. Trump did like every single one that they asked for.
Starting point is 01:31:25 And a lot, and I mean, I don't think I've worked on any of the projects to help the Jews. The way I got involved with them, Alif is because when the apps, Afghan Taliban situation when they took over. The Taliban took over, they were hunting down women, lawyer, and judges in the streets, slaughtering them, hunting them down and killing them because it's like Haram that you would imprison me, you're a woman, you have no business doing that. So they're slaughtering them. So Olive got involved with Kim Kardashian and J.K. rolling, and they jetted, they got private
Starting point is 01:31:56 jets through Qatar, and they managed to get people out. So I was helping on, like, the legal end with the visas. And that, you know, they're not helping Jewish people there. That was my introduction to the organization, actually. And they've just helped a lot of other people. I mean, the federal sentencing guidelines, that's what jumped. My thinking on this is just way too strict and way too crazy. It's very hard.
Starting point is 01:32:18 It's extremely hard. The whole privatization of prison is insane. The fact that you can, on the stock market, you can buy and sell stocks based on whether or not there's going to be beds filled in the facility. Like it's a nursing home. Like it's a hotel. Like, oh, we had a great quarter this year. But like, well, there are something, you know, the government shouldn't be in the position or in the business of pissing away taxpayer money.
Starting point is 01:32:44 But I also think that there are some things that the government should handle and shouldn't be privatized. Prisons shouldn't be private. Police forces shouldn't be privatized. You know, they need to be monitored. But there's lots of things that the government, like, you shouldn't, you shouldn't privatize certain things, you know. And prisons are, I think, are one of those.
Starting point is 01:33:03 it's a bad idea to try and do things as inexpensively as possible, you know. Another frontier that I'm capturing, and this is national, is solar panels. So solar panels are completely rife with fraud. You would love this. It's total scams. They lie to people about the loan terms. So they say, yeah, you can easily transfer this loan. I talked about, I talked about this the other day, didn't I? No kidding, really. So I just filed a first class action. I actually got picked up a little bit by the news. But basically, they come in, to these homeowners, they say that, yeah, you can get these solar panels. It's the best thing. You're not going to need electricity. And there's all these hidden jacked up fees. The biggest thing is that they essentially require you. You get a tax credit from the government. You get like a check. They require you to give it to them as part of this thing. But they're kind of hustling you that you don't realize that that's what's happening. And not only that, you can't transfer the solar loan. So if you ever want to sell the house, you can't really transfer this $80,000 loan that's tied to the panels on your house. on the new guy's house.
Starting point is 01:34:04 Now you're still stuck with that payment. Well, no, the loan will, if you want to transfer it, they have to have new terms. And so they'll be like 20% now for the next guy. And they get to do that and they get to manipulate you. But when you ask them, because people will ask them about that, they'll say, oh, yeah, no, it's easily to transfer. So it's another class action that I'm working on.
Starting point is 01:34:24 That's even much more beginning stages. But if you have a solar panel issue, I really want to hear about it because there's so many brokers that are just sucking up the tax credits in nefarious ways and really killing some people's vibe because they can't sell their home. And they can't, you know, imagine not being able to have the peace of mind that if you want to move your family, you literally can't do that. And then that's when they start looking into the documents and realizing, hey, that's a finance charge I didn't realize. So solar panel is definitely
Starting point is 01:34:52 a new frontier of litigation. You're going to hear about that because it was a huge boon during the Biden administration. They gave a lot of extra money for that. And again, Trump cabosh that. So the person to clean up the bodies and get people out of these loans are the lawyers. If these are extra fees, is it possible? Like, what's the interest rate? Is it possible that you can add the fees into the interest rate and claim usurage? No. But smart.
Starting point is 01:35:22 You should have been a lawyer. Yeah. Well, a lot of things should have gone different. Hey, you guys. I appreciate you watching. Do me a favor. Hit the subscribe button. Hit the bell so you get notified videos just like this.
Starting point is 01:35:30 Also, we're going to leave all of Jason's links in the description box, including his website. You can go on his website, fill out a form. If you have any legal issues, then you need a lawyer and you want to have a quick chat, whatever. Or, hey, maybe you bought a bad car. You could also probably, if you're in California, you could probably, you could probably, you might have bought in one of these amazing vehicles by our sponsor, Toyota. No. But we're going to leave all of his links in the description box. You can go there. You can go to his website. You can go to his YouTube, Instagram. He's got all the socials.
Starting point is 01:36:08 And like I said, you can fill out a forum if you need to. Please consider joining our Patreon. It's $10 a month. It really does help Colby and I make these videos. Thank you very much. See you.

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