Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #115 - RJ and the Dorkus: Who Is Helping Former SC Legislator RJ May In His Child Sex Crime Case?

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell weren’t surprised to learn last week that former South Carolina Rep. RJ May has asked to be his own lawyer. May — who faces 10 federal charges of distributing child sexual abuse materials — is that kind of guy. Just ask his father, whose post-arrest advice to May was “Humility, Robert John. You’ve got to have humility in all this.”  But is RJ May truly representing himself? Or is he getting behind-the-scenes help from friends?  On today’s episode, Mandy and Liz share RJ May’s texts and phone calls from Edgefield County Detention Center, and piece together why they think RJ fired his public defense team in favor of his own skills … as a non-lawyer.  Are the same people who stood by RJ after the raid on his house still standing by him now? PLUS!!!  Inspired by shocking actual events... Murdaugh: Death in the Family Premieres October 15th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+!!! And We Are HERE FOR IT! You thought you knew the story. Now, step inside the family. Murdaugh Murders Podcast and True Sunlight creator Mandy Matney is an Executive Producer for this eight-episode Hulu limited series—honoring victims while unfolding the emotional truth behind the headlines. We’re sharing the new trailer for Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family at the top of the episode!! 🎥So much to cover, so let’s dive in! 🥽🦈 Episode References Please consider supporting Amy Lacy's GoFundMe ❤️ Trailer for Hulu’s Murdaugh: Death in the Family is here!! 🎥 Give Murdaugh: Death in the Family a follow on Instagram and TikTok ⬅️ “Our View: S.C. Freedom Caucus isn’t ‘conservative’” - Charleston City Paper, May 24, 2024 📰 SC House Bill 3868 History of Legislative Actions ⚖️ SC Freedom Caucus Press Release on New Leadership - Aug 21, 2024 📰 “Ex-SC Rep. RJ May to represent himself in federal trial over child sexual abuse material” - WIS10, Sept 4, 2025 📰 Stay Tuned, Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight...☀️ Learn more about Premium Membership at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lunashark.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get bonus episodes like our Premium Dives, Corruption Watchlist, Girl Talk, and Soundbites that help you Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight Here's a link to some of our favorite things: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/4cJ0eVn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ *** ALERT: If you ever notice audio errors in the pod, email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and we'll send fun merch to the first listener that finds something that needs to be adjusted! *** For current & accurate updates: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lunashark.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram.com/mandy_matney⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   |   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram.com/elizfarrell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bsky.app/profile/mandy-matney.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bsky.app/profile/elizfarrell.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TrueSunlight.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/TrueSunlightPodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram.com/TrueSunlightPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/@LunaSharkMedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tiktok.com/@lunasharkmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Please remain on the line. Hold for acceptance. This is a prepaid call from An inmate at the Edgefield County Jail, South Carolina, carried by combined public communications. three-way or call waiting is not allowed, and may automatically disconnect this call. This call is subject to monitoring and recording. If you are an attorney or designated legal counsel contact inmate sales to have your number set to do not record, to accept this call, dial one now.

Your call has been accepted. I don't know how good old boys like accused pedophile reverend. Representative R.J. May can remain so entitled and so offensive to taxpayers, even from behind bars. But after reviewing his phone calls and texts from jail, we need to talk about who could be pulling the strings for this man. My name is Mandy Matney. This is True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption, previously known as the Murdoch Murders podcast, which inspired Hulu The Hulu's original series, Murdoch, Death in the Family, premiering this October 15th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production, written with journalist Liz Farrell.

Hello and happy Thursday from Hollywood again. David Liz and I experienced a moment on Wednesday that we did not see coming. The trailer for Murdoch, Death in the Family, was released. Even though the three of us had been on set for filming, watching the trailer for the series hit all of us like a train. We screamed, we cried. We felt the pain and the struggle from the last six years wash away. And suddenly, every single minute of energy spent on the Murdoch saga felt worth it.

Suddenly, we finally felt like we were a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. And suddenly, it all made sense. Close your eyes and I'll play a clip for you. from the trailer, but honestly, the audio doesn't quite capture it. Oh, sinner, you better get ready. Oh, you better get really. The Murdox are a South Carolina legal dynasty. Y'all know me. I'm an honest man.

Oh, you cheating, bastard. It's only cheating if you get caught. What happened? What happened? There's been an accident. They find her? One's still missing. You get these kids to keep the mouth shut at the parents, too.

How bad is this for us? I'm working on the story. The Murdox have a history of trying to cover things up. You happen to run into any of Mr. Ellick's medication. And you think he's taking it again? What else is there that I don't know about? Got to give each other's backs.

Family first. How do you get down on your knees and pray? The Murdox tell you not to talk to me. They have connections all the way up to the governor. I think we've only scratched the surface of what's going on here. Be careful. These are very, very powerful people. powerful people.

State grand jury is open an investigation into a possible cover up. Do you have any idea of the damage you have done? Somebody's out there hunting us. Go to the mirror. Look at yourself. See what that man has to say. The one staring back from the glass. I know you've been lying to me.

I'm the one that's going to do it. Not you, me, me, me. They scored off, man. You have to sacrifice a lot of things to make them the men that you know that they can be. You better get ready. It's news to the Murdox. Long may we live.

Amen. Right? Right. Right. Right. The series premieres on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus, October 15th, and that is a big deal. Check the link in the description to watch the full trailer and be sure to follow Murdoch on Hulu on Instagram.

In speaking of Old Elyke Murdoch, Team Murdoch responded to the state's reply to their initial appeal brief on Wednesday and, well, y'all, things are not looking good for old Dick and Jim. They brought up a lot of the same old tired arguments, and as Liz pointed out, it appears like they fell into the trap that the state laid out for them. We will go over all of that on this week's Cup of justice. This week, we need to talk about state representative RJ May, the alleged pedophile, who appears to still have allies in high places. According to the jailhouse phone calls that we

receive via FOIA, RJ May and Ehrlich Murdoch have a lot in common, actually. Or that's my thought after listening to the phone calls. Good old boys are still good old boys from behind bars. We will get back to the Spivey case next week with a focus on what Bradley Williams told police and y'all, keep it up with Alan Wilson. Keep commenting on all of his socials about justice for Scott and justice for Sarah Lane Kalucci. It is working and it is worth it.

So let's talk about former South Carolina representative Robert John May, also known as R.J. May, a founding member of the odious South Carolina Freedom Caucus, who was charged this past June with 10 federal counts of distributing

child sexual abuse material. As you all know, RJ May allegedly did this under the name Joe Biden 69, and that's Biden with four ends for some reason. Because once again, RJ's IQ is allegedly the same IQ as whatever a flaming bag of poop left on someone's doorstep is. I really don't want to use this word in this context to describe this man's alleged choice of a cover identity, but it's unavoidable. Being a self-proclaimed conservative Christian and allegedly distributing child sex abuse images under the name of the then current Democratic president is so childish. And we really haven't talked about that aspect of this. Every episode where one of us has to say the username Joe Biden 69 out loud, a little part of our dignity dies. And it's not

because of our politics. It's because we are literally having to vocalize an alleged pedophile's idea of a hilarious burn. And it's embarrassing how bad of an idea this was. If RJ did this, then how did he not see around that corner? You can't use the president's name to allegedly commit a crime and expect not to draw attention to that. I mean, duh. If RJ made did this, he could have used his own name and no one would have said a thing because one, who is RJ May and two, if you did know who RJ May was and you saw that username distributing CSAM on kick, well, there would be questions for you too if you told law enforcement, right? Why were you there? Anyway, I would like to say that the last laugh is actually on RJ, but I think we might

be miles away from having a last laugh because it's actually getting dumber each week. First, to get you in the right frame of mind for what RJ and his pals are like, I'm going to have David read an excerpt from an opinion piece written by the Charleston City paper, written, we believe, because there's no byline, by Andy Brack in May 2024. The headline is South Carolina Freedom Caucus isn't conservative. And this sums up R.J. May's political spirit perfectly. Any number of C words spring to mind when one thinks of the so-called South Carolina House Freedom Caucus. Combative, corrosive, childish.

Yeah, see? Childish. If he is Joe Biden 69, then that is really on-brand for him, apparently. Churlish, chuckle-headed, and crazy pants, just to name a few. One that doesn't, or at least shouldn't, conservative. Because the SC Freedom Caucus, with its taste for institutional vandalism, and radical policy demands, is anything but that. Ready to put a scared 17-year-old girl to death for getting an abortion, members of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus sponsored a bill to make it happen. Looking to re-fight the nullification crisis of 1833? Again, the Freedom Caucus can help.

Or how about sowing distrust in our electoral institutions by falsely accusing state employees of trying to register non-citizens to vote. Yeah, the Freedom Caucus has got you covered there too. Of course, the 17 caucus members hated when anyone points out any of this. After all, hijacking the popular word conservative, turning it into a synonym for hormonal right-wing rage, rather than a generally honorable set of political commitments, is key to their electoral strategy.

Without appropriation of the conservative label, they're just one more gang of angry crackpots all capping their way through another long and lonely day on X and other social media. Oh, how I wish R.J. May Zero could listen to our podcast because that is how you deliver a hilarious burn. After R.J. May's Freedom Caucus proposed the death penalty for women who have abortions in March 23, Dick Harputlian, fresh off the loss of a lifetime with Ehrlich Murdoch's murder trial, commented that the caucus wanted to out-Taliban the Taliban. And I guess I'm about to compliment Dick Harputtlian because exactly, thank you, Dick. Excellent observation. It needs to be said. So, anyway. Okay. One more. thing, here's a quick little timeline for you to hold onto in your heads. In November 2020,

RJ May, a political consultant and owner of Ivory Tusk Consulting, get it, elephant, Republican, became a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives representing Lexington County, which includes parts of Columbia, the state's capital city. In April 2022, he helped create the South Carolina Freedom Caucus and served as vice chairman. In October 2022, he was accused of doctoring audio that Fox News used to attack Lexington County School District 1, accusing district officials of trying to find a way around state law to teach a critical race theory-driven curriculum to students. RJ May denied that he did this, but then finally admitted to it saying it was done to protect the identity of the whistleblower. In November 2022, he and his friend, Representative Ryan McCabe,

also a member of the Freedom Dorcas, and also a Lexington County representative, filed a lawsuit against the school district, the one RJ is accused of setting up with a doctored audio. The unfunny thing here is that the school district is a conservative one, which means RJ and Ryan were punking their own voters and compromising those voters' children's education and their real estate values. Why were they doing this? According to a column at the time written by David Travis Bland at the state newspaper. They did it to help dismantle public education and take the push for privatization further and, perhaps the bigger reason, to score cultural warrior points. L.O.L. Warriors. In March 2020, R.J. and the Dorcas members sued House Ethics Committee chairperson,

Jay Jordan, a Republican, in federal court because state ethics law did not allow the dork guy to go out and raise money for their voting block. At the time, state representative Micah Caskey, a Republican representative of the House Ethics Committee, said, I think this is a reflection of a group of people who don't understand how legislating works. Instead of introducing a bill that would change the law, they're running to the courts to try and get what they can't achieve by working with other folks in the legislature. Also, in March 23, House Bill 3868 was passed, establishing the second Saturday of November as Women in Hunting and Fishing Awareness Day. But then, old RJ May called for an amendment that should be added to the bill

that defined what a woman was, which, I'm sorry, I need to rant about this for a second. The name Women in Hunting and Fishing Awareness Day sounds like a warning and not a day of celebration. the bill. It's hard not to when you see two legislators talk about it in front of a mostly all-male state house of representatives and say things like, this day is meant to encourage women to enjoy the great outdoors. Excuse me? What? Are we children? Are you creating a recess bill for us? What a patronizing pat on the head. You girls go have fun on this one day that we've set aside for you. Go on get. We do not need encouragement. especially by these losers, to go and enjoy the great outdoors.

What we need is the great outdoors to be enjoyable, which begins with believing women when they report bad behavior of men and men being held accountable for their bad acts. Like we've all said, we are choosing the bear, and that's not just on the second Saturday of November. That said, R.J. May's proposal of the bill to include a definition of women seemed at first to be the same old cruel anti-trans rhetoric we have come to expect from him and his loser caucus.

But given the nature of the charges against him and the federal government's accusation that RJ May was traveling to Medellin and Bogota, using the alias Eric Rentling to record himself having sex with girls that did not appear to be of age according to Homeland Security investigations. Anyway, his weird desire to define what a woman is now takes on a new meaning. We're going to play this clip quickly because it captures the level of absurdity and obstruction that R.J. May and the Dorcas brought to the state house, which was an absurd enough place before he got there. Again, R.J. May called for an amendment on this stupid women

in hunting bill that literally does nothing for anyone, and his stupid amendment sparked hours and hours and hours of debate among lawmakers about what a woman really is. Okay, back to the timeline. In June 23, RJ May and his Little Freedom Caucus won their lawsuit against the House Ethics Committee and by Judge's order were allowed to raise money and campaign as a caucus. It was a win that created a major loophole for corruption. So, yay, Freedom Caucus and R.J. May. More tax dollars at waste. As an editorial from the Charleston Post and Courier put it, the ruling undermines our state's efforts to prevent an unearth corruption and self-dealing because it allows any two legislators to create a caucus that would receive and spend extra

campaign donations and be whined and dined by special interests. Great. In June 2023, the Freedom Caucus also settled their lawsuit against Lexington County School District. 1, which reaffirmed its pledge not to teach students about critical race theory. After the case settled, a teacher in the Lexington 1 school district told the Rock Hill Herald, quote, our district office flushed 10 years of work at River Bluff High School down the toilet by surrendering to the South Carolina Freedom Caucus who do not have a case. In February 24, Republican state lawmakers had it with the Freedom Caucus, accusing them of political terrorism. Rep. Micah McCasky was quoted in the Times and Democrat as saying

that the Freedom Caucus has, quote, bamboozled people into believing that their fiery rhetoric and preference for anarchy is conservative. The reality is that they are an obstruction and an annoyance to achieving conservative policy aims. Micah is a Republican, by the way. On March 4th, The Rock Hill Herald wrote that the South Carolina Freedom Caucus was the greatest existential threat to South Carolina's Republican Party, which if you're a founder of the State Freedom Caucus, like R.J. May is, then maybe you felt like that was a victory, a big one. He helped create enough chaos in Colombia that his movement was now seen as a threat to one of South Carolina's largest and most powerful institutions, the GOP. And that,

is how we find R.J. May. By all appearances, R.J. had amassed the most political power that he had ever had in his life in March 24. When he is accused of using an app called Kik to distribute more than 200 videos containing child sex abuse images between March 30th, 2024 and April 4th, 2024. On March 31st, 2024, Kik was alerted to his alleged account. On May 27, 24, KIC reported his alleged activities to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. On June 18th, 2024, they reported it to a former client of RJ May, and that's South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.

On June 26, 24, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is now running for governor of the state, reported this to another former client of R.J. May, the Lexington County sheriff. On June 27, 24, R.J. May was re-elected to office in an unopposed primary. And then, on July 24th, 2024, R.J. May, who again was vice chairman of the caucus and appeared to be at the top of his game in Columbia, did not ascend to the role of chairman of the caucus he helped create. Now, instead, he quietly stepped down from his leadership position with the South Carolina Freedom Dorcas altogether. And I say quietly for three reasons. One is that while stories about the leadership change, two days after the vote, included the name of the former

chairman, there was no mention of R.J. May's name as former vice chairman at all, which is odd, because R.J. not only helped start the caucus, he was the caucus's spokesperson and the name most associated with the Dorcas. Two, is that on August 5th, 2024, R.J. May's house was raided by agents with Homeland Security Investigations, which seized several electronics, leading many people to wonder if this had something to do with CSAM. And three, on August 21st, 2024, the Freedom Caucus published its press release announcing that they had a new chairperson and two co-vice chairpeople. There was no mention of RJ's name at all, no mention of his service to the cause, no mention

of the house raid that had everyone talking. So that's weird, right? After two of RJ May's former clients, State Attorney General Alan Wilson and Lexington County Sheriff Jay Coon, received a tip about someone at RJ May's residence allegedly distributing child sex abuse material and before the feds raided RJ's residence, making the investigation known to the public,

the South Carolina Freedom Caucus got itself a whole new leadership team that not only didn't promote RJ Mae to the top position, but didn't include him at all, at a time when RJ's star seemed to be rising. More on that after a quick break. If the search for a therapist is stressing you out, you're not alone.

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On October 25, 2024, the state newspaper reported that a local businessman, Brian Duncan was running a write-in campaign against RJ May for House District 88. Duncan pointed out that ever since RJ's house was raided in August, he hadn't offered any comment or explanation to his constituents about it. Duncan, who told the paper he would not be joining the Dorcas, if elected, said of RJ, quote, he has done nothing, no constituent services, nothing for the people of District 88. A few days later, the state newspaper reported that the U.S. Attorney's Office had requested an extension for keeping RJ May's electronics and acknowledged that RJ was under criminal investigation saying that charges could come in three months. The paper also spoke with members of the Freedom Caucus about what was going on with one of their founding members, and as expected,

the Dorcas took the cowardly way out. The new chairman of the caucus, Jordan Pace, said he hadn't spoken with RJ and Monce, which you're a tiny caucus. How are you not talking to each other for months? Another caucus member, Representative Ryan McCabe, again, who is an attorney and we'll talk more about him in a moment, so stick a pin in that guy, said he had. had spoken with RJ, was unaware of the U.S. Attorney's office's motion for an extension, but had no reason to believe any of the rumors about RJ. In fact, he said, I know him to be an upstanding person. I've never learned anything about him or seen him do anything that would lead me to believe that he's anything other than an upright individual. But this is all news

to me. I had not heard this. On November 5th, 2024, RJ May won re-election, and when asked if R.J. would continue to be a member of the caucus. Caucus leader, Jordan Pace, told the index journal that there was, quote, no reason to exclude RJ from the Dorcas. Less than a month later, on December 3, 2024, R.J. was sworn into office again. The state newspaper reported that R.J. stood in the back of the room near the exit that day, and that when asked whether he would continue to be a member of the caucus, R.J. referred the reporter to Jordan Pace, who was again saying he saw no reason to exclude RJ from the Invitation-only caucus, but that he'd have to wait and see what the other members wanted to do.

Jordan Pace continued to say he had not spoken with RJ. But then, 10 days after the swearing in, Jordan Pace told the state newspaper that R.J. May had been suspended from the Freedom Caucus, quote, some time ago. Which, what? Some time ago. How is it possible when 10 days earlier you were telling reporters that you saw no reason to exclude them? These guys are so shady 69. There are only two reasons not to say the date of when the Freedom Caucus suspended RJ, and that's one, it would give away when they knew about the accusations. Was it before the raid, for instance?

Or two, it would give away that it hadn't even occurred to them to suspend RJ until reporters started asking questions. And they suddenly realized that by not suspending RJ, they too look complicit, even though, as far as we're concerned, they are complicit. Because get this, Jordan Pace also told the state newspaper that he likely wasn't going to publish the list of 2025 Freedom Caucus members because of Christmas. What? What does that have to do with Christmas? Oh, because the U.S. Attorney's Office said in October that R.J. would likely fail. charges in three months and look at that. Three months would be January. But RJ wasn't indicted in January. In fact, it wasn't until this next thing I'm going to tell you about happened that his

case was even presented to the grand jury. After months of silence about RJ May in the press, he was back in the headlines again. On May 30th, the state newspaper reported that a house member during a floor debate about the state's final budget outed RJ May as being investigated for child sex crimes. Representative Brandon Guffey, a Republican, said this, and here is David. The worst thing about it, out of all these arguments, we have a member within this body that has been investigated for child sex crimes, and everyone can sit with him like there's no issue. I don't know how it is in their areas, but in my area, an upstanding citizen is not under investigation for child sex abuse material.

Guffy said the thing that needed to be said publicly. And whether or not this is simply a correlation, I don't know. But boy, did that get things moving. On June 10th, RJ May was finally indicted. On June 11th, he was arrested. On June 12th, he stood in front of a federal judge for a detention hearing. RJ was represented by an attorney named Dame Phillips, who argued that RJ shouldn't be ordered to stay in jail

until trial because to do what RJ is accused of doing would have required multitasking skills. And, I guess RJ, a state legislator, isn't capable of both being on his phone and also scrolling. To which the judge was like, get real, Dane. She ordered that R.J. remained behind bars until his trial, which as of now is scheduled for the beginning of October. During that hearing, we had learned that Dane had been representing R.J. in the investigation, along with a lawyer, famous in the ultra-right-wing conservative world, Mark McKaysey, an attorney who is the protege of Rudy Giuliani and who was affiliated with President Donald Trump, who represented

Donald Trump, Eric Trump, and the Trump organization. Mukasey also represented former congressman Matt Gates during the investigation phase of his alleged sex crimes case. Anyway, RJ did not end up hiring Dane Phillips or Mark McKaysey to defend him against his charges. Maybe their jobs were done. Maybe he has them to think for the year that it took for the feds to indict him. But also, after RJ was done with Dane, he didn't hire a single attorney. Instead, he opted for a public defender and was assigned to Jenny Smith and Jeremy Thompson on June 24th, which was a cause for pause for us because, what? A good old boy legislator who makes his living as a political consultant, is using a public defender in a child sex

abuse materials case, and they gave him two? Again, more insult to injury for the taxpayers. Is this guy broke? I mean like, is he broke broke, broke? And not just good old boy broke, where they say that they have no money, but actually all of their assets are stashed into LLCs and other people's names? Or is it South Carolina's cadre of noble defense attorneys? Specifically the ones during Murdoch who love to bark that everyone needs a defense? Are they afraid to attach their name to RJ May's case? Or is RJ May just being shady frugal and using state resources so he doesn't have to use his own? Is that why he gets two public defenders? What exactly is going on here? It seemed really strange to us that a guy charged with 10 federal counts of

distributing child sex abuse materials, a guy with a proximity to power like RJ May, who faces in retrievable reputational damage both professionally and personally, and whose political movement is now tainted by association with him, who also maintains that not only is he not guilty of these crimes, but he claims that he's being politically set up. Wouldn't he be using every penny found in his family room couch to defend himself? I would think that a man being politically set up would have the support of his brothers and sisters and political arms. But no, he has no supporters, publicly anyway.

And now he has a bigger problem that is almost funnier and dumber than allegedly choosing Joe Biden 69 as his C-SAM username. Last week, R.J. fired his taxpayer-funded public defense team and received court approval to hire someone else. A person who did not go to law school, did not take the bar exam, and also stands accused of 10 federal counts of distributing child sexual abuse material. RJ hired himself. Himself! R.J. May is representing R.J. May. And on Wednesday, he's. he's being transported to federal court to file his motion to suppress, which, oh my God, we have so much to talk about. Before RJ hired himself as an attorney, and before he alerted the court to his

intention to file a motion to suppress this week, we knew something stupid like this was going to happen. It wasn't just a gut feeling either. It was just a good guess, based on the calls and texts of RJ Mays that we've gotten back from the Edgefield County Detention Center so far. Now, do we want to be listening to those buffoon's calls or reading this jackass's text messages to see what kind of shenanigans might be going on? No, no, we do not, especially not this guy, because regardless of the crimes he's accused of, he's a terrible person who hides behind the Bible and holds things up in the legislature with all that grandstanding over his latest, greatest borrowed idea on how to minimize the rights of women, limit children's education, and return America to a time when someone like him didn't even run

the risk of being held accountable for his actions. So no, I am not interested in the inner workings of this man's life. But I am interested in making people. People never forget who RJ May is and what he's been accused of. People who might have helped him before his arrest or people who equivocated over their support of him. And I am interested in seeing how this justice system will trade this particular good old boy, especially because of how serious the charges are against him. Between the texts and calls, there is a bouncing ball to follow here. Two, actually.

One is RJ's decision to go with public defenders. And two is RJ May's fixation on filing a motion. to suppress. Included in RJ's messages is one from his father in which he says humility, Robert John, you've got to have humility in all this. Now, when we first read that message, it sounded odd because, I mean, I can't know for sure that this has been a humbling experience for RJ, but, you know, if any situation was going to be humbling, it would be this one. But the reason for this humility advice became more and more clear as we got closer to RJ's decision to represent him Let's start with RJ's text messages, or as they're called at Edgefield Jail, chirps that he sent to his fellow

South Carolina Freedom Caucus member, Representative Ryan McCabe, who again is an attorney, but not RJ's attorney of record in this case. He's a guy who called RJ May upstanding and upright. And in a story that ran in the state this past July about whether the Freedom Dorcas will survive this scandal, it was revealed that Representative Ryan McCabe had used RJ's political consulting services last December. You know, the month before January when everyone was expecting RJ to be charged and the Freedom Caucus couldn't even tell the reporters whether he was associated with him anymore. Representative Ryan McCabe paid RJ $3,800 to send out Christmas cards for him. And please, if any of our listeners saved a Representative Ryan McCabe Christmas card,

from 2024, we'd love to see that. According to records that we obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, at 9 a.m. June 17th, six days after his arrest, R.J. met with an unnamed lawyer. Like in the most unnamed way. It literally just says lawyer in the log. But according to the context in RJ's chirp messages and a July 6 report in the state newspaper, that visitor was representative Ryan McCabe, who, according to the paper, would not disclose. the reason for his visit to RJ. The next day, after this mysterious visit, RJ was able to use the chirps service for the very first time. The first person RJ texted was, oh, look at that, Representative Ryan McCabe. Here's David with that message. Also, Beth is a reference to

RJ's wife. Thank you for the $15. Was Beth satisfied with the answers? Representative Ryan McCabe pulled R.J. May that he wasn't the one who put the $15 on his account and that he couldn't put any money on it at all because of a problem with his kiosk but that Beth, his wife,

took the answers and was quote, looking for things. Here's David again. RJ. Well, who gave me the $15 interesting? I just assumed it was you. There are a lot of different

accounts, it seems. Somebody put 15 on the chirp, which appears just to be for texting, not entertainment. Texts are 10 cents each. Thank you again for everything and helping. I'll try not to text too much. Just let me know if you get Bill or Amy on the line and what they say. I should have a skeleton of a suppression motion and motion to revoke detention by next week. We've pointed this out before, but RJ was already warned by the judge that if he went forward with his June 12th hearing, which he did, that he couldn't come back and try again. She warned him twice that he only got one bite out of that apple, and he lost that hearing.

But here he seems to think that he can file a motion to revoke detention. Like we've told you before, the bill and Amy, he's referenced. appeared to be Bill Nettles, the Chief of Federal Public Defender's Office in South Carolina, which we'll talk about more in a minute, and Amy Drumtreck. The attorney, who, yes, you've heard her name before, she seems to be maybe sitting on Cousin Eddie's case and letting it languish for some reason. Anyway, the next day, on June 19th, Representative Ryan McCabe told RJ that Amy will cost $100,000 and that he'll need to set aside $15,000 for the

experts that she likes to use in these cases. He acknowledged that this is a lot of money, but tells RJ that's what this case is going to cost. Here is David with how RJ May responded to that. RJ, hmm, I don't want to do that to my family. 100K is a lot more than Dane. I could put both kids through college with that. Did she say anything about cases with clean?

devices. Interesting that RJ May thinks that putting two kids through college is more important than them not having a convicted pedophile for a father, but okay. Perfect example of a conservative male hyperfixating on providing for his children while completely disregarding the emotional damage that he is causing his children. So this is RJ May's hangup, which is understandable given that he is a bird brain. He doesn't understand. how the feds can indict him with no CSAM that was found on any of his devices. Meaning that they found no copies of CSAM. RJ acts as if the internet isn't a thing and that storing the videos on kick also is not a thing.

But here is a potential giveaway for us, the way he says clean devices. One, it's not 100% true because, according to court testimony, agents found naked photos of a child and R.J.'s family on his phone. And when a forensic investigator talked to that child, he began slapping himself, telling the investigator that he wasn't supposed to talk about the pictures. Then, he put scotch tape over his mouth. Agents ended the interview for the sake of the child's mental health. RJ does not face charges over this incident, even putting that horrific fact aside. Two, clean devices just has an afarious ring to it in this context. Because one interpretation is to be clean, the devices would have to have been dirty, I guess. Think of it this

way. If someone ask you if you do drugs and you don't do drugs, you don't typically say I'm clean, you typically say, no, I don't. But someone who has done drugs before might be more likely to say that they are clean because that is the terminology one uses in that context. Anyway, the next day, on June 20th, four days before the meeting with the judge to talk about RJ's legal representation, Representative Ryan McCabe messages RJ back. Representative Ryan, Amy wants to come see you tomorrow at one o'clock. I have explained that you do not have 100 to pay the expert. She wants to see you anyway. Spoke to Bill Nettles, he said you have to tell Dane that you cannot hire him

and Dane will let the court know, and the judge will secure a hearing where you will request a public defender. You will then have to fill out a form. He said that if he were in private practice, it would be $100,000 for his fee, and he would set aside $100,000 for expert witnesses. R.J. Wow. Thank you. I'll have to go with a public defender, then. I don't have 100K. Why does she want to see me if I don't have her fee? Bill seem okay? I assume he at least knows about the case. Representative Ryan, he seems fine. Not sure he's the one that will handle the case, though he thinks you will probably get a public defender because these cases are very expensive. However, the judge may make you pay some money. R.J., uh, didn't know that was a thing.

to pay some. I'm fine with meeting Amy. Anything to get out of this cell. But why would she waste her time if I can't pay? Just seems strange. Well, well, well, look at all RJ May learning that the people he thought were getting free handouts from the government actually weren't. Again, things aren't true until a man like RJ experiences them for himself, right? It is interesting that it seems like there might have been some question whether RJ would actually qualify for a public defender. Is that because everyone like us just assumes RJ has access to money? Maybe. Also, RJ would do anything to get out of the cell? What do you mean anything? The judge told you that you could have time to prepare for your detention hearing and you said no. You decided to go

ahead with the hearing with no witnesses, no letters of support, no evidence, nothing. It is so confusing how this man acts like his fate as a future prisoner is already set, which we would agree with, it does seem to be said, but also how he acts like this is an injustice and a setup and that he's innocent. Representative Ryan McCabe told RJ that Amy probably wanted his case because it would come with free publicity. But who is trying to get a publicity over being R.J. May's alleged child sex crime fixer. Money, we understand. Clout. In this case, I don't know about that, but I do think that's going to be one of our big themes with RJ's case as it goes on, though, because who is helping him behind the scenes?

While other money managers are holding, Dynamic is hunting. Seeing past the horizon, investing beyond the benchmark, because your money can't grow if it doesn't move. Learn more at dynamic.ca.cath active. Dynamic, actively different. So, okay, the next day at 1 p.m., June 21st, R.J. May's jail visitation log shows that he met with a lawyer. Again, it doesn't say who that lawyer was, but according to the context, it would seem to have been Amy Zimmercheck. Here's David with what R.J. texted to Amy around 7.20 the next evening.

R.J., I don't think they will let me have wreck today, so I won't be able to call. Any updates? I finished my suppression motion, pretty good for a non-lawyer, I think. Humility, Robert John, humility. About a half hour later, RJ texted Rep Ryan McCabe, who again is a freaking state representative. RJ, did Amy call you after she left me? I told her I probably had 30K tops from the sale of my truck, and that was probably it. They didn't let me out today, so I couldn't call her. The next day, R.J. texted Amy again in the afternoon.

She said that she was waiting to hear from Ryan. RJ, what does he need to get you? I'm getting anxious. I'd prefer not to go in tomorrow and line you up or a public defender. Did you look into my suppression idea or ask around about another case with no Files found on a suspect's devices. What about my wife did she answer? Amy, she didn't answer. Amy told RJ she was in court and said that she would call Ryan as soon as she was able to do so.

Shortly after that, Representative Ryan McCabe, we need to keep stressing that this man works for the people of South Carolina, responded to RJ's message from the day before, asking him if he wanted to hire Amy. RJ, for the 30k I'd get for my truck, yeah. She seemed engaged and competent, but not for 100. I'll just go get a public defender. But she seemed open to the 30K and thought we could get the court to pay for some experts. But either way, I want to start pumping out some motions.

Try to get the search suppressed. and detention revoked. Representative Ryan, Nettles thought it would be difficult to get experts approved unless you had a public defender. Don't know. I can ask her and report back.

So, the idea RJ was throwing around was using a private attorney to defend him, but getting the government to cover the bill for the experts, which could be anywhere between $15,000, which was Amy's estimate, according to the text messages, to $100,000.

which is what the Chief of Federal Public Defendant said that he would charge a client if he were in private practice. I just need to pause for a second and reflect pure and straight outrage as a South Carolina business owner and a taxpayer. This man who has made an absurd amount of money, essentially terrorizing the state legislature by helping elect the worst of the worst as state officials to delay and obstruct any progress proposed for, our bottom ranking state. This man believes that he is entitled to milk the taxpayers of his state for more. Even after child sex abuse charges, even after his name became aligned with pedophile hypocrites across the internet, even from freaking jail, he still wants more from the taxpayers. He still wants to add insult to injury. Because look, he hasn't screwed over the South Carolina

taxpayers enough. He wants us to pay for his experts who would testify on his behalf, on behalf of an alleged pedophile. This tells me that he still takes zero responsibility for the mess that he's made in the pain that he has caused. This tells me that he actually feels entitled to make more of a mess and to take more from the people he was supposed to be serving. Shortly after those messages, RJ called Amy. We're going to play excerpts from that call. It's important to note that Edgefield County Detention Center has a system for attorneys to use that segregates their calls as attorney-client privilege and prevents them from being recorded. Neither Amy nor Ryan appear to have used that system to speak with RJ, at least in the calls that we were given.

Additionally, before an agency releases calls and text messages, the redact anything that falls under the exemptions for FOIA, which includes attorney-client privilege. The information we're sharing with you today was not redacted. A reasonable assumption as to why these calls weren't redacted would be that the staff at Edgefield County did their analysis and determined the calls did not fall under attorney-client privilege. Neither Amy nor Representative Ryan McCabe are on record as legally representing RJ May. Here's RJ calling Amy at around 5.45 p.m. June 23rd, the day before his counsel's status hearing, where he was going to have to share with the court his status on hiring a lawyer, or let the court know that he was going to have a

public defender assigned to his case. Thank you. Please remain on the line. Hold for acceptance. This is a prepaid call from... An inmate at the Edgefield County Jail, South Carolina, carried by combined public communications. Three-way or call waiting is not allowed, and may automatically disconnect this call. This call is subject to monitoring and recording. If you are an attorney or designated legal counsel contact inmate sales to have your number set to do not record, please select from the following options. If you consent to this call being recorded, and to accept this call, dial one now.

Your call has been accepted. Hey, this is, even though it says it's still a designated attorney call, so don't worry about that. Don't worry about attorney-client privilege? Yeah, they can't, yeah, yeah, it's protected. They can't listen, so. Okay. Let me out myself since we were able to chat, and a little chirp things suck. I mean, the internet goes in and out, so I just want to call and contact you.

Amy tells R.J. that she's been going back and forth trying to connect with Ryan and suggest they get this handled sooner rather than later so they don't have to be hammering it out the next day in the courtroom. Okay. Okay. You got a price? Well, yeah. I mean, yes, we've been talking about that.

I know you said you wouldn't pay $100,000, and I said, and I completely get that. But, you know, even with the expert and stuff, I still can't do it for less than $50. Well, I just don't know where. I know. Well, he had said, like I said, he had said he had some, so I thought we could work on it. But, you know, if he's just confused about the money, then, yeah, I don't know if y'all are having, like, I don't know if he knows the money that you don't know about or I don't, I'm not sure. Don't you just love how RJ May damn well knows her price, but is asking her again?

He was probably hoping for that gentleman's discount and props to Amy for holding firm. Because guys, accused pedophiles should never get discounts. Amy and RJ end up getting cut off because of the jail's telephone reception. But it sounded like Amy was saying that Representative Ryan McCabe had told her that he had some money for RJ's defense. Which, I guess, could mean anything. It could mean that Amy misunderstood something. It could mean that Ryan was referencing the money from RJ's truck and maybe even his business. It could mean that there was some other money from some other place, for instance,

were people behind the scenes pledging to help RJ May. RJ then calls Amy back. Listen to how he tries to give free advice from her and listen to how she holds firm. Yeah, so what happens tomorrow? Well, tomorrow is the status. It's just the status of counsel here. but, you know, they're going to parade you up there, you know, ask you a bunch of questions unless you have counsel.

Okay. Yeah, so that's what we're trying to avoid. Right, right. All right. Hey, did you ask around about those couple questions? Yeah, I mean, here's, yeah, obviously, you know, we're going to, there's going to be plenty of time to file the, you know, to file the emotions to dismiss and things like that, which questions

in particular. Just if my idea that I was talking about on the motion to suppress had any validity to it. Again, yeah, I mean, and it's not, you know, the thing is that we're going to have to include a bunch of, you know, factual stuff that we don't have that we'll get from the discovery, you know, I mean, so we're going to need to, yeah, I mean, like I said, there'll be, there are plenty of motions to be filed,

and I think even more once we get the discovery in. But, you know, it's going to take getting the discovery and going through them before, you know, you don't want to file something without knowing, you know, without knowing what they have because I think, you know, in reading that motion, like I said, they caught your attorneys off guard and they don't want to, we don't want to get caught off guard again like that, you know. I mean, obviously I'd like to file a motion to revoke detention too because I'd like to hug my kids one more time.

Okay. Obviously, I'm going to have to say something about him wanting to hug his kids one more time, but I need a minute, considering what that man is accused of. So, again, Amy held firm. He wanted her free thoughts on his motion to suppress, and she was like, no free thoughts. But here's a giveaway. She said he needed facts, which please hold on to that. Stick a big pin in that. Also, it's interesting that she says his attorneys were caught off guard by the government's memo. in support of his detention, because that is exactly why RJ should have taken the option to delay the detention hearing. From where we sit, it looks like he didn't take that option because he wanted to spend down any sentence he ended up getting. But at the same time, he wants to ask the judge to reconsider. When she already warned him, she couldn't. It's so confusing. Okay, I have to say something about the kid hugging. Why is he making us say this? You can't be hugging. children, RJ. Have you lost your mind? Also, did you all note how he said one more time? I cannot tell you where this guy's mind is. Does he think he was wrongfully accused? Does he think he's guilty?

Does he think it doesn't matter and that he's going to prison either way? Anyway, Amy tells RJ that his motion to revoke detention would actually be called a motion to reconsider detention. So RJ is going to be so good at representing himself. Again, once you get counseled, you know, we can do all these things. But filing the, you know, the suppression motion, I'm not going to file that until I have all the discovery. Which, again, you know, they should, I mean, it shouldn't be that hard to get because they've had time to work on this. Okay, again, hold on to that. The motion to suppress should not be filed until after.

after they get the case file from the government to see what they actually have to work with. So, after that call, there were no other calls or texts between RJ and Amy that were given to us from Edgefield County Detention Center. We presume those were deemed attorney-client privilege or do not exist. More phone calls to come, don't worry,

after a quick commercial break and we'll be right back. A few minutes after talking to Amy, R.J. May called Representative Ryan McCabe again. Again, this is before his counsel status hearing in federal court. Also, the same message played at the beginning directing Ryan to call inmate sales if, quote, you are an attorney or a designated legal counsel. You will notice how hesitant Ryan seems to be on that call. R.J. Hey. Good.

Hey, I'm not on the list for my numbers, so this call could be recorded even though I'm an attorney. Okay. I understand. I got a message that says a message for saying it could be is recorded unless you're on the list, and my phone, this phone number is not on list. Okay.

Well, I'll try not know well. For anybody listening, this is an attorney client privilege. but let's not talk too much about anything else. Did you talk with Amy? No, we keep missing each other. Actually, she just called me about 30 or 40 minutes ago. I've got some text from her, though. Yeah, I just got off the phone with her.

She thinks you've got some out of money that I don't. I only talked to her one time, and I was telling her that I didn't think that there was enough that you had the money for what she wanted, which was 115, and I told her that the money you did have on the truck, I didn't even know the value, and I wasn't sure how long it would take to liquidate it. Yeah, I mean, the truck's probably $30K at most. She says she'll do it for $50, so, I mean, it looks like we're probably not coming to an agreement.

Well, that's not quite what Amy said, is it? She said she couldn't do it for anything less than $50,000. Well, my concern is you still need an expert, and so I wanted an answer on whether you could still get her to do that. Do what? Whether she could get the feds to pay for an expert, the court to order an expert. Oh, she thinks she can.

I mean, I don't think Beth has given me any money, right? Say that one more time. But I don't think Beth is giving any money to me. No, I think the only thing they have said was that there might be, Beth said there was about 15 in various accounts you had, plus the truck. But I didn't give her that level of detail. I just said, I thought you might be able to, she said it's going to take 115 for her. And I said, well, I don't think he, at his best day, he might be able to do 45.

They got cut off, and RJ calls representatives. Ryan McKay back again. The same message plays about attorneys needing to call inmate sales to register their calls. And in response, Ryan reads his bar number and says he doesn't consent to the call being recorded, which he pressed the number to consent to it being recorded. So I'm not sure what that's about. Anyway, a very awkward conversation about money followed. Ryan reiterates that Amy would cost $115,000 to hire.

She asked me about parents, in laws, et cetera. And I said, you know, the best we might be able to do if selling assets and everything realized a best-case scenario would be 45. I told her it just wasn't going to work. I mean, whatever you get, we're at least. Whatever he'd be able to pay now, that's basically what it'd be able to get because he's a political campaign consultant and he's not employed. It's just not going to be able to do that.

His parents don't have anything that they can contribute. So that's, you know, that's what he, that's his best day, it's 45. But we also discussed the fact that you'd need money for bond and everything else. You might have to use that money for bond. Right. then asks R.J. if he had lost confidence in Dane Phillips. No, but he said he'd be every bit of 60, 65. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Well, if you were going to go 4 or 5, you might as well go to 60. Yeah, well, where's the 15 coming from? I'm going to pull it out my butt? I don't want to hear anything more about that, but it's really interesting hearing Representative Ryan McCabe act like $15,000 is no big deal. And then to hear RJ, a man with whom we share no opinion in common, not one bit, be the voice of reason there, you might as well go 60. That is some good old boy logic. No wonder our justice system is so messed up.

Next, they have a very awkward conversation about public defenders. Well, she, I mean, she makes the point that, you know, you don't have to get paraded back in front of a, you don't have to get paraded back in front of a mob. for, you know, there's some benefit to that, but I don't know how many people will come to that, probably less than the first, last time. Might be better off doing that. And knowing you get, if you get a, of course, you still, I mean, you could be in a situation where the judge says, all right, I'm going to give you a defense, but you got to pay $30,000. or something like that.

But you're going to get, you know, if Bill's office is doing it, then you're going to get, you know, you're going to get, you're going to get, you're going to get the experts you need. Bill's office is doing it. Nettles is the federal public defender. You know you're going to get, you know,

you're going to get the expert witnesses you need. Public defender? Well, the federal public, I mean, the federal public defenders, those guys, you know, They're usually really good lawyers. I mean, this is all they do, right? Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't use the state public defender.

The public defenders aren't very impressive when you go up to, you know, somebody's... But, you know, not everybody can become the cream of the crop becomes the federal public defenders. Huh? I said the federal public defenders are really the cream of the crop in the public defender arena. So that's what, I mean... Do you think that's in the crop? I don't know anything about her. Yeah.

I really don't know the people who are, you know, these federal, you know, it's hard to say, but my gut says he might be better off with a public defender, federal public defender. All right. That way, Beth and the kids can sell the truck and have money if they need it. Oh, well, cool. I guess we learned something about the state's public defenders. A state legislator would not recommend using them. So what are we doing here? The state's public offenders are not good enough for who, then, Ryan?

I hope someone ask you to answer that on the House floor, you know, as a state representative. Anyway, that whole conversation was painful because it sounded like a friend who maybe has the means to help RJ, but who knows better than to offer those means as an option. So they're trying really hard to shine up the only option that seems available to RJ, based on RJ's personal financial situation. After Ryan and RJ ended the call, they exchanged a few text messages that evening. We have edited and condensed them in places. Here's David.

Representative Ryan, I'm just concerned that she and Bill Nettles are saying separate things. He said it's unlikely that you will get money for an expert witness if you don't qualify for and receive a public defender. Just want to be sure that you don't get caught without an expert witness. RJ, then I guess I go with a PD. Federal is all they do. I'll ask the judge for one tomorrow. Representative Ryan, I know it's a difficult decision to make. At this point, with the information available, it seems like the safest choice.

An expert witness will be imperative expert. Witness may turn out to be more important than the lawyer. A federal public defender is the best decision. That's what I'd do under your circumstances. Hopefully Bill will personally handle. Let the judge know your business tanked after the search. I don't think they would require you to sell your truck so you can say that you have about $15,000 available.

And you are informed that you would need $200,000 to defend yourself in attorney fees. in attorney fees and expert fees. Hopefully you get the chief of federal public defenders. It is so telling how these guys think. They're acting like they're hiring the public defender instead of being appointed a public defender. And it's insulting when you think of how many thousands of people

literally have no choice about that. Again, it makes us wonder. And I really do mean wonder because we've seen no evidence of this in the Texas calls, whether RJ doesn't want to spend the money on an attorney because he knows he's going to lose his case. It's too early for us to even be thinking that way, obviously. And also, there's RJ's motion to suppress, so he is making some effort. After RJ was appointed not one but two public defenders more than a month goes by before we have another text message from Ryan McCabe.

Again, this doesn't for sure mean that there aren't any other text. extra phone calls. We might not have gotten them because they were redacted or held back or because they were deemed to meet the attorney-client privilege criteria. Ryan asked RJ how things are going and tells him about the House ethics investigation into the caucus's financial records, which we will have to talk about in a future episode. R.J. writes back and includes this little detail. Here's David. R.J., just butting heads with counsel on some stuff. Interesting, right? Humility, Robert John. Humility. Obviously, we don't know what they were butting heads on specifically, but according to the Post and Courier's coverage of the status conference on September 4th, RJ told the court that he and his attorneys were at an impasse over how to proceed with this motion to suppress. There are two things that keep coming up for RJ. One is that he believes he's the only man to ever be charged with CSAM, who hasn't confessed to the crime or had any see Sam on any of their devices for what he says is 20 years. It's not clear if any of the devices

that were seized, which included thumb drives, were 20 years old. Two, is that RJ seems not to believe that the government has sufficiently connected him to the Joe Biden 69 account. In a text with his sister, he asks her to send him the definition of user dictionary as it relates to cell phones. The name Joe Biden 69 was found in RJ's user dictionary, according to investigators. The user dictionary contains words that have uncommon spellings that are pertinent to your specific personal and work worlds that you use regularly enough that your cell phone learns not to autocorrect them anymore. According to another text to his sister, RJ said his defense team gave him documents

to read in late July. He said, I don't know if I can bring myself to read them. At his status conference with the judge on September 4th, R.J. asked the court to allow him to represent himself during the pretrial phase of his case and then be represented by his public defense team during the trial. According to the Post and Courier coverage of the conference, Judge Cameron McGowan Curry told R.J. that this would be unconstitutional. When RJ asked to represent himself altogether, she warned him of the risk that he was taking. Ultimately, Ultimately, she ruled in his favor, but then ordered that his public defense team help him

during jury selection. On Monday, RJ informed the court that his motion to suppress was ready. And here's the really annoying part. Because RJ is now representing himself, he's going to have to be carded all over the place to prepare for his stupid case. On Wednesday morning, RJ May delivered his motion to the court and handed it to the judge. of this, his motion wasn't automatically uploaded to the federal court database, so we have not seen it yet. But we already know what we'll be looking for, and ooh, I'm going to guess

it's not going to be good for him. We'll update y'all later on RJ's arguments to suppress, and we have a lot more to share in the Scott Spivey case. So we will have the latest on that next week as well. And again, go to TikTok and Instagram and follow Murdoch on Hulu. Stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight. True Sunlight is a Lunar Shark production created by me, Mandy Matney, co-hosted and reported by journalist Liz Pharrell. Research support provided by Beth Braden. Audio production support provided by Jamie Hoffman, case file management, provided by Kate Thomas. Learn more about our mission and membership at LunaSharkmedia.com.

Interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky.