No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen - Republicans get REVENGE on Trump amid primary ousters

Episode Date: May 21, 2026

Some Republicans are getting their revenge on Trump after he got them ousted from Congress. Brian interviews Jamie Raskin, Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison, California gubernatorial c...andidate Tom Steyer, and former Capitol Police officer Harry DunnPre-order The Day After: https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/thedayafter Support Tom Steyer: https://www.tomsteyer.com/Support Harry Dunn: https://harrydunnformd.com/Written by Brian Tyler CohenProduced by Sam GraberRecorded in Los Angeles, CASee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Some Republicans are getting their revenge on Trump after he got them ousted from Congress, and I've got four interviews, Jamie Raskin, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer, and former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie. So it's clear that Trump was successful in ousting a few more Republicans who committed the cardinal sin of even being mildly critical of him. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary and Kentucky Congressman, Thomas Massey lost his primary.
Starting point is 00:00:33 But what Trump is learning in real time is that every action has a reaction, and he's going to be pretty pissed off about these. So immediately upon losing re-election, Thomas Massey offered up this warning, and while it was said at his concession speech, it was already abundantly clear who the intended audience was. And we need basic decency. We need basic decency. That's what the Epstein Files Transparency Act was all about. By the way, today is the six-month anniversary of the Epstein-Files Transparency Act.
Starting point is 00:01:04 We've taken out two dozen CEOs, an ambassador of prince, a prime minister, a minister of culture, and that was just six months. I got seven months left in Congress. Quote, I've got seven months left in Congress, which means he's got not only a moral imperative to keep hammering away at the Epstein files, but now a personal one. And I don't have to explain to anyone listening here why Thomas Massey continuing to beat the drum on the Epstein files is a disaster for Trump, who, you know, descends into a full-blown meltdown the moment anybody even utters the guy's name. There are still three and a half million files that have yet to be released, and the White House is doing its level best to talk about anything, literally, anything other than the files. Although something tells me that Massey will be laser-focused on making sure that it stays top of mind.
Starting point is 00:02:03 in his last remaining seven months in Congress. And it wasn't just Massey. Senator Bill Cassidy also poured cold water on one of Trump's most important priorities. And no, I'm not talking about health care, not food assistance, not jobs or groceries or housing or any of those annoying, pesky things that Trump campaigned on, but rather his ballroom.
Starting point is 00:02:24 There's no architectural plans. There is no environmental. There's no engineering. There's no sense. of when we ask, how did it happen to cost exactly a billion? In my mind, that is, it could cost a lot less, it could cost a lot more. I just don't get it. And look, it would be one thing if Cassidy sought to block something that Trump doesn't
Starting point is 00:02:50 actually care about, which is to say things that don't impact him personally. But his ballroom, that's obviously a bridge too far, considering it is basically the only thing that Trump does care about. And it's not just his attacks on Trump's. ballroom. Cassidy also wasted no time switching his vote on a bill seeking to end the Iran war, the war powers resolution, and that's a bill that Cassidy has initially supported. And if enough Republicans decide that they've had enough of sending billions of dollars to an unpopular war, the Trump swore, by the way, would never happen, then that'll be yet another blow to his
Starting point is 00:03:22 agenda. Although, look, especially as it relates to Bill Cassidy, I should note, I'm really fucking tired of these Republicans managing to do the right thing only after they lose their primaries because it tells us that they actually do know the difference between right and wrong. They just make the conscious decision to do what's wrong because it's more important for them to pander to Trump than actually deliver for their constituents. Like, this guy has created an environment. Trump has created an environment where politicians in his party serve him, not their voters. And that really does put the problem on full display.
Starting point is 00:03:54 These people are wholly owned subsidiaries of a megal billionaire narcissist whose sole priority is building monuments to himself. And while it's great that people like Massey and Cassidy are now free to vote their conscience, the reality is that that should happen the entire time, not only when they're freed from the shackles of being Trump's bitches in Congress. Next up are my interviews with Jamie Raskin,
Starting point is 00:04:19 Keith Ellison, Tom Steyer, and Harry Dunn. But just a quick note, my new book, The Day After, is now available for pre-order. So if you'd like to support my work and support this podcast, and my broader message of pushing Democrats to fight more and recognize, the urgency of this moment. The best way to do that is to pre-order the book. I'm going to put the
Starting point is 00:04:37 link in the show notes of this episode. I really appreciate it. No Lie is brought to you by Incogni. Ever wonder how random companies get your cell phone number? It's not a coincidence. It is data brokers selling your life behind your back. It's invasive, exhausting, and honestly, a total nightmare to actually manage a loan. You have the right to opt out, but they make the process of bureaucratic maze. That's why I use Incogny. They act as your personal privacy advocate. automatically handling the takedown request so that you don't have to. And the best part, they don't just do it once.
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Starting point is 00:06:08 You and congressional Democrats are now taking steps to block that. Can you explain what's happening on your end? Well, first of all, let's understand what we're talking about. If you do the math, it comes to more than a million dollars per insurrectionist proud boy oathkeeper. So they want to take money from the taxpayers and give it to people who violently assaulted our police officers and tried to overthrow a presidential election. Congress never approved. appropriated a dollar for that and never would appropriate any money for that. So this is just a highway robbery. They're stealing money from the government and from the taxpayers.
Starting point is 00:06:43 So we're going to be doing everything in our power to block it. We need some Republicans in order to come with us in order to legislate that no money can be spent in that way. But we will be asking for Republicans to take that position. and if they don't, the whole country and their districts will see exactly where they are. But we need three or four of them in order to sign the discharge petition to get it out to block the spending of the money in this way. And then, you know, it's a lawless situation with the administration, a lawless administration situation with the Supreme Court.
Starting point is 00:07:22 But there might be federal district courts and appeals courts that are willing to take seriously the fact that this is an absolute violation of the appropriation. powers of Congress. And it's also a violation of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, which says that no federal dollars should be going to pay for the debts of insurrection and rebellion against the United States. Right. It was important enough to put that exact clause in the Constitution. So important was it not to have this happen. You know, you had mentioned that we need three Republicans, three or four Republicans on board. Is there any indication that any Republicans have an appetite for this? And I ask that especially in light of the fact that, Bill Cassidy just lost his primary, that Thomas Massey may very well be on the verge of losing
Starting point is 00:08:07 his primary. And so this is kind of a shot across the bow by Trump that if you defy him, even on an issue where Republicans kind of coalesced around, like Thomas Massey only broke with Trump on Epstein. So the notion that he's getting punished now for being consistent on that issue is, you know, obviously absurd other than the fact that really the ultimate. goal has to just be blind deference to Trump. All of that is to say, is there any appetite among Republicans that you know of to really defy Trump and sign on to this effort to block this allocation of spending? Well, I mean, you saw what just happened in Louisiana and you see what's going on in Kentucky. I mean, Trump comes down like a ton of bricks on anybody who
Starting point is 00:08:49 departs two centimeters away from his absolute autocratic rule. But then there are also some Republicans who've got to be listening to independents and Democrats. Otherwise, they're not going to, They have no prayer of getting elected. Look at Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania. And people should be saying to him now, will you sign on to a discharge petition to get a bill out of the House of Representatives to block this outrageous, illegal, unconstitutional expenditure of money? And he can't get away with saying, oh, there's not going to be a bill. There will be a bill. Will you sign it or will you not?
Starting point is 00:09:22 Your constituents want to know. Any Republican, my friend Kevin Kylie from California, he's running as an independent now, left Republican Party, will he try to do everything in his power to block this outrageous spending of money for insurrectionists? So people in those districts have got to put pressure on them now to take the position. Would this create a precedent? And I ask this because, you know, Republicans may be in a position where there's a Democratic president. What if he or she decides for years from now that, you know, why not create a $500 billion slush fund using the Trump precedent and fully fund planned parenthood from now until the end of time, funds the NAACP, fund every town for gun
Starting point is 00:10:10 safety, fund any pro-democracy or left-wing priority and use the Trump precedent? I mean, is that what it would create or is it just, you know, that he's relying on this idea that judges will defer to him? If they can get away with it, then that does open the door to it. He does think that he's got the judges in his pocket like a mob boss. But look, this is not his first slush fund. I mean, let's be clear about it. The Board of Peace is nothing but a global slush fund for Donald Trump.
Starting point is 00:10:38 He took $1.5 billion from the State Department. That was money that was set aside for disaster relief around the world. He gave it to the Board of Peace. He took a billion from the Saudis. He took a billion from the United Arab Emirates. took a billion from the Qataris. I don't know how much he's got in there now. We don't know. Is it public? Is it private?
Starting point is 00:10:57 Is it not for profit? Is it profit? Is it international? We don't know anything other than he is chairman for life. He is decreed. And he controls who's going to be on the board. And with his $1.7 billion slush fund, courtesy of the American taxpayers, that will be run by a committee that reports exclusively to him for people who he feels were victims of, quote, weaponization of the Biden Justice Department.
Starting point is 00:11:21 you what? If somebody thinks their rights were violated, they can go in and sue. You know, who did that? Michael Flynn. He lost in court. And yet the Trump DOJ just gave him $1.25 million. The same thing with Carter Page. He wasn't able to get anything, any satisfaction in court because these people don't have a cause of action. Their rights weren't violated. They weren't damaged in any way. And yet now Trump is just giving them all the money. And it's going to be the same with the riders and the insurrectionists and the oathkeepers, the, you know, the proud boys and on and on. It's to pay for his private militia. So they've got some money. What do you make of the fact that Donald Trump came into office pretending to be this populist champion? He was talking about helping the forgotten
Starting point is 00:12:06 American, the little guy, talking about housing and rent and groceries and eggs, comes into office. First thing he does is cut health care, then food assistance, raised the cost of everything through his trade war. Now, gas is nearly the highest it's ever been as the result of this Iran war, no money to fix any of those things. But apparently there are just endless funds for ballrooms and Qatari jets and renovating the Rose Garden and building arches and redoing the reflecting pool and now a $1.7 billion slush fund for his insurrectionist pals. How do you make sense of the fact that there's no money for any of the things he actually
Starting point is 00:12:39 campaigned on but endless sums of money when it comes to his own pet projects? Because he told us last week, he said literally, I don't care about the fight. finances of the American people. He doesn't care that people are suffering under his ruinous illegal tariffs, that people are suffering with a buck 50 more. You've got to pay for a gallon of gasoline because of his illegal, unconstitutional, disastrous war in Iran. He doesn't care. I mean, he barely cares about anybody outside of his family. I'm not sure he does. I'm not sure he cares about everybody in his family. I mean, he's an absolute narcissist, and he's driven to pillage the federal government, and that's what's going on.
Starting point is 00:13:22 The reason he wants to support his insurrectionist is because that's his private militia for political purposes. He knows his poll numbers are sinking like a stone. They're absolutely cratering. And so all he's got is his lingering ability to control with all he can, with all of his might, the federal government of the United States and his hold on power. We've got to keep people organizing and people engaged against all the racist gerrymandering, against the voter suppression tactics that are going on because we need a landslide. We need an exorcism of this kind of authoritarian politics.
Starting point is 00:14:01 Last question, Congressman. I think you had rightfully pointed out that Trump is kind of giving a green light to these insurrectionists around the country who are looking to go out there and commit violence on his behalf and knowing that not only will they not be prosecuted, you know, he's pardoned 1,500 of them, but it's actually a financially advantageous exercise to do this now. He wants to make all of the millionaires. And so how are you looking at this in light of the fact
Starting point is 00:14:27 that this is somebody who's already shown to be ready and willing to commit violence if it means it can help him steal an election as we head toward other elections where he's acting increasingly desperate? Well, he is accompanying all of these financial maneuvers. with the claim that once his ridiculous, ludicrous case against the IRS for $10 billion is settled, that that will be a statement that he, in fact, won the 2020 presidential election. Even though there's nothing in his case about the 2020 presidential election, even though 60 different federal and state court judges, including eight that he appointed to the bench himself,
Starting point is 00:15:08 determined that there was no election fraud and there was no electoral corruption, and that Joe Biden beat him by more than 7 million votes, 306 to 232 in the Electoral College. And yet that now is the defining litmus test issue within the Republican Party. And if you cross him on that, like Mitt Romney or Liz Cheney or Adam Kinsiger, if you know you cross him, then he will bring down the full weight of his mega apparatus against you. But if you stand with him so far is to commit violence. against police officers, he will do anything for you.
Starting point is 00:15:46 It's like, you know, who wants to be a mega-millionaire? You go to war for us and we'll find a way to give you a million dollars of the taxpayers' money. Yeah, I think that's well said. Congressman, thank you for fighting back against this. Thanks for taking the time today. Thanks for having me, Brian, hang tough, man. No lie is brought to you by Hymns. So if you really want to know what's really worth your time when it comes to losing weight,
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Starting point is 00:17:57 have filed charges against the people who shot Julio Sosa-Solice in North Minneapolis on January 14th. The officer involved is a fellow who is now. There's an active arrest warrant for him. And, you know, he is an individual who is being sought out. His name is Christian Castro. He is an immigration and customs enforcement agent. And he is charged with shooting Julio Sososolis, as I noted before. So that's what's going on.
Starting point is 00:18:35 That charges as of today. Already the Hennepin County attorney, without my involvement, is charged individuals who, in a road rage incident, were pointing guns through at a moving car in traffic. And that was charged out as a second-degree assault, terrorist threat only a few days ago. And that individual is not yet in custody, but there is an active warrant for his arrest.
Starting point is 00:19:05 So right now there have been two, criminal charges, and there is an active investigation on the individuals who, you may remember this, dragged a Hmong individual, a Hmong man out of his home in the freezing cold. Yeah. The man had on under, he had on underwear and Crocs. And he was the wrong person. They weren't, he wasn't even the guy they wanted, but they dragged him out of his home and had him in sub-zero temperature.
Starting point is 00:19:34 there the Ramsey County attorney is actively pursuing that matter. Now, you may want to know about the good matter and the and the predate matter. They are under active investigation right now. We still have not received any cooperation from the federal government. That is no deterrent. There's no such thing as absolute immunity in the context of this matter. So those, just because you don't see it every day, doesn't mean we're not working on it every day. We are working on it every day.
Starting point is 00:20:06 Now, in terms of these cases prior to you discussing Preddy and Renee Good, has the federal government been an obstacle to those charges, or have they been cooperative or neither? They have never been cooperative in any sense. They simply have not been helpful. And this is, you know, I will tell you, Brian, this is weird because we work with the feds all the time. Right.
Starting point is 00:20:35 We work with the feds on task forces involving everything from sex trafficking, human trafficking, labor trafficking, you know, fentanyl drug trans drug trafficking. We work with the feds on the regular. And I'm saying FBI, DEA, Treasury, different types of officers are very familiar to us around here. So simply because Trump wants to do this, what I regard is an illegal action against the state of Minnesota. And we filed a civil lawsuit on that. But that is when the cooperation ended.
Starting point is 00:21:15 By the way, Brian, let me just remind everybody, these folks are always saying, oh, the state of Minnesota should have just cooperated when it came to Operation Metro Surge. Well, we did, but they never cooperated with us on anything. And they demand cooperation. But, you know, the fact is we've always complied with what the law required. Has the federal government threatened to deprive you of any resources given the fact that you've gone after ICE agents who've broken the law? They, not in connection with that. So we haven't heard you're now prosecuting these people, so we're going to take this from you. Right.
Starting point is 00:21:54 Not that. But they've done it in multiple other occasions, right? So they're saying that they're withholding our Medicaid funding. They're withholding our educational funds. They're withholding funds connected to, they try to regarding National Institute of Health. We sued them and got that back. They try to withhold money regarding AmeriCorps. We sued them on that one. They try to withhold money on a whole range of things. I could keep naming them, but I don't know if you want a comprehensive list. Folks can go to my website. site and see it all. But like whether it's National Institute of Health, AmeriCorps, the supplemental nutrition assistance, they have been trying to take money that has rightfully come, supposed to come to Minnesota on multiple occasions. The total, Brian, is $7.3 billion that they've tried to take from us, but we have successfully defended from them. In terms of the impending or possible prosecutions of the ICE agents who shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretty. Is there some concern that the federal government might try and Bigfoot you guys at the state level so that they can take over the prosecution and then of course just basically seek to dismiss it?
Starting point is 00:23:11 Just basically. Yeah. I mean, they're very much in the same way that they did for Eric Adams in New York where they have I mean, they can, you know, they wanted to be able to wield him as as a tool at the local level. but ultimately their goal was never to prosecute him. Well, what you're saying, I mean, I had no role in the Kyle Rittenauer case, but when I watch it, I look at a prosecutor who doesn't seem very motivated to get a conviction. So, I mean, if you're thinking that, you know, we're going to take the case and then not really prosecute the case,
Starting point is 00:23:41 yeah, there is that that could happen, but the state has an independent and separate right to prosecute this case all on its own. So we would never do what Trump does and engage in vindictive prosecution. I think that's morally wrong. But we certainly would charge out a case where the facts of the matter violate the law and hold those people accountable. And they can't stop us from doing that. The reason that we haven't charged the case out isn't because they can stop us. It's because they have withheld the file. And I tell you, Brian, I used to be a criminal defense lawyer.
Starting point is 00:24:19 for 16 years. And if I was a criminal defense lawyer, first thing I'd say is, where's the file? They didn't have the whole file. So I think there's probable cause in both pretty and good to charge the case. I just think that we should try to do all we can to get the file. You may know we have filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security because they have a final agency action denying us access. And there's no legal basis for them to do so. So that matter is being litigated in the civil context to make them give us the documents and materials that we're entitled to to complete our investigation.
Starting point is 00:25:06 There was reports of some federal prosecutors who had left the DOJ as the result of how the DOJ was comporting itself with these ICE agents and so on. Are any of those folks working alongside? side you all at the state level, given the fact that, you know, if the DOJ isn't going to do it, at least there are prosecutors, good prosecutors who are willing to do this work at the Minnesota state level? Well, I'll tell you, man, I think I hired maybe about four or five of them. Okay.
Starting point is 00:25:34 You know, we have a bunch of feds who, and former feds who are working here and are doing really good work. Yeah. And, you know, quite honestly, man, you know, as I told you, Brian, I used to be a criminal defense lawyer. Now I'm a prosecutor. I've done various roles in the criminal justice system. And what I learned over time is that a ethical, good, conscientious prosecutor
Starting point is 00:25:56 is actually really a joy to work with because they'll dismiss cases that ought to be dismissed. They'll charge what they can prove. They'll ask for the proper amount of time or whatever the sentence to be. And you understand that you're going to have to argue with them because the defense counsel you have a duty of zealous representation of your client, but you don't feel that there's something underhanded or bad going on. And the content, you know, so these folks had, they felt that a moral imperative,
Starting point is 00:26:29 and they said, we cannot square working at this, and under this Justice Department with our conscience. And so they quit. And I think that's what ethical people do. I mean, that's the reason that they're not in the DOJ, because you can see, by the way the DOJ has comported itself over the last year and a half, their allegiance is to,
Starting point is 00:26:48 is to Donald Trump. It's not to the law. It's not to the Constitution. Right. I mean, they're there expressly because they're going to be loyal to him and do his bidding. That's why there are prosecutors like Lindsay Halligan and Alina Haba. Oh my God.
Starting point is 00:27:00 Who can stay in these positions as long, as long as they can before they're rightly thrown out. But like, but these people, their allegiance is to, is to Trump and, and, you know, his, prosecuting is political opponents.
Starting point is 00:27:16 That's true. So let me say, Brian, you know, there were people in the Minnesota, a U.S. attorney's office who were told, no, you're not going to investigate and prosecute the people who killed Renee Good. You are going to investigate and potentially prosecute her wife who was on scene. Yeah. And they said, where do I submit my resignation? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:27:43 There were over 14 of them who fell into that category, maybe more now. I haven't been keeping track. But you begin to wonder, who's there? Well, for a while they got a bunch of judge advocate general people to just try to fill in. But, you know, Jags have their own jobs to do, you know. So you want to drop them into here and use their obligation to follow your orders to do their, do the work. but they've never done before and probably haven't done the same way. So that's what they were dealing with.
Starting point is 00:28:18 That's why under Operation Metro Surge, you had all these habeas corpus petitions that were not being addressed. And there were cases that were actually dismissed because they got rid of all the good people. They brought in some replacements. And then the real cases started piling up. And then you got up against the due process, the right to speedy trial right, and there had to be some cases dismissed. So they're actually, Trump's making us less safe. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:28:53 Yeah. Well, I'm glad that y'all are working, not only not allowing the federal government to dictate who gets to be above the law by allowing these ICE agents to commit criminal acts with impunity that you're taking this on, but also that you've got prosecutors who weren't willing to allow that, you know, to allow themselves to be run roughshadowed. by staying at the DOJ. With the last couple of minutes that we have left, I wanted to ask one question on a different topic entirely, and that is the topic of redistricting. So can you get the lay of the land of, and I should let folks know that Minnesota's congressional map
Starting point is 00:29:27 is 4-4, Republican and Democrat. It's a pretty blue state. You know, I've been on a tear about redistricting since we've seen what the Republicans are doing in state after state after state across the country, be it from Texas to Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama. And what Democrats have to show to push back is like California.
Starting point is 00:29:51 And that's it. And so can you talk about what the process would look like for redrawing the maps in Minnesota and the appetite for redrawing the maps in Minnesota? Obviously, too late for 2026, but moving forward. Well, you know, there's a strong sense of basic fairness in Minnesota. There's a strong sense that if you want people to vote for you, you don't redraw the map, you go talk to them and sell them on the program that you're going to govern on. And so it's nothing that we want to rush into, but we have seriously considered it
Starting point is 00:30:24 because of what Trump is doing in Texas and in other places. And it's deeply, deeply disturbing. And so I think that we're going to pick up some seats in Minnesota without changing the map at all. But to answer your question, it's something that we would entertain, but we're 50-50 in the statehouse and we have a slight majority in the Senate. So we're really not in a position to do it, but would we do it? I mean, as long as Trump is pushing Texas and Tennessee to cheat, what other choice do we have? Right. My hope would be we would have independent redistricting every state of the union. we don't need an unfair advantage,
Starting point is 00:31:13 but we're not going to sit by and let them have an unfair advantage. Yeah. So I think pushing back against this idea that the Republicans, that the Democrats will unilaterally disarm, I think is the right move to all this. No, I mean, but at the same time, Democrats want to play by the rules and be fair, but they don't. So what do we do?
Starting point is 00:31:33 Just sit back and take it on the chin? Absolutely not. Perfectly put. We'll leave it there. Attorney General Ellison, thank you so much for taking the time. You have a good one, Brian, stay in touch. No Lie is brought to you by Ethos. So I don't really talk about my personal life at all, but I lost a family member that I was
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Starting point is 00:32:45 Thanks so much for joining me. Brian, thank you for having me. So I want to start off with a little bit of national news before we get into California-specific news, but we just found out that Donald Trump has been so gracious as to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against his own federal government and instead offer up a compromise, a generous compromise where he only pillaged U.S. taxpayers to the tune of $1.7 billion so that he could pay January 6th insurrectionists. So before we get into the California stuff, can I have your reaction to this latest move by Trump? I mean, Trump's a criminal. You know, I got eight
Starting point is 00:33:22 million signatures to impeach him in 2017 and 2018 because been in enough boardrooms to know a crook. He's a crook. This is a crooked, completely illegal thing to do. it's completely consistent with his behavior throughout his first and second terms, but in the second terms, his grifting has moved to a completely different level. But it's consistent and it's completely illegal. And this is the idea of granting himself $1.7 billion of taxpayers' money. You know, it's a new level, but he's only going to get worse, honestly, Brian. And so, you know, yeah, this is completely wrong. So a lot of people are going to look at Trump and look at, look at the fact that the way that he branded himself was as a wealthy businessman who would
Starting point is 00:34:09 use the tricks that he learned to, I think his exact words, to be greedy for the nation instead of being greedy for himself. You know, a lot of your success is the fact that you are a wealthy businessman. And so for people who see that and say, well, that's a cautionary tale then, what would your reaction to those people be? Look, I started a business from scratch. He inherited $450 million from his poppy. I've said, I started a business and walked away from it and left billions of dollars in the table. And my wife and I've said, we're giving the money away while we're alive. He keeps stealing money.
Starting point is 00:34:44 He's not a business person. He's a thief. That's a different thing, Brian. If you look at, he's one of the people who went, I think he went bankrupt four times in casinos. How do you do that? Yeah. You're the house. You know, it's like, that's a math problem.
Starting point is 00:35:00 So to a very large extent, I, look, he is. someone who has consistently been a crook. He continues to be a crook. I've never been a crook. I built a business and said, I care about other things much more and we're going to use the money to push progressive causes and protect working people and protect the natural world.
Starting point is 00:35:24 You know, he also has two ears and two eyes, but that doesn't make us the same person either. Yeah. All right. So I want to go into a few of the priorities that I have in California. But before we do that, I want to give you the opportunity to let me know what your priorities are in California as you run this campaign.
Starting point is 00:35:44 Look, I've been very clear about this. Biggest problem in California is people can't afford to live in California anymore. So it's about, you know, the buzzword is affordability, but it's really about costs at the end of the month. And that starts with housing. It goes to health care. It goes to electricity rates. It goes to how much we're paying at the pump.
Starting point is 00:36:03 and it goes to food. And in every one of those, I have a specific policy solution. Many of them involve taking on corporate special interests that are driving up the costs and, you know, are feasting off Californians misery. And I've also said, I will, I'm the person in this race and the only person who will admit to be wanting to tax billionaires like me more, tax close corporate tax loopholes and get the money to working people and basically have a system. We're the richest state and the richest country in the world and we have the highest poverty rate in the United States of America. That doesn't seem like success to me. So what does success look like at the end of your first four-year term? Well, if you had some benchmarks that you could point to, and I've
Starting point is 00:36:55 asked this question to mayoral candidates, for example, as it relates to homelessness. And I've heard Nithia Raman tell me that, you know, she wants to see 50% reduction in homelessness in L.A. by the time the Olympics rolls around, 100% reduction in those encampments by the end of her first term. And so she was able to offer up some concrete examples, viability notwithstanding. What would some, what would some metrics be for you that you could point to as success? Long term, the way we're going to drive down housing costs, both rent and homeownership, is by producing houses much more inexpensively. And we have five. points on this. I don't think we have enough time, but I'll say this. We're going to build a million
Starting point is 00:37:35 houses. We're going to make it possible for people to buy a house and to afford rent. I've been saying we're going to create local competition for the electric monopolies that dominate this state and charge us twice as much as the rest of the United States. And we're going to drive down the cost by 25%. That's a metric. We are going to close a corporate tax loophole and use the money part for health care to fill in the hole from HR1, Mr.S. Trump's throwing people off Medi-Cal and partly for education, and we're going to use that education, money to hire, train, and support fantastic teachers so that our kids get better outcomes, and we're going to go back to being a top 10 education state. You know, those are
Starting point is 00:38:20 three things right off the bat that to me, I could keep going. Honestly, I'm for single-payer health care. You should, you know, I'm sitting here thinking of all the things. We're for single-payer health care. We have by far, Brian, our campaign and our website has by far the most and the most detailed policy prescriptions of how to change California. And we're not shy about it. And many of them involve structural change and change to the control that corporate special interests of. And that's why corporate special interests are spending tens of millions of dollars against me. And that's why billionaires are supporting everybody in this race, but me. Because they know that I'm the only person here who's really for structural change for working people to make this state affordable and, you know,
Starting point is 00:39:04 to sort of rebuild, rejuvenate, make real the California dream. Great public education, house you couldn't afford to buy. In terms of building up housing and especially, you know, this metric hitting one million houses built, to what extent does as we had toward the 2030 census and the prospect of California losing election? votes and not just losing them, but losing them to a state like Texas or Idaho, for example. To what extent is that important as well in all of this to make sure that California retains kind of its stature as a state that has 54 electoral votes and therefore has such an outsized impact in their presidential election?
Starting point is 00:39:50 Well, what I'm really interested in, Brian, is for Californians' lives to be materially improved by their government. And I believe that if we create the society I'm describing, which is so much more positive for people that reinvigorates the idea of California and the California dream in that we have a different vision for the 21st century, everybody around the country and everybody around the world is going to go. You know what? I want that. I want a successful society that has free health care, great schools, you know, basically an incredibly beautiful place. diverse as possibly could be imagined. I want that because that's the way you're supposed to be living in the 21st century. And I think the job is to make sure that happens and everything else will follow. So one of the points of criticism that folks have of California is the fact that it's exceedingly difficult to build infrastructure here, not just housing, but we obviously have
Starting point is 00:40:53 this train that was supposed to go from Los Angeles to San Francisco, what we ended up with, was a train that went from the bustling metropolis of Mercedes to Bakersfield. And even then, we don't have anything running right now. And so can you diagnose the issue that prevents us from being able to build basic infrastructure? I mean, I don't know the exact statistic. But, I mean, if you look at what China was able to build in the time and with the amount of money that we are trying to build a train from one city to another city, it would, I mean, it just, you know, it's just the...
Starting point is 00:41:29 I built the mind. Right. And so can you diagnose the issue here? And then how would something like that be solved? So that we can actually build again. If you look at high speed rail, which is the example you're using in which everybody feels so embarrassed and upset about, and me too. As you said, we started with the wrong strategy.
Starting point is 00:41:49 A rail system needs to have uses. You need to have people who want to ride the rail system that can make it pay for itself. And so, as you said, we started in a place. because that's where the federal government was willing to give us money. We knew it was a mistake, but we made the mistake because we thought, first, we'll get this done, and then we'll do the one we want to do. Huge mistake. Secondly, the perfect is the enemy of the good.
Starting point is 00:42:16 You know, we are trying to do everything so perfectly, you know, that we can't get anything done. And so there's been massive overthinking and consultants and, you know, rethinking and all this stuff. spending billions of dollars not on building a railroad, but on thinking about building a rail. And so I think we, you know, I've talked to those guys and I'm a huge believer in public transportation. It's critical for California. Yeah. But we have, but it's like, no, no, don't come to me with some plan that doesn't make sense. That just is not going to work.
Starting point is 00:42:48 You know, we are going to have to be results oriented in this. And literally, you know, we're going to have to be hard-nosed that this has got to be done on a reasonable basis, and we're going to have to do it fast, and the longer it takes, the worse it is. And if we're not going to be efficient about it, that's not going to happen. But there is clearly a gigantic need for public transportation in the state of California. And I'm a gigantic believer in that. And I'm also going to be really, you know, it's exactly like building houses. Like, we have a five-point plan on how to build houses in California, much cheaper. And it involves finance, how we do construction, how we get along with cities and counties,
Starting point is 00:43:29 as well as what everybody else talks about, which is permitting in time. Yep. So in terms of another industry that obviously I have been following closely along with, and that is the entertainment industry, can you talk a little bit about what your plan would be to bring these jobs back to California? Because this was, you know, especially where I am in Los Angeles,
Starting point is 00:43:51 this was, I mean, what this whole town was based off of. And in the 15 years that I've been here, I have watched the industry kind of crumble to the point where I have numerous friends who have not only left this state, but also this country in seeking work elsewhere. I have friends who've moved to the UK to follow the jobs. I have friends that move to Canada to follow those jobs. Toronto and Vancouver have bustling film industries. And of course, everybody knows about the fact that we have Atlanta, New Jersey, New Orleans, New Mexico, New York, all of whom have taken jobs. Australia, England, Saudi Arabia. So what would the plan be to bring those jobs back to this state?
Starting point is 00:44:34 So first, I want to start by echoing what you said, Brian. L.A. invented the film business and entertainment business. The greatest group of people to work on this industry exists in Los Angeles. It's the best ecosystem by far in the world. And so I'm on Team California. I'm 100% behind this industry, the people in this industry. So let's start. I want to get to that, but I want to start by saying this.
Starting point is 00:45:02 I'm completely opposed to the mergers in this industry. From an anti-competitive standpoint, basic antitrust law, not even close. Not even close. Huge job destroyer, obviously done so that Donald Trump could hand major information businesses, you know, CNN, to another. right-wing crony so they could control the information in our industry. You know, the rule for a dictator is you have to do two things. You have to own the army and you have to own the TV station. He's in effect trying to own the TV station in the United States of Ameri, controlling the
Starting point is 00:45:41 information industry. It's a terrible decision. I think we should be fighting it every single way we can. I also believe that we cannot allow other people to buy our business. That's all they're really doing. They're giving tax credits at a much higher level so that they can buy our business with money so that we'll go to Canada. So we'll go to New Zealand or Australia. So we'll go to Hungary. And we cannot allow them to do that. So that means we have to fight fire with fire.
Starting point is 00:46:10 And let me say this. The way that I see those tax credits is they return $1.14 to California for every dollar that goes in. So I don't look at it as a cost. I look it as an investment. Yep. And I said, I'm on Team California. And so I want to make sure that there are no regulations that stop us from shooting here,
Starting point is 00:46:29 particularly small productions that are unnecessary and expensive. That's the other thing I definitely want to do. I want to make sure that we invest in apprenticeship programs so that we can continue to build the greatest ecosystem. I'm for public art funding. And I want to say the last thing is this. It's not fair that AI can take the creativity, and the output of people in this industry steal it and not compensate.
Starting point is 00:46:58 That's absolutely wrong. So let me be clear. I will state again, I'm competitive. I don't know if you know that, Brian. I may seem like a low-key, friendly guy. Underneath that genial service, I'm really competitive. And I am on Team California. And I refuse to have the greatest industry in the world be looted by foreign countries with money, not talent,
Starting point is 00:47:21 and take advantage of the people here, the tens of thousands of talented professionals in and around Los Angeles by their putting up tax credits. And the other thing I want to say is this. I'm talking about dropping the cost of housing. I'm talking about dropping the cost of healthcare. That is another critical long-term way
Starting point is 00:47:42 to make sure that the film and entertainment business can compete around the world based on talent. And so to a very large extent, everything I'm talking about, I want to make sure in the short run we keep this business, that we keep this ecosystem, that we keep your friends, incredibly talented friends, from going to England or British Columbia. And I want to make sure in the long run, we drive down costs so that in fact we're on even footing with those people. And if it's, if it's about the talent, we'd win. And we have to make sure it's about the talent.
Starting point is 00:48:11 Recognizing that for every dollar spent, we get $1.14 back and that the more money we put into this, the more money we get out. And it's not just money. It's making sure that people's livelihoods that are protected, making sure that our tourism industry is thriving. It's helping all of those people from transportation to craft services, to producers, editors, PAs, you name it. I mean, the whole industry isn't just Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and George Clooney. It is the millions of people who are doing work behind the camera, doing work in the offices, making sure that this whole industry can sustain itself. Recognizing that all of the those things exist and that we actually garner more money from investing more through these tax
Starting point is 00:48:53 credits, would you be in favor of an uncapped tax credit? So I don't have a limit on it, Brian, but I want to make sure that we are doing this in a careful way that we're controlling and not just going hog wild on. So I don't have a limit on it, but I do have a desire. Explain to me how, like, how does that work in practice? I think what it means is that people apply for tax credits and, you know, it's not just, you know, you say, I'm a film producer, I need money. And so it's got to be a credible production. And so I think, I don't think that's unreal. I think that's completely the way it works now.
Starting point is 00:49:33 You know, you've got to be a credible production to get tax credits. And that should continue to be true. And we should have people from the industry, you know, who know what they're talking about, opining on that to make. sure that in fact we're pushing stuff that really can succeed. I know this is a hits business and I know if you can believe it when I was at Fairlawn, we had the biggest financiers of independent films in the world. Yeah. So I know sometimes these things happen and sometimes they don't happen. But I also know that there is something about understanding this business. It's not just the crapshoot. It's a lot more than that.
Starting point is 00:50:07 Last question here. As folks are trying to figure out who to vote for, I'm sure there's a lot of of people who are undecided between you and Javier Bacera. And so for folks who are Democrats, who are looking to vote for one of the Democratic candidates, why should they vote for you over your opponent? Well, let me put it to you this way. The oil companies are spending millions of dollars against me. They have maxed out to Javier Bissera. He has said we need more oil drilling in the state. He has said they're not bad guys and that we need Chevron. He has no environmental policy to speak of. In terms of single payer, I've said we are going to push as hard as possible for single payer on day one, starting day one, no questions. And as a result, the nurses support me.
Starting point is 00:50:57 He has said, behind closed doors, we're not going to go for single payer in the biggest lobby against single payer maxed out to him and endorsed him the next day. And he got $120,000 yesterday from the health insurers, which is the opposite of single-payer, yesterday. At the same time, he's saying, oh, I'm for single-payer. So the truth is, it's not just what I say I'm going to do. Follow the money and the endorsements. I say I'm going to make the schools better. And the teachers and the school employees and the educators are all endorsing me.
Starting point is 00:51:31 I don't know what he's saying, but the big oil companies are supporting him. The health insurers are supporting him. the electric monopolies. Look, this is a question of, I'm trying to change things that I'm willing to take on the corporate special interests. He's paid for by the corporate special interests. So to me, if you think everything's fine
Starting point is 00:51:52 and you want more of the same, that's what he's offering. I'm offering a change. I'm the only person offering a real change. I'm the only person willing to take on the big money interest in the state of California to say working people, this game is rigged against you, we need to unread.
Starting point is 00:52:09 For folks who are looking to help your campaign, where can they go? Tom Steyer.com. Look, the biggest thing people can do at this point, if you support me, is to tell your friends, is to support me online, is to go out and spread the word. Because really, this is about people under, look, Brian, I always say to people, this is a simple campaign. Do you want the billionaire who's going to work and fight tirelessly for working
Starting point is 00:52:35 people or do you want a career politician who's going to work and fight tirelessly for billionaires and big corporations? That is a strange choice. We'll leave it there. Tom Steyer, thank you so much for taking the time. Best luck in the campaign trail. Thanks, Brian. Thanks for having me. I'm joined now by former Capitol police officer and current candidate for Maryland's fifth congressional district, Harry, thanks so much for joining me. You have some big news today about a brand new lawsuit against one of Donald Trump's biggest priorities. Can you explain what that is? Yeah, man, I'm happy to announce that myself and Officer Daniel Hodges, a hero from January 6th, and also one of the officers who testified before the January 6th Select Committee,
Starting point is 00:53:18 and is one of the many familiar faces that people know from that day. We've announced that we are suing Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, and Scott Bessett. We believe that this is a continued attack on our democracy that started on January 6th, at least for us. And it's a continuation of that. We believe that the this slush fund, if you will, this $1.776 a billion. And let's be clear, Donald Trump is trolling us with that number, 1776.
Starting point is 00:53:49 You know, everything is symbolic and this isn't about, you know, so he's trolling us there. But we believe that, one, this fund is illegal. And also it violates a lot of potential constitutional laws. We believe there's some 14th Amendment violations going on. was there with being able to give aid in comfort to insurrectionists if that money indeed goes to the people responsible for attacking me and my coworkers and responsible for one of the darkest days in American history. Harry, you know, if you do the math in terms of the people that were
Starting point is 00:54:25 convicted for their participation in January 6th, these insurrectionists, and there were about 1,500 of them, if you divide $1.776 billion by the 1500 insurrection, is over a million dollars a person. So he's trying to basically make all of these people into millionaires. What does that say in terms of creating a financial incentive? I mean, forget about disincentivizing them by virtue of prosecuting them and upholding the law, but rather incentivizing them to commit violence on his behalf. I'm glad that you brought that up because we absolutely believe that this is an incentive right now. When Donald Trump got elected and inaugurated on January 20th, 2025, he pardoned all of them. And a pardon served as
Starting point is 00:55:11 that, hey, we forgive you guys. You guys are forgiven. Thank you for carrying out this brutal assault on people that are against me. And thank you for standing up for me, said Donald Trump. And they were always forgiven. Now he's rewarding them with the creation of this fund of reward. And like you said, a reward turns into an incentive. Because now it's saying, wait, we could beat up cops, we could storm the Capitol, we can search through the building trying to hang Nancy Pelosi and hang Mike Pence. We can do that and we can get paid for it. Absolutely. It's an incentive. And also, I would describe it as a retainer. You know, a lot of people are familiar with retainers. And, you know, if you have a lawyer, you pay your retainer, a little bit of money in advance. So when something does come up and you do need it, you're paid in full. I believe Donald Trump just put his own private militia on retainer.
Starting point is 00:56:09 I don't believe that Donald Trump is going to leave the White House peacefully in 2029. I mean, he's already flirting with the idea of running for a third term. And unfortunately, we got some morons in Congress and also the justices that refuse to say that's impossible. We believe in the Constitution around here. So I believe he's securing himself. a militia who's already showed what they're capable of.
Starting point is 00:56:36 Right. And you know, you don't need my words. You don't need you. I mean, the American people saw it. Like, yes, we all got opinions about what happened, but you don't need you or me or any other political pundit to describe and tell us what happened on January 6th. The American people saw it. That's why so many hundreds of, well, millions of people are opposed to this.
Starting point is 00:56:56 And this is taxpayer money, too, Brian. This is taxpayer money. It's not a go-fund me account. It's not people dropping their cash app link in their bio and saying, support me. I mean, they have the right to do that. This is everyday working Americans who can't afford the price of gas right now, who inflation is through the roof, these illegal tariffs, all this money that Donald Trump says that he does not have. They don't have money for health care.
Starting point is 00:57:22 They don't have money for child care. They don't have money for this. But they got money for ballrooms. They got money for illegal wars that are going on. They got $1.776 billion for a terror. to this country. It's just a slap in the face. Harry, what is the reaction, not just not just by you, but also of your former colleagues who were police officers at the Capitol to hear Republicans out of one side of their mouth
Starting point is 00:57:48 claim to be the party of law and order, the party of the police, and on the other hand, basically turn into millionaires every single January 6th insurrectionist who is perfectly content to kick the shit out of police officers because they wanted to try. and hang Nancy Pelosi. I'm glad you brought that up because I was very touched with the amount of people, my former co-workers that reached out to me, literally with just the simple text, thank you, thank you for doing this. And so many of them have been quiet and, you know, for good reason.
Starting point is 00:58:21 Like I still talked to a good amount of them. And they say they just got their head down trying to finish their 20, 25 years so they can retire and get the hell out of there. So a lot of them are head down. let's hurry up and finish up so I can retire and get out of here. But the amount of people that reached out and just said thank you.
Starting point is 00:58:38 And also, let's be clear about what I'm asking for in this lawsuit. I'm not asking for damages. I'm not asking for, hey, give the money to me. I'm not saying give it to the co-work. I'm not doing that. I'm not applying for the fund. I'm not. I'm saying, one, it's illegal and it's wrong, and Donald Trump is supporting
Starting point is 00:58:55 attackers. And I wouldn't want to share one red cent with anybody that was involved in an insurrection. We're not asking for that. We're asking for this judge to stop this and dissolve this illegal fund because we absolutely believe that it is. How confident are you in this case that what Donald Trump is trying to do by creating a $1.8 billion slush fund to just dole out to his political allies
Starting point is 00:59:23 is not going to hold legal muster here? Well, the good thing about it is, you know, a lot of times when you do things, you do it because it's the right thing to do. And I feel like in this moment, especially in this country, we have a lot of cowards right now. I don't care what party you're in or non-political people. There are a lot of people who just refuse to stand up and say this is where we are right now. I believe that this is wrong. And I believe we have a legal argument. Now, yes, will it be challenging?
Starting point is 00:59:50 Maybe. I mean, I see a lot of people and a lot of chatter online talking about the standing. hey, yes, they're right. We agree this is wrong, but does the officers actually have standing this? We actually do believe it. And we wouldn't have brought the case forward if we don't believe, if we didn't believe that we could win. We do believe that we can win. But most importantly, we believe that we have the pulse of the American people on our side with no matter who they are, Republicans, Democrats. And we're seeing a little bit of pushback starting to grow. Yeah. Congressman, Frank Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has said that they want to introduce
Starting point is 01:00:25 legislation is not. But that's great. People that are not okay with this. And that's what we want to do. So, you know, we hope we will be successful in our lawsuit. But what we are doing is we're putting people on notice that they need to take a stance and call this out as wrong. And we're seeing some of that.
Starting point is 01:00:42 I mean, it's been referenced all over the news. Even in the judiciary hearings, Congressman Raskin. Yep. Quoted us today in the hearing. So, you know, we're encouraged that we are on the right side of history. that's what it all comes down to for us but we do believe we have a strong case and we can win this.
Starting point is 01:01:01 Harry, you know, look, there's going to be, for every one Brian Fitzpatrick, there are going to be like 250 other Republicans who don't say anything, especially in the aftermath of Thomas Massey being ousted in his primary and Bill Cassidy
Starting point is 01:01:13 being ousted in his primary. All that's going to do is scare a bunch of people who are already fucking cowards anyway into refusing to speak out. But have you heard from regular Americans while you've been on the campaign trail. And we're going to talk about your run for Congress in just a moment here.
Starting point is 01:01:29 But you've been speaking to regular Americans a hell of a lot more than I think these Republican members of Congress are. As it relates to, again, a $2 billion slush fund, they apparently found all the money in the world for this. No money to protect health care. No money to protect food assistance. No money to bring costs down. No money to offer some relief to families who are paying more because of the trade war. No money to offer relief to families who are paying more because of record high gas prices as a result of a war that Trump promised would never happen. No money for any of those priorities, but all the money in the world of Donald Trump wants to make every criminal insurrectionist into a millionaire. And so in your conversations with folks
Starting point is 01:02:04 who have heard about this $1.8 billion slush fund, what have they been saying? Yeah, well, they're pissed off. And also, let's talk about talking to everyday Americans. Brian, I am an everyday American. I don't have, I'm not a political, I'm not an elected official. I'm not, I'm running to be one, but I'm running to represent. the people specifically of Maryland's fifth congressional district, which also, and by the way, this district has probably the highest percentage of federal workers in the country. Over 20% of the district federal workers. And also talk about wasteful spending. Doge fired the amount of people in this district, the amount of people that were fired, wrongfully terminated, illegally fired for waste,
Starting point is 01:02:52 fraud and abuse. Now let's talk about, want to talk about waste fraud and abuse? We could, we could start at the top with this fund right here, this fund, this slush fund to reward insurrectionists. So people are pissed off. And this is me, and also, Brian, this is my second lawsuit, second active lawsuit against this Department of Justice. And I'm doing this as citizen Harry Dunn, somebody who's just pissed off, you know, and I'm running for Congress just to do more, to continue more of this, because, you know, there's only so much that I can do. I, I alone can't fix it, contrary to what some other people say. But I do believe that this moment that we're in, it calls for people to do extraordinary things
Starting point is 01:03:32 and take courageous action. Now, I don't believe that what I'm doing is courageous or anything. I think that it's right and it's necessary. And, you know, I appreciate all the kind words and everything to compliment. I appreciate that. But I couldn't live with myself not doing anything. And my initial reaction when this first came out was like, we're going to do something. I don't know what it is.
Starting point is 01:03:57 But then actually getting my rational brain going and not my emotional one, we were able to formulate this lawsuit because people are pissed off. And people around here are paying attention to the government, the unaffordability of life. But somehow Donald Trump can say on national television, he's not thinking about the day-to-day cost of Americans because of this war. he's not thinking about the billions of the gas prices. He doesn't care. He's never been in touch with the American people and he's always been about himself. Meanwhile, everyday Americans are struggling, including myself. Well, look, Harry, I think pissed off citizen is as good a qualification right now as any to get in this race. And I know that you're, you know, that that you'll be modest and say that it's not courageous to do this. But in light of the fact that we have seen so much capitulation
Starting point is 01:04:46 from people all across the country, not just people, but these powerful institutions, these media companies, these law firms, people who have the resources and who should have the backbone, certainly who know better, when we see those people refuse to stand up to this administration and yet we have a former police officer who's going to step up and do what so many of these other major institutions won't, then I think that courageous does fit the bill there. So to that end. Well, thank you. I will say real quick, that's great. I really appreciate that. And you're right. So I think this election comes down to not, not like, yes, we want to elect Democrats, clear. But that's not enough. We need to make sure we're electing the right Democrats who actually understand the gravity of the situation that we're facing right now. We are in a constitutional crisis where this administration, while Donald Trump only one third of the way through his presidency, can still do so much harm without any guardrails that Congress right now has forfeited their responsibility as a. co-equal body of government. It's a co-equal. The Supreme Court has just said done away with the Civil
Starting point is 01:05:58 Rights Voting Act. They are refusing to hold Donald Trump account. There is nobody right now, and that's why we need to make sure we have the right Democrats, not just Democrats, but the right Democrats who understand that Republicans right now and this administration is using the Constitution as a suggestion manual and not the law of the land. So to that end, want to talk a little bit about what you're going to focus on in your run for Congress. I should note that you just got the endorsement of the Working Families Party. So congratulations on that endorsement. You know, there are going to be people running for this seat. This is Steny Hoyer's old seat. I don't know how old Steny Hoyer was, but glad that we
Starting point is 01:06:40 are finally at the moment where we can recognize there is an issue with the gerontocracy in the Democratic Party and offer up a bridge to the next generation. But there's going to be a lot of candidates running in the seat. What sets you apart? Yeah, and you know what? That's interesting when you talk about who's going to be the best fighter for this moment that we're in right now. And I think that's what we need to realize.
Starting point is 01:07:02 Who's going to do the absolute, who's going to be the most effective and the most efficient during the work? Like, sure, if people go to these forums and they'll ask questions, who supports Medicare for all and you'll get, you know, everybody raises their hand and who supports, you know, defunding ICE and, you know, all this stuff. and who thinks Donald Trump is bad. We all agree on the surface of what these issues are. So I don't think the issue is about getting a vote in favor of one particular line item, if you will.
Starting point is 01:07:29 We're all going to support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. We're all going to support common sense gun reform. But who realizes right now that it's not time to play nice with these people? Like I said earlier, I have, as citizen, Harry Dunn, filed two lawsuits in my personal capacity. Imagine what I can do with the subpoena power guaranteed to a member of Congress by the Constitution. I would love to serve on the Oversight Committee. The two main factors that I'm focusing on my campaign are accountability and affordability. And yes, all roads lead back to Donald Trump when you're talking about affordability, which everybody in this country is struggling from.
Starting point is 01:08:11 When the big, beautiful bill was passed, that enriched Donald Trump. his billionaire friends. These terrorists are enriching nobody, and they are Donald Trump's benefiting from them. But the American people, they are the ones that are suffering. It just blows my mind that so many people want to just a strongly worded letter or a strongly worded email. I really believe in the phrase of hope, like when President Obama ran on hope, and that was so inspirational.
Starting point is 01:08:41 But we're not going to hope our way out of this situation right now. We need people that are going to stand there. And everybody says they're going to fight, but I've literally done it. I've shed blood at the U.S. Capitol, defending the capital, defending the U.S. Capitol, and still showing up despite consistently, I mean, go to any right-wing influencer right now on social media on any platform where they posted about this lawsuit. And just go look at the comments. I guarantee you you can find five, ten, without even trying about suggesting death threats. So it's been a non-stop.
Starting point is 01:09:12 And if they think they can scare me away or, or win. or losing an election is going to make me any less or powerful. I don't need a title in front of my name and I don't need initials after my name to realize that I'm in this fight and I am going to continue to stand up and fight for people because this sucks and it's not normal. Harry, that was perfectly put. For those who are looking to help your campaign, where can they go? Harry Dunn, 4-F-R-M-D.com.
Starting point is 01:09:43 Harry Dunn-F-R-M-D-D-com. I'm on social media, except for Twitter. It's always going to be Twitter to me. It's such a toxic place there. And I just don't go there. I'm not going to support Elon Musk and just the cesspool that he's created over at Twitter. So I'm on threads. I'm on Instagram, Blue Sky, substack.
Starting point is 01:10:05 Libra Dunn is my handle. Standing Art Ground is my substack. And Harry Dunn, 4MB.com. Excellent. I'm going to put the link to your website right here on the screen. and also in the post description. For those who are listening on the podcast, I'm going to throw it in the show notes.
Starting point is 01:10:19 Highly recommend for anybody who's watching right now. Please support this campaign, support the fighters that we have who are actually standing up in this moment. Harry, thank you for the work you're doing. Thank you for bringing this lawsuit forward. Thanks for standing up for the people who don't have a voice in the same way that you do.
Starting point is 01:10:33 And I appreciate you taking the time today. I appreciate your time, man. Thank you for all the work that you do. You're fantastic, brother. Thanks again to Jamie Raskin, Keith Ellison, Tom Steyer, and Harry Dunn. That's it for this episode. Talk to you on Sunday.
Starting point is 01:10:45 You've been listening to No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen. Produced by Sam Graber, music by Wellesie, and interviews edited for YouTube by Nicholas Nicotera. If you want to support the show, please subscribe on your preferred podcast app and leave a five-star rating in a review. And as always, you can find me at Brian Tyler Cohen on all of my other channels,
Starting point is 01:11:04 or you can go to bryantarcoen.com to learn more.

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