The Eric Metaxas Show - Patrick Byrne Drops An Obamagate Timeline Bombshell

Episode Date: July 30, 2025

Patrick Byrne drops a Obamagate timeline bombshell that alledges the outgoing administration began its web of deceit earlier than previously reported. He also speculates on what may be to come from Tulsi Gabbard's DNI in the coming days.

Welcome to the Eric Mataxis show. Did you like your gravy thick and rich and loaded with creamy mushrooms? If no one was looking, would you chug the whole gravy boat? Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug. Stay tuned. Here comes Mr. Chugg-a-lug-a-lug himself, Eric Mat, Texas. Hey there, folks. Today is Monday, July 28th.

And the guy who just introduced this program sounds so much. much like Albin, I'm beginning to wonder. It's starting to freak me out. Chris Heim's and Keith Jinta, we've got a lot to talk about here. Let me announce, first of all, that my guests coming up in the next segment, folks, this is, I don't know. I never know how to say, I don't want to exaggerate. But I think my guest, who's Patrick Brun, is a, this is,

Patrick Byrne is a lot like, you know, his life story reads like a political thriller, but it's all real. It's like, you hear these stories about people that's like, oh, that's too, that's made up. But his life is actually reads like a political thriller. He was the CEO of Overstock.com. He was a brilliant entrepreneur with a PhD from Stanford, you know, one of the first, you know, major tech CEOs to talk about election integrity, government overreach, things like that. And he's actually worked with the FBI to expose scandals in Washington. So he's put a lot on the line personally to kind of be a whistleblower. He's,

but hang on, hang on, the headline, the headline. This is the headline, folks. Patrick Byrne was recruited by the CIA to create the Russia collusion hoax. He's going to come on in the next few minutes. He's been on the program in the past to talk about this. But clearly we have new information. But that's the headline. And it's crazy that I get to talk to him on this program.

You'll see when he comes on in a few minutes. This is, this is, it doesn't get more newsy. It doesn't get more important. And so I feel very humble in a sense that I get to, to have him on this program. Because he adds to the, he adds a lot to the story that we haven't yet heard. So this is a big deal. It's huge. It's huge.

All right. before we get into any of that stuff, I want a couple things I want to remind everybody of. We have a sale at Eric Mataxis.com. My newest book, Religionless Christianity, which genuinely would make good summer beach reading. It's short, punchy. It is, you know, it's a $20-something dollar book at Eric Mataxis.com, We have a sale that is $10 at Eric Mataxis.com. So I just want to apprise you of that.

That's more than 50% off. We have a bookseller that we work with. Ericmetaxis.com, check it out. Number two, I want to mention September 4th, tickets will go on sale for the Socrates and the city Christmas gala here in New York City. Last year, it was one of the greatest events. It was magical. Everybody kept saying this was magical.

It was magical. It was magical. It was magical. It's the Socrates and City Christmas Gala. It's December 2nd. Tickets will not go on sale until September 4th, so don't email us about it. But we're just letting you know September 4th tickets will go on sale. We also have a patrons dinner in New York City.

That is September 18th. If you want to come to that to New York, it'll be very special. It'll be at the Metropolitan Club, I believe, which is amazing. That's September 18th. Anyway, and then if you're a member of Socrates Plus, we have a new feature called The Question of, and each week we're posting a 10 or 11 minute mini interview with one of our Socrates guests. It's called The Question of. of. It's a new feature. So I want to apprise you of that. Oh, there's so much to talk about.

I want to, before we get to Patrick Brent, I just have to say, I don't think I've told you, Chris or Keith, but last night in New York City, Suzanne and I had the privilege of hanging out with the great Dick Cavett, the legend that is Dick Cavett. He and his wife invited us to the premiere of an off-Broadway show called Gene and Gilda about Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner about their life. And so we went to that. Dick provides the voiceover for the show. I mean, it's a pre-recorded voiceover. He's sort of interviewing Gene Wilder. Gene Wilder passed away, I guess, two years ago. Gilda Radner, of course, passed away of ovarian cancer in 1989. They were married. And so it's a really remarkable little play. But the most amazing thing to me, and I said this to everyone, including to the two stars of the show, what an amazing job they did. I mean, sometimes you cannot help but be in awe of actors and their talent. I mean, to pull off

kind of fooling me into sort of thinking you're Gene Wilder, when I knew Gene Wilder well, having watched his stuff. I mean, I did meet him very briefly once, but to pull that off so that the guy sounds and seems like Gene Wilder on the stage and that the actress seems like Gilder. It was really masterful. And so I think sometimes these young actors,

when you think what they go through to try to build a career and you see this talent, this amazing talent, but that's, anyway, that's playing here in New York, Gene and Gilda is the name of it. But so Suzanne and I were able to spend some time with Dick, Cavett last night and his wife Martha. And it was just, it was a special evening.

And as we came home, I thought, we lead an interesting life that I get to do that. That really was a, it was a real, a real blessing. And I love Dick so much. I just, he's such a good man and has been a real friend over the years. So, okay, now, before we get to my newsbreaking guests, trust me, it's going to be nuts. Stay tuned. Buckley your seatbelt.

I want to remind you that we're doing a fundraiser with our friends at Food for the Poor. They came to us with an emergency request. Many of you have stepped up. The floods in Texas, we tend to think of it as, oh, this terrible thing happened and it's over. But it's not over. These floods have completely devastated communities. They have destroyed homes, completely destroyed, completely destroyed businesses. So there are thousands of people reeling from this.

They're just reeling. They don't know what to do. They're in shelters. They're here. I don't know what's going on. So they need help. The information I have, it says there was another weekend of 100 degree heat for the relief workers and first responders in central Texas as the work continues rebuilding the lives of people

displaced by the catastrophic flooding that began on the 4th of July. At the same time, survivors continue to grieve the loss on dozens of young children and others swept away in the flooding. As this reporter, I've got a clip here from PBS in Austin, Texas, recalls. Let's play that clip. I think of Lenny McCowan, who died alongside her best friend at Kenton. I can't Abby Pohl, I've been in touch with the parents of both of them. I also think of Mary Stevens, who was an eight-year-old who also died at Camp Mystic. And so the families are, of course, continuing to breathe, as is the entire community. Yeah, well, brothers and sisters, you can step up if you haven't and give something.

Every relief kit costs $50. So our website is metaxis talk.com. Metaxistalk.com. At the top of the page, you see a big banner. It says, Help Texas, Disaster Relief. This is an emergency, folks. This is, you know, in a few weeks, this goes away. They need to help, like, right now.

You can also phone in your gift. I'll give you that phone number if you get a pencil or a pen or something typewriter, whatever you need. Or you can text Matasashton. Taxus to 51555, M-E-T-A-X-A-S, text metaxis to 5-1-55-5-5-5. The phone number, this is an emergency, they need your help, please do what you can. $50. The number is 844-8-863-4673, 844-863, 8-4-6-7-3, 8-4-6-7-3, 8-4-6-7-3.

please help it's an emergency God bless you as you give thank you folks just to remind you the flooding in central Texas has taken over 100 lives many people still missing we on this program are asking you to join us in Food for the Poor

as we rush emergency relief to devastated families please call 844-863 4673 or text metaxis to 51555 to give right now or you can click on the banner, metaxis talk.com. Thank you.

Mike Lindell and MyPillow employees want to thank you, my listeners, for all your continued support. Mike has a passion to help everyone get the best sleep of their life. He didn't stop by creating the best pillow. He created the best bed sheets ever. Yes, Mike is offering the best deal on his percale bedsheets. You can get a set now for as low as 2498. The MyPill Perkale bedsheets are breathable and have a cool, crisp feel. They have deep pocket. to fit over any mattress. They look and feel great, which means an even better night's sleep for me, which is crucial for my busy schedule. Also for limited time, when your order is over $100, you'll receive $100 in free digital gifts. Did you hear that? Go to mypillow.com,

use promo code Eric to receive the MyPillill Per Cale sheets for as low as 2498. Order now, or call 800, 978-3057, 800, 978-3057, and use promo code Eric. Go to MyPillow.com. Use promo code Eric or call 800-978-3057. Ingredients. When I flip a container around and I can't pronounce or recognize the ingredients, I put it back. That's why you'll find balance of nature's fruits and veggie supplements on a shelf in my home, because every single ingredient is a fruit or veggie plucked from the soil, no binders, no additives or artificial colors, no fillers, just whole fruits and veggies, gluten-free and vegan-friendly. These harvested ingredients are freeze-dried into a fine powder

using an advanced vacuum cold process to better preserve nutritional value. I can say with absolute confidence that I'm getting 31 ingredients from fruits and veggies every single day with balance of nature. Imagine a platter with 31 different fruits and veggies on it every day. Join me in taking balance of nature and use my discount code Eric to get 40% off plus free shipping this week only. You've got to use my discount code Eric. Call them at 800-2468-751.

Use discount code Eric or order online at balance of nature.com. Use discount code Eric to get 40% off this week only. Folks, right now in Texas, families are reeling from this historic flooding. Food for the poor is delivering life-saving relief, but they need our help. I'm Eric Metaxus. Call 844-8663-4-6773 or text Metaxus to 51555 to send emergency supplies or visit Metaxus talk. Click on the banner. Metaxistalks.com. Thank you. Welcome back. My guest, Patrick Byrne, is not here. Where is he? I just texted him, where are you?

And he's like, wasn't it tomorrow? And I texted back. No, it was today. Where is he? He is on the road driving four and a half hours. That's going to be a problem. So he, out of the goodness of his heart, for having screwed up and embarrassed me and hurt me personally, deeply, I think he's going to try to get his computer set up at a... Undisclosed location.

At a Chucky Cheese bathroom or something like that. I don't know. It'll be fine. This is what happened. This is the downside to booking people that live lives of political intrigue. You never know when the intrigue is going to catch up to the book. Yeah, exactly. So we will have him by God's grace in the next segment. In the next segment, we will have him on. But I guess this is an opportunity for me to say again, as you listen to this program, folks, and I hope you share this program. We're going to get this video out like today. It should be up now if you're listening to this. The story that he tells, you know, And obviously I have great reason to believe that it's absolutely true.

It's sort of unbelievable that he was talking to Clapper and Comey. They had sucked him in to help them build the case of Russian collusion. And he did it. Why? Because he trusted them. Because he loves America. And he says the CIA, my country is asking me to help. And he helped them.

And he helped them build the Russia collusion narrative. He's going to talk about that. This is before Donald Trump was elected in November of 2016. And that's the breaking news. If we have any breaking news, breaking news today, is that they were setting this up before Donald Trump won. This is Obama masterminding everything. So he's going to talk about that in a couple minutes. All right.

But so while he's setting up his computer in the bathroom of the Chuck E. cheese. Let me share some other things with you. First of all, I mentioned already that we have a super sale going on at Eric Mataxis.com where you can get my new book, Religionless Christianity, for $10. It's a hardcover book. I think what I say in the book is actually important. Unfortunately, I think it's very important. But if you want to copy Hardcover, $10, I also want to mention our Christmas Gala in New York City will be December 2nd, but you cannot buy tickets or get the details until September 4th. So mark your calendar December 2nd. If you can get to that, it's limited seating. I'll tell you that right now. And it'll be the Union League Club, but you can't buy tickets

until September 4th. We have a patrons dinner coming up September 18th for Socrates in the city. those are very, very special. And I know I'm interviewing a very special guest, but I cannot share that publicly yet. But if you want to be with us at the Patron's Dinner, September 18th, it's at a new location, beautiful location. I wanted to mention that. I also, Chris, you just said something that I should mention before we forget.

Yeah, we did a taping of a talk show pilot. But many, many, yeah, many moons ago. And we're having some interesting talks now with some folks and figuring out a way to make this happen now that there's more room at the table since Colbert has been fired. We think it's- No, no, he was censored. Oh, yeah, he was censored. The government censored him. They said, you, sir, we're not going to give you $20 million anymore.

And he knew that his rights as a citizen were violated because if you don't pay him $20 million, What are you, a communist? So Colbert is upset. We're all upset to see this grievous abrogation of his First Amendment rights. Ladies and gentlemen, the Constitution guarantees, I believe specifically, that Colbert should make $20 million. Whether the show is popular or making money for CBS makes no difference. This is censorship, and it needs to stop.

It needs to stop. Actually, speaking of serious. censorship. My friend Sean Foyt has been in Canada, and I know, Keith, you probably know about this. Folks, no kidding. Canada, when we talk about Western values, at the heart of it, you guess would be free speech, right? Well, no, not in Canada. What about freedom of religion? Not in Canada. It is really chilling what they have done to him and the church that sponsored him in Canada. We'll get him on probably next week to talk about this. But it's unbelievable, unbelievable.

We should also talk about what nobody in the news is talking about. Islamic radicals have slaughtered Christians in a church in the Congo. I'm not afraid to say that Islam is a false religion, okay? It's not a different religion. It is a false religion. It's made up. It's not true. and I don't know if it's just made up by people or demonically inspired fiction,

but it is not true. That's how you judge a faith. Is it true? And worse than being false, it is murderous. Does this mean that everyone who claims to be a Muslim is murderous? No, because a lot of Muslims, like a lot of Catholics, like a lot of Christians, they have no clue what their religion teaches. They're just cultural Muslims, and they say I'm a Muslim,

but they don't know, I have a clue about it. But those who are dedicated to it, you know, it's a political movement. It's a, it's a, they want to take over the world through murder. They just murdered people in a Catholic church in Congo. The news is not talking about this. I thought I might mention it here. But if you follow me on X, I hope you follow me on X. I've been posting about this.

if you're not on X, I mean, what I say to people is get on X just to follow a handful of people that you trust for the news. And if you follow me, you know, one side, if you're on X, there's a for you, which they're kind of promoting stuff. And then there's a following. Those are the people that you. So if you just click on the right side of it, if you're on X, you just get a news feed of people that you trust. I try to use my place there on X, you know, to spread the news that I think is important. And that's the trick today, right? Because you don't know whom to trust. So I wanted to share that.

A couple of other things I wanted to share. I want to remind you of our campaign with Food for the Poor. This is an emergency. Normally when we do campaigns, fundraising campaigns, you know, it's generally urgent, but it's not an emergency. This is an emergency. This is about the floods in Texas. So there are people right now, a month from now, you will not be able to help them. They need the help now.

So it's now or never. If you want to help them, Food for the Poor is working with local churches in central Texas to help the people whose lives have been devastated, upended. And to do that, you have to go to metaxis talk.com, Metaxistalkis talk.com. When you get there, you will see the banner, help Texas. I mean, you can do it on your phone. You can do it on your computer. Or you can text Metaxis, M-E-T-A-X-A-S to 5-1-55-5-5. Most of us have $50 for this to help these families.

text metaxis to 51555, M-E-T-A-X-A-S. Or you can phone in your gift. You can, right now, you can dial, but who dials? What does dial mean? You can punch in your phone. [phone].

Okay, before we get to Patrick Byrne, whom I have been led to believe, who I have been led to believe will be joining us in a second. I want to say that I'm working on my book about the American Revolution, and it is so fascinating. I don't mean my book. I mean, the subject is so – I am finding stuff that I thought, I didn't learn this in school. This is crazy. This is important in understanding the whole thing. So I am very excited about this book. And it's well written because I care about the writing, not just the facts.

You know, there's a lot of books that have facts, but you don't want to read them because they're just hard to read. And I think that's one of the gifts that God has given me is an ability to write in a way that people want to read. People have been saying that to me. People kept saying about the Bonhofer book, I don't read books, but I read your whole book. A lot of people said, I mean, hundreds of people said it to me. over the last like 15 years or whatever. So seriously, I'm excited about the book and I can't wait till, you know,

we get a website and everything. And by the way, I should say, in case you're wondering, what do you call the 250th anniversary of the United States of America? I've coined the term, folks. It is the super centennial, super centennial.

Stay tuned. I believe President Trump at some point is going to make that announcement, but he's kind of busy right now. Super Centennial. I've got an Instagram thing. You can follow Super Centennial on Instagram. Anyway, all right. I hope when we come back, I'm talking to Patrick Byrne. We'll see. Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean. My fist got hard. My wish got keen. Ladies and gentlemen, remember I mentioned Patrick Byrne as being on the road and unable to join us. And remember how it broke your heart. Do you remember that? I remember it.

But guess what? Patrick Byrne is such a wonderful human being that he figured out a way to get on here. Patrick Byrne from the bottom of my heart, thank you for changing your plans and making this work. Thanks for coming on here. Actually, Eric, I thank you for accepting my apology for being so inconsidered to you and your listeners. I had my day wrong since I'm no longer don't have an office anymore. I sometimes get my calendar scrambled. I'm so sorry.

I can only imagine. Well, listen, I've been prepping my audience for your story, and I said that the headline of the story is that Brennan, Clapper, Comey, they got you to help them to create the Russia collusion hoax. And because you loved your country. Now, you've been on the program talking about this in the past, but my audience changes and people won't remember. But that you loved your country, and you said, my country's coming to me to help. Yes, sir. and you help them create the Russia collusion hoax. Correct.

Finally, it has come into the news, and I keep saying that the mainstream media is losing their minds because they push this hoax, and now they're caught red-handed, they're embarrassed, so they're going to double down on the lies, which is stupid. They could save themselves by coming clean, repenting, was the old-fashioned word, apologizing and saying, we got it wrong. from today, we want to get it right, but they're not doing that. But Patrick, you, your role in this is almost unbelievable. So I want you to do your best in the time you have today to tell us what we don't know, what has not been reported. Well, very good, very good. Yes, very beautifully

summarized. What I would say is what we, you know, there was the official, the official Russia narrative was that there was collusion. That's not. Then we became aware. everyone that wasn't in Iraq became aware it was all a hoax and it was all a setup. But the details were not out. And but even, even though we've known since Crossfire Hurricane was revealed that, well, it looked like, let's say the among Republicans, among Trumpicans, if you was, the official narrative was okay. I think it was the first few days of August 2016, the FBI set up a, or started the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. and that was all a hoax. That's what our side has been saying,

or they got to that point a couple of years. This new information has broken through that and it's stepped things backwards in time. Now, I'm moving. Now, before you, before you do this, because it's my job to get you to explain this up because you're so into this that I think you're assuming people are tracking. And some people are, but most people listen to this program,

they're more like me and they're sort of tracking. But I want to get this exact. We know Tulsi Gabbard recently revealed the evidence that, you know, Clappercombe, Brennan, Obama, they knew that Donald Trump was not colluding with the Russians, but that didn't fit their narrative. So they lied, ladies and gentlemen, that's evil what they did. They lied and they continued to push it. So that has come out recently.

Right. Now, what you're talking about, because that happened in November, December, and even going into January of 2017. But this is in the period where he had been elected before he actually took office, Obama decided to cripple his presidency to maintain control through the deep state of the levers of power. this is as unconstitutional, evil as it gets, ladies and gentlemen, in case you think, oh, yeah, they're all corrupt. No, no, no. This is a new level. This is like murdering children in the street. This is, this is not,

oh, yes, they all do it. This is a new level in the United States of America. But so to backtrack, you're talking about crossfire hurricane. Forgive me for asking you to remind us of what that refers to. Okay. Crossfire hurricane is the official name of the FBI investigation into Donald Trump's collusion with Russia. And that was started. Let's use the year 2016. Let's focus on 2016. What they've been telling us is that started in August.

And we've also learned that in December, it was reported to Obama that there was nothing there. and he said, I don't care, create an independent or intelligence community and assessment that says there's deep collusion. Okay. Okay. So again, to explain this to my audience or in case anybody's out there not getting this, so they, during the campaign, folks, before Trump was elected, during the campaign, in the summer of 2016, they.

bug tapped Trump Tower and they were trying to create this narrative this lie in the summer of 2016 during the election okay Patrick Burns so you say that

it started way before that and you were involved yes there's two differences between my story and the story as it existed publicly for a few years. Their story is Hillary Clinton did it, and it started in August of 2016. My story is it was not Hillary Clinton, it was Barack Obama, and it started at least a year or a year and a half earlier. And what's happened is the mainstream narrative has crumbled in two ways. They are no longer saying it's Hillary Clinton. They're saying it's Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton played a role in some scheming, but it was Barack. Obama, as of December anyway, 2016. And secondly, they're saying it didn't really start in August. It started in July, started a month earlier. Okay, folks, now you got the setup. Everybody has the setup. We're on the same page. When we come back, we're going to get some breaking news here.

Stick around. Come back, folks. Okay, so you got the setup. I'm talking to Patrick Byrne, B-Y-R-N-E. So Patrick, you and I, you and I, we're texting the other day, and this is so huge that it's hard to comprehend. In other words, you're saying, which has not been reported by Tulsi Gabbard or anybody, that Obama, while he was president of the United States, this wicked man,

was doing things in the last year of his second term to set up this huge lie. So tell us about that. Again, I know you share this on the program, but nobody will remember. I won't remember to tell us. Well, let me take it back to, and Tulsi has made one little, I should adjust what I said. She has also moved the start date back from August, early August, back to early July. So she has broken the narrative as it existed up until a couple weeks ago in two ways. She's included Obama, and she says it didn't start in August.

It started July. of 2016. I can promise. Now, so that's great. They're digging, they're tunneling, and they're getting to where I am buried. I'm buried under the ground with the real truth. And they have tunneled some of the way to my truth, and they're still tunneling.

What they're eventually going to learn, why don't I jump to all the way in? Here's what they're going to learn. In February of 2015, Maria Boutina first came to the United States. It was a first trip, not the trip that that... Excuse me.

February. 2015. So a year and a half earlier than we were just speaking about, a year and a half earlier than I was just speaking about. She first came to America. And while she was here, she was a, she was a assistant to the, the central bank came, the Russian central bank had a delegation come to America. She came within that delegation as a special assistant to the vice chairman, this guy, Torsin. And she was in DC for a couple weeks. Now, she's a very standout kind of person. I can promise you that in D.C. she was noticed. But in any case, there was a luncheon that was occurring every two weeks at a, was either something like the Washington Examiner or was the Heritage Foundation or was, what's

the anti-tax group? It may have been that anti-tax group. I can get the guy, who's the big anti-tax guy in DC? The club for growth? Yeah, it may have been there. Anyway, I forget that a little detail at the moment, but one of those places, I know who I can call and get it, one of those places was having a biweekly luncheon that Congress was coming to and correspondence were coming to, both domestic and foreign. Maria Boutina showed up at that luncheon with a badge saying she also had media credentials in Russia. She shows up at that luncheon. She asks a couple of polite questions. She's very polite. She leaves. afterwards, the person running the luncheon. Now, I have this directly from him. I'm not going to tell you his name. It's a name you know.

The person running the luncheon meets with his staff. And there's a general consensus that, gee, it makes a little people a little bit, even though we allow foreign correspondents having kind of a hot Russian, you know, a woman in here in high heels. It just kind of made people nervous in Washington, D.C. Next week, when she comes or two weeks from now, if she comes, please politely tell her to step aside. it makes people uncomfortable, don't come in.

That was the instruction to the guards and the staff of this luncheon. This is what's so key. The next day, the FBI calls him up and said, no one knows this yet. The next day, the FBI calls him up. This is February 2015, and they say, listen, we understand you had this Russian woman has shown up, Maria Butina, she's in the U.S. She's at your luncheon, maybe people uncomfortable, and you've asked for people not to let her in next week. Do us a favor and reverse that instruction.

We want you to let her in and we want you to schmooze around, let her schmooze around with these highfalutin people in this luncheon. Who was that FBI person? That was Peter Strach. So now we know that Peter Strach and the FBI were framing this, framing not just Maria, but framing, and I believe framing a Russian scandal, February 2015. So that's still 17 months earlier than Tulsi has gone.

gotten to. Okay, February 2015, folks, again, this is the, this is the, this is where it gets, it's so evil. Peter Strach, you can remember his ultra smug face, he was setting this up. In other words, he's thought, oh, there's a, there's a Russian woman in D.C. Let's use this. Let's suck her in. This is like a sting operation. Let's pull her in and see what we can get. Keep going. So now we know from that that it was had been crafted back then. February of 2015, I can promise that in July of 2015, my story shows that it was definitely being crafted by July of 2015 because that's when I met her.

I reported her. I had my own reasons to do so. But, and I didn't report her in a bad way, although she will never forgive me. I reported her because she wanted to be brought to the attention of the U.S. government. And I could have done that. Before I did that, I need to have sort of the sign-off for the FBI. And so I was trying to give her what she wanted. But in any case, I let the FBI know in July of 2015 she was here.

And the next day, they were all on her. So when she stood up and asked Donald Trump that question in Ella and they, in July of 2015. The FBI was already on her. That's a year before the July of 2016 that Tulsi is now saying, look, it didn't start in August of 2016 and started July of 2016. And I'm saying, yeah, started then. Actually, I was involved in July of 2015. And I put the FBI, I promised they were all over her. But where the confusion comes is just to be clear, I mean, I, my wife and I had dinner with Maria Bettina and a mutual friend who'd introduced her to us.

I didn't really know anything about her. What's the official line on Maria Butina? Like, in other words, what are we supposed at this point to think? What was she trying to do? Now, there's this one thing to talk about what the deep state was trying to get it

to look like, but what were the basic fact? Was she trying to do anything particularly nefarious? No, although what she was doing was a little risky. And I pointed that out to her. I just I just recently saw her over in Moscow. It keeps getting crazier.

Folks, we'll be right back. Okay. Folks, as you know, this is a real crisis. Over 129 are confirmed dead. Dozens still missing in Texas. Eric Mattaxas here urging you to help us get emergency supplies to flood victims. Partner with us and food for the poor. Call 844-863-4673 or text Metaxus to 5155.5.

or click on the banner at metaxis talk.com, metaxistalksotalk.com. Thank you. Welcome back talking to Patrick Byrne. All right, folks, are you tracking? Because I'm not. Tell me again. Now, Maria Butina, this is somebody I would say I know her to some extent. I was unaware of all the stuff you're talking about. I'm naive, folks. If I come across as naive, That's because I am naive and I don't mind being naive. That's fine. You can also be innocent. That's fine too.

You don't always have to be down on the dirty weeds. Nonetheless, when this stuff comes to my attention, I'm very interested. So, Patrick, you don't see Maria as a nefarious figure, just to be clear. I was about two-thirds happy and one-third concerned. I was two-thirds happy at what she was described. she wanted to do. Let me tell you what she thought she was, whether what that's what she really was is a different thing. What she thought she was or what she said she was, I think what she said she was and what she thought she was the same. I'm not entirely sure they, that she is,

she knows what she really was. What she thought she was this, a graduate student of political philosophy, very intellectual, real intellectual. I have studied and taught at some of the greatest universities in the world, and I've known lots of smart kids. She's a very exceptional. little 26-year-old kid at that point. And a student of political philosophy, a couple of master's degrees, wants to talk about Milton Friedman, Hayek wants to talk. I mean, she's a real libertarian, an Austrian economist, a Milton Friedman. This is what, so she's, she'd become very close to, A, Mikhail Kalishnikov, who was

this ethical, I mean, this mystical figure in Russian history. You know who Kalishnikov is? I only know the rifle named after him. Yeah, the AK, he's a, Mikhail Kalishnikov was a World War, he was a soldier who left the battlefield in World War II, was put in a plant, worked in an arms factory,

and in 1947, designed this undistructible, super cheap, great weapon called the AK-47, that they've looked, view as the gun that viewed the world, is what they call the AK-47, because all the liberation movements around the world took it, against the colonialist. So she's, so he was 93, but at 93, he kind of anointed her as his successor. He formed a foundation and named her the successor. That was this gun rights group you've

probably heard of. So to Russian people, that's like George Washington had selected this 23-year-old girl and said, this girl is carry on for me. But I mean, but, but for what? Because not everybody, you know, listening to this program understands Russian history. Neither do I. In other words, I got the impression that Maria Bettina believed in a lot of the things that we do, in liberty. Let's start there. In liberty. That's kind of newsy for somebody in Russia to be a proponent of liberty, to be a proponent of gun rights. Am I getting that wrong?

No, you're getting a right, but the gun rights group I would almost describe as not a cover organization, but it was a group for the people who believed in liberty of Russia, which they call, you know, outside the world, outside the U.S., and the rest of the world, the word liberalism means what you are. Believe it or not, you know, Merrick, that we are liberals in the eyes of... In the classic old sense of liberal. Yeah, it's got changed by the... So she's a liberal, and she says, Patrick, believe it or not,

there are liberals in Russia, too. There's 150 of them across the Russian power structure. in both the oligarchs and in the Kremlin. And Patrick, there are 50 oligarchs who run Russia, but there are seven who really run Russia, and I am close, very close to four of seven. And believe it or not, we all understand that maybe the path we're on isn't going to last forever.

Russia used to have great relations with the West with the United States. you know, they think that they saved us in our civil wars. And as part of the ways Russian teach history is that they sent navies that saved, that blocked it to the south. As usual, we're getting into some weeds talking to Patrick Byrne. We're going to go to a break, but we've got plenty time. This is important stuff. Do not go. You're not going anywhere.

You'd be crazy. I'm yours. Here we go. No, I'm talking about my audience. We'll be right back.