The MeidasTouch Podcast - Defeating Cockamamie Seditionists with AZ Sec. of State Candidate Adrian Fontes

Episode Date: March 4, 2022

On today’s episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, we have an amazing guest, Former Recorder in Maricopa County, Marine Corps veteran & frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for Arizona Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes! We chat with Fontes about his recommendation to DOJ to investigate the fraudulent electors scheme in Arizona. Additionally, Fontes walks us through how Democratic messaging needs to be shaped and what he is doing every day to defend the great people of Arizona and the United States. The remainder of the episode, the brothers break down President Biden’s SOTU, Ron DeathSantis playing pandemic theater by yelling at High School students to take off their masks, bombshell updates from the January 6 Committee & the latest on Ukraine. FRIENDLY REMINDER: FRIDAY AT 8PM ET, OUR VERY OWN MEIDAS JORDY WILL BE PLAYING PA A.G. JOSH SHAPIRO IN A 1v1 BASKETBALL GAME & WILL BE LIVE STREAMED ACROSS ALL YOUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS (proceeds to the event will be donated to the AG’s Gubernatorial race & The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank). If you enjoyed today’s episode please be sure to rate, review and subscribe! As always, thank YOU for listening! DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS: ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/meidas Trade Coffee: https://drinktrade.com/meidas Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/meidas and use code MEIDAS Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601 The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 Zoomed In: https://pod.link/1580828633 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We have a great podcast episode for you today. Our guest, Adrian Fontes, who is running for Arizona Secretary of State. He was the former recorder in the Maricopa County. Look, Arizona for election integrity is literally the focal point. What is happening in Arizona? What is happening? Hopefully Adrian can let us know. Cyber ninjas.

You got their head of the Republican Party, who was one of the people who put forward the fake slate of electors. You have the Republican legislature there trying to undermine it. Here's the thing. The Arizona election system is actually done in a very bipartisan way before Trump infected the minds and made the GQP this

radical extremist GQP party. But we'll talk more with Adrian Fontes about that. I want to speak to Adrian specifically, too, because Adrian is a master at messaging. And I want to share with you his views of how the Democratic Party can also message better, get those messages about family values, about what true patriotism means, about what real leadership is. And sometimes you got to fit those messages in a bumper sticker. They got to be short, crisp. Jordy's pointing to the bumper sticker and apparently believes those who listen can somehow find his. Let's be clear. My skill set caters to our social media watchers. Jordy, you're going to have to step it up for our audio listeners who are the bulk

of the Midas Touch podcast listeners. But yeah, no, we've got great bumper stickers. Jordy you're gonna have to step it up for our audio listeners who are the bulk of the Midas Touch podcast listeners but yeah no we got great bumper stickers Jordy pointing to the vote blue over Q which is our new bestseller and of course we have the it wasn't rigged you're just a loser bumper sticker and we got those shirts at store.midastouch.com Brett YouTube you you got over yeah YouTube gate YouTube gate. YouTube gate. So YouTube, I'll let Brett tell the story because I don't want Brett to yell at me and Jordy, but Jordy and I somehow got the brunt of Brett's anger over the past 24 hours because YouTube incorrectly, they've apologized. Apologized. Public apology.

Public apology from YouTube. A public apology from YouTube. But Brett somehow took out his anger on me and Jordy. And so we were getting yelled at. Brett Bennett, Jordy, I don't know what you're doing. Shut up. And here's the thing. When Brett gets the way he got yesterday and yesterday was a tough day.

When Brett gets the way he got, I called Ben and I let Ben know. I'm like, hey, just so you know, like Brett's having one of his Brett days. Brett, growing up, I'll let you explain the story in a second but like growing up when majority and I would do something like whether it was like I don't know pressing like the wrong button for like how to break a Mario Kart like in the right

direction you know Brett would yell at us and he would go you don't do it like that you don't do it like that you don't do it like that this show is going do it like that. You don't do it like that. Is that what this show is going to be rag on birthday? That's what you would do. You don't do it like that. Okay. Well, yesterday I had to tell YouTube, you don't do it like that because YouTube inexplicably decided to suspend our account for a week, prevent us from posting any new content on either the community pages or any

new videos, because we apparently committed the egregious crime of posting the viral video of Ron DeSantis telling kids to take off their mask during his little photo op yesterday. So I literally posted that exact clip because I thought it was important for that clip to get out to a wider audience. The clip now has something like 20 million views on Twitter. It was all over the news, all over every major news network and local news network. And it was also all over YouTube already, like a million other accounts have posted it, a bunch of news stations, a bunch of random accounts. And so I posted and within like a minute of posting it, I get a thing that says, YouTube has put a strike

on your account. I didn't even fully know what that meant until we tried to then upload a legal AF yesterday and we could not upload legal AF. And I said, oh my God, those fuckers are not letting us post for a week. They suspended us from posting for an entire week for this. And so I immediately- Careful, careful, careful. Don't call them fuckers. If we're going to post this on YouTube, you're going to actually get us a strike. A public apology. What type of weird baseball are they playing where one strike and you're out? This is ridiculous. Yeah. I'm not afraid of big tech, you guys. I vote with him. So then next, I appealed the ruling

and within a minute, I got an email back that said, this is bullshit. They said, a human has looked into your appeal and we reject it. We stand by our ruling that you are spreading medical disinformation by posting Rhonda Santus' words. And so at that point, I had no real alternatives. So I took to Twitter, rallied the Midas Mighty, reached out to YouTube support separately. Thank you to everybody who reached out and offered to help. And eventually this morning, we were reinstated, got a public apology from YouTube and I am thrilled about it, but oh man, was it a stressful day. And I think yesterday probably took off a good two to three years of my life between that and between my internet issues here, my internet continuing to go off

and go out, but hey, we're back. We're better than ever. We got a great show for you today. We've got a lot to speak about. There's a lot going on in the world and I'll take the abuse, Jordy. You know, we dish it out to you a lot. We dish it out to Ben. I mean, Ben, I think is, is like sweating like a maniac right now. Ben like goes on his Peloton bike and then thinks it's okay to just come on the show, even though it's a visual show looking like he's covered in sweat and just drenched. And it's a little disgusting. I would recommend a shower. You do look especially gross today. I mean, you don't show up to this, like for legal AF. What the hell? It's a serious program, Ben. What's going on? Midas Touch podcast is all about transparency. It's all about authenticity. This is what I look like right now. I want to let

you know, I said a PR today for all those who don't know the lingo. That is a personal record. I hit 496 kilojoules in a 30 minute bike ride. My goal is to pass. Great. Congratulations. It's amazing. Everyone just turned off the podcast. Everyone just left the live. All right. Let's talk about you, Brett. Let's talk about you hosting or having a major role post state of the union. I won't give you credit for actually hosting it, but you break down the state of the union. You were one of the panelists. The other was Lee McGowan, Politics Girl, Occupy Democrats, and Brian Tyler Cohen were there. So two of the four

were Midas Media podcast hosts. Not so bad. And let me emphasize, with the White House, with the actual, the White House Twitter account, we had the first ever, first of its kind White House digital response to the State the first ever, first of its kind, White House digital response to the State of the Union, where we got to discuss the State of the Union with Chief of Staff Ron Klain. I mean, it was honestly such a humbling and awesome experience to be a part of this. I mean, just such an innovative way. So awesome to reach, just to speak directly with people and to speak with the White House. And I still cannot believe that it happened. I truly, I mean, it's really one of the coolest things. We'll talk

about the state of the, we can talk about the state of the union after this, but I want to talk about speaking directly with the White House. It's pretty cool because they reached out because apparently the White House are huge fans of Midas Touch. They're huge fans of the Midas Mighty. And they made it clear to us that they, I don't even know if I'm allowed to say this stuff, but I'll say it because we're talking to the Midas Mighty right now. But they said, we just want to let you know, we at the White House are huge fans of everything you do. Us to the very tippy, tippy top of this administration knows your work, loves your work, and we're truly appreciative for it. So that to me was one of the coolest things of all time. Imagine like, guys, we're coming up on our two

year anniversary of Midas Touch. We started this just out of panic and fear of what Trump was doing to the country out of our living rooms, out of our basements and bedrooms, and just out of fear. And two years later, we're here talking with the White House on a Twitter spaces. I mean, just so awesome. And we got to dive in, ask them some questions about the event. Super cool, super just conversational. And I hope to get to do it again. Super, super cool. And maybe we could get some of the folks at the White House actually on the Midas Touch podcast. Hint, hint White House, if you're listening, I would love to get some more people from the White House on this podcast, but super, super cool. And thank you to everybody who listened. Thank you to everybody who shared it and tweet at the White House and stuff and tell them like that you loved

hearing from Midas Touch. All that goes a long way. They're clearly watching what you guys say and what we do here. And I think I want to give a shout out to the Midas Mighty also for making this possible. And I hope you feel part of this accomplishment that you were there with the White House with us. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now let's dive into State of the Union. What do you guys think of the State of the Union? State of the Union is strong with President Biden as our leader, despite the fact that you have the Republican Party becoming a radical right wing extremist party, obviously leading up to the State of the union to get the news from Marco Rubio and other Republicans that they are not going to show up because it was, it would take too much time for them to get a COVID test. And also they said, presenting the paperwork of a negative test result. This is what Marco Rubio said is Marxist to show a negative Marxist. Okay. Marxist. So, so that's, so, so many Republicans didn't show up because they have literally no dignity. So that's

one. Two, Biden was not missed at all. Biden was pitch perfect, talking about the accomplishments the administration did at home, abroad, building our alliances, making sure that we implemented scientifically validated COVID protocols to allow the economy to open up and be the strongest economy, the biggest job creation economy of any president in United States history. His tone was personal. He talked about his own family. He talked about losing his son to a battle of cancer and what that meant to him and his deep reverence and respect for the military, about his respect for law enforcement, his respect for true patriotism in the United States. And of course, as he's delivering those messages, you have Lauren Boebert, you have Marjorie Taylor Greene, literally like turning their back to him and screaming at him during the speech. And at specific moments where he's talking about

the passing of his own son and having to, as a father, go through that. That's when they decided that they were going to start shouting and yelling in his face. There was even a moment where they panned to Lindsey Graham as Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene were saying that. And you could see Graham literally kind of muttering the words like, oh shit, like, oh shit. I mean, that's your party. That's your party. That's your team. And Graham's like a radical extremist as well who supported Trumpism.

And that's just who they are. But I think that contrast is what you saw. And the polling post the State of the Union bore that out. Press 78 percent of voters watching the State of the Union, according to CBS News, approved President Biden's speech. And I thought the shifts here were very important also, because prior to the speech, most of those same voters felt that President Biden was not doing enough to combat issues like inflation. However, after the speech, all of a sudden that swung in the complete opposite direction, with most of the voters watching saying that they then trusted President Biden to tackle

the inflation issue. It just goes to show you the power of this event. I'm not going to lie. Before the State of the Union happened, I was unsure about what impact one speech could have, especially given how much noise there is at this moment. And I'll be the first to say that President Biden is not who I would consider one of the great orators of our time. He's not a President Obama who delivers these clear, powerful speeches that motivate you and get you going.

But when I saw Clinton, I mean, he's just not that guy. He's good at a lot of things. He's an incredible statesman, but that is not his skill. However, the night of the State of the Union, he turned it on. He was on fire. And when I was watching that the whole time, I was like literally getting up and applauding at the TV. I was extremely excited by it. And it was really, I would say that moment was President Biden's finest hour of his presidency. And I'm going to say this entire moment, President Biden right now getting us

out of COVID, dealing with the crisis in Ukraine, the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. I think this right now is President Biden's finest moment of his presidency. And I'm happy to see that those polls were bearing that out. He obviously kicked off the speech with powerful support of Ukraine, saying that NATO has never been stronger and Putin has never been weaker. He spoke about the need to extend the child tax credits. He spoke about updates with COVID-19. And I thought one of the interesting things was watching, and I think Jordi, you even made this comment, watching the State of the Union, it felt like they were sending a clear message, not that COVID is over, but that, look, we're turning the corner on this and that it's time to start

where it's feasible to start removing mask mandates and letting people figure that out on their own. And I think that was a clear message that they were sending to the American people who are clearly burnt out right now. I think we all need to be on guard. This has happened now multiple times where we got our hopes up and we started taking off our masks and all this thing. So I wouldn't totally let your guard down, but I think they were making a powerful statement that night about that. And with by pushing forward also plans though, the test to treat initiative that he was talking about so that people who go get tested at a pharmacy could then receive those antiviral pills that they've been touting right after the fact. So they get the care they need right after

the fact. I thought that was powerful. Next week, all Americans are going to be able to order four more COVID tests from COVIDtest.gov. I think that is an important step. And he spoke to a lot of issues. And Ben, like what you're saying, I found it an incredibly unifying speech at a time when we are more disunified. Is that a word? At a time when we are more at war with each other than ever, I found it to be incredibly unifying. And I also found it to be incredibly patriotic, patriotic in ways that Republicans pretend to be, but patriotic in a way that did not have that tinge of nationalism. It was more America first, that speech than the people who claim that they are America first when I was watching it. No, absolutely. And you know what, you know what those polls,

Brett, are indicative of? Fair media coverage. And what I mean by that is when everybody is watching and playing on the same field without Fox News or Fox Entertainment Network spewing lies about President Biden and just letting the man speak for an hour and a half, man, he gets to voice his opinions and his opinions are overwhelmingly popular with the American people. Jordy, we totally mind melded there, Jordy, because that's exactly what I was going to say. Even indicative, you're going to use the word indicative? I wasn't going to use the word indicative.

I was surprised that you knew the word indicative. But Brett, you left out one of the best parts of the State of the Union, and that was President Biden wishing Joshua Davis, the first lady's guest. Was that the little kid, Josh? Yes, yes. A happy 13th birthday. I mean, that was one of the- How could you not just smile? One of the most heartwarming, coolest moments. Can you just bring that up really quickly? Yeah, just because you can't look at this picture of Joshua, and you can't,

if you remember the State of the union and think about Joshua without smiling yourself. And I think it really just shows Geordie, like we're at a battle. It's like a really, truly a battle between good and evil, right? It's a battle between good and evil. It's a battle between democracy and fascism. It's leadership versus performative antics. And that was all on display there. So many ways, you know, okay. Lauren Boebert interrupt President Biden during his speech at the worst possible time. Okay, Marjorie Taylor Greene, interrupt President Biden during his speech at the worst possible time. Make a fool out of yourself. Spin around and look like you're lost at the State of the Union, because all you're doing is you're making this contrast as visible as possible at an event when the most Americans

are watching everything that is going on. And I think President Biden also took the air out of a lot of Republican talking points. First off, like we said, he was very fiery. He was very animated, which takes away the whole, oh, sleepy Joe doesn't know what's going on. I mean, he was on fire that night. He spoke about the importance of being a capitalist and the importance of capitalism, but saying that capitalism without competition is exploitation. And I thought that was a powerful statement that resonates with a lot of people who are frustrated by our current system and see the richest among us getting richer while people at the bottom are suffering more and more than ever. He expresses

support of the LGBT plus community. He expects his support. Okay. This is, I thought it was funny. Did you guys see his unity agenda that he proposed that at the end of the speech, he goes, these issues can unite America. I, today I am proposing my unity agenda. You guys see the unity agenda. You remember this? So the funny thing about it to me is that the unity agenda are like, like you have to pick the things that are just like things you just cannot even disagree with at all. Like the unity agenda was we're going to beat the opioid crisis, get better mental health, support our veterans and end cancer. Like all, all, all very noble things that I'm all for the unity agenda. I don't want to be a little, but it's just funny that like, when we're so divided, we have to like the one thing we have

to unify around is like end cancer. Like he made a strong, he made a really strong push about, about ending cancer. It's an issue. That cancer. It's an issue that's extremely close to him. And I joke, but it's just funny that we have to get to that extreme of issues in order to get a consensus among the American people. But I thought that was President Biden's finest hour, like I said. I mean, I thought that was really good. And for the first moment in time, like we were speaking about on the last show with Fred Wellman, I feel like there's a window open right now. There's a window open where people are seeing for themselves the difference that we're seeing around the world with democracy versus fascism and what it means to have the

adults in charge instead of these petulant babies. No offense to babies. I don't even mean to degrade babies who are better behaved than these maniacs. But I thought it was really powerful. I think hopefully this could be the turn that we need at this time to continue to rally support around Democrats and bring that energy into the 2020 midterms. but I wouldn't put it past, and I say this with great disappointment, the current Republican Party to try to politicize issues like that because look what they've done with COVID. Now, we're talking about 953,000 COVID deaths since the pandemic hit our shores in the United States. So nearly a million COVID deaths. And so for Governor DeSantis yesterday, we talked about this on the top of the show,

to call wearing masks COVID theater, the practicing of social distancing, the practice of common sense measures to try to protect people from a lethal disease, to call that theater, hearkening back to in the same state, Marco Rubio, saying that it was Marxist to produce a negative testing result. It is beyond disgusting and despicable. Now, everyone's talking about Governor DeSantis's, the video that was out there. He was at University of Southern Florida. Do we dare roll the clip again on our YouTube channel? Roll the clip.

Roll the clip. All right. If we roll the clip, if you get us banned, Brett, you can't get mad at me and Jordy. Roll the clip. Don't roll the clip. Don't roll the clip. No, no, no. We'll roll the clip, but I'm going to preface this.

No, but listen, YouTube said next time, try to provide more context at the clip. Don't roll the clip. Don't roll the clip. No, no, no. We'll roll the clip, but I'm going to preface this. No, but listen, YouTube said next time, try to provide more context at the top. So what the context that we are providing Mr. Big Tech sensors over here is that what you're trying to provoke. You don't have to poke the bear. Okay. My, my best friends at YouTube. I'm so grateful and eternally grateful for all your hard work with our channel and for your platform. And I just want to express to you that Ron DeSantis, what he's about to say here is advice that people should not be taking. He is saying that masks don't work when masks are in fact effective. And he is bullying students. There were high school students at a college, I believe, who he was using as props behind him. He was bullying the students into telling them to take off their masks.

Let's watch. You want to play that video, Brett? Or do you want to play the video of us debunking it the way we did after? Let's just play this video. All right. Just play the video. Just play. You do not have to wear those masks.

I mean, please take it. Honestly, it's not doing anything. And we got to stop with this COVID theater. So if you want to wear those masks. I mean, please take it off. Honestly, it's not doing anything, and we've got to stop with this COVID theater. So if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous. All right. Well, it's good to be at USF. Okay. So first off, if you're still watching us on YouTube. If we're still on this channel. If we're still on the channel, amazing. If you're still watching it on YouTube, if you're still listening listening to on audio, great. If we're still

watching it on YouTube, fantastic. So Brett, what were you going to say? I was going to say first, I want to give huge props to the kids who kept their masks on. I don't blame you. You're going to shame the kids who took their mask off. No, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. No, I'm not shaming them. I'm not shaming them to give not. I'm not. I'm not. No, I'm not. Governor, you're shaming him. The governor is shaming them. I'm not shaming them to give props to the kid who took his mask on. I think that takes it. I think I think that takes a lot of courage to stand up to the governor. I'm not I'm not putting it. I hear it. I hear it. But I want to acknowledge that that that's a that's a bold decision to make when you have the governor mocking you and telling you to take off your mask.

You guys are going to look like jerks this episode. Not looking like jerks, Brad. You're just very sensitive today on today's episode. And as we said before, you know, masks work. This is total BS. And Florida did a video debunking it. And that masks, the advisory is always that masks work. Some masks work better than other masks. But the CDC has been consistent that a mask is better than no mask. And they've shown the videos where literally like the person who coughs or sneezes or talks. I hate those videos. You can see the stuff leaving his mouth. But here's the thing. There is at some level, I think, intelligent conversations that we can have when we reflect on the pandemic, for example, of like, should there have been situations where we kept open certain stores and closed down restaurants and small businesses?

Like, to me, those are fair conversations that we can and should be having. I stand strongly with small business owners and restaurant owners. And I think in future situations, I hope we never have to deal with anything like this ever again. But I'd like to think of ways to balance how do we make sure we protect small business owners and restaurants. You have me in an intelligent conversation that we can have about should we have allowed more outside dining early on? Should we have done things like that? Should there have been more really?

Was the PPP program the right way to go about it? Or did that just favor big business and big corporations that had banking relationships? And should we have targeted this more specifically? Those are discussions I can have. The moment you start going down the rabbit hole of COVID is a hoax, that this is COVID theater. You are a unserious, disturbed person who we can no longer engage in intellectual conversation. The moment you act like this pandemic is not lethal, the moment you act like 953,000 deaths is somehow a rounding error and that we shouldn't be concerned about that.

You, Governor DeSantis, and all of your ilk who spread that are incredibly, incredibly disgusting people. And the United States needs to wake up. Listen, this is the party. This is the party that's all about choice, right? This is the party of small government. And this is the party who's telling somebody who, in their own volition, making their own choice, saying, I want to wear a mask, telling them that that choice is the wrong choice. That's why they are so- Big government yelling. Literally, you saw the image.

It is literally big government yelling. Yelling at a high school student and telling them to do something that could kill you. Not just them, their families too. Ron DeSantis has no idea those kids' familial lives outside of them standing behind him during that press conference. He has no idea what their situations are if they have a parent who's immunocompromised or whatnot.

So to him to just say, stop with the COVID theater is absolutely ridiculous because those kids in that moment could have been putting a lot of their loved ones at risk. Yeah. And talk about COVID theater, like what DeSantis did is COVID theater. And what all Republicans do is theater. It's what Eric Smallwell said in our podcast when he basically said that Republicans engaged in WWE style performative bullshit. That's what Ron DeSantis was doing. It's all projection from them. And Jordy, I agree. And first off, you don't need an excuse though. You don't need an excuse. If you want to wear a mask, even though there are no mask mandates, that is your right. And nobody should be shaming you for

it. And you should not be shaming other people for their decision. You have no idea other people's comfort level. And like Jordi said, you have no idea their situations at home, who they interact with on a daily basis, who may be immunocompromised around them. And it is just disgusting and disgraceful that Ron DeSantis took that moment to scold kids. And even their parents were furious at the governor and said, governor, stop bullying our kids when they were interviewed by the local news after the fact. Can we hear from the parents? The parents, really powerful statements after the fact. Yeah, let's play one of the clips here. I would tell them

to stop bullying kids. It's fine if you don't want to wear a mask, but encourage others to do what they feel is safe and leave it at that. I was thinking, I don't know if I should

take it off or leave it on because the governor, he asked us to take it off. But I thought about it and it's my right to have my mask on. His mother tells him to wear the mask. I tell him it's his choice.

So he made that choice, and the governor has no right to tell no kid or no one who they can or can't wear a mask. He doesn't have that right. Can I be honest? Like, that, he's just such a dick. Like, the way you saw right there, like, that is an asshole. Can I give my refined political analysis on this issue? If you just me calling him a dick in an hour, I want to, I want to get real serious and

be a real fine. Rhonda. Santa's is a fucking shithead. That was a shithead mood. Shithead move. Like what a fuck. I agree. Like there's no, there's nothing deeper to it than that.

Like what a horrible, shitty human being. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting. The more I think about it, honestly, the angrier I get at this man. But I think hopefully what we're seeing though around the country, around the world right now, as we see what's happening in Ukraine and we see this new momentum for democracy, hopefully people look at people like DeSantis and are looking at people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, are looking at people like Lauren Boebert and are saying, we don't want anything to do with these wannabe autocrats, with these whiny performative theatrics. That's not what we want in this country. We want serious leadership,

leadership that steps up to the table, that helps our allies, that supports our families. That's what we want. And so I think, you know, hopefully all these events now are filtering through people's brains in a very, very different way. Because what we saw from DeSantis, that was very Putin-esque in my mind. Oh, they're all little, they're all Putin puppety wannabe. They want it. It's like a step below a Putin even, like the lowest of the low, because like they look at Putin's behavior and want to be. And by the way, DeSantis parroted Putin talking points at the speech. Do you even know what the speech was about? The speech was supposed to be about cybersecurity and about improving cybersecurity in Florida. So he propped up those kids behind him to talk about future jobs and cybersecurity.

But he ended up bullying the kids and then basically mocking France. And by the way, Macron, yeah, mocking France. Macron has been one of the kind of strongest advocates. Macron has called on his own people to join the International Legion to help fight Ukraine. Macron has sat at those ridiculous long tables with Putin and looked him in the eye and confronted Putin about his behavior. And yeah, and Macron's been like literally just on the front lines of trying to have peace. And this is the person who DeSantis during that speech mocks France and says that like, if this was France, they would have just let Putin go in and invade.

I mean, I don't even want to go, but that is what he talked about because going back to Brett's insightful political analysis there. If only we were allowed to name this podcast, Shithead DeSantis. Well, you know, I don't think they're not. Brett's just trying to get us banned now from YouTube and other platforms. Sorry, he makes me angry. Go on. It makes Brett very angry. Let's bring in Adrian Fontes in a second. But first, I want to tell you about ExpressVPN. This podcast is brought to you by ExpressVPN. This is something that I didn't know until I got ExpressVPN. You think incognito

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and get more information there and get three extra months free. Expressvpn.com slash Midas right now to learn more. Brett, you like your cereal? You like your cereal, Brett? Milk and cereal, milk and cereal, cereal. I like how our brain just went to the same place. I don't even remember when that song was from, but let's dive in. I think it was originally It was totally that. That's a blast from the past, but let's talk about not the old years, but the new year. Cause magic spoon is perfect for meeting your goals, whether it's eating healthier or saving more time in your morning routine. Magic spoon has been so great.

We've got so much going on here at Midas touch. Our mornings are especially super, super, super busy. Uh, we're trying to get so much done, whether it's the podcast or ads or billboards or canvassing efforts. And I just need to get started with my day and make sure that I'm being healthy. A magic spoon has been perfect for my morning routine. Growing up, cereal was easily one of the best parts of being a kid, but eventually I had to give it up because I realized it was full of sugar and junk and stuff I really shouldn't be eating. While we're all trying to eat better, healthy breakfast doesn't have to be boring because magic spoon has all the amazing flavors you love, but without all the bad stuff. And it's amazing as a midnight snack, something that I've

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We're going to bring in. I like we'll make the podcast to choose your own adventure. Great. Here's the thing. We have to bring in Adrian because we can't keep him waiting anymore because I didn't tell you this earlier. I was a little nervous. You know what?

I'll explain it when Adrian jumps on. Let's bring on Adrian Fonte's former recorder in Maricopa County. He is a Marine Corps veteran, a true public servant, and is currently the front runner for the Democratic nomination for Arizona Secretary of State. We need to highlight Secretary of States who support democracy and integrity elections here on the podcast than anywhere we can. His opponent is Mark Fincham. I would describe Mark, and these are not your words, Adrian, these are mine, but we'll hear your words as a batshit crazy Trump election denier. And he submitted a bill. Why are you being so kind? I'm the kind brother. I'm the kind brother. And Mark Fincham is trying to decertify the 2020 election. Still, that's something that is taking place. Adrian, welcome to the Midas Touch podcast. What an intro.

Well, thanks for having me. You guys are all brothers, right? Yeah. Unfortunately, yes. That's a little weird. And Adrian, before we really get started here, man, I have to apologize. So our listeners know that I'm the one who books the guests and I'm the one who sets the schedule. And I goof this week. Yeah, so it's a miracle that we're here. It's a miracle that any show happens at this point. Do you want to tell the listeners what happened, Adrian, this week?

Well, I mean, if you're okay being embarrassed by the fact that you think February has 31 days in it, I mean, I can see 29, right? Jordy booked you on February 31st, Adrian? Essentially, yeah. So we originally booked this interview. It was always today in my mind, but I accidentally booked it for Tuesday, thinking that February had a few more days in it. But hey, we're here now. That's all that matters. I'm so sorry. Adrian, you're, you know, you aren't here for the earlier part of the podcast where I bragged about my appearance

because of my Peloton skills. But look, man, your Twitter photo does not do you justice. You look like you lift. You look like you could beat the crap out of some cyber ninjas, huh? Well, we already did that. Those guys didn't have a didn't have a chance. I try once in a while to get into the gym. But, you know, I actually if you look at some of my old photos, you can see old fat font this and my opponents are going to use all that stuff against me. That's that's the line of attack. Fat fontase in 20. He lost weight. And anyway, look, yeah, a little bit. I try to work out. I try to stay healthy. But, you know, it's more important that we keep our democracy healthy and out of the hands of these friggin whack jobs that we got going nowadays. And you got freaking whack jobs, Adrian, in the state of Arizona. I mean, you were

you were like ground zero for, you know, the cyber ninjas were there. You've got the Republican party chair, Kelly Ward, you know, introducing legislation to overthrow. Like what is going on in Arizona, Adrian? Well, it's the lack of water. Some people say it's something in the water. I think it's the lack of water here in the Central Valley. Honestly, I will tell you this. Arizona's got one of the best election systems in the country. We were among the first, if not the first, to have online voter registration hooked in through our Department of Motor Vehicles. We have a very, very healthy ballot by mail early voting system. We've got 27 days of early voting here in Arizona. It is mandated that early voters get their ballots sent out to them almost a month ahead of the election. And Arizona voters love it. And just because Donald Trump lost fair and square and he couldn't handle it, his psychophants and the weak minded part of the Republican Party has bent over backwards to try to ruin a system that the Republicans actually set up. And, you know,

a system that we improved here in Maricopa County while I was the county recorder. And it's a big deal. It's not just a big deal because it's Arizona, but Maricopa County is the second largest voting jurisdiction in the United States. Under my administration, we went from 2.1 to 2.6 million registered voters, second only to Los Angeles County. And we ran an amazingly good election. We know because it was the most highly scrutinized in American history. And for some reason, these folks just, you know, Donald Trump didn't want to take the loss. And he's got a whole bunch of his whack job friends still trying to do something about it. And it's over, man. You know, game over at some point. You got to have some finality. Yeah. And, you know, these whack job psychophants, though, hold serious positions

in the Republican Party. Right. These aren't fringe individuals. I mean, you have Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelly Ward, you know, apparently leading the slate of alternative electors. This has been highly scrutinized by the January 6th Commission. Adrian, you made a referral or made the recommendation that the DOJ investigate this conduct. But in addition to even the cyber ninjas, you have those, you know, which which I believe to be highly serious felony criminal conduct taking place at the highest level of the Republican Party to give alternative elector slates. Yeah. You know, it's amazing to me this the slow rolling attempted coup isn't getting the coverage that it should by the media. Let's be really honest here. There is a coalition of America first secretaries of state out there. My opponent, Mark Fincham on the Republican side is one of them. They're

endorsed by Donald Trump. They want to position themselves across the country to overturn our elections. I'm the stopgap here in Arizona against that. That's why I'm running for Secretary of State, because 2024 is on the line. This isn't just about 2022, but it goes well beyond that. They're running in Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and across several other states, and they're being supported by local legislators. We had at least 43 different states who this past year tried to get anti-voter legislation passed across the United States of America. Right here in Arizona, we're battling against, there's even a bill right now to kill all of early voting so that everybody has to stand in

line on election day in person and do things that are just contrary to what the Republican Party had been developing and making a very secure and very accountable system for decades, literally. We started our adventure into early voting in 1992. So it's been a while. We've got great elections. And for all of the wrong reasons, this new authoritarianism, this neo-fascism is creeping, and it's just not getting the coverage that it deserves. And these offices, these Secretary of State offices, like the one I'm running for, are critical to protect our democracy against authoritarianism. I'd love that we could, I'd love that we can do it at the ballot box instead of having to use alternative means,

which we're seeing in other places around the world that hate to see that happen here in this country. So how do you bring people together if you were to be elected Arizona Secretary of State? How do you kind of heal? How do you bring people together? Or do you not bring people together? And you just say, look, if bringing people together means that I have to embrace a lunatic fringe, I'm not going to do that. I'm just going to support fair, independent elections. And if Republicans win, Republican wins. If Democrats win, Democrats win. I'm here to protect the integrity of the process, regardless of who wins. I mean, I mean, that's just it. Look, I didn't I didn't I didn't get the most votes in 2020. I was on the exact same ballot that Donald Trump was. I was on the same ballot that got him elected,

got me elected in 2016. And the same ballot that got him his loss here in Arizona and Maricopa County gave me my loss. I lost much more narrowly than he did. I'd like to say out of about two million votes cast, I only lost by about forty five hundred. So I had a much better margin than Mr. Trump did. But at the end of the day, you didn't hear me complain and you didn't hear me bitching and moaning because the job of running the elections, even though I was on the ballot, was to just call balls and strikes to be reliable. And let's remember one thing. This isn't just about partisan politics. This is about the business of America. You all know as well as I do that the business of America is business. It's about entrepreneurship. It's about opportunities. It's about working hard and helping your family grow and be prosperous. That's okay if you're a liberal as much as it is okay if you're a conservative. The reality is, though, in government, we need steady, stable hands. We need predictable, reliable processes so that business can do its thing.

That's what Arizona has always been about. And that's what I want to bring back. Predictability, reliability, and just calling balls and strikes. That's the way that it ought to happen. And that's the way I think we bring all of the reasonable people together. Just tell the truth. It's not that hard. It's actually a lot easier than what's going on now. And it really allows everybody to just go on about their lives and do the rest of what they need to do, because that's what we ought to be providing them is that reliability. And Adrian, here's an interesting stat. In Maricopa County, people who identify as other, Democrat, Republican, or other, is now the highest affiliation, if you will. What does that tell you about the direction of Maricopa County and what insights does that give you? Well, parties need to pull

their heads out of their asses is what it tells me. And let's just be clear. You know, Arizona is a very independent place. We are very independent minded. And so it's not a surprise to me or anybody else down here. But there's an old saying down south of the Gila River that a very independent place. We're very independent minded. And so it's not it's not a surprise to me or anybody else down here. But there's an old saying down south of the Gila River that everyone's a Democrat until they get electricity and running water. Well, I think everybody's a Republican until they lose their party to a lunatic fringe. And so the idea of changing party affiliation isn't isn't unusual for us because we are independent thinking people here in Arizona.

So much so that, you know, I even went against my own Democratic Party in 2019. I advocated for the idea of opening our presidential preference election, which is our version of the primary, to non-affiliated voters, to independent voters. I wanted Democratic candidates to talk to our independent voters because our independent voters, that's where we have our margins. That's where we win and we lose. And so having the Democratic Party, which would have been their own choice to do this, to me, just made pragmatic sense. Unfortunately, the state party voted against my resolution at their convention, I think it was September 2019. But independent voters should have that voice, they should have that involvement, and they should have the partisans talking to them, particularly now that they're in the majority in Maricopa County, but they've always been running higher than one or the other party. In fact, independent voters have outnumbered,

or non-affiliated voters, I should say, have outnumbered Democrats in Maricopa County for decades. That's not an unusual thing. So the fact that there are now more as a proportion of the other category than Republicans does not surprise me at all. It doesn't surprise me a bit. And that's who Arizona is. And Adrian, do you think Democrats are doing enough to reach those independent voters right now? And could we be doing more? Democrats, Democrats writ large could be doing a lot more to talk to all voters. OK, I think that the party fails miserably in its communication. We worry too much about the ideas and all of this extra stuff and just instead of just getting to the heart of it. In fact, I've got a quote up on my wall here that Joel Stein wrote in a Newsweek article about Heather Thomas and her activism. And it says, watching liberals try to explain something in

one minute might be the best game show I've ever seen. And it's true because we just get too much in the weeds on everything. We don't have an easy message. You know, when I talk to folks about democratic politics and policies, I say our policies are reflected every Thursday morning. Think about your household on Thursday morning when you wake up. If you've got kids, you've got to make sure that there's enough food there, that they've got clean clothes, that they did their homework the day before. You've got to make sure that there's enough oil in the car and gas and your house insurance is paid, your rent might be due. You've got to make sure to take care of all of those other little bits and pieces that run through your mind on a Thursday morning. Democrats don't talk about Thursday morning. We talk about these other sorts of greater philosophical ideas that don't touch the day to day lives of Americans.

Or if they do, we don't talk about it in a way that's relatable to the average person. And I don't know if it's our, you know, our liberalism, or if it's our egalitarianism, I don't know what ism it is, but it's not working. And we've got to talk more plainly to folks out there, because our policies answer their questions. Will I be able to take care of my family if I get sick? Will I have a home? Will I have food? Will I have a job? These are the things that Democrats need to talk about better.

And we're not doing it well. And shame on us for trying to over-intellectualize every single little thing. It's ridiculous. When our policies are the policies that help those direct issues and the Republicans do not help those issues unless you're a billionaire. Right. You know, and it hurts. It hurts to watch folks vote against their own self-interest. It hurts to watch folks get caught up in these these weird conspiracy theories because the folks on the other side of the aisle,

for all their bullshit policies, they're really darn good at selling them. And, you know, we're just we're just failing miserably in that regard. And we've been failing miserably for a long time. And I think that, you know, just as much as a lot of other systems, my party needs a swift kick in the ass when it comes to messaging. And if there's Democrats out there who believe that that's true, as a lot of other systems, my party needs a swift kick in the ass when it comes to messaging. And if there's Democrats out there who believe that that's true, those of us who want to speak plainly and speak to everybody need to speak up. And we need to stop worrying about a lot of these extraneous like bullshit issues about how one person feels in the room. God bless you. And

we're going to take care of you. But I need to win the election first. I need to win this election first. And if you know, Adrian, if I can't win this election, especially this one, think about it. We might have a constitutional crisis on our hands if Arizona doesn't have the right secretary of state in 2024. We've got 11 electoral votes and we could be the deciding state. We're just as purple as anybody else now. And if I could take a moment to talk to all of our East Coast liberal elite friends on the Democratic side, please. Y'all are missing the boat out West. Y'all are missing the boat out West. We've got a ton of issues out here that are very much Democratic issues, and we're losing our people. My home county, Santa Cruz County, Arizona, down on the border, between 2016 and 2020,

we took a 13-point shift towards Donald Trump. It is 97% Latino. Why are we losing votes to Donald Trump in very strong Latino communities? Because we're paying attention to what's important in the Beltway and we're not paying attention to what's important in the rest of the West. It's a big deal. Folks are moving out here in droves and we need we need to be paid attention to. What do you think is the reason for that? Do you think it's these constant attacks from Republicans saying everything Democrats do are communist, communist, communist? Even though when I'm looking at the Republican Party, what I see is a much more similarities to the communism that people have escaped their countries to to immigrate here to have a better life. You know, I don't I don't know that it's a question of which policies are better. I think it's a question of method of communication. I think it's the words we use. You know, there's there's we lament the idea that

conservatives use bumper sticker stupid phrases, but they work and they're working across the board. And I'm not saying we need to dumb down our policies, but we do need to become more aggressive when it comes to our politics. We do do need to become more aggressive when it comes to our politics. We do need to become more assertive when it comes to advocating for our communities. Look, why in the world is it that if you're a liberal elite and you see you see a man of color, the first thing you think is a predator instead of a protector and a provider. Why in the world is it that I, as a Mexican-American man, could be seen as a threat instead of a dad, instead of a lawyer, instead of an intellectual, instead of a Marine Corps veteran, right? We've got to get away from this idea, you know, all this pearl clutching about me, me, me. And we've got to get out there and start talking about

us and we. And we've already had some of those messengers on our side of the aisle. And they've increased some of our popularity among blue collar folks. But we've got to embrace it across the entire spectrum on the left if we're going to be successful politically and take back the middle of America, which ought to be ours. So give us some examples. What are the bumper stickers? What are the bumper stickers Democrats should be running on right now? Well, I think Democrats ought to, we need to bring back unions. We need to talk about family values. What's the most important family value out there for most families right now? Putting food on the table, having a good paycheck. You want a solid family? Give me a union wage. You want to be able to provide that, you know, what in the in the in the 50s or whatever was a high school science teacher could buy a house, have a car and take his family on a two week vacation on one pay. Well, any partner in any household should be able to do that if they had a solid union wage in the backing of a union. Right? Labor is incredibly important to us. And yet, when you look at a lot of the labor unions out there, especially here in Arizona, they're run by Republicans. How in

the world does that make sense? We're not speaking to family values. We're not speaking to protecting our families and providing for our families with good health care, protecting and providing them with good education, right? So that their future can be protected, making sure that they have opportunities locally so that they can, like my friend Jason Kander says, be happy, healthy, safe, and nearby. Why is it that we're not talking about keeping our families nearby with high-speed internet in rural areas? How easy is that to talk about, right? We're missing the boat when we talk about a whole bunch of these other things that people really don't care about. Adrian, as Ben mentioned earlier, you've been holding no punches on the election issues that are happening in Arizona, the false

claims of fraud, and you asked the DOJ to investigate Kelly Ward and the 11 fake electors. So I just want to know, have you heard from DOJ about this? And do you think DOJ is doing enough to investigate right now? Well, I haven't heard from DOJ and I didn't expect to because I'm not a prosecutor. It wasn't a referral. It was a recommendation and they can do with it what they will. That's the power of the prosecutor. And I think it's perfectly appropriate for them not to respond other than to say that they received my recommendation. I don't know if they're doing enough because I don't know what they're doing. They are appropriately keeping this behind closed doors. I think I believe very strongly in the Sixth Amendment and the Fifth

Amendment and the Fourth Amendment. I believe that anyone who may or may not be investigated or accused has to have the protections of law and has to include the protections from potential false allegations or false inferences from investigations, right? And so I think, I hope they're doing their job. But again, it's a question of faith, right? Why can't we say we have faith in our systems? We have faith in our democracy. We have faith in our prosecutors. When was the last time you heard a liberal talking about faith? It's important because that's what's critically important to the running of our systems and our processes. It relies on faith, good faith in good public officials. Another one of those talking points that I think we can really

help with. But we just got to be real, right? We just got to be real. And Adrian, we fortunately here at MySledge, we have a lot of Arizona listeners and a really dedicated Arizona fan base that would love to get involved. And I would love to know more about how they can get involved specifically with your campaign, specifically with just protecting pro-democracy causes in the state of Arizona. So what would you tell them? Yeah, well, I would say first, go to electfontage.com and hit the banner at the top, sign the petition, get me on the ballot. We're going to be running that through the beginning of April when the petition signatures are due. But the other thing is actually get involved.

Don't just say you're going to do it and throw out some tweets, right? Go find some local candidates, especially local Democrats that you might be interested in supporting. Grab a clipboard and go knock on some doors. Volunteer. Help them do their text messaging. Help them do their phone calling. Stuff some envelopes for them and talk to your friends and neighbors and get them involved in at least learning about the issues that are critical to their day-to-day lives and stop, for God's sakes, focusing only on federal races. Jeez, it's just insanity to me that the only thing that we focus on is who's the president and who's in Congress. You know, the boards of supervisors here in Arizona for our 15 counties are critically important to public libraries, public roads, water systems, all the things that touch your day-to-day life. That's at the local level.

Your municipalities run so many important parts of our government. And in Arizona, like in many places out West, we've got school districts that have elections. We have water districts, waste management districts. We even have private water companies that hold public elections. If you're a shareholder out here in Arizona, we have huge opportunities for folks to get involved in democracy and to vote. And yet, even in the city as big as Tempe, you guys know Tempe, the home of Arizona State University, go Sundance. They just had an election. They've only got like 14% turnout in a municipal election. Tempe, Arizona is a hub for some of the most innovative, incredible people. I mean, it's one of the biggest public universities in the world, and their voters are only coming out at 14% for a municipal election.

I love this state, and I'd love our voters to get out more and help those local candidates all the way down the ballot. It's important. Your justice or the peace. We elect those. Your constables. We elect those. Get involved all the way up and down the ballot. Adrian Fontes, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. You got me pumped up, Adrian. Well, I think that Peloton got you worn out. You look like a wet sack of. Oh, I authenticity, transparency, truth is golden. Oh, brother. I told Ben, I said, I said, Ben, you can't go on the air like this. Like I was like, I said, this is who I am, Brett. I'm not taking no shower. I'm showing the people what this looks like.

Well, I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what I think it's, I think it's great. You keep your butt on that Peloton, keep rolling. I'll get to the gym a little more often and we'll get nice and strong so we can win in 2022. Let's do it. Adrian's got my back and has your back, Arizona. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast, Adrian. Thanks guys. Appreciate it. Jordy, you made the right decision by picking the Adrian Fontes interview first. But let me I don't want to I'll talk about January 6th committee right now. Then we have to talk about Ukraine and what's going on in Ukraine. I'll talk briefly about January 6th. It involves a legal kind of breakdown. So I guess we'll do a more thorough breakdown on the Legal AF podcast, which airs every Saturday. There's no bigger oxymoron in the world than Ben saying, I'm going to talk briefly about X. I'm going to talk. Ben doesn't talk brief,

but Ben's never spoken briefly in his life. Sorry. Go ahead, Ben. John. Thank you, George. I would say I'm, I'm briefer than Brett, but not briefer than you. So John Eastman, former Chapman Law University professor, Chapman Law is in Southern California, Orange County area. He was one of the individuals who spoke and during the insurrection. He's claimed attorney-client privilege, claims that he's Trump's attorney, and we should accept that representation that he was Donald Trump's attorney during the insurrection, aiding and abetting the insurrection at that time. So the January 6th committee requested a number of documents that Eastman produce. And because Eastman is located in California, this went to the federal court in California, Central District, Southern

Division, which is in Orange County. And Judge Carter is the federal judge overseeing this. So and the request, the demand is that Eastman produce his emails and his records to the January 6th committee. So Judge Carter previously stated that a number of documents need to be turned over. Separately, John Eastman, Trump's lawyer, claimed that a number of other records cannot be turned over because they're subject to what's called attorney-client privilege. And attorney-client privilege is a confidential communication between an attorney and their client. There are exceptions to that. So one of the exceptions is, is that if you as the client go out and talk about what the attorney and you talked about,

you've waived that privilege. Another exception to the attorney-client confidential privilege is if you engage in a crime. You can't tell your lawyer, hey, let's commit this crime together and then try to claim that that is privilege. There is a crime fraud exception. So in this particular filing, essentially a motion challenging John Eastman's claim that these documents and emails between him and Trump and others are privileged. Trump was engaged in. I mean, duh, we know that we saw it, but it's really the first time in a court record we see the January 6th committee using that language. And they're also using that language in this particular motion because they're saying the crime fraud exception should not allow John Eastman to hide his documentation. He needs to turn over that documentation to the January 6th committee. Another bit of insight. I've appeared numerous times before this judge, not dressed in my

Peloton uniform. I've been in front of Judge Carter. In fact, Judge Carter has appointed to actually be a court-appointed counsel for a receiver in a large case about five or six years ago. And so I worked very closely in that courtroom. And so I could tell you Judge Carter is a no-nonsense judge. He is a true rule of law judge in what it really means. I think that Judge Carter, having no direct insight into this other than knowing Judge Carter, I think that he is incredibly offended by what took place on January 6th to our democracy. Judge Carter is a Vietnam War veteran, fought valiantly for our country. I think, you know, no nonsense when it comes to January 6th. I think we'll find out that he'll we will turn over these January 6th records. And let me just also say, you know, why this is such a big deal, because this is the first time the January 6th committee is saying

publicly that they believe Trump may have engaged in multiple criminal acts in his effort to support the election, including fraud, including obstruction and a criminal conspiracy. It's the first time they're using that language, which is great. I'm happy they're using that language. I think this is a very, very, if not the most important moment of this investigation so far. At the same time, Ben, I saw you comment like this too. It's like, duh, of course, this is what happened. Like, we all knew this since January 6th. And it's one of the reasons I think why people are so stressed out and just worn down by January 6th news, because it's like, oh, you think Donald Trump was engaged in a criminal

conspiracy to overturn the results of the election? You think? But hey, it's going through the process. DOJ needs to act. Listen, DOJ needs to act because not acting would be abdicating their duty as the chief law enforcement of this country. And that itself would be a constitutional crisis. Yes, it would be appeasement. And it would be Merrick Garland. Not acting would be the biggest scandal in American political history. So I am counting on you, Merrick Garland.

You have the information in front of you. We need to start seeing prosecutions of these actors. Also, I want to take note of the emails. Did you guys see the emails that the January 6th committee put in this file? But the emails. Did you guys see the emails that the January 6th committee put in this file? But the emails, Brett. Better emails, because there was an email, which I would consider a smoking gun in all of this, because one of the efforts in prosecuting all these people who helped operate January 6th is proving that they had intent to overthrow the election and knew that they were breaking the law

at the time. And in one of these emails, Eastman literally writes in writing to Pence's lawyer, he writes, acknowledging that they knew that this was a crime. He was like, oh, it's a crime, but it might be a little crime. So let's just try it because we could get away with it. And the consequences might not be that bad. So there he knows it's a crime. His exact words is I implore you to consider one more relatively minor violation and adjourn for 10 days to allow the legislature to finish their investigation. And like it's a cockamamie. Do people say that word is cockamamie? I've heard cockamamie be broken down in a while, but I love it. Let's bring back cockamamie. It's a cockamamie legal theory. So what he was saying is because the Senate and the House had adjourned for a brief period of time during the day in violation of 3 U.S.C. 17 and the VP allowed further debate or statements by leadership after the question had been voted upon. So if you really dig into the United States code,

it has a very specific time when objections to elector slates can be raised. And so one of the things that they wanted to utilize in the insurrection was to delay the operation of the very specific time of when the objections could be raised by having an insurrection take place and then basically use the delay as a way to say, see, the other one was violated. So therefore we're not even within the time period. So now we should can do another violation of the law because the law has already been violated because there's been an insurrection today. And so now let's just throw it back to the state legislature. So when you actually read it, that's what's going on there.

It's extra fucked up. Ben, can I tell you if I had one word to describe what you just said? Can I just tell you? So cockamamie. Ben, does Eastman send this email thinking that this is under attorney-client privilege, thinking that if the emails were ever to be subpoenaed, that this particular email saying, hey, why don't you just take another one for the team? Take another minor infraction, that it wouldn't seem like he was basically asking him to commit a crime. He wrote this email believing the insurrection was going to be successful and that they were going to overthrow the duly elected Biden administration.

Terrifying. That is what is terrifying. Yeah. Remember, Eastman is the guy next to Giuliani who was up there in addition to making the document that basically guided Trump and Pence on how to overturn their election results per his cockamamie legal analysis. You know, it's not cockamamie, Brett, the Oathkeeper, one of the Oathkeeper. First off. Wait, I want to, can I highlight the Pence email back to Eastman first and then we'll get it to Oathkeeper. Highlight it back. Go there.

Go there. Let's do that. Boom, boom, boom. Cockamamie, cockamamie. In an email back, Pence, Pence's attorney like tore into John Eastman and he finished it. You know, it was like a very respectful email back being like, you know, we're not going to do that. And at the end, he writes, this is a sign off. And thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege. That's what Pence's attorney wrote back to this John Eastman email telling him to just commit some more crimes for us. Come on, it'll only be a minor infraction. So I think that also helps you get into the head of the Pence team that were holding their

ground at that moment in time. Ben, I know I was imploring Merrick Garland to do something. Let's see some arrests. Let's see some prosecutions. But here's an example of DOJ doing something. Tell us about the Oathkeeper, Ben. First off, it's cockamamie, C-O-C-K-A-M-A-M-E. I was just about to say, I was about to ask you both to try and spell this word

c-o-c-k-a-m-a-m-i-e i'm not buying it i googled it wait how did you say c-o-c-k-a-m-a-i-n-e there's no n in it okay one of the oh yeah, Oh yeah. I, I Googled, I Googled it. I Googled it too. Okay. So you Googled the wrong one. It's C O C K A M A I. No. Cockum. That's okay. Whatever. Jordy. Jordy's wrong. I'm looking at it. C O C K A M A M I E. Dude. I look, I Google anyway, Jordy,y, you believe that there's 31 days in February. So a seditious conspiracy charge is now a seditious conspiracy conviction. That's significant.

A terrorist who calls himself an Oath Keeper. That's how it should be phrased. I'm not calling them Oath Keepers. A terrorist calling themselves an oath keeper. Who's part of that group with the guy roads with the eye patch, the guy who shot himself in the face as a gun instructor. Cause he didn't know. Yeah. So that group seditious conspiracy to overthrow the United States government. So you put that seditious conspiracy charge out there,

you have that conviction, and moving in that direction, you have people trying to overthrow the United States government, pleading guilty to that. And so now the question is, as part of that conspiracy, where people have now pled guilty, it's building blocks, right? It's like building a building. It's building a case, right? Now that you've climbed the ladder, you've got the seditious conspiracy. A group of people are now one person. I attempted to overthrow the United States government. Now, was that conspiracy in concert with Donald Trump? Yes, is the answer. But that is how you build the blocks of a case like that. And we'll, of course, be following that up. A lot more to talk about, Brett.

But you seem like you've got a passion today, Brett. You seem like you got a different type of charisma about you today. You don't seem cockamamie today. Is there something that we should be aware of? Yeah. Well, I want to tell you about, I don't know if I'm allowed to pick favorites here, but I want to tell you about one of my favorites. Okay. Getting us in a lot of trouble, this podcast. All right. Well, let me tell you about one of my favorite sponsors because 90% of coffee from the grocery store is actually stale. You

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I like the acidity of it. And so recently I got my latest bag of trade coffee. They sent me from Sterling Coffee Roasters in Portland. That's what I love. I get to experience all these various coffee roasters around the country. I love seeing the roast dates on the bag. You know that it was paper. I'm such a nerd. The sponsor couldn't be more you. Listen, I'm totally off book right now. And if you like coffee, get trade coffee. It makes your life so easy. It's like I get a gift in the mail every time my trade coffee arrives. And I'm always curious, what's it going to be this week? What roaster? What are the tasting notes going to be? And if you ever want to talk to me about coffee, you could be at Be My Sellers. Let's chat. I got a lot to say about it. And here's also what I want to do. For our listeners right now, Trade Coffee is offering a total of $20 off your first three

bags when you go to drinktrade.com slash Midas. So get started, take their quiz at drinktrade.com slash Midas and start your journey to your perfect cup. That's drinktrade.com slash Midas for $20 off your first three bags. Ben, Jordy, what do we have left on the docket? Zelensky tells Putin, leave Ukraine or meet me for talks during a press conference with the media. President Vladimir Zelensky addressed Russian dictator Vladimir Putin directly, according to the Kiev Independent, urging him to sit down for negotiations. And Zelensky said, what are you afraid of? I mean, Zelensky is just such a hero. Zelensky is really one of the most heroic figures in history. I mean, his courage is unmatched.

Every day, I feel like I'm scrolling Twitter to see his next statement, to see his next tweet, to make sure that he is okay. If and when this war finishes and when Zelensky makes it out okay, I hope we give this guy whatever he wants. This guy is just a true hero. Give him anything. Give him Paddington 3. Yeah. Give him every movie role, all the money, put him on posters. This guy, he's a hero. He's a hero. And the Ukrainian people are heroes. And you see the difference in leadership between Putin who hides and sits like, you see those images of Putin sitting like 30 feet away from the people who were in his military.

And then you see Zelensky with like his arm around his people. He's there. He's in the weeds. He's literally in the trenches. Why does Putin do that? Why does he sit so far away? Is it because he thinks there's going to be some sort of... Because him projecting that he's sent nerve agents out, like if you smell some sort of chemical that he could have some sort of reaction that he's done that to other people. So now he's scared that's going to happen to him. Is that why he does that? I don't think anybody quite knows it. I think some people think it's just an intimidation tactic to be sitting so unnervingly far away from somebody. It's just weird and puts you in a position of power when you're dominating the situation. Some people think that, yes, he is afraid of somebody poisoning him or shooting him or something to that effect.

And then I think there's just the idea that he's also might just be like super afraid of COVID. There are rumors about his health not being so good. And so there's a lot. I don't think anybody really knows, but it's weird and it looks weird. And he's a very strange man. But I know there were more peace talks today. I don't know how they're going, but Russia's continuing to indiscriminately bomb civilians in Ukraine, committing just an array of horrific, horrific, horrific war crimes. Meanwhile, the Russian economy has completely collapsed with Fitch and Moody cutting Russia's credit rating to junk. They've now said that they have a junk credit rating.

Amid the unrest, now Russia is considering implementing martial law, reportedly. And they are also considering some really twisted, twisted Hunger Games- style laws, like one that says, if we catch you protesting, we are going to capture you and we're going to make you fight in the war. We are going to make you kill Ukrainians if you are protesting this war. That is how demented Russia is. That is how sick this totalitarian government is. The world continues to give aid, but they are being very careful not to put boots on the ground. It's a dicey situation. I know a lot of people want NATO to do more and want the world to do more. But the problem is once you actually start getting your troops on the ground, it escalates from what it is now to a full out world war. Even though, honestly,

I hate to say it, I would consider what we're in right now kind of a cold world war in many ways. I wouldn't call it a cold war. I'd call it an actual world war. I'd call it an actual, you know, I mean, it's a very isolated one in the sense that Russia finds itself allied with basically like North Korea and Belarus. And the Republican party. You know, and the Republican party. I mean, no joke, you say that, but like, you know, Tucker Carlson, we did an incredible video at Midas Touch where we showed what Tucker Carlson was saying when he was saying that, I don't know why people are saying that I'm, you know, rooting for Putin. Then you actually played the clip of like, he goes, I'm rooting for Putin, you know, and literally the exact words. Yeah. In his exact words. But even yesterday, I mean, Tucker Carlson went right back on the pro-Putin. Yeah. And the way he asks it, like it is. What are we not allowed to ask those questions? We're not allowed to ask the questions. So why would we get rid of Putin? Have you ever considered that? What would happen if Putin wasn't there? I just want you to think

about that. Listen, what if Russia wasn't a dictatorship? Could we guarantee that what would come in its place would be better? It's just like- And then he goes, these are questions that are not being asked. Listen, dumb shit. These are questions that actually are being asked and they have actual answers to the questions. And we're not playing a hypothetical what if game. We're dealing with a situation on the ground. Do you stand with authoritarianism? Do you stand with authoritarianism? Do you stand with someone who's trying to destroy democracy and the United States of America? Do you stand with the United States of America?

I think that is the rhetorical question because we know Tucker Carlson stands with authoritarianism. Yeah, this isn't a joke. You know, on the one hand, the most benevolent interpretation of Fox News and a Tucker is that they just don't take things seriously to make money. It's a performance. And when you see their smug fucking faces and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, it's like shut the fuck up. We live in a real world. There's real serious issues. And get serious.

Like they're so insulated in their privilege that they have these conversations like these are laughing fucking debates that they can just go home in their living room and fucking have a have, you know, a glass of wine when they go to sleep, leave their mansions like there are people who are dying out there. These are real life issues and you have a real serious job. Confront that serious job. And there are serious people in the world who are fighting for democracy. And there's good news though to report about what's going on in Kiev.

Like there's a lot of horrible news going on. But as of right now, though, they have, the Ukrainian army has been able to hold off some of those convoys that we heard about that were coming in. As Malcolm Nance tweeted recently, as predicted, my assessments are usually 72 to 128 hours ahead of news media curve. I called this days ago and said they were being ambushed and cannot move forward except at a crawl. The convoy will be the last of the Mohicans level massacred. Drones and raiding groups are doing it.

In essence, the drones are destroying the Russian convoys and columns outside of Kiev. And that's been positive news. But there's also been disheartening news of areas like Kherson, where Russia troops are taking over. Look, this is a bloody battle. This is Russia now trying to annihilate and just level all of Ukraine because they're not achieving their military goals. The world is giving aid. Zelensky has called for close the skies or give us aircrafts. We haven't been able to do a no-fly zone in the United States official position. We can't do a no-fly zone right now because that would mean if Russia were to encroach and violate the no-fly zone, then we would all be immediately in a United States would then be involved in the war if that bright line was crossed. But make no mistake about it, weaponry resources are being provided.

I also love this, Ben. I love what governments are doing around the world to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs. I saw- Oh my gosh. Take their yachts. Did you see French customs? That should be our chant. Take their yachts. That's a bumper sticker? That should be our chant. Take their yachts.

That's a bumper sticker. That's the third bumper sticker on the table. Take their yacht. Bumper sticker. Take their yacht. 100%. That is phenomenal. French customs seized the yacht of the Rosneft boss and former KGB-er and Russian deputy prime minister seized this massive, massive, massive yacht. And that's something that's happening right now around the world. The Department of Justice announced a program called the KleptoCapture, the KleptoCapture task force to track down the wealth of sanctioned Russian oligarchs so that it could be seized. This would make a great reality show, just seizing

Russian yachts. I asked yesterday, I'm like, how does one call dibs on a seized Russian yacht? You just call it. I'm saying that knowing I couldn't even afford the fuel for one day of the Russian yacht, but did I lose it? Yeah, you lost the yacht. I lost it. Now we go rock paper scissors for it. I didn't even see it. And the government in the United States got the oligarch. Yeah, Brett did it. That's just the size guy. It was my call to. But the the United States government as a whole starting to come together in their support of Ukraine, although in the House put forth a resolution to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Of course, three Republicans, Representatives Gosar,

Rosendale and Massey voted no to voice. This wasn't to put military action or anything. This was to say, I support Ukraine. And they said, nope, that right there is the Republican Party. That is who the Republican Party enables. The European Union is providing an additional 1.2 billion euros to Ukraine. Biden is now calling on Congress to approve $10 billion in aid. And you see around the world, you see that NATO is united. And you see now the way Putin miscalculated is now more countries than ever want to be in NATO. They see NATO and the way that NATO is rising to the moment right now obviously could be doing more, but they NATO and the way that NATO is rising to the moment right now, obviously could be doing more, but they see all the things that they are doing and they say,

hey, I want that protection for my country. Moldova signed an application today to join the EU. We previously saw Ukraine sign an application to join the EU. And it's really right now a battle for democracy across the globe. And what we're looking at is an autocratic government who, like Ben said, is losing, losing big. And so now they are resorting to the most horrific, the most disgusting, the most horrendous war crimes imaginable to try to save face. And I just don't see a way where a country like Russia with a leader like Putin can survive this and ever be accepted back into the world. It's just, it can't happen. Putin has to go. So the Russian people right now, I know that the Russian people have to be under incredible stress, incredible distress, but it's time for the Russian people to try to rally and try to unite. And I know that it's easier said than done.

I know that you would have to risk your lives to do this, but it's time to rise up, not just by the thousands, but by the tens of thousands and by the hundreds of thousands and by the millions and kick this guy out of office, kick Vladimir Putin out of office. He has to go. There's no future for Russia with Vladimir Putin in leadership. There just isn't. I just don't know what future there is for any of those folks, any of those pro-democracy folks over there in Russia that want Vladimir Putin out when the ruble's trading at less than a penny. How do these people survive if Putin remains? Because like you said, there's no way Putin ever gets into the good graces of any special powers once this thing

eventually concludes. No, it's a good point you raised, Jordan. I wasn't sure where you were going with there for a second, but at the end of the day, it is a sad choice that you have to make. But when you break it down, what you said, is it really a choice at all? He's going to come for you regardless. And so join together and fight because he's coming for you regardless. And we will follow up on developments in Ukraine and keep everybody posted and updated. Brett, I know we have a clip from Tony Michaels. Want to tell us what that clip is? I think it's important we highlight it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, I think there's the contrast here from going from the bravery of the Ukrainian people who are literally fighting for their freedoms to thinking about that, the week that the truckers in America decided their freedom convoy across America could not have been more poorly timed and just so

embarrassing and so humiliating. These are real freedom fighters in Ukraine. These clowns driving across the country when all the mandates have been lifted, by the way, to protest what? What are you protesting? But why I wanted to highlight this Tony Michaels clip first, I think the Tony Michaels podcast, we've been following it now for a while. Tony does an incredible job. There's truly no one on our side who has a morning show the way Tony delivers his morning show every single day. He does it live and then puts it on all the various podcast platforms. And so he released an exclusive clip earlier where he had an expert go through some of the donations to the Russian,

to the Russian, they might as well be Russian, to the American trucker convoy, which the donations to the, I keep calling it Russian, the donations to the trucker convoy were given on a platform called GiveSendGo. And when this expert looked through the donations, he found a lot of very suspicious things financing this operation, which surprise, surprise may entail that there was a lot of fraud and possible money laundering that happened at this event. So we'll play a quick clip from the Tony Michaels podcast right now. I looked at email address to zip code, first name, last name to email address, email address to credit card type this is what i found

man over 2 000 email addresses appear twice what the fuck 204 appear three times four to six before and you can see the numbers right right right there is one email address that appears 16 fucking times now wait a second now wait a second that seems that seems totally fine now wait a second now wait a second because because if i wanted to if i wanted to donate 16 times i might use my email address the same email address each time and that is absolutely fair and i understand that and that is organic right i did look through some of the duplicates and i found there were some people like i was able to identify people and i'll show you that later on there were organic multiple donations right absolutely but what makes these different well let me show you so what i found here was the first one i looked at right and this was four

records so i have four donations i have four different names as you can see right there donation first donation you're saying the first and last name are completely different on each one of these is what you're on each one. We have Alyssa, Jordan, Richard, and Jerry. Right.

Okay. It sounds like all of them. It sounds like a whole family of them. Yeah. Yeah. Except all of them have the same email address with four different zip codes. What the fuck?

This isn't like a house. You guys can't just share emails. What the fuck's going on here? What the fuck this isn't like a house you guys can't just share emails what the fuck's going on here right what the fuck well so here's my thought right maybe these emails are emails that have somebody that will answer any questions to that email but they're using that to launder the donations to that email does that make sense like hey i've got this one email address now the email is the contact point in In other words. Yeah. Yeah. We don't have phone numbers, right? Right. Right. So like, it's like if anything goes awry and they need to respond, there's a person that might have that email, but there might be these tentacles of donations that are tied back

to that. And they're trying to, maybe they're trying to hide by different zip codes and different names of who actually has that email, right? You look at this one. There's three from the United States. There's one from Canada, right? I actually went out and found the email address. And I did find the email address. It's in Japan.

So there you have Tony Michaels and Gabe Sanchez, both just such incredible hosts of the show. We're going to have a big announcement with the Tony Michaels podcast coming up early next week. Some of you may have even heard me hinted at it if you listened to his show earlier today, but I'm thinking maybe just maybe we bring Tony's show under the Midas umbrella. And so I just, I'm loving what they're doing there. But if you want to hear more about the trucker convoy and its financing and why the financing is so shady and why it should be looked into, listen to this episode of the Tony Michaels podcast, wherever you find podcasts. And with that, its financing and why the financing is so shady and why it should be looked into. Listen to this episode of the Tony Michaels podcast, wherever you find podcasts. And with that, do we have anything else to discuss on this podcast? Brothers. So if you're listening to this podcast on Friday, watching tonight, Friday, 8 PM,

Eastern, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, we're not platform shaming. Whatever your favorite social media platform is. I am playing the attorney general of Pennsylvania, running for governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, one-on-one in a basketball game. And just to clarify, like Jordy said, we're not platform shaming here. You're going to be able to watch this live across all of the Midas Touch platforms.

It's going to be 8 p.m. Eastern, sharp, 5 p.m. Pacific. So tune in. We're also raising money for a great cause to donate money to the greater Pittsburgh community food bank, the people who really stepped up, especially during COVID, to make sure that people in Pennsylvania got the meals that they needed to make it through the day. So excited for that. Watch this live stream and Jordy bring your a game. I'm so nervous. Excited, excited to watch that. I'll see who wins a special thanks to all of our sponsors, magic spoon, trade coffee, and express VPN. Use those codes. Midas. We work with all our sponsors to get you those discounts,

so make sure you use those codes, Magic Spoon Trade Coffee and ExpressVPN. Thank you so much for watching this episode or listening to this episode of the Midas Touch podcast. We are so grateful for each and every one of you for the the Midas Mighty, and for all of those fighting hard each and every day for our democracy here and for democracy abroad. Shout out to the Midas Mighty!