The MeidasTouch Podcast - Inside the January 6 Hearings with Olivia Troye

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Starting point is 00:01:34 please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. morning. We're going to talk about some of the key new insights from that deposition testimony. And there are two fascist Republican rallies that took place this weekend, one in Arizona, the traveling circus of insurrection, that is the Trump rallies. And then we have the Hitler youth rally. I mean, the turning points event in Tampa with actual Nazis waiting out front with swastikas and other Nazi paraphernalia as individuals were greeted. Of course, no condemnation from DeSantis or anybody inside the Turning Points. In fact, that's what they actually wanted to have happen in front of Turning Points. And then we should just talk about the fact that the media is failing us. I can't stress that enough.

Starting point is 00:02:45 The mainstream media continues to be impotent as fascism thrives across this country. They need to call it out and stop with this both-side-ism. And someone who has called it out, Olivia Troy. Olivia Troy is our guest on today's Midas Touch podcast. Of course, you know Olivia who resigned after working with Pence. She was on the coronavirus task force. She was a national security advisor to Pence. She resigned in August of 2020, was a major whistleblower, a major voice from democracy when we needed it the most at that critical moment. Olivia Troy will talk about the January 6th finding. She's friends with a lot of those staffers who testified.

Starting point is 00:03:31 She's friends with Sarah Matthews, friends with Cassidy Hutchins, another. She was at three of the January 6th hearings herself. She was there live when it was actually happening in person. So we will talk to her about that great podcast episode, but not great things happening in our country when it comes to the Republican fascism movement. Some great things coming from the Democratic Party, the pro-democracy movement. But as I watched this weekend, Brett, and I saw that traveling insurrection circus, when I saw what was going on in Tampa at this Turning Points youth rally, whatever you want to call that, some real alarming signs. I mean, it's just truly, truly horrifying. And I'm glad

Starting point is 00:04:15 that you position it the correct way to position it, which is the Republican fascist movement. That's exactly what it is. And the problem with the way things are reported is that, you know, things are reported as if Republicans are there's a liberal party, the Democrats, and there's the conservative party, oh, well, that's going to make people think that I am liberal biased if I am calling them that. But at what point do you start calling them that? What does it take? They are literally flying Nazi flags outside of the rally. They have actual Nazis outside of the Turning Point USA rally. Trump is preaching fascism at his rally. Trump is planning to literally overthrow the government, trying to push out lifelong State Department employees, put people, his own lackeys into the government so that they will do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. At what point do you not call a spade a spade? When do you just say, yes, this is a fascist movement? And that right there, that's more dangerous to this country than any other problem facing

Starting point is 00:05:31 our country right now. And it's important that people are aware of this. You need it. You're not being honest with your audience if you're not sounding the alarm on the Republican fascist movement. And that's what we are here to do. And that's what we do here at Midas Touch every single day. Jord day. And I want to go back to the Nazi flags and the other Nazi symbolism at this Turning Point USA rally. I haven't seen a single Republican really denounce what happened

Starting point is 00:05:54 over the weekend. And you know why? It's their base. That's why. And it's just such a sad thing to see. And you know what? So you have, if you want to know what conservative actually, you know, meant, you know, we could disagree with him all we want, but rusty Bowers, right? The speaker of the Arizona house is conservative. Like, but now he's viewed as a Rhino, the Republican party now, which is the fascist party in Arizona run by Kelly Ward, who was the opening speaker at this insurrection circus that took place in Arizona on Friday. Kelly Ward censured him, called him Rusty Bowles because he's an older gentleman. So that was the nickname, Rusty Bowles. And the right wing is that immature that that's how they refer to people, Rusty Bowles.

Starting point is 00:06:43 They're toddlers. Censured him and then are primarying him because he testified before the January 6th committee and they said that he's not a Republican. Just let's play the clip of Kelly Ward, who is the leader of the Republican Party in Arizona from the insurrection circus that is the Trump rally. Play that clip. Hey, stand up if you're ultra mega. Ultra mega. Hey, I'm a proud member of the orange mafia.

Starting point is 00:07:19 So there she is calling it the orange mafia, whatever. What is the orange mafia? That's the new one to me. All right. So I mean, I know what it is, but that's insane. And then just play the clip right now of Trump on Rusty Bowers and saying that he's a rhino. Play that clip. He's running against a rhino coward named Rusty Bowers. David Farnsworth is going to do the job. Rusty Bowers is a rhino coward who participated against the Republican Party in the totally partisan unselect committee of political thugs and hacks the other day and disgraced himself and he disgraced the state of Arizona. So there is no room whatsoever because he testified truthfully in front of the January

Starting point is 00:08:12 6th committee that Trump called him and told him to overthrow the results of the election. That's what Rusty Bauer testified to. That's all he said. Trump called me, wanted me to overthrow. I told him I didn't have the ability to do that under the Arizona constitution. And that's why they're calling him a rhino. That's why they're calling him a rhino. And now just, I want to focus on some of the clips of just what took place at the youth rally that took place in Tampa. So this is Matt Gates, who was one of the keynote speakers leading up to Trump's. This is what Matt Gaetz said about women who are pro-choice. Have you watched these pro-abortion, pro-murder rallies? The people are just disgusting.

Starting point is 00:09:00 Like, why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions? Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb. These people are odious on the inside and out. They're like 5'2", 350 pounds, and they're like, give me my abortions or I'll get up and march in protest. And I'm thinking march you look like you got ankles weaker than the legal reasoning behind roe versus wade a few of them need to get up in march they need to get up in march for like an hour a day swing

Starting point is 00:09:38 those arms get the blood pumping okay and this is what Matt Gaetz said about supporting Ukraine. I would far rather to go to war over the monarch butterfly than deciphering what guy in a tracksuit gets to run Crimea oceans away. The case for America's interest is far more clear with the butterfly. So I just want to talk about what their views are. So their views are that America should not be supporting Ukraine, that essentially Russia should just take over all of Europe. That's fine. Let Russia control the world. And let's treat women. How horrifically can you even we always talked about it at the end of the Republican hate women. That's really what it comes down to. I mean, and how could you listen to someone like a Matt Gates as any self-respecting person and go, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:10:34 That's someone who I support. sex crime investigation for raping and sex trafficking, an underage girl is speaking and saying those horrific things about women. And he is a leader of the Republican Party. I just want to say it in those terms. He is the leader of the Republican Party. And Republicans are just going to constantly come after every group in America. And the more marginalized you are, the more likely they are to come after you. And what a lot of people on the right are still trying to hang on to is, okay, yes, there is this crazy faction, whatever, but guess what? I'm making a ton of money off this movement. So it's okay here. I could keep profiting. I could keep riling these

Starting point is 00:11:23 people up, but it's never going to touch me because I'm me. Everyone loves me. And the me in this scenario that I should probably bring up probably more than anybody else is Ben Shapiro, who thinks it's okay to fire up this movement, to target gays, to target same-sex marriage, to really just use his vitriol, use the vitriol of his followers in order to attack marginalized groups. And what's happening now, it's finally catching up to people like Ben Shapiro. We saw over the weekend, Doug Mastriano, who is running for governor of Geordie, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, your state, and the Gab CEO, Andrew Torba, he had a little message for right-wing Jewish commentators, including Ben Shapiro and Dave Rubin. And he told them directly, he said, you are not welcome

Starting point is 00:12:18 in our movement unless you quote, repent and renounce your Jewish faith. That is the Republican Party in 2022, from Nazi flags outside of their rallies to this message within their party. This is the message that they are saying to Marjorie Taylor Greene going out there in her speeches now going, yes, the Republican Party, we are the party of Christian nationalists, and we should be proud to be the party of Christian nationalists. These are the things that you really need to take to heart. And these are the things that people need to be aware of because these are the real things that are going to affect people in their daily lives. They are coming for you. They wake up every single morning and they

Starting point is 00:13:05 try to decide not how to make life better for Americans, but what other group can we come after next today? That's why you wake up so stressed every day and you see, you know, who's trending today? Oh, why are they trending? Oh, today they're trying to get rid of abortion. Tomorrow, they're trying to get rid of same-sex marriage. The next day, they're trying to get rid of contraception. Then they're trying to lock up Dr. Fauci. It's all about how can we restrict the freedoms of the American people? And eventually, if you play with fire, you're going to get burned. And right now, if you are a Republican Party voter, if you have Republican Party voters in your family, they will come for them eventually. And when they do come for them, guess what? It's going to be too late. If they don't speak up now,

Starting point is 00:13:42 it's going to be too late. Yeah. Your point speak up now, it's going to be too late. Yeah. Your point about coming for Dr. Fauci. Let's just play the clip of the Republican leading Senate, one of the Republican leading Senate candidates. What's the guy's name? Masters. Do you know what his first name is? Blake Masters. Blake Masters. Play this clip. This was at the insurrection rally in Arizona. This is what got a rousing applause from the audience about Dr. Fauci. And I promise you, we are going to investigate and prosecute Anthony Fauci. Yeah, that's one of their major points is their point isn't even that, hey, I think that the federal government shouldn't mandate vaccines, even though there was never actually a mandate. It was always a, you know, either you get it or you can be tested during the or get tested regularly. It's like who's like, I don't

Starting point is 00:14:39 want to even be tested. I just want to go and spread it with no testing whatsoever. But they're not even it's not even a nuanced, nuanced argument, right? The argument is literally the top health official in the United States government. You know, the person who helped get under control, the AIDS epidemic, the individual who's dealt with H1N1, the individual who's dealt with the person who's been there throughout all who served dutifully for like four decades, who's 81 years old right now, who's a scientist, who's a doctor who helps us. They want to lock that person up. They want to throw him in jail and give him a serious jail term. Why? Because he gave accurate information and gave the most up-to-date science during a COVID pandemic.

Starting point is 00:15:26 I mean, how disturbed can you be? Because they made Donald Trump look bad. Because Fauci, by presenting the facts as to what was going on, made Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic look bad. And when you're in a cult, if somebody makes you look bad, you go after them and you try to imprison them. And that's why it is a fascist movement. And it's the same playbook that we're seeing with the Jan 6th committee. Anyone who's presenting the facts is deemed a rhino. And now Fauci, I mean, you know, Fauci with his family. I mean, when he's behind closed doors, he's got to be looking around at like his wife, his kids. Like, you know, what the fuck is going on yeah all i did was serve

Starting point is 00:16:06 this country ludicrous yeah i served this country as a public servant for like four decades decades to give accurate information about what was happening with diseases every president no one even knew i mean people would know who dr fauci was, but he was always like, and I think they asked this to George H.W. Bush back in like the late 80s, early 90s, like who is someone who most Americans would never know of who's a true hero? And George H.W. Bush goes, oh, it's Dr. Fauci, because here's the work he does behind the scenes and behind the scenes, the work

Starting point is 00:16:39 he did with the swine flu and H1N1 and all these things to try to keep it under control. And here you have, you know, the global pandemic that hits and Republicans reactions. Let's lock that person up. I mean, it's beyond insane. I also want to play the clip speaking about insane. You know, you talked about Republicans not realizing or just being ignorant to the fact that they're going to come for you eventually. Like fascists, first they came from this group, then they came from that group, and then they came for me. You have this Ben Shapiro tweet, Brett, was one of the things I think you're referencing, which he basically attacks same-sex marriage. That's the big Republican rallying call,

Starting point is 00:17:19 not how do we make wages better for people, or how do we approve the economy? Or how do we lower gas prices? Or how do we unite our allies abroad? No, no, no. How do we deal with climate change? Let's not focus on real issues that we could help people with. Let's focus on how we can take away rights. So now and Democrats were right to put these bills before Congress the same way people were saying, well, Democrats should have put bills to codify Roe v. Wade, even though all of the Supreme Court justices lied about what their positions on settled law was. It's unprecedented that you have Supreme Court precedent like Roe v. Wade that gets just overturned and just totally ignored. That's against the law. And then everybody literally lied about it. All the Republican nominees that has lied about it when they were under oath. But Democrats were right. So they put a bill that we're going to protect same sex marriage and interracial marriage. And Republicans vote against it. Democrats put a bill. We're going to protect contraception. Republicans vote against it. Democrats put a bill. We're going to protect

Starting point is 00:18:25 contraception. Republicans vote against it. As you have this Ben Shapiro tweet saying that it shouldn't be a right to have same sex marriage. And I want to play this clip from Pete Buttigieg on what he spoke about. And this really touched me. It was so heartfelt when he talks about how, you know, here I am as the transportation secretary, just trying to make roads better, better infrastructure, help our airports. Right. I'm speaking with Republican colleagues. And then after they talk to me, they go and they take a vote to take away my marriage. They vote against me being a human. Let's play the clip.

Starting point is 00:19:03 Look, this is really, really important to a lot of people. It's certainly important to me. I started my day, as I try to do on weekends. I try to give Chasten a little bit of a break and do breakfast with both of our twins. And that alone, that's no small thing. As every parent of small kids knows, it was one of those days where the tray table wasn't quite fitting into the high chair. And I'm trying to make sure that they're busy enough with their little cereal puffs to give me enough time to chop up the banana and get the formula ready.

Starting point is 00:19:35 And it just, I don't know, that half hour of my morning had me thinking about how much I depend on and count on my spouse every day. And our marriage deserves to be treated equally. And I don't know why this would be hard for a senator or a congressman. I don't understand how such a majority of House Republicans voted no on our marriage on as recently as Tuesday, hours after I was in a room with a lot of them talking about transportation policy, having what I thought were perfectly normal conversations with many of them on that subject, only for them to go around the corner and say

Starting point is 00:20:13 that my marriage doesn't deserve to continue. If they don't wanna spend a lot of time on this, they can vote yes and move on. And that would be really reassuring for a lot of families around America, including mine. Do you know how damaging that would be to families? I mean, it would literally tear families apart. It would tear kids away from their parents. For a party that considers themselves the pro-family party, this is the most anti-family, anti-marriage thing that you could

Starting point is 00:20:42 possibly do. And it's disgusting and it's just rooted in hatred and bigotry. And when you have somebody like Ben Shapiro spouting this, what they're also doing is I think they're trying to set the stage for arguments using the same arguments that they use to overturn Roe v. Wade, which is that there was no historical precedent for this back in the day when the Constitution was written. That's what they're going to harken back to. Oh, well, this wasn't a historical thing in America. Yeah, we also had slavery back then. We also had a lot of things that needed to be corrected. That's why the Constitution has amendments. That's why the Constitution is an evolving document. And that's why our society has progressed since we started as a nation. And that is a good thing, but they want

Starting point is 00:21:25 to really take us back to those days when the only people who had power were straight white men with money. I mean, that's literally what they are saying when they make these arguments. They are saying that only what existed way back then, that's what we want right now. And anyone who has gotten rights, anyone who tries to share in that American dream, not anymore for you. You got to go back in the line. You got to go back to the way things were. And that's really Shapiro's vision of America and the Republican right wing fascist vision of America that we're seeing right now. But they're so disingenuous, too. I mean, I know here when I say they're so disingenuous, I'm preaching to the choir a bit, and it's probably the biggest understatement in the world that they're being disingenuous.

Starting point is 00:22:08 But yeah, let's view let's make it our historical view, though, of what history is. So let's just kind of pick and choose. So this one's good for us. This one's good for us. But, you know, when it comes to guns, even though AR-15s and these weapons of war, they weren't around when the Constitution was written. Let's just say when it comes to those, the founders knew that they were going to be AR-15s. They knew they'd be weapons of war. Clearly, the conception of guns in the late 18th century was the conception of guns right now in the present time, right? That makes sense right there. So it just, they alternate whenever it benefits them. Oh, then we're strict textualists. Every word matters. Okay. Well,

Starting point is 00:22:52 what about the word well-regulated militia? Well, those words don't matter. Well-regulated militia, it's the word guns, the right to guns and bear arms. That's all that matters in it. So they pick and choose what benefits them. And their whole vision is let's not look at the effect anymore of how it affects us today. Let's consult the magical Oracle of what we think the founders would say. Oracle of the founders. That's what they do. That's the test. You remember that scene from the movie? This is what I think that this is really what scoundrels do. Remember the scene from the movie 300 where they go and they climb, they have to climb the cliff and the Oracle tells them whether or not there's going to win the war or not. And they have to consult the Oracle. They're just a

Starting point is 00:23:40 BS snake oil salesman. That's the Republicans conception of the law. You have to climb the mountain, go speak to the fascist oracles. And they say the founders would have said no gay marriage. The founders would have said AR-15s everywhere. It's whatever they want the result to be. And it's absurd and it's stupid. But look, the one thing I'm glad it's not all doom and gloom. I'm glad that we have the January 6th committee doing what the January 6th committee should be doing. And it really shows that when you have pro-democracy coalitions working together, you could really expose in the biggest way what this fascist right wing is all about, which is about weakness, which is about hypocrisy, which is about harming this country. And someone who has been on the forefront of calling out these weak despots from the outset is Olivia Troy. And so I'm honored to have Olivia Troy on the podcast. So why don't we bring

Starting point is 00:24:47 in our interview with Olivia Troy? Welcome back to the Midas Touch podcast. We are joined by someone who really needs no introduction. We have Olivia Troy joining the Midas Touch podcast. Again, of course, I'll give a little introduction. That is my job, I suppose, as the host of this podcast. Remember, Olivia Troy resigned from working for Vice President Pence. She was on the Coronavirus Task Force. She provided advice as a counterterrorism advisor to Mike Pence in the Trump administration. She resigned in August 2020. Got to give props for that, seeing what was going on. Olivia has been a friend of the Midas Touch podcast ever since, and it's great to have

Starting point is 00:25:30 her back on to talk about January 6th, what she's doing now and more. Welcome to the podcast, Olivia Troy. Hey, guys. Thanks for having me. It's so good to be back. I am a big fan. Love the Midas podcast. You guys do good work.

Starting point is 00:25:45 And I just appreciate your voices. And I appreciate you getting other voices out there, too. It's such important work right now, especially given everything that's going on. And you guys are also funny, too. So I like listening to you. We try occasionally. We're big fans of you, Olivia. Olivia, what have you been up to lately?

Starting point is 00:26:04 What's going on in Olivia's world? I'm still out here kind of trying to beat the pro-democracy Trump and, you know, trying to sort of stand against a lot of these enablers and looking against Donald Trump himself. He just, I guess that whole Teflon Don thing, I'm starting to wonder if it's actually true because it seems like he considers himself above the law and thus far, hopefully at some point he won't be. And I think that's, like, I've been very supportive

Starting point is 00:26:41 of the Jan Rees-Kiss Committee's work, the fact finding there and the investigation. I think I think it's really important to just get this information out to Americans so that we really understand what happened there. So, yeah. And other than that, just working in the space and also supporting others who have come forward, which is really important to me. It's a very lonely space. I'll say, thank goodness that I had you all to stand by me along the way at times. I certainly had some colleagues come forward with me at the time, but really no one from the White House itself. And that was hard. I came forward and you're sitting out there and you're like, guys, anyone? We all know the truth. And it was like, Bueller, Bueller, Crickets, anyone?

Starting point is 00:27:29 And no one dead. But so I'm grateful. I'm grateful that there are some voices now coming forward and they're testifying. And I think, look, these firsthand accounts are very important. And I'm super grateful for Cassidy Hutchinson, who is so brave and courageous. And I say that just because it is very hard in today's times. As you all know, I'm sure you guys get the death threats at times, too. That's the norm, it seems, these days.

Starting point is 00:27:54 And people like Sarah Matthews and others who have made their voices known and who are playing an important role, I think, for our country. The superstars of the January 6th committee hearing so far have really been the women who have stepped up, the women who have worked within the administration, who have been unafraid, who have been unapologetic and who have stepped forward to tell the truth. was looking at Ukraine and I was saying, well, what's the secret sauce that Ukraine has? And I saw a photo of their parliament and I saw all these young women and older women and women of all ages in the Ukrainian parliament. I said, that's it. It's it's it's, you know, yes, Zelensky is out there, but that's like more women than men on the parliament or more women who have top roles. And then in the January 6th committee, where's the courage coming? Where's the force coming? You know, of course you have Liz Cheney. You have, you know, a representative of Luria who was highlighted in nuclear submarine, who led nuclear submarines while she was in the

Starting point is 00:28:59 Navy for more than two decades. And then you have- She's amazing. Right. incredible background. Incredible. Then you have Cassidy Hutchinson, you know, Sarah Matthews, you know, who have stood up to power. And you wrote a recent op ed, Republican women are meeting the moment for January 6th committee hearings time and time again. You speak to that op ed and the observations there. Yeah, I think it was important. Like I worked with that on that op-ed with Barbara Comstock, who is a former Congresswoman. And she has been part of this, I guess, sort of support network that has grown organically behind the scenes for

Starting point is 00:29:36 those that come forward, and especially the women. And I also include in that circle, especially fallen officers, significant others and family members who really came forward at the very beginning and really advocated for these January 6th committee hearings because of the importance of them. And they felt like they were taking a stand for their loved ones and rightly so to get to the bottom of it. And so in that op-ed, we talk about Liz Cheney and meeting the moment, like you said, and leading and taking a stand at great cost to her own career. Things are not looking good in Wyoming right now. I want her to win more than anything.

Starting point is 00:30:19 I say that sincerely. But we've got, unfortunately, the crazy conspiracy touting election deniers out there who apparently are, are doing quite well. So, you know, but it's voices like Liz Cheney's, Cassidy Hutchinson's and others. And I think it's been incredibly powerful. And I think it is important to have Republican voices coming forward and speaking about the facts. And also, I think it serves as a warning for the future, because we're seeing that Donald Trump is on the verge of likely announcing his candidacy for 2024. And what does that mean for our country? To me, that means the grave danger that we've already seen unfold under the Trump presidency that took place.

Starting point is 00:31:10 And in the aftermath of it, with all these, you know, the stolen election lines that still live on today. So I think it's incredible. And in that piece, I think we also we did talk about the Georgia election workers. I mean, those women were incredible and the threats that they have faced solely for just doing their public service. I have to say that their testimony was powerful and I have thought about them from the very beginning, from the election, because I thought about all of these election officials that were facing these kinds of threats who never asked to be in the spotlight. But yet, in a moment's instant, in a tweet, or your name gets out there, and the next thing you know, there's people showing up your house threatening your life, all for doing your patriotic duty, your actual patriotic, these are actual patriots.

Starting point is 00:32:00 But I feel like that word has gotten misconstrued along the way. Yeah. Now, you left the White House in August of 2020. You obviously had Trump's second impeachment that took place after January 6th. And a lot of these witnesses there for that and a lot of these witnesses didn't come forward, you know, at that time. So in terms of how do you reconcile those some of the witnesses coming forward now versus coming forward at Trump's second impeachment or even leaving the White House when when you left the White House, which was just saying, look, I can't be a part of these crimes. I can't be a part of what he's doing to our national security. How do you make how do you reconcile that? You know, and then to me, you't be a part of what he's doing to our national security. How do you make, how do you reconcile that? And then to me, you still have a lot of, as Liz Cheney said, the 50, 60, 70-year-old men who hide behind executive privilege and all of these other

Starting point is 00:32:56 claims. So how do you make sense of all of that? Yeah, it's the political ambition, right? That's what causes the blindness. I think you kind of see my former boss sort of operating that space where he somewhat comes forward, somewhat takes a stand and then retreats. And I think he's walking a fine line there because he is looking at his own political ambition. But at some point, I think you got to decide like, what's happening in the country should matter more over everything else. But I have come to realize in the last almost two years that I've been up here as a very public figure that not all see it that way. And I think that's, that's a very unfortunate thing.

Starting point is 00:33:36 Cause it's to the detriment of our country, to be honest. I think I know you all, you all understand that more than others for sure. And you know, I, with the, with the impeachment, like, I wish they would have come forward. You know, and those that did, I think what happened, though, is, you know, let's talk about the Republicans that did vote to convict Donald Trump in the second impeachment. have either decided not to run again, or they have been completely ostracized. And they're facing very, very tough elections coming forward just for voting to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law and, and rightly doing so. Right. And so I think you have all of these other people who watch that in real time, and decided that they were not going to be as forthcoming. And I'm, you know, I think at some point, probably now the violence and seeing how what happened in the

Starting point is 00:34:34 events of January 6, I think it became a lot more real for them. But I mean, you look, they should have taken a stand back then. I think now the committee is, you know, the facts are the facts, right? You can't hide behind that. So I think what you're seeing is the information's out there. And I think there's a lot of people, more people that are coming forward that are like, okay, this is, you know, this is pretty damning. Do I really want to continue to remain silent? Or maybe I can actually make a difference and stand with integrity. And, you know, to each their own, we all have our moral compass that we follow, I guess. And I think it's questionless for a lot of these Republican men, I would say is, how do you sleep at night

Starting point is 00:35:17 is, is always what I wonder. And I'm not talking about Stephen Miller hanging upside down like a, you know, like a bat, which is sometimes how I respond to people. That's usually how I respond to people when they ask how Stephen Miller or Steve Bannon sleep. I was like, oh, well, that's easy. But then I feel bad because then the bat people are like, hey, don't insult the bats. Yeah. Apologies to the bats. Apologies to the bats. No offense meant to the bats. And then asking how do they sleep? And how do they even get through the day? You know, what's so strange about watching these hearings is really how weak these men are.

Starting point is 00:35:55 It's just very strange to see that someone could be mean to them or just yell at these Republican men. And all of a sudden, because someone's mean or yells or they get scared, they're like, oh, I don't know what to do. I guess I'm just going to have to do it. Like if you push back at Trump, he's a big man, baby. Yet no, no one but the women or, you know, or Democrats pro-democracy with a new coalition pushes back at this person. And all he does is whine like a baby. And I think if you had actual leadership just push back at him, we'd all be better. It's just so weird. Like, I guess as a national security advisor, I'm not asking you to do a psychological analysis, but what is it like? What is it, though, about that, that these that these Republican men just cower to just an idiot who's just mean and yells and throws ketchup? Yeah, exactly. It's it's you know, I think, one, it is fear.

Starting point is 00:37:00 It's cowardice. And I think I think, think again i think it comes down to political ambition it's fear of losing power um but i would say i mean is it isn't it better to actually stand with integrity and actually make a difference rather than continue to pander to one man that actually doesn't deserve any of this at all. Any of the any of this credit or any of this loyalty. And I think I just I wonder, like, what's it going to take? Because he has shown repeatedly that he has no loyalty to anyone. Right? I mean, he he will throw anyone and everyone under the bus for himself, right? And so including his most loyal person, Mike Pence, right? He'll send the mob in to try to kill him.

Starting point is 00:37:49 And when he knows that his life is in danger, he didn't do anything to stop it, right? In fact, I mean, I think it was like very chilling. I was at that hearing, the more recent one, the Generations hearing. And it was so chilling to me that at the end of the end of the day he was still so focused on mike pence and those are like the last words at the end of the day right like he can't get over it the fact that like mike pence like failed him like and i just that says everything about him is that he becomes this narcissistic focused individual, but, you know, who continues to break the law and in a very dangerous and damaging way to our democracy. I have to hear your perspective, Olivia, on what it was like to actually be in the room

Starting point is 00:38:37 during that primetime January 6th hearing. What was that experience like? Yeah, so I've attended three of them in person. Usually the ones that I have attended three of them in person. Usually, the ones that I have attended have been because there have been staffers that I have known that were testifying that I know, and really, it was there, mostly in support of them, because it is, you know, I know that people will say, well, you know, you're just telling the truth, how hard it is. Yes, it's not hard to tell the truth. The thing is, this is a very ugly, vitriol filled machine that comes at you, when you come forward and tell the truth, and they do it in all sorts of ways. And they undermine your credibility.

Starting point is 00:39:20 You know, interesting enough for women, it's always about the looks. They attack your looks or they undermine your standing as a career professional, right? Cassidy, I've been called the coffee girl. Cassidy was the coffee girl. Uh, you know, apparently there's a lot of covfefe that gets served in the White House because everyone's a coffee person. Yeah. Everyone's a coffee person, um, which is, you know, fine, but the coffee girls here all or the coffee boys here all.

Starting point is 00:39:46 So it doesn't really change the facts because they witness everything and they know everything. But, yeah, so, I mean, it's been hard to sit through them. I'm not going to lie. This more recent one with Sarah Matthews and Matt Pottinger, I also worked very closely with Matt Pottinger in the national security space and have gotten to know Sarah. I'll say it was probably the hardest just to hear the Secret Service detail. That was one of the more chilling, frightening moments to hear Mike Pence's Secret Service detail, their concern for their own lives and for the Vice President, and the fact that they were thinking about their families thinking about saying their goodbyes to the families i think is just so uh demonstrated yeah and i it was it was hard and it was a honestly i it was very hard not to i was finding

Starting point is 00:40:35 back tears um just listening to all of it while i sat next to the families of the fallen officers and some of the cap Capitol police officers there too. And just processing all of that and hearing it in real time for me, it was like the culmination of having worked in and around under, you know, in government four years of the Trump administration, just the culmination of it right there. And what it all, who he really is and what it all meant. And it was hard. But I think it was incredibly powerful to hear these accounts. And as much as it's hard, I know it's hard for the Capitol Police officers. I sit next to them

Starting point is 00:41:21 and I can tell how difficult it is to relive it and hear the footage again and again. But the fact of the matter is it's important for Americans to really piece it together. And I think the hearings have done a really good job of that. I think the committee has done a very good job in presenting the facts and letting the Republicans speak for themselves. And also painting a strategic picture. Like I think a lot of the things we've known, right? We've seen the reporting. We've seen it piece by piece. It's very different when you sort of put it cohesively together and present it in such a manner and then just have these voices who were there living it for sound, giving the accounts of what it was truly like. I think it's important. And like Americans at some point will have a choice of,

Starting point is 00:42:06 you know, either there's accountability for the rule of law and ensuring that no one, no matter how powerful, no matter how rich you are, you actually get held accountable for your actions and that you're not above the law, which I think a lot of these people certainly behave like they think that they are. I think that's incredibly important. I think it's important for Americans to hear this.

Starting point is 00:42:29 And a lot of people say, well, they're not having an impact or not having an effect. If they weren't damaging to Donald Trump in this circle, they would not be lashing out and behaving exactly the way they are. Exactly. And have you talked to Cassidy Hutchinson or Sarah Matthews in the wake of these hearings? Do you know how they're doing, how they're handling all the attacks and just all the attention? I have. I've been in touch with them. It is hard. It's very hard. And I think that we've just been making sure that they're safe. There's, you know, they certainly get the threats and the attacks. And look, there's, we know how this goes, right? There's a hit pieces being put out on them.

Starting point is 00:43:16 There's targeting. It's the usual lies that are made up along the way. And this, you know, the right wing machine is powerful and relentless. But I think, you know, I think they feel confident that they did the right thing for our country. And I'm really proud of them for it. You know, it's not easy. They're young. They have a long way to go in their careers and it'll certainly impact them. This will be something that follows them for the rest of their lives. I'm like, I'll be honest, like the vitriol that we get as women. You know, I've been supportive of my male colleagues as well, but it is on a different level. It's either sexually violent or they really attack your looks. Some of the things, the comments that have been made or are discussing even from Trump's circle itself. And it's just interesting to watch

Starting point is 00:44:13 kind of the way it happens. Right. And then also watching the House GOP tweet during the hearing attacking Sarah Matthews, who, by the way, is on the Hill working for the Republican Party currently. And they called her the House GOP. For those who don't know, they tweeted they called Sarah Matthews that night. Just another liar and pawn in Pelosi's witch hunt. Those are the words they use. Then you'll also notice they did not attack Matthew Pottinger throughout the night. They only attacked Sarah Matthews and they quickly deleted that tweet. You know, the damage was already done, but they deleted that tweet. I guess when somebody informed them, guess what? Sarah Matthews works for you. Sarah Matthews right now.

Starting point is 00:44:53 Lifelong Republican. Yeah. Not a good look. Not, not a good look in the slightest. And you've seen this, this, this information machine. And I. And I'm glad that now I think Americans are wising up to this disinformation machine that happens because it's just so in your face now. When somebody testifies, you see how all the smear articles come. You see how the house GOP tweets out things. You see how the memes start to be created. And it's like a coordinated disinformation machine that targets enemies, smears enemies. It's almost like they took the strategy of the Russians in 2016 and what the Russians tried to do with their troll farms in America. And they go, that's a pretty good idea,

Starting point is 00:45:37 actually. We could use that. We could use that to cause some damage here. How do you think we push back, though, against this sort of machine when they have such a huge megaphone between these digital platforms and the biggest cable news channels on the planet? Yeah, that's the most dangerous part of it, right, is that you do have a lot of these pundits out there. And like you said, there's these networks that continue to push some of these areas. And when they actually show any daylight about these hearings, the vitriol, man, this weekend, I think one of them was trending for it.

Starting point is 00:46:15 And I was reading some of the comments about him when he had Liz Cheney on. And, you know, she spoke very really intrusively about the work of the January 6th committee and boy, were they attacking him. And they were just like Fox News, like they were dumping on Fox News. And I was like, oh, wow, this is interesting. I mean, there it is. There's no opportunity for them to show any sort of truth.

Starting point is 00:46:38 They have to remain as part of the disinformation, I guess, because this is what happens. And so this is something that they have created, right? They have, they have emboldened this, and this is something that they continue to cultivate and pushing back on it. I think it's just, you know, I think it's important to continue speaking the truth, and getting also these voices who are out there, who know what this is, and can call it for what it is, I think Liz Cheney did an incredible job this weekend. Just, you know, it's really just responding with facts. The issue though is getting, educating Americans also. I think there's a lot of education that needs to happen,

Starting point is 00:47:18 even at the civics level and with like social media literacy and really understanding what is really happening here in the moment. And then, you know, I think there needs to be, you know, I'm wondering why some of these other more extreme platforms don't hold themselves responsible because a lot of these more far right platforms are dangerous, right? Those are the platforms where some of the most like dangerous actors post and then they and actually carry out events. And they're posting the vitriol on there. They're posting the same narratives and rhetoric. And then you have some of the mass shooters that often post on these other platforms and then carry out their attacks. And so at some point, you've got to look at the owners of them and be like, is that really what you want for our country? You're enabling violence and you're hurting Americans.

Starting point is 00:48:08 Absolutely. I mean, there's got to be responsibility for stoking that sort of behavior. I mean, they know what they're doing when they're doing it. And they know that they're not trafficking in facts in any way. And that facts just don't matter to them. Now, a quick break from one of our partners, Athletic Greens. This podcast is... Are you going to do a sound? Yeah. I'm excited about Athletic Greens. Okay, got it. Stays in the pod. Keep going. This podcast is brought to you by Athletic Greens,

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Starting point is 00:50:14 nutritional insurance that the Midas brothers use. Go to athleticgreens.com slash Midas. Now back to our interview with Olivia Troy. You brought up the Secret Service before, and I want to hit on that because as an insider, I feel like you do know the players here. And the Secret Service has come under fire in recent weeks for their apparent cover-up attempt for their involvement in January 6th, which I think has shocked the nation in a way that we never even expected. And specifically, an agent that keeps coming up is an agent by the name of Tony Ornato,

Starting point is 00:50:43 who was named White House Deputy Chief of staff for operations by Trump in December 2019. Also pretty unusual for a agent to get a political appointment like that from a president. So what do you know about Ornato? Where do his loyalties lie? Is that kind of the person who we should be looking at and paying attention to right now? Yeah, I think so. I think it's going to be interesting to see what comes of this. Those of us that worked with Tony Arnauto, he's a loyalist. You don't get put in especially a position that he was in like that without being a 100% complete loyalist, especially in the 10

Starting point is 00:51:22 years and the moment that he was placed in it. Because towards the end of the Trump administration, I'm sure you saw that Axios piece. That should be alarming. Just FYI, that effort started when I was in the White House, and I was fully aware of it. I had conversations with other senior people in the White House about it. I will say that some of us were very alarmed, especially those of us who had already started to see national security leaders be pushed out for telling the truth about Russia and other things, people that I had worked with for over a decade in my career. That will only be worse the second time around. I mean, that was already kickstarted. And I know I'm going off on a tangent here, but that's something that I really think people really need to understand, that that is a very real thing and a very dangerous thing. And it would be very damaging to our country.

Starting point is 00:52:13 But to get back to Secret Service, like, I think it's really unfortunate. And I think it's brought shame to the Secret Service. You know, it's an elite force. I have respect for the officers that I have worked with along the way. I came from the Department of Homeland Security, and I got to know a lot of Mike Pence's detail. A lot of these are solid guys, right, who were doing their job and really believed in the mission. But then it has been very alarming, especially when you hear about the records being deleted. I certainly, I don't, I find that very strange that that happened. I'm interested to see, like, I'm super curious,

Starting point is 00:52:54 just on a personal level, was Tony Arnauto texting some of these agents? Like, where, what was happening in those days in the lead up. And like you said, I will say this. It is very strange for a Secret Service officer to take a role like Tony Ornato did, and then actually return back into the service. It's different if he had been serving in the national security role, like myself, or the National Security Advisor, or you serve on the National Security Council. There are Secret Service people that serve. They rotate, they serve as part of the National Security Advisor, and then they rotate back. That would be different. But to take on such a political role like that, I think we're seeing it now, creates a dynamic where I think the Secret Service really exposed themselves to this situation. I'm just going to be honest. I don't trust Tony.

Starting point is 00:53:48 I was told by others who were really in that inner circle to be careful. I was never told directly why to be careful, but when you're told to be careful and it's someone pretty senior that tells you that, you pay attention. What did your gut say when people said you should be careful of that guy? What did your gut say about why? You know, the spidey sense goes up and you sort of are careful about the conversations that you have in the hallways because that to me tells you something about that person's character. And I find that interesting.

Starting point is 00:54:24 And I also gave you some inside scoop there on how the internal workings of the West Wing sort of interacted there, right? In terms of the fact that these would be the kind of conversations that are very real happening amongst people there. And I will say, you know, there's been reporting on some of the stories

Starting point is 00:54:41 that Tony Renato has told that he then goes back and retracts later on. And so I think he's got a track record here. So either, either he embellishes things and tell stories in the moment and then retract them later, or somebody is not telling the truth. And the fact that he's lawyered up now, you know, there's been reporting on that they now have hired lawyers, I, I don't, I have to wonder, I mean, why not just come forward and tell the truth if you've got nothing to hide, if you've got nothing to hide, then come forward under oath or, you know, and just, and, and just say it. Um, but that doesn't seem, uh, to be

Starting point is 00:55:19 the approach that he's taken, which I think says a lot about him. Yeah. And they all feel very comfortable kind of refuting this through their anonymous sources to the press so that that kind of gets out into the zeitgeist. But then once they have the chance to testify under oath, all of a sudden they go silent. But they, but Cassidy Hutchinson and Sarah Matthews and all these people, they're not afraid to go under oath and say exactly what they heard. And I think that kind of says it all right there. On a bit of a lighter note, just how loud was the laughter when the footage of Josh Hawley was played of him running away at the Capitol in the room? It was loud. It was a war of laughter. You know, it's so interesting because it's been such a

Starting point is 00:56:04 serious hearing and just hearing a lot of chilling details and whatever. And I know that I'm there and then I saw it and I couldn't help it. I think I cackled and then caught myself because it's just so unexpected because it was just like seeing the image of him fist pumping in the air is something that just still today makes me irate. I think it's so deplorable and disgusting that he would do that, especially when there were law enforcement and police officers fighting for their lives for hours, by the way, trying to protect people. And there was loss

Starting point is 00:56:34 of life that day, but seeing that image. But then, you know, it's like chicken run, right? There he went, and then you see him. I mean, all I was missing, I need someone to add the soundtracks, which I think have been brilliant or like the chicken squawk when he's running away. That's what I think of now. We did Benny Hill.

Starting point is 00:56:53 That was exactly what it reminded me of. Like, right. The chaos there. Yeah. Again, poster child of a cowardice, I guess, is what i would say about him um you know caught in his own own lies like so many others but wow that was um yeah like i mean it was it was hilarious i mean nobody it was just such a moment of somewhat loving but just also the hypocrisy uh in full display, right? And the guys have all of this thinking about, you know, and I, you know, but that tweet came out by the way from the house GOP.

Starting point is 00:57:30 I saw it happen in real time. I wanted to throw my phone because I was thinking about that. So you're thinking about the house GOP tweet attacking Sarah Matthews. And then you have chicken little or chicken run going across the screen. I mean, you're thinking about all of this combined and you're just like, how are you not embarrassed of yourselves? Like I like also, I mean,

Starting point is 00:57:53 I know I was a lifelong, like I am a lifelong Republican. Like at what point, like, is this just like, at what point does the Republican party stop and say like, look, we've become a joke. Like, this is just not only that we're a dangerous

Starting point is 00:58:08 joke. Right. So I just, it's so, it's so infuriating and just so exhausting to kind of watch this and be like, can, can you please get it together? At least can we like, I just, I want to get back to like, let's just go back to fighting about taxes or something instead of watching a chicken run in action here. Like, I mean, yeah, I don't know. I don't know, guys. Olivia, I want to go back to something that you said earlier in this interview about the

Starting point is 00:58:36 whole Teflon Don nickname and how that's probably not an app nickname anymore. Over the weekend, we saw what was it? The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post both release op eds basically going against Trump and saying the president who did nothing on January 6th. And then we also see Fox News, another Murdoch owned shell company over there, releasing basically interviews with Trump supporters, previous Trump supporters asking, hey, will you support President Trump or will you support the former President Trump for another term? And them saying, no, I don't think I will. And the airing that over the weekend as well. So what do you make of this sort of shift away? I'm not saying we give Murdoch any credit here, but it's definitely very intentional that Murdoch is shifting the focus away from Trump saying, hey, that's no longer our guy and sort of putting more focus, I guess, on DeSantis and other candidates. I think, you know, I think this has been said, but I think

Starting point is 00:59:29 it was, you know, I do think that to a certain extent, the dam is breaking. And I think, I think there is no way to get around the facts that these hearings have really surfaced and the focus of Donald Trump's behavior and his lack of care for anything that was related on January 6th to doing the right thing. And like, I think it's quite interesting. Like, my question is, we've seen, I mean, granted, we have not seen it in these papers, which I think is important. I think that's a sign of, they really want to try and move away from letting from the fact that Donald Trump has a hold of the Republican Party in the base right now. But I think I've sort of like when I see things like this, honestly, maybe it's my, you know, counterterrorism background where, you know, you get to play the long game. I'm always looking at it and thinking, how long will this moment last? And will it actually remain? Because we've seen people be very outspoken in the past. We've seen them call things out, especially in the it was horrible in the moment, right? And then they

Starting point is 01:00:46 all retreated. And so I'm just curious, the second that Donald Trump announces that he's running for president, what will these publications say? Are they going to stay and stay along these lines? And are they going to say he's bad for the country and call it out? Or will it be a reversal again? And will they enable him because of fear of his supporters turning on them? And so I think that to me is a litmus test in the long run. And so to that point, though, what does your gut say? Because you're right, they've created this monster in Trump. And it's almost like they can't get their viewers or readership to sort of turn away from that at a certain point. And so what does your gut say if and when Trump says that he's going to run again?

Starting point is 01:01:30 Do you think these companies start to then prop them up or do you think there's going to be almost a civil war, if you would, within the Republican Party? I think it'll be interesting. I think I think it'll depend, honestly, on what they um, where the, where they think the voters are and where they think the support is, uh, and, and their terms. And so I don't know, I honestly, I think it could go either way. I think they are very aware that, um, the more that Donald Trump is out there, um, it could mean it's damaging to their party. It remains damaging. It could have implications, uh implications for the midterm elections. I think they're looking at that. I think they're looking at how does this impact the party's power as a whole in terms of what happens in the future. On the other hand,

Starting point is 01:02:17 we've seen Donald Trump, when he's at the microphone, he has a bully pulpit. He can really drive things forward. He certainly led the charge on January 6. And we saw the results of that. And, you know, I think Sarah Matthews expressed it very eloquently. She out of anyone knew that his, you know, when he would put out, she testified to the fact that when he puts out a tweet, their supporters hang on every word of it when he was on Twitter still, right? And that they really, they take that in. And so I think it'll be interesting to see whether they will, they will make a decision that they need to stand against Donald Trump and try to get to more of a rational, somewhat more normal Republican Party and support other candidates. Or will they decide that, that they'll fall in line with them? And honestly, I don't have the answer to that.

Starting point is 01:03:06 I think they're going to walk the fine line as long as they can. Do I think they want it to be him? Do they think they want his wife out there anymore? No, I don't think so. And I think many Republicans say that behind closed doors. But that's always been the problem, right? A lot of these leaders and a lot of these people say things behind closed doors. But behind closed doors doesn't actually make the change. It's coming

Starting point is 01:03:28 forward. It's coming forward like Liz Cheney has at whatever cost to the party, right? It's Fred Upton and others who have spoken out and said, yeah, this is damaging. So I don't know. TVD. And hopefully, honestly, hopefully it doesn't even get to that point because hopefully we see Trump behind bars for what he's done to this country. Do you think we'll see justice ultimately? I hope so. Like, I don't know how you look at all of these facts and not hold people accountable for their actions. And look, I think we should be holding, if there's something there, people should be holding the actors in the Secret Service accountable for their actions. You can't preach accountability and then allow an entire federal

Starting point is 01:04:19 agency to get away with something like this. I think that's really damaging to the government institutions and to our democracy. So starting with that, and I hope that Donald Trump and this entire circle that really, who knew, by the way, they knew very well that they were trying to do something that was illegal, and they were trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power. They were told by many others repeatedly that this was the case. And so I don't know how you make a clearer case than that. But, you know, I don't know. Ben, I'm not a lawyer. But I certainly hope that there will be some justice here, because I do think that, honestly, from looking at it in terms on the international stage, I think the world is watching. And we can't claim to be the beacon of democracy and the beacon of the rule of law and stand for justice and allow this and give this a pass, I would say.

Starting point is 01:05:26 I think that would speak volumes to the rest of the world in terms of where we are then as a country. It's such an excellent point. And if I can, before my brothers cut me off, I'd love to end this interview on a little bit of a lighter note. And if we can do so, I'd love to chat a little bit of gossip. Do you know who Clark Kent was when you were in the hearing the other day? And for those listening, Clark Kent was the very good looking man who became an instant

Starting point is 01:05:52 meme viral sensation for obviously his- I got to say, if you're going to become a meme, becoming a meme for being ridiculously good looking is like the best possible scenario. Best meme ever. That's true. That's true. You know, actually that is Sarah's significant other in support of her. Is this an exclusive? This might be a Midas Touch podcast exclusive. He was there in support of her. And I don't think that he ever imagined that he would become a very well-known Internet sensation. So he was sitting down. I was in the front row with him. He was sitting a couple of seats over from me. Look, and I'm grateful. That is a that's an amazing example of a man standing by his woman, which is awesome.

Starting point is 01:06:47 But yes, I don't think he was looking for the fame. I don't think they were prepared for that one. You know, I think they were prepared, you know, the definitely the safety concerns and just the nerves that come with that. In terms of attempting forward like that, I don't know that they were prepared for the fact that he would gain notoriety as well as who's the mystery man sitting back there. And I did. I thought it was very entertaining to see that people were calling him Clark Kent. And who is this prim and proper gentleman?

Starting point is 01:07:22 That is too funny. So well-dressed. I'll tell you this. You know, January 6th committee, we know that they've had the production advice from, you know, top producers and showbiz, but this is always an issue that I had with Democrats too sometimes, like Republicans with the fascist Republican blend that we have now does this performative lie, but showbiz stuff that still is useful in catching attention. I always like to say it's not performative when you really not just talk the talk, but walk the walk. You're just making an announcement at that point. It's

Starting point is 01:07:59 not a and you need a little bit of that. You need to you have to engage with the modern audience right now in formats that they do. And while it is kind of a funny tidbit that you have the Clark Kent and all of these things going around, it does create this attention, though, that is drawn directly, sometimes unintentionally, sometimes unintentionally, sometimes intentionally. But it created this mystery like environment where people are there with the committee, you know, on their side to, to, to fight for our country. I think it's useful. I don't know what you think about. No, I think it's very important. And I think it draws attention. And I think look, I think it was very important, especially at this point to have it during the primetime slot.

Starting point is 01:08:41 I think people tended to tune in more. And I think that, you know, I think it's important, like when you hear the recordings, firsthand to share that and get that out. I think it's incredibly impactful, because you can't, there's no way to fake that, right? I mean, that is, that is just real footage. Look, and I'm grateful. I'm grateful that Superman showed up in his disguise to the hearing and sat front and center. That also drew attention.

Starting point is 01:09:10 Anything that draws attention to get the truth out about this in a world where disinformation sometimes unfortunately drowns everything else out, I'm all for. So, you know, kudos to Mr. Clark Kent that was there that day in any way. And like, and I'm, I'm, I'm kudos to the committee for painting the, just the juxtaposition of Josh Hawley

Starting point is 01:09:36 and his fist bump to the mob and running away shortly after it, fearing it. Right. So. Yep. Even Josh, it happened. Even Josh Hawley's hometown papers are basically calling him the, you know, photo of a, of cowardice, you know, locally. And I appreciate local journalism as well, calling out people. I wish the national media would take a lesson or two from local media, but that's a whole nother discussion for a whole nother time. Olivia Troy, we so appreciate you for joining us on the podcast. We hope you'll come back and not only do we just appreciate you on the

Starting point is 01:10:14 podcast, we appreciate your friendship and we appreciate your leadership and everything you stand for, for this country. It's so great to have you on the show. Thanks so much. Good to see you guys. So great. Having Olivia Troy. Quite the scoop, everybody. What'd you guys think when I asked that question? I thought you guys were going to kick me out the

Starting point is 01:10:34 Zoom. No, no, no. I thought it was a great question. Jordi with, yeah, no, that's a very Jordi question. Definitely to be expected. If any one of us were to ask the question, it would be you. And, you know, Jordy, I think you're really just stepping up in a big way lately. I mean, people are loving the YouTube videos for all the people who are listening to this. You got to check out the YouTube channel, youtube.com slash Midas touch. Jordy's delivering basically multiple times a day, daily news updates and is kicking ass, just doing an incredible job. I appreciate it. It's a team effort, obviously. And yeah, please check out youtube.com slash minus touch. But I think this January 6th committee, I think is doing a historically good job. I think they are to be commended every step of the way. I am just so impressed by the professionalism, by the way they

Starting point is 01:11:19 are laying out the evidence and the evidence is damning. And even just today, there was a new clip that was released. And I think it's interesting that there, I think it shows that they're just going to kind of continue this drip, drip, drip of new evidence into the public until they get to their next round of hearings. I think that's basically what we're seeing. But Ben, tell us about the new clip that the committee released earlier today. New clip, new deposition testimony coming from January 6th deposition testimonies. This is previously unreleased witness testimony. And of course, we heard from the usual suspects that have been deposed before. And we got to hear from Jared Kushner. We heard from Ivanka. We heard from

Starting point is 01:11:59 what you say? We heard from Vicky. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We heard from Eric. What's the guy's last name again that Eric, I heard Hirschman. I always forget his last name, but he's such a character. I can't forget Hirschman's last name. We got, yeah, Eric Hirschman. We got all those deposition testimony. But one of the things that we got, though, was the actual remarks that were that Trump read on January 7th. This is the clip from everybody. Remember from the

Starting point is 01:12:25 last primetime hearing where Trump said yesterday was a very difficult word where he says, I want to begin by addressing the heinous attacks yesterday. And he says, I can't say yesterday and that he didn't want to say that the election is over. So those were like the two key things he didn't want to. I talked about this before on Legal AF. I think Jordy talked about this. Your analysis on this, by the way, I think is so important because I feel like it's been so missed in the mocking of Trump for not being able to say the word yesterday, but digging deeper under the surface as to why he really had so much trouble saying the word yesterday and why I think he really targeted those words that he did not want to say in those speech with such precision. Why don't you pull up for our viewers, but I will do my best to break it

Starting point is 01:13:19 down as well for the listeners. The actual speech, we know that it's called Remarks on National Healing. Trump didn't write this himself, but we have Trump's interlineations and what he crossed off, which is released today by the January 6th committee. So I want to break it down. But we know that Trump even veered off from this speech when he actually delivered it on January 7th. So more words were actually cut out. But going to what the words he didn't even delete from the speech, but that he cut out as he was reading, he was supposed to say addressing the heinous attack yesterday on the United States Capitol. He didn't want to say the word yesterday because that would give it some temporal, some framing of what he was talking about being the insurrection the day before. And he wanted people to believe

Starting point is 01:14:13 that the heinous attack was the attack by Democrats and the attack against him. He was saying that the attack was the election fraud that he erroneously and falsely and bogusly and criminally alleged was the heinous attack. So all of the deletions that he took out were either references to the fact that the election is over or to give any time proximity to kind of mush the words together to basically believe that the attacks that were taking place were attacks on him. And when we look at what he deletes in his remarks on national healing, that's what you see. So the first word he deletes is good afternoon. He doesn't want any time of when this thing took place, of when it's actually taking place. So he deletes good afternoon.

Starting point is 01:15:00 And then he says, I would like to begin today by addressing the heinous attacks. He deletes the word today because again, he wants nothing framing of when this speech was given. So if this is replayed over and over again, it just looks like he's talking about the attacks on him. That's what he's trying to do here. He misses yesterday, so he doesn't cross that out in the speech. But then you basically go to the next paragraph where it says, the demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol defiled the seat of American democracy. And again, he deletes the next line about prosecuting them or going after them or that the DOJ should take action because he still believes this idea

Starting point is 01:15:45 of infiltration and demonstrators could still be a way to blame it on the Democrats. And that's why he keeps that in but deletes the rest. And then he says to those who engaged in acts of violence and destruction, he crosses off. I want to be very clear. You do not represent me. You do not represent our movement. And so he actually in his thing, deletes that piece from the speech as well. And then instead of saying you belong in jail, he deletes that and says, you will pay. And so those are the lines that he basically leaves. But the point of it is he wants to make the speech sound like the attack was an attack on him and that it validated his claims. That's why he wanted to remove yesterday. It was the attack on the election. It was the attack on my candidacy. It was the attack by Democrats. Oh, now, you know,

Starting point is 01:16:40 this is ambiguous enough that if I read this,, I could be talking about Antifa here. I could be talking about Black Lives Matter here. There's no reference to anything. And so it's actually smarter than we give him credit for here. And I know it's wild for me to say that, but it's very devious. The specific words that he decided to use here, I think it's very important that everybody knows. And that's why above everything that was released in this video that came out today from the committee, that's why this document and seeing that is so important and so damning. And I think actually speaks to his intent. And it's just incredibly incriminating right here. It shows a lot of consciousness of guilt. Absolutely. One other fact I want to bring up, Governor Kemp, Brian Kemp of Georgia,

Starting point is 01:17:25 is actually set to testify before the Fulton County District Attorney investigation through the grand jury process that's expected to take place today as we're recording this. So we will let you know what happens there, if that actually did transpire. But that's pretty big news that Governor Kemp is testifying himself. And Governor Kemp, of course, is no fan of Trump right now. But, you know, who knows what these Republicans will probably be given Trump like a massage tomorrow. Of course, I'll vote for him. Why wouldn't I vote for the guy? Jesus. I also want to, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention also the update in the Fannie Willis investigation today where they actually a judge actually disqualified Fannie Willis from investigating the state Senator Burt Jones, who she was targeting to, they're saying she cannot preside over this.

Starting point is 01:18:30 But I think it shows you why these investigations need to be so tight and why, you know, through all the frustration that we do have with Merrick Garland and wanting him to go faster. And I totally understand it. And I feel the same way in many regards. But that's why it is important to keep such a low profile, because when you don't and when you start stepping out, these sorts of things happen have unforced errors like this, you know, especially when we're going after the big fish. It's it's so important that we run as smooth as above board of prosecutions as possible. You don't want to give them that ammunition to come against you for for B.S. reasons. And so that's why, you know, I just all prosecutors just they got to maintain a low

Starting point is 01:19:25 profile and just just keep on with their investigations. So stuff like this doesn't happen. You know, it's what I've always said on Legal AF about the Merrick Garland investigation. We all wish it would go quicker. But at the same time, I always say, look, the funny Willis hasn't indicted yet. You know, in New York, they haven't indicted yet, you know, and Merrick Garland has secured like hundreds of convictions already of insurrectionists. They've tried multiple cases where people have been found guilty of the highest crimes and kind of instantaneously. And you have to keep a very kind of low profile for these exact reasons in these investigations. You know, there's so much effort by these insurrectionists to try to get out on a technicality that if literally every I is not dotted and every T is crossed,

Starting point is 01:20:13 they're going to make every single argument in the world to get out of these things. And that is a real possibility. So I share the frustration that Merrick Garland has not moved quicker, but that really isn't a frustration directed at Merrick Garland. It's a frustration of the fact that that's the way our Department of Justice works generally when it works well. And we'll have to reflect upon what the outcome is when the outcome happens, but make sure that, you know, as much information and evidence gets out there. And if you ask me, do I think that there's enough evidence to criminally prosecute Donald Trump? I would say absolutely. Sometimes when you hear the January 6th committee members get asked that question as well, and they kind of slightly dodge the question too,

Starting point is 01:21:01 it's because they don't want to inject politics in it to create any conflict of interest situation as well, which is why you see them ducking. And as we close out, I do want to give a final, you know, just kind of shame on you to The New York Times. I got to use this platform in my final thing just to do quick shame on you, The New York Times. But it's not just New York Times. It is a reflection of the overall media because the words that they literally use. We talked about this at the beginning, liberal, conservative, the way they talk about foreign policy. The words are not equipped to refer to the fascism that we're seeing, and they refuse to deviate and like go outside of their words. So you get this like bizarre hodgepodge of meaningless gobbledygook that conflates Biden's foreign policy with Trump's foreign policy. And the headline of this article is

Starting point is 01:21:59 on U.S. foreign policy, new boss referring to Biden acts a lot like the old one. And it goes through the policies in kind of weird kind of broad ways. And then at the very, very, very bottom of this article, I literally read the article because it's like this is like the throwaway line as you have to read the full article. Ultimately, the biggest contrast between the presidents and perhaps the aspect most closely watched by American allies and adversaries lies in their views on democracy. Mr. Trump complimented autocrats and broke with democratic traditions well before the insurrection in Washington on January 6th, 2021, that congressional investigators argue he organized.

Starting point is 01:22:47 Mr. Biden has placed promotion of democracy at the ideological center of his foreign policy. Seems like it should be like the number of the first sentence in the article or the headline, like the headline, a time for choosing democracy versus fascism. President Biden versus the vision of Donald Trump and the Republican Party. And I honestly, this year's a challenge. Here's a challenge to the people who listen to this. Here's a challenge to our biggest haters who send me the hate mail every day, the hate email that calls us the far left communist, whatever. Okay. I challenge you this. Find me something we said in this episode that is far left and scary and communist. Find me one thing. Was it when we said insurrections are bad? Was that the thing? Was it when we said that public health emergencies,

Starting point is 01:23:30 that someone needs to take charge and that vaccines are a good thing? Is that the far left part of this podcast? I think it's going to be us defending Fauci. I think that's, I think that's what they're going to say. Find me one, find me one thing, one thing. That's the Midas Touch podcast challenge to all the haters of this podcast who sat there. Find me one thing and tell me, was it our support of Ukraine and democracy across the globe? Find me one thing, one thing. And that's why- Denouncing Nazis in the Republican Party. Yeah, denouncing Nazis. Which part of this episode is far left? That's my challenge right

Starting point is 01:24:00 now to everybody listening to it. And that's my challenge also to the media and why this idea of balance is outdated and it's untenable in reporting right now. Because by just saying the things that we said on this podcast, by calling out fascism, by saying Nazis are bad, by saying democracy is good, then you go, oh, that liberal organization might've touched. That shouldn't be the barometer of any, that should not be how you report, you know, you need to call it out for what it is. And it's true because look, while many of our, our views align with liberal and progressive views, because we believe in things like, uh, deadly pandemics are bad. Insurrections are bad. Democracy is good. People should have the right

Starting point is 01:24:48 to choose. Women should have bodily autonomy. Those beliefs are all of a sudden radical, liberal views. And that's why we refer to ourselves as we're a pro-democracy media company. We are a pro-democracy group, but everyone's like liberals, lefty liberal group. There's literally like- Find me one thing. That's all I'm saying. One thing. By the way, I'm proud that those views would be liberal views. I'm proud that those views are, you know, that we want to make progress in the country, But these seem to be fairly level headed, normal views that we should all agree on. Hey, Nazi Germany was bad. That was a bad thing. The Nazis and World War II,

Starting point is 01:25:34 we rooted for the allies. That's important. Our allies abroad today are important to us. I don't support Vladimir Putin. But that's what's at stake. The media needs to use different language. The media needs to step up. It really does. And I'm proud that Midas Touch is pioneering what media should be. I'm proud about all the support of the Midas Mighty. And let me just give this message to the Midas Mighty too, because they asked, oh, how could you help? We'd love to help. Well, one of the most basic ways you can help is you can share this podcast. You can spread the message. You can subscribe. If you watch this on YouTube, subscribe on the audio. Go wherever right now, go to wherever this podcast is available and subscribe to Midas Touch, the audio podcast right now. Subscribe on YouTube. Everyone who's left those super contributions thing with the little dollar sign on YouTube, for those who are watching

Starting point is 01:26:32 on YouTube, thank you very much for those that help support independent journalism and independent media as well. We appreciate everything you do. Check out the Midas Touch merch store, store.midastouch.com, store.midastouch.com. We have a new shirt, Don't Coo It. It's a picture of what appears to be a Republican running scared shitless away from an insurrection that they helped inspire. That seems to be what the image signifies. Go to store.mitastouch.com. Special thanks to our sponsor, Athletic Greens. Everybody, remember, you can check it out by going to athleticgreens.com slash Midas. That's athleticgreens.com slash Midas. And always a pleasure when we have Olivia Troy on the podcast. We will see you next time on the Midas Touch podcast. Thank you for fighting for democracy with us each and every day and each and every podcast. Jordy, take it away. Shout out to the Midas Mighty.

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The MeidasTouch Podcast - Inside the January 6 Hearings with Olivia Troye

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