The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.29 Buying Sydney Sweeney’s Dirty Bath Water Has Divided The Internet & Today's News...

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

Go to https://hensonshaving.com/DEFRANCO and enter DEFRANCO at checkout to get a free pack of 100 blades with your purchase. (Note: you must add both the blades and the razor for the discount to apply.) Go to https://ground.news/defranco to see beyond the headlines and stay fully informed without feeling overwhelmed. Subscribe today through my link for 40% off unlimited access. Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL    https://BeautifulBastard.com Check Out Our 3 New Tees + Our SECRET Drop! Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PT & watch more here:  https://youtu.be/XjtzTVQffCQ?feature=shared&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1   – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Sydney Sweeney Partners with Dr. Squatch to Sell Soap Infused with Her Bathwater 01:38 - White House Says It Will Begin “Aggressively” Revoking Visas for Chinese Students 05:39 - Influencer Sues to Keep Records of Her Son’s Accidental Death Private  09:17 - e.l.f. Beauty to Acquire Hailey Bieber's Skincare Brand for $1 Billion 12:02 - Sponsored by Henson Shaving 13:14 - Appeals Court Halts Ruling that Blocked Trump's Tariffs 16:40 - Rep. Jamie Raskin Launches Investigation into Trump’s Meme Coin Dinner 23:30 - Sponsored by Ground News  24:34 - Father’s Voice Heard for the First Time in 60 Years Thanks to Uncovered Video 27:32 - Sponsored by SeatGeek  28:03 - Comment Commentary  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino  ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #SydneySweeney #BelleDelphine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I'm gonna tell you all about it, where to find it so you can block it. Cause obviously like that's super weird. You'd never, you definitely, you definitely would never buy it, ever. And the only reason you have that credit card in your hand is for different reasons. But yeah, as it turns out, Sydney Sweeney

has partnered with soap brand Dr. Squatch to sell a limited run of bars of soap that are actually made with Sydney's bath water. And specifically, they're making 5,000 bars that will reportedly come with a certificate that confirms that the bath water was included. With Sydney saying, when your fans start asking for your bath water,

you can either ignore it or turn it into a bar of Dr. Squatch soap. It's weird in the best way. Now this partnership, it's not coming out of nowhere, right? Sydney already has an established relationship with Dr. Squatch soap. It's weird in the best way. Now this partnership, it's not coming out of nowhere, right? Sydney already has an established relationship with Dr. Squatch, she's been in ads before. One of which actually featured her in the bath with Sydney referring to it in today's announcement.

And all of this is obviously she is not the first person ever to sell her bath water. Though I will say the reaction to the news is drastically different. I mean, we saw this idea really take off with E! Girl Belle Delphine back in 2019. And then later you saw other creators like Amaranth jumping on board.

Yeah, now with Sydney, what we've seen is that the reactions have been all over the place. Or you've got some people going damn near feral over this idea and others just plain disgusted. And then as far as like the business side of it, you have some saying it's a genius business idea, but others saying a gimmick like this, it's gonna hurt her career in the long run.

But yeah, in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts, whether you are a simp for suds, we'll say, or someone just outright disgusted by this. What's your take? What's your opinion? And while you're maybe leaving your opinion in those comments down below, let me say, hi. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show.

You daily dive into the news for better or worse. We have a lot to talk about today that is far more serious than that first story, starting with this. This morning, the US government effectively told hundreds of thousands of Chinese students, pack your bags. Because we just got the announcement

that the State Department in Homeland Security will aggressively revoke the visas of Chinese students in the US. With this said to specifically include, quote, those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields. And so this news, it sent shock waves across the academic community because as of last year,

there were about 277,000 Chinese students in the US. That makes China the second biggest source of international students just behind India. And even that is kind of a low number for them. That's down for more than 370,000 before the pandemic. But with this, right now what we're seeing is that there's a lot of confusion about exactly who's getting deported

and how many will be affected. Because you know, first of all, it's not clear what critical fields means. With many interpreting that to mean advanced subjects like biotechnology, quantum computing, first of all, it's not clear what critical fields means. With many interpreting that to mean advanced subjects like biotechnology, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence, but it also leaves a lot of students unsure about whether their particular field counts as critical.

Also, you have places like the New York Times noting that despite concerns that the Chinese government recruits US trained scientists, there's no evidence of such scientists working for China in large numbers. And then, you know, secondly, it's unclear what constitutes a connection to the Chinese Communist Party.

Because as of the end of 2023, more than 99 million people or about 7% of China were officially members of the CCP. Some of which, though not all, overlapped with the 74 million members of the Communist Youth League. And then when it comes to university students in particular, the numbers grow even more.

We're seeing, for example, one 2016 paper finding that up to 75% of those in Beijing apply for party membership during their undergraduate year. But then also, for example, won 2016 paper, finding that up to 75% of those in Beijing apply for party membership during their undergraduate years. But then also, very notably, that doesn't necessarily mean that they're true believers. Like as other research suggests that they're more likely motivated by career advancement, political gain, and social status than ideology.

With a number of people saying it's kind of like how it's simply pragmatic to get your membership card for the Communist Party and the Soviet Union. With, for example, John Burns, an emeritus professor at the University of Hong Kong, explaining that the best students in China's elite universities are approached

by the party and asked to join. And then saying to NBC, it's probably a wise decision on their part, as the CCP is the network of all networks to get ahead in China. The argument being, it's not obvious that CCP membership is as nefarious as it might seem. And either way, you have Burns saying

that the US government has no independent way of verifying a Chinese student's membership. Unless, you know, the students themselves or people who know them reveal it. But also, importantly, the White House's announcement, it goes beyond just revoking visas. With it adding, we will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications

from the People's Republic of China in Hong Kong. And so, you know, all of this, it's a drastic change from previous policy and you have many saying it does not bode well for US-China relations. Because historically, even the children of most top CCP officials could attend American universities. I mean, even Xi Jinping's daughter graduated

from Harvard in 2014 under a pseudonym, although administrators knew who she really was. And all of that is on the flip side, there were only about 800 Americans studying in China, which on the note of China, as far as their reaction, you had the Chinese foreign ministry expressing disappointment at this morning's news with a spokesperson saying,

this politically discriminatory move exposes the hypocrisy of America's long proclaimed values of freedom and openness and will only further damage the United States' international image and credibility.'" You know, you have many Americans agreeing there with, for example, Gary Locke, a US ambassador to China during the Obama administration telling the New York Times,

"'Shutting the door on Chinese students doesn't just betray our values, it weakens our leadership in science, technology and innovation. And that seemed to be because American research institutions have long attracted some of the most talented students from other countries and they've benefited from their expertise.

Also, like we talked about yesterday, many universities get a large part of their annual revenue from international students who pay full tuition. But that said, for Trump, politically speaking, it's kind of a perfect move. But it combines his trade war with China, his crackdown on immigrants, and his attack on universities

in a single headlining declaration. And it fits, it's a continuation of what his administration's been doing over the past few months. But they've already revoked thousands of student visas, they've detained and deported people, seemingly for their political expression. And just yesterday, the State Department halted

scheduled interviews with foreign students applying for student and exchange visas. And even that was after last week, you had Homeland Security announcing it was revoking Harvard certification to enroll foreign students. With them notably justifying that move in part by claiming without evidence that the university

coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party. Though also a federal judge temporarily blocked that and it's still being fought out in court. But for now, we'll have to wait to see who all this hits and how things move forward. But then next up, you've got this big influencer in the news right now, cause she's suing to keep the public

from accessing graphic details about her toddler's drowning. Right, if you're unfamiliar, this is a tragic story and the influencer here is Emily Kaiser. She has 4 million followers on TikTok, 1.7 million on Instagram, and she and her husband Brady have two sons, Trig, who's three, and Theodore, who was just born in March. Right, and she often posted about their life together, but on May 12th, her son, Trig, who's three, and Theodore, who was just born in March. And she often posted about their life together,

but on May 12th, her son, Trig, was hospitalized over an accidental drowning incident, and the Chandler Police Department in Arizona, they later confirmed that he died as a result of the drowning on May 18th. With local police saying an investigation into the incident is ongoing and not releasing further details

out of respect for the family's privacy. And I will say, because the word investigation, it sometimes rings alarm bells, I wanna note that Arizona Central reported that drownings are always investigated to rule out any cases of abuse or extreme neglect. And it would be incredibly rare for charges to be filed in a case like this.

Because at the end of the day, of many saying, this looks like just a horrible, accidental worst case scenario for any parent enduring a loss, including Emily. But also that hasn't stopped people online from endlessly speculating about it all since there were a ton of headlines about the loss of her son.

You know, even though she's turned off her comments on both Instagram and TikTok, you have people posting tons of videos of their own discussing it. Some kind of blaming Emily for not having a fence around the pool. Others questioning some of her posts or parenting, and some talking about how they want updates

on the situation. In fact, when the news about a local toddler drowning was first reported, the child wasn't even identified, but you still had people connecting the dots on their own and making Emily a trending topic after they traced a photo in a local news story when the toddler drowning was first reported, the child wasn't even identified, but you still had people connecting the dots on their own and making Emily a trending topic after they traced a photo in a local news story to Emily's house before anyone's name was formally revealed.

And then with that, according to a lawsuit that Emily just filed, some have also been trying to access records regarding her son's death and the investigation around it. With Emily filing that suit to keep records regarding her son's death private and the complaint saying, Emily and her family desperately want to grieve in private,

but sadly the public will not let them. Triggs death has become a media frenzy. Appallingly, 100 plus public record requests have been filed with both the city of Chandler and Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office. The records requested presumably reveal graphic, distressing and intimate details of Triggs death. With Emily saying she's unaware

of who's making these 100 plus requests and the zoo claiming that many of them are seeking the information for commercial purposes. Now with that, some of the requests, they could very well be from news media and reporters, right? I mean, you have outlets like USA Today noting that it had filed a request to access the police report for journalistic reasons.

Though with that, the state of Arizona does not consider news gathering to be a commercial purpose when it comes to record requests. Also, according to the suit, the files that people are trying to access potentially include a police report, graphic security camera footage, body camera footage, and 911 recording and more. And this is Emily claims that neither she and her lawyer have even seen the documents

and Emily doesn't ever intend to. The suit then calling the high number of public access requests and invasion of privacy and adding, Emily is going through a parent's worst nightmare right now. Emily is trying her best to be there for her surviving son, two month old Theodore, but every day is a battle.

To allow disclosure in these circumstances would be to turn Arizona's public records law into a weapon of emotional harm rather than a tool of governmental transparency. Arizona's public records law is not intended to serve public curiosity. Right, so you know, Emily, she's trying to block the public from obtaining any records related to her son's death

or for the court to at least conduct a full review of all records until they can decide if any portions can be lawfully disclosed. And then with that, you're seeing a lot of people online slamming others for crossing a line and trying to find out more information on what happened. But especially since Emily is dealing with a two months postpartum,

just to make it all that much more painful. I think we all need to take a look and take an inventory of some of these parasocial relationships that we have. And it happens often with celebrities where we feel entitled to people's life. We wanna harass and ask invasive questions. We want updates repeatedly.

And we have no respect for their freaking privacy. Come on. You know, with all that, depending on where you're going online, there's a lot of different thoughts, a lot of different opinions. For now, we'll have to wait to see what happens with this lawsuit

and also the court of public opinion. But then next up, shifting gears from that, in huge business and social media news, Hailey Bieber just sold her skincare and beauty brand Rode for a billion, a billion dollar deal. And it's making tons of headlines right now for a combination of business and celebrity gossip reasons.

Like specifically yesterday, you had Elf Beauty acquiring Rode with a deal comprising of $800 million in cash and stock and an additional potential earning of $200 million based on future growth over three years. Right now, it's known for being a very budget-friendly brand with dupes of high-end products and it sold at major retailers like CVS, Target,

Walmart and more. And then Rode, it was founded by Haley just a few years ago in 2022 with a focus on intentional skincare and beauty. And its products, they're only available online though in another major recent deal. Sephora announced that the brand would be coming to its stores later this year.

So it's already been a huge year for Rode and under this new acquisition from Elf, Haley will continue on as the founder and serve as the chief creative officer and head of innovation and now acting as a strategic advisor to the combined companies. With Haley saying, we can't wait to bring Rode to more faces, places and spaces.

From day one, my vision for Rode has been to make essential skincare and hybrid makeup you can use every day. Just three years into this journey, our partnership with Elf Beauty marks an incredible opportunity to elevate and accelerate our ability to reach more of our community. And this business deal,

it stands to be huge for both parties. With for example, the Wall Street Journal noting that for Elf, it'll help diversify its supply chain because currently most of its products are made in China and subject to major tariffs. And road suppliers are based in Europe, the US, and other parts of Asia. And then for road, this really cements Haley Bieber status

as a beauty mogul following the likes of Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez and more. But then the snooze has also popped up as there have been a number of headlines suggesting that there are issues with her relationship with Justin Bieber. In there, I'll say without getting too much into the nitty gritty detail of gossip,

Justin faced a ton of backlash when she was on the cover of Vogue because he wrote that he previously told her she would never accomplish that. And people just thought that it was kind of a shady thing to share with the public. With that, then prompting people to resurface old clips where it looks like Justin's being rude to because he wrote that he previously told her she would never accomplish that. And people just thought that it was kind of a shady thing to share with the public. With that, then prompting people to resurface old clips

where it looks like Justin's being rude to or ignoring Hailey. This then also coming as some of Justin's public behavior and on social media posts, it prompted concern and criticism. You have some rumors about him using drugs. There then also separate but connected to that been a number of reports suggesting

he's in some financial trouble and had to sell off his music catalog because he had gone broke. For example, the Hollywood Reporter recently saying he lost millions from canceling a tour and still owes his former manager a scooter bra and money. But then all of that turning into a conversation connected to Hailey where you have some saying, oh, what is this big payday with road mean? Right? All of a sudden you've got people speculating that she's selling her company to pay off Justin's debts. Others hoping it means that she's just getting

her ducks in a row for a divorce. But then outside all of that noise, you have a number of people just looking at this as a major business accomplishment. Writing things like, everyone in her business, but she really be in her business. For real, love that for her. As well as a billion dollar company in three years while being harassed by the entire internet and going through a pregnancy and postpartum. Hayley Bieber, you're that girl. But all in all, I think the main point of this story is, I'm a fucking idiot.

Beautiful Bastard should never have been a clothing company. It should have been a beauty brand. It was right there in the fucking name the whole time. And then I've got more important news for you in just one minute, but first, you know, why does shaving feel like your face is under attack? Like your razor is actively trying to ruin your morning. Because if your face ends up looking like it lost a fight

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And that's not me saying that, that's the US court of international trade. Though notably if federal appeals court has now already granted the White House's request to temporarily pause the ruling, which specifically came from a three-judge panel that unanimously rejected not only the tariffs imposed on goods from China, Mexico, and Canada

in response to what the administration said was the unacceptable flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants into the US, it also applies to the universal 10% tariffs put in place to address the trade deficits as well as the so-called reciprocal tariffs of between 20 and 50% that have imposed on dozens of the country's trading partners.

So notably those have been paused since April and they're not set to kick in until July 9th with Trump trying to use the threat of those tariffs coming back to strong arm other countries into more favorable trade deals. But in any case, beyond that, the ruling does not affect Trump's tariffs on steel, aluminum and cars, and it also likely wouldn't affect tariffs

that he's threatened against pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and other major imports. And that because those tariffs haven't been implemented in the same way as the others. Because the ones that the court said were illegal, Trump put them in place by invoking a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. With them seemingly doing so as a way to avoid waiting

for Congress or having the government compile reports and request public comments as is usually required. Especially because a big thing is that before Trump took office, no president ever invoked the law to impose tariffs on other countries. In fact, the law doesn't even mention tariffs. It mostly deals with trade embargoes and sanctions.

And so with that, these three judges who, by the way, were appointed by Reagan, Obama, and Trump, emphasizing that they weren't passing judgment on the quote, wisdom or likely effectiveness of the president's use of tariffs as leverage and explaining that they were impermissible, not because it is unwise or ineffective, but because federal law just does not allow it.

And they then added to that saying that Trump's tariffs lacked any identifiable limits and found that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act didn't delegate an unbounded tariff authority to the president. But then of course, with all this, you had the White House appealing and saying it would seek emergency relief

from the Supreme Court as if the block wasn't quickly put on pause. With the deputy press secretary also saying in a statement that foreign countries non-reciprocal treatment of the US has fueled historic and persistent trade deficits. Though then of course, with this decision, you had the White House saying that it would appeal. But specifically the deputy press secretary

saying in a statement that foreign countries non-reciprocal treatment of the US has fueled historic and persistent trade deficits and claiming that quote, these deficits have created a national emergency that has decimated American communities, left our workers behind and weakened our defense industrial base.

With them then hitting one of their biggest talking points saying it is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency. With then Trump advisor slash human Q-tip Stephen Miller echoing that last sentiment at a social media post saying, the judicial coup is out of control. But you know, ultimately we're gonna have to see where the appeals process ends up,

but notably if the courts uphold the ruling, businesses which have paid illegally imposed tariffs, they would be entitled to refunds. Though I will say, even if that does happen, that doesn't mean that it's an end to the tariffs. Because for one, Trump might still be able to temporarily launch import taxes of 15% for 150 days on nations, which the U.S. runs a substantial trade deficit.

And in fact, the court's ruling notes that a president has this authority under section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. And then secondly, Trump could also attempt to impose the same tariffs, but just in a different way, with for example, one former official telling the Washington Post,

the president still has ample authority to impose reciprocal tariffs, just through other legal means. So this also is on the flip side, you have examples like a law professor involved in the case against the government, saying that he doesn't think they could impose anything this sweeping under another statute.

But hey, in the meantime, we'll have to wait to see. And in the immediate, we've seen markets reacting cautiously, but positively. But that's seeing among other things, NASDAQ futures jumping nearly 2% overnight, and the dollar rising against the yen in Europe. But then from that, next up today, in some interesting news, a top house Democrat

just launched an investigation into Trump's meme coin dinner. Because as we talked about with Senator Chris Murphy earlier this month, Trump launched a meme coin right after the inauguration and the whole setup has caused widespread allegations of corruption. And that's in large part though not limited to the fact that 80% of the coin is held by the Trump organization and two other affiliated businesses.

Now Trump for his party has argued that he doesn't personally% of the coin is held by the Trump organization and two other affiliated businesses. Now Trump for his parties argued that he doesn't personally benefit from the coin because his assets are in a blind trust operated by his sons. But you have many experts saying that his family is still enriching itself and even if Trump can't reap those profits now he will once he leaves office. And so as a result, critics say that the structure,

it creates a situation where foreign entities, billionaire CEOs and anyone else who wants to cozy up to Trump can just buy a fuck ton of the coin and then ask for political favors. A scenario they say is especially likely because this is a meme coin, meaning it has no independent value tied to it other than just the popularity of Trump himself.

Where with many arguing that this essentially just creates a workaround for foreign investors to support Trump financially without directly violating federal laws that ban them from donating to political campaigns or presidential inaugural funds. With then those concerns being heightened even more when the Trump affiliated businesses that operate the coin

announced that it was hosting a contest where people could buy large quantities of the coin. And then the top 220 holders would win a special dinner on May 22nd with the president at his golf club outside of DC. Then also they added that the top 25 holders would get a VIP tour of the White House and a separate private reception with the president.

Which is why you then had many arguing that the president was explicitly allowing people to buy access to him by investing in a coin that will enrich him and his family. An allegation that's not helped by the fact that certain buyers explicitly told the New York Times in interviews and statements that they bought the coins or entered the contest, quote,

with the intention of securing an action by Mr. Trump to affect United States policy. And it does seem like the dinner was a massive success, at least financially. It was just the announcement of the contest alone, it caused Trump's coin to surge 50%. Within an analysis by the Washington Post finding that crypto wallets linked to Trump and his partners

earned around $3 million just in transaction fees alone by mid May, right just a few weeks after the gala was announced. And then they added since Trump's coin debuted in January, the president and his partners have received $312 million from crypto sales and $43 million in fees. As it appears that a large chunk of that is from the dinner contest

with a data analytics firm, Inca Digital, estimating that meme coin buyers spent over $140 million to secure invitations. But then also an analysis by the blockchain analytics company, Nansen, put the number at more than double that, with them reporting in total, the winner spent $394 dollars on Trump's official cryptocurrency and they added that the winners ranged from

$55,000 to $37.7 million. While there was interest in the 220 top holders, there was extra interest into the top of the top. People asking who were the people who invested so significantly in the Trump coin and won personal access to the president himself? And well, we essentially just don't know, and that highlights one of the fundamental problems with the whole crypto scheme. The identities of nearly all of the coin holders are anonymous and their purchases were made

with untraceable wallets. But that's not to say that we haven't gotten some insight. You have the Post, for example, finding that around half of the top 220 owners of the Trump meme coin have also received coins from crypto exchanges that reject customers from the US, indicating they could be foreign buyers. But that then also backed up by an analysis by Bloomberg

which also found that 76% of the token value held among the top 220 likely belongs to foreign owners based on their use of exchanges U.S. residents can access. And at least some of the highest spenders have been identified like Chinese born crypto billionaire Justin Sun who revealed himself as the number one buyer of Trump coin. He purchased nearly $19 million worth of the token.

And that's crazy notable because his financial ties to Trump-linked companies have already raised eyebrows. In 2023, the SEC brought civil charges against Sun and several of his companies over allegations that they were fraudulently manipulating the market. But after Trump's win in November, Sun invested $75 million in World Liberty Financial, which is a whole other Trump-related crypto venture

that allocates 75% of its revenues to entities owned by the Trump family. And then in February, shortly after Trump took office, the SEC asked a court to halt the case against Sun and his companies. Also, interestingly, the same day the dinner contest closed, a small tech company with ties to China called GD Culture Group announced that it would be investing as much as $300 million in both the Trump coin and Bitcoin.

And while it's unclear how much of that ultimately went to the Trump coin, the move was still significant because as the Times explains, any purchase from the company would be the first known example of a China-linked firm buying Mr. Trump's meme coin. And then noting that the company stated in its financial disclosures that its subsidiary might be influenced by demands from the Chinese government.

But then all of that bringing us back to where we started. The new report that representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee has opened a probe into the dinner. With Raskin writing a letter to Trump demanding that he provide a guest list of the 220 people who attended, including the full name, nationality, business affiliation,

and how much each spent on Trump meme coins. Additionally, Raskin also called on the president to provide a detailed explanation of the steps he and his partners took to determine the source of the funds used to purchase the meme coin and quote, "'Whether these funds have ties to foreign governments, foreign monarchs, terrorist organizations, drug cartels,

or other criminal enterprises or activities.'" With them then going on to argue that the publication of this list is necessary to quote, "'Let the American people know who is putting tens of millions of dollars into our president's pocket so we can start to figure out what, beyond virtually worthless meme coins, they are getting in exchange for all this money.

And then adding that information about the source of the money that each investor used to buy the coin is also needed. That in order to prevent Trump from pocketing illegal foreign government funds without the consent of Congress. Right in that last part, it specifically references the emoluments clause

of the constitution, which bans federal officials from accepting gifts or titles from foreign governments without permission from Congress. And that is super significant because many experts have argued that the whole dinner situation is a clear violation of that provision, which is also a point that Senator Murphy,

who's also a lawyer, made when he came on the show. I mean, there is no clearer violation of the Constitution, the Emoluments Clause than that. You can't give access to the White House to induce people to send you money personally. But that's exactly what he's doing. Right, and to that point, last week you had a group of 35 members of Congress

signing a letter calling on an arm of the Justice Department to investigate whether the dinner violated federal bribery laws or the Foreign Emoluments Clause. With them arguing that the event was, quote, just the latest example of President Trump disregarding ethics norms, introducing further conflicts of interest

and using his office for self-enrichment. Though with that, I'm gonna go out on a limb. You're gonna call me crazy. I think it's a little bit, just a scooch. Unlikely that Trump's DOJ is going to investigate Trump, or at the very least, successfully, before he and his allies try to quash any potential probe. But as far as Raskin's letter,

you notably did have Press Secretary Caroline Levitt saying last week that she would raise that question internally when asked whether the administration would agree to releasing a guest list. Though she then also argued that the event was not a White House dinner and that the president is attending it in his personal time. Although there you have reports noting he traveled

to and from the dinner on Marine One, which is used for official capacities and paid for by taxpayers, which blurs the line even more. With the post adding, there is no obvious precedent for a president flying in Marine One to a private event from which he and his family businesses

are directly profiting. So yeah, now you know about a lot of really, really crazy important stuff and nothing is gonna come from it. And then I've got even more news for you in just a minute, but first, you know, the more I do this job, the more I feel like politics, its performance are. Stunts, sound bites,

cherry picked headlines and outrage, just about daily. And what actually matters, it often gets lost in the noise. You know that it's why I've been using ground news, which is a news comparison platform that cuts through the BS and shows how stories are being reported across the political spectrum, left, right and everything in between.

And we actually use it behind the scenes of the PDS when we're digging into media bias. And my favorite feature is the blind spot feed, right? That one, it can surface stories that one side's obsessed with, but the other completely ignores. Right. So some of the stuff you'll see is like left leaning media, barely touching Jake Tapper's Biden book. And then on the conservative side, you kind of see radio

silence with Trump pardoning a tax fraud guy right after his mom dropped a million dollars at a fundraiser, which is wild. Right. So the same news cycles, but people are living in completely different realities. So, you know, if you're worried that you might be stuck in an echo chamber, fix your feet. And you can go see for yourself why they've got 10,005 star reviews at ground.news slash DeFranco. Be informed, not influenced.

You can scan that QR code or head to ground.news slash DeFranco today to get 40% off unlimited access to the Vantage plan, which is the same plan I use. But from that, I wanna shift gears to a different kind of news because this family, they got to hear their father's voice for the first time in nearly 60 years.

Right, so this is Riley Leroy Pitts. He was an army captain during the Vietnam War. He led an infantry company and he did deeds that earned him two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star. But just weeks before he was set to come home for Thanksgiving in 1967, at just 30 years old, he became one of tens of thousands of American soldiers to die over there.

With then after his death, President Lyndon B. Johnson presenting his wife, Yula, with the Army Medal of Honor, making him the first black officer to ever be awarded. You know, also he was more than just a soldier. He left behind a wife and two children, Mark and Stacy. And those two, I mean, the last time they saw him, they were three and five years old. You know, life went on without Riley.

His children grew up, they had children of their own, and they grew up in turn. Then one day, Yula was watching the Ken Burns documentary on Muhammad Ali, which features a segment about Ali's refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. And that segment, it just so happened to include interviews of soldiers who were over there at the time and they got their opinion about Ali's choice.

And among those interviewed was Captain Riley Pitts, with Mark saying that his mom immediately called him about it. She calls me, I'm at a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game. And she starts telling me, hey, I just saw your dad. They interviewed him in this Muhammad Ali series. And you should try to find that. The crowd is screaming.

I'm like, Muhammad Ali, daddy, what are you? So mama call you back, okay. And so Mark, he tracks down the organization. He finds out that this footage, it came from the archives of ABC News. So he sends an email to the director of ABC News, video source, Anthony Perrone. And he asks, is there any more of this footage

that was included in the documentary? Then he said something that really just blew me away. He said, it's the first time my sister and I have ever heard our father's voice as an adult. I just felt like if this is in this library, I'm gonna find. And as it turns out, what Perrone found was more than 40 minutes of unaired footage

of Captain Riley Pitts and his men fighting the war in Vietnam. With then, ABC bringing the footage to the Pitts family with everyone then tearing up a bit as they watched. I'm seeing more than I expected. And... Don't know that I was quite... I'm okay for that much. I told you I wasn't crying either. It's a lot, it's a lot. Don't know that I was quite

Yeah, I just know that Then I missed out on something special I'm watching his mannerisms and that's the first time I would obviously remember His facial expressions his body language a beautiful smile. Yeah, he did it. That's that's the first time I would obviously remember his facial expressions, his body language. A beautiful smile. Yeah, he did it. That's kind of my memory now, you know what I mean? I mean, that's, I don't have much more other than that to remember. And then beyond the footage of Riley himself,

ABC also found footage of the reporters going back after he died to interview the soldiers that he had led. So this family, they got to hear these men sing their father's praises decades after the fact. Leroy Pitts was more than an inspiration and a leader of his men. He was a man among men. He's a very inspired man.

He did a lot for the morale of the company. Without his leadership, everybody would have completely fell apart. But then finally today, I want to give out a congratulations and talk about y'all's comments on yesterday's show. Starting with a congratulations to Emma as SeatGeek's latest weekly winner who just scored $500. With Emma looking forward to using her winnings

to see Kali Uchi's. And for the rest of y'all, that's right. SeatGeek is still giving away $500 in tickets and you should definitely enter today if you haven't already. I mean, just imagine being the next winner and snagging $500 towards seeing your favorite artist, sporting event or play. And I mean, there's like over 70,000 events to choose from.

You just add code PDS to your Seeky Gap profile for a chance of the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. You know, with that said, diving into yesterday's comments, you'd some scoffing at Rubio saying, the fact that Rubio attacks the first amendment with one order and then immediately turns around and accuses other countries of doing the same to us,

says everything you need to know about these hypocrites. Phoenix Lock also saying, America claims the EU is limiting free speech. Also America combs through social media of 18 year old international students.' Others saying, "'Law is for thee, but not for me,' is all I'm currently hearing from Rubio.'

With Cheyenne then adding, "'If the government is going through social media posts of international students, what's stopping them from going through the social media posts of Americans who disagree with the current administration?' Meanwhile, others like Patchy noting, "'Nuking higher education in America

surely couldn't have devastating consequences in both the short and long term. And in addition to that, some of y'all were taking swipes at Elon Musk, quoting him saying, we're not dictators, we're the advisors, and saying Elon Musk says that while his doge lackeys, quote, advise government workers to comply or be fired.

And then finally, outside of really that, the rest of the comments just made fun of me saying Bedfordshire, which I will look up right now. Bedfordshire, which I will look up right now. Bedfordshire. Okay, well I know that's wrong. Bedfordshire, is that it? Whatever, I don't care. I like the Irish more.

Yeah, I said it. The Irish are way nicer when I mispronounce their shit. But anyways, that is where we're gonna end today's show, I guess. Thank you for watching. I love your faces and I'll see you right back here on Monday.