The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.2 Disturbing Lizzo Scandal, Allegations, & Lawsuit Details Disgust Fans, Taylor Swift, & Today's News

Episode Date: August 2, 2023

Just go to https://www.zocdoc.com/phil and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Then find and book a top-rated doctor today!  Catch up on our latest PDS: https://youtu.be/CVVnjqeZJAI Check out our daily newsletter! http://dailydip.co/pds  Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillydefranco/?hl=en  –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 0:00 - Lizzo Faces Lawsuit From Former Dancers 04:13 - American Fugitive Who Faked Death Can be Extradited to Utah 05:35 - LA Headed for Evictions Crisis as Rent Back-Pay Protections End 06:44 - CA Officials Urge Taylor Swift to Postpone L.A. Shows in Solidarity With Hotel Strike 08:01 - Lawsuit Filed to Stop Opening of America’s First Religious Public School 09:32 - Family of Henrietta Lacks Settles With Biotech Company 11:47 - Sponsored by ZocDoc 12:54 - Tensions Arise on Poland/Belarus Border 14:35 - Fitch Downgrades US Credit Ranking 17:42 - Donald Trump’s Most Serious Indictment Yet Resources on Trump’s indictment: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/02/takeaways-trump-jan-6-indictment/ https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-indictment-takeways-2020-election-4b5fea593f3684241a64650798aa598e https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/politics/takeaways-trump-indictment-january-6/index.html  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #Lizzo #TaylorSwift ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're talking about and breaking down the shocking lawsuit and allegations against Lizzo, the world's most obvious con man's getting shipped back to America, why people want Taylor Swift to cancel her LA concerts, America's first religious public school's in trouble, Belarus is playing with fire. We're gonna talk about all that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show, you daily dive into the news, so hit that like button and let's just jump into it. Starting with, Lizzo is in some hot ass water right now.

With three of her former dancers filing a lawsuit yesterday where among other complaints, they accused her of sexual harassment, body shaming, and running a hostile work environment. And this seeming to directly contradict that Lizzo is known for being a champion of body positivity, inclusivity, self-love, and overall empowerment. So let me dive into the allegations

in this 37 page complaint for you. Starting with the sexual harassment claims. With one of the claims involving a night where Lizzo invited the dancers to a club in Amsterdam's red light district that featured nude performers, though allegedly she did not make it clear up front that was the plan, so by the time everyone found out that was where they were going, they felt like they couldn't back out even if they felt uncomfortable. And the suit adding that once they were there, Lizzo began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers' vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers' vaginas. Specifically around the

touching, that involved pressuring one dancer to touch the breast of a performer despite her repeatedly saying she didn't want to. So Lizzo allegedly even started a chant to goad that dancer into doing it until the dancer caved. Lizzo also allegedly pressuring a member of the security stage to go on stage where his pants were later pulled down with a lawsuit claiming that plaintiffs were aghast with how little regard Lizzo showed for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her,

and the complaint saying this was not some one-off kind of incident. There was also allegedly another night in Paris where Lizzo invited everyone out, but didn't make the plans clear, so the dancers didn't know until they were seated in a club and the curtains were pulled

that they were attending a nude cabaret show. Then, regarding the body shaming, you had one dancer saying that Lizzo and her choreographer called a meeting where they noted the dancer seemed less committed to her role, which in this career is often seen as a dig at someone's weight, especially since Lizzo, according to the allegations, had previously called attention to the dancer's weight gain at a music festival. And so while reportedly no one ever said this out loud, the dancer said she was under the impression that she, quote, needed to explain her weight gain and disclose intimate

personal details about her life in order to keep her job. And with that, she actually admitted that she had been dealing with a binge eating disorder as a result of her anxiety and depression, to which Lizzo reportedly offered her time off to attend therapy. There, you had the dancer feeling like if she accepted that offer, Lizzo and management would see her as too weak to continue in the dance cast and be fired. There were also allegations of racism in the lawsuit, saying that the management treated the black members of the dance team differently than other members,

with them allegedly often accusing the black dancers of being lazy, unprofessional, and having bad attitudes. Lizzo was also accused of forcing dancers to work under intense pressure, repeatedly telling them that their jobs weren't safe. This including one day when Lizzo allegedly made rehearsals run long to have everyone re-audition for their spots. One dancer here even saying that during this she had to go to the bathroom but was afraid that if she left the stage at any point during the audition she was going to get fired, and so she just continued until she lost control of her bladder, performing in soiled clothes until there was a short break. Also, very notably in this, there were several allegations specifically levied against Lizzo's dance captain, Shirlene Quigley, with one of the primary complaints there being that she forced her religious beliefs onto the dancers,

the dancers claiming she would preach at everyone in her surroundings, especially about her beliefs regarding Christianity and sexuality, allegations that she'd make the dancers uncomfortable by simulating oral sex on a banana in front of everyone and discussing masturbation. But with this, the suit doesn't say if Lizzo was aware of the behavior. Now, in addition to this, we're also seeing other fallout. With people not involved in the lawsuit standing by these dancers, including one woman who had previously traveled with Lizzo to direct her documentary, saying, I walked away after two weeks. I was treated with such disrespect by her. I witnessed how arrogant, self-centered, and unkind she is. You also had one former dancer writing on her Instagram stories that while she is not part of the suit, the allegations are in line with her experience. We've also seen what appear to be kind of quiet responses

with reports coming out that Beyonce seemingly cut a reference that she usually makes to Lizzo from her performance in Boston last night. Also regarding fallout, we're seeing a lot of Lizzo's fans taking to comments on her Instagram to express their disappointment. People writing things like the fact that you were so outspoken about body image and make all these posts, then you allegedly sexually harassed and body shamed your employees, it's just disgusting.

And you made me and other plus-size ladies feel comfortable. You were living your true, authentic self and showing us we can do that too. But you don't think we could or should live authentically because you'd just body shame us too. Extremely disheartening and immensely disappointing. And as far as Lizzo's response to all this right now, as of recording, she has not made one. But obviously, if and when she speaks out, we'll include that in the show. In the meantime, I just got to pass the question off to

you. What are your thoughts with this news? And then do you remember this absolutely ridiculous human being? Well, the judge just ruled that he is coming back to America. This is Arthur Knight or Nicholas Rossi or Nicholas Oliverdian, whatever of the several options this 35-year-old guy used. And he's wanted by a few different agencies for a few different reasons. The FBI wants him on fraud charges. Rhode Island wants him for failing to register as a sex offender while living there. And Utah has charged him with rape stemming from a 2008 incident. And as you might remember, in order to dodge all that,

he seemed to have moved to the UK in 2019 or 2020 and faked his death in 2020, claiming that he had died from cancer. But then, while he was in a British hospital getting treatment for COVID in 2021, he was arrested. With him then appearing in interviews wearing a mask, claiming he could barely function, all while having like the fakest British accent, despite also claiming to be an Irish orphan. But this whole saga appears to now be coming to an end. With a Scottish judge buying absolutely none of it and ruling that he could be extradited to the United States, despite his claims that he was physically unwell and couldn't safely travel. With the judge feeling comfortable sending Aliverdian, which is his legal

name, back to the United States because, quote, I concluded that the evidence of the requested person was unreliable to the extent that I would not be prepared to accept any statement of fact made by him unless it was independently supported. Which, yeah, it makes sense. Like, you wouldn't trust a single word from a con man, let alone just a very bad, transparent con man. Let me try to stand up. Let me try to stand up. Let me try to stand up. Exactly. And so things not looking great for him, because not only is he going to have to deal with all those other legal troubles, he's probably facing even more charges because he fled and faked his own death. And then we've got a massive eviction crisis on our hands. And that is true

generally, but also specifically today, we got to talk about Los Angeles. Because of course, during the pandemic, lawmakers gave tenants a number of protections to prevent them from being evicted, including delaying rent payments. But those protections have since expired, and yesterday officially marked the last day for tenants to pay back any rent that they owed landlords from March of 2020 through September of 2021. So if tenants didn't or don't pay the rent that they owe, they can now be evicted by their landlords. And so with that, you've had many government officials and advocates expressing concerns about this deadline, especially because this is hitting LA as it also faces a historic SAG-AFTRA and WGA strike. With LA Mayor Karen Bass even telling reporters, I'm very worried about the deadline. I'm concerned that we're

going to have another spike in homelessness. Also adding on social media that our office is working to prepare resources for those affected. And again, all of that comes as homelessness has gotten even worse in LA over the last year. With a recent count from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority finding that homelessness increased by 9% in Los Angeles County and 10% in the city of Los Angeles over the last year. And even that is just a continuation of the broader trend, right? Since the 2015 estimation, homelessness has increased by 70% in the county and 80% in the city. And y'all, we really don't know how bad things are about to get as there's already been an increase in eviction filings in LA County and landlord advocates say that they plan on filing even

more once the final debt protections end. And then Taylor Swift has found herself in the midst of an LA scandal. And that's because a number of California politicians do not want her to bring her Eris tour to Los Angeles. With dozens of elected officials signing a letter encouraging her to postpone her tour dates in support of an ongoing hotel workers strike in Southern California. Right in this is Taylor's performing six shows at SoFi Stadium in LA starting tomorrow going through Wednesday, August 9th. Which if it still happens, I will see y'all Wednesday. But, you know, those shows, it's not going to just be locals. It brings in people from all over.

Many of whom are going to be staying at hotels in the area. But this is Unite Here Local 11, a union representing thousands of hotel workers, is striking. With them demanding higher wages and better healthcare after contracts expired at over 60 hotels last month. And so, in this letter, you had politicians saying to Taylor Swift, Your show makes our region's hotels a lot of money. In Los Angeles, hotels are doubling and tripling what they charge because you're coming. And so in this letter, you had politicians saying to Taylor Swift, Your show makes our region's hotels a lot of money. In Los Angeles, hotels are doubling and tripling what they charge because you're coming. The hotels are making more money than ever, but many workers cannot afford to live close to where they work.

Some of them even sleep in their cars between shifts. Others are at risk of losing their homes. Speak now. Stand with hotel workers and postpone your concerts. And so for now, we'll have to wait to see if Taylor does anything there, though admittedly, if people saying it feels unlikely, I mean, she's gonna be performing for roughly half a million people during a run in Los Angeles, and she's become pretty notorious for not canceling shows. Though also at the same time, she's made headlines lately for supporting workers, most recently with her own workers giving $55 million in bonuses to people on her tour staff, truck drivers specifically getting $100,000 each. But for now, we'll have to wait and see. And then

America's first religious public school is in trouble. And based off of the comments last time we talked about this, I think a lot of you are like, oh no, who could have seen this coming? Because just a few months ago, we talked about the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board just barely approving the nation's first ever religious school to be funded entirely by taxpayer dollars in a slim three to two vote. With that school being called St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. And it's set to be run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, with it notably having religion as an integral part of its curriculum. And so after that vote, the school's approval was widely expected to set up a major constitutional battle

over taxpayer dollars going to fund religious schools. And we are now officially seeing that come to fruition, with a group of parents, faith leaders, and education activists filing a lawsuit this week to block the opening of St. Isidore. And specifically, the group claiming that if the school is allowed to open, it could be discriminatory against LGBTQ plus students, students with disabilities, and students who are not Catholic. They're also claiming that the school violates both the state constitution and state law, which requires charter schools to be, quote,

non-sectarian in their programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations. And a really key thing is we also saw one of the faith leaders who signed onto the lawsuit arguing that the school will actually hurt religious liberty instead of helping it, saying, creating a religious public charter school is not religious freedom. Our churches already have the religious freedom to start our own schools if we choose to do so, and parents already have the freedom to send their children to those religious schools. But when we entangle religious schools to the government, we endanger religious freedom for all of us. And so now that this game has officially begun, we're going to have to see how the lawsuit plays out. But what we do know is this is going to be

a massively important legal test to determine if states can directly fund religious schools and if charter schools are tied to the same rules as traditional public schools. And then Henrietta Lacks is one of the most important people in human history who you've probably never heard of, and we got to talk about her today

because of this very interesting lawsuit. All right, so for this one, we actually got to go all the way back to 1951 when you have this young black woman by the name of Henrietta Lacks going into the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, complaining of vaginal bleeding. With the doctor then checking her out, discovering a large malignant tumor on her cervix, right? She had cancer. And unfortunately, not long afterwards, she died. But first, without telling her, the doctor sliced off a small piece of the tumor,

put it in a tray, and shipped it on over to a tissue research lab. And it's there that one of the most revolutionary discoveries in medical science was made. Because unlike other tissue samples which died within days, Henrietta's cells endlessly multiplied, doubling around once every 24 hours. Meaning that her cells were the first cells to perpetually reproduce outside the human body, providing scientists with an infinite supply of human tissue to experiment on. And so her cells have since been used to develop treatments for Parkinson's, cancer, and the flu, as well as vaccines for polio and COVID-19. Not to mention it being pivotal in research on HIV, tuberculosis, salmonella, the human genome, in, and the flu, as well as vaccines for polio and COVID-19. Not to mention it being pivotal in research on HIV, tuberculosis, salmonella, the human genome,

in vitro fertilization, x-rays, and even space travel. And in 1985, her cells even helped discover the link between HPV and cervical cancer, which is what killed her over three decades before. And so when I say she is one of the most important people in human history, Henrietta's cell line has been cited in more than 110,000 scientific publications by researchers around the world. But while you had these scientists partying up with her miracle cells, Henrietta's family had no idea what had happened until 1973,

according to a book on our life. And so that revelation sparked this massive debate about medical ethics and the ownership of genetic material, with Oprah Winfrey even eventually starring in a movie about Henrietta's life in 2017. And all of this brings us to 2021, where we saw Henrietta's descendants suing a biotech company called Thermo Fisher Scientific, seeking compensation for the profits they reaped from her cell line, with them saying, Thermo Fisher Scientific's choice to continue selling Lax's cells

in spite of the cell line's origin and the concrete harms it inflicts on the Lax family can only be understood as a choice to embrace a legacy of racial injustice embedded in the U.S. research and medical systems. And with that, the company fired back, saying the statute of limitations had expired, so the lawsuit was too late. But the family argued that because the company still profits from Henrietta's cell line today, they deserve a cut.

And all of that bringing us to yesterday, which actually would have been a lax's 103rd birthday. Both sides reportedly coming to a settlement, though the terms of which are confidential. Though it does feel like we can assume they got a payout of some kind, we just don't know the amount. Though a key thing there is that one of the family's lawyers also suggested at a news conference that similar lawsuits would soon follow, and those presumably against other companies. And then, have you ever been on the hunt for a new doctor and you ask literally everyone you know for their recommendation? I mean, like a good doctor, one who actually gets you, listens to you, makes you feel super comfortable, and doesn't take six

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booked on ZocDoc is between 24 to 72 hours. And sometimes you score same-day appointments with doctors verified by actual real patients and not bots. Plus, the app is so easy to use, and it's not just about finding your general practitioner. You can find specialists, too. So just go to ZocDoc.com slash Phil and download the ZocDoc app for free. Then just find and book a top rated doctor today. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C.com slash Phil. ZocDoc.com slash Phil. And then in huge international news, Belarus is playing with fire right now. There are being reports that it's stationing Wagner near the Polish border, that President Lukashenko is holding them back from invading, and now new evidence that helicopters have crossed the border. Now with that, it's unclear why those

choppers crossed, and initially Poland actually denied that there was an incursion that had taken place, but after looking at more data, they confirmed that Belarus was violating its airspace and managed to almost avoid detection by flying super low, which is below most radar cover. Now for its part, Belarus claims that Poland is just making the entire thing up at the behest of its masters and using it to justify a buildup of troops along the border. But considering Lukashenko's other recent comments about Poland, that's hard to believe. For example, when talking about the Wagner troops along the border, Lukashenko said that the Poles should pray that we're holding on to the Wagner fighters and providing for them. Saying otherwise, without us, they would have seeped through and smashed up Dzerzhiv and Warsaw in no small way.

So they shouldn't reproach me, they should say thank you. And that comment's almost the exact copy of a so-called joke that he made to Putin a few days ago about Wagner marching to Warsaw. And while no country would appreciate these so-called jokes coming from their neighbors, it's even worse considering the history of Belarus, Russia, and Poland. Because for centuries, Poland was forcibly under Russian rule. Even when it did manage to achieve short bursts of independence, Russia would take it away and make it a kind of a puppet state like after World War II. So the animosity in Poland towards Russian aggression is extremely high, making it easy to understand

why they've sent more troops to the border with Belarus at a facto Russian puppet state that was essentially Russia until very recently. And what makes all this especially crazy is that attacking Poland is a literal death wish. Right beyond Poland itself, having a sizable military that it drills constantly for a potential attack.

Poland is part of NATO with NATO troops stationed there. So attacking Poland would be the same as attacking the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, and a ton of other countries. But also, who knows? Maybe Lukashenko does have a death wish. Or maybe he doesn't actually have that much control over Wagner as he claims,

and they're just acting super recklessly, and he's trying to seem strong. And then, like many of the people inside of her, America right now has a credit problem. And that's because Fitch Ratings just downgraded the US credit rating. This is huge news because Fitch Ratings is one of three major credit rating firms, along with Moody's and S&P Global Ratings. With Fitch yesterday dropping the U.S. government's credit rating from a perfect

AAA to AA+. And as far as what that means, you know, the AAA rating is the safest bet in regards to investments. It tells investors that the entity issuing the debt, in this case the U.S. government, is practically guaranteed to make payments on time and not default. And while technically the difference between AAA and AA plus is pretty minuscule, with the Fitch's system labeling AAA as the lowest expectation of default risk and AA plus being defined as a very low level of default risk, in actual practice, this could have some serious, serious impacts. Because the global financial system relies on the US always paying its debts, Lannister style. Whether you love them or hate them, it inspires trust in the US dollar and it makes it the most widely held currency in the

world. And so this downgrade could complicate that. And it could also limit the number of investors that are able to purchase U.S. debt, with some being bound to only purchase from those with pristine credit ratings. And that's on top of potentially driving up the cost of government borrowing at a time when interest rates are already at a two-decade high. We've also already seen the stock market feeling the downgrade, the market opening lower, and all three major indexes down by mid-morning today. As far as why they dropped the rating, Fitch cited a, quote,

steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, with it also not being like this is coming out of nowhere. Back in May, you might remember the government was at the standstill over debt ceiling negotiations, Fitch threatening to lower the U.S.'s credit rating, saying at the time, the brinkmanship over the debt ceiling, failure of the U.S. authorities to meaningfully tackle medium-term fiscal challenges that will lead to rising budget deficits and a growing debt burden signal downside risks to U.S. creditworthiness. And since the whole debt ceiling ordeal, the fight over federal spending has continued with a looming government shutdown on the horizon. So this fight over federal spending being a major factor in Fitch's decision, saying in a statement,

the repeated debt limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management, though they didn't have just pure money arguments. With Fitch also pointing to the January 6th insurrection as one of the concerns about the U.S.'s governance. Because the insurrection reportedly indicates an unstable government. With Fitch citing a report that the U.S.'s government stability has declined between 2018 and 2021. But also pointing to an improvement since Biden took office. Which actually speaking of Biden and his administration, they're vehemently against Fitch's downgrade. Claiming that they made a decision that was arbitrary and made based on outdated data. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also saying in a statement, Fitch's decision does not change what

Americans, investors, and people all around the world already know, that treasury securities remain the world's preeminent safe and liquid asset, and that the American economy is fundamentally strong. Though also for the sake of context, it is important to know this is not the first time that the U.S. has taken a hit to its credit rating. Because back in 2011, amid a different battle over the government's debt, the S&P was actually the first to remove the U.S.'s AAA rating. And according to the Government Accountability Office, that budget battle led to the U.S. Treasury's borrowing costs to jump by over a billion dollars. But for now, we just kind of need to keep our eyes on this, see if Fitch's rating is the only one that changes. Right, is Moody's next? Are they going to stay

firm? You know, all of this made even more interesting by the fact that like in the same 24-hour period, we're seeing Bank of America joining a bunch of other banks now saying the U.S. is actually not headed towards a recession, and specifically citing persistent U.S. GDP growth, the near record low unemployment rate, and cooling inflation and wage growth. Though notably, they said that the economy is not entirely out of the woods yet, and a mild recession remains our second most likely outcome. But hey, while we wait to see if there are further fallouts and further developments, let me know your thoughts on this one. And then, so yes, Donald Trump has been indicted on criminal charges again. This being the second federal, the third overall,

which by itself is fucking crazy and unprecedented. But the key takeaway from this situation is that these charges here are fundamentally different from the others that have been brought against Trump. Because while the other two cases are serious in their own rights, experts say that the January 6th indictment is at a whole other level

because it strikes at the very core of American democracy itself, that peaceful transfer of power. Or as Harvard legal scholar Lauren Strive explained, the crimes indicted are an order of magnitude beyond anything that has been committed against this country by any American citizen, let alone a former president. This is essentially an indictment for an attempt to overturn the republic and its most crucial process of preserving democratic governance, the process of peaceful and lawful transition of power. And all of this is made even more consequential by the fact that Trump's running for that same office that he's accused of abusing to subvert democracy and undermine the will of the American people. And this is he is miles ahead of every other

Republican contender in the primary. And while I don't think that many people are actually going to read through this 45 page indictment, and we're not going to touch on every single aspect here, I think it is incredibly important that everyone, especially Americans, understand these charges. The links to resources are in the description, but I'm going to make it consumable here. The indictment charges Trump with four separate counts. One count each of conspiracy to obstruct and obstructing an official proceeding, which very notably are the same charges being brought against many of the Jan 6 defendants, as well as two additional counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to violate the right to vote. With much of the allegations resting on the central claim that Trump knew his election

lies were just that, lies. But despite that, he kept spreading them anyway, with the indictment stating, despite having lost, the defendant was determined to remain in power. So for more than two months following election day, the defendant spread lies that there had been outcome determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won. These claims were false and the defendant knew that they were false. And adding, in fact, the defendant was notified repeatedly that his claims were untrue, often by the people on whom he relied for candid advice on important matters and who were best positioned to know the facts and he deliberately disregarded the truth. And the prosecutor is going on to list numerous people around Trump telling him his claims were false. And those including Vice President Mike

Pence, top Justice Department officials and security officials, senior White House attorneys and campaign staff, key state legislators and officials, senior White House attorneys and campaign staff, key state legislators and officials, and eventually state and federal courts. And very importantly, the indictment specifically gives multiple examples of Trump being explicitly told his claims were false, but then he still spread the lies anyway.

And while many of those instances were actually ones we already knew about if you looked at the evidence presented by the Jan 6th Committee, there were also some juicy new tidbits that illustrate how Trump acted corruptly. Like one scene, for example, from January 1st, 2021, where Pence once again fought Trump's repeated urging to overturn the election in Congress on January 6th, prompting Trump to allegedly tell his vice president, you're too honest. Additionally, the indictment also details an instance where Trump spread false claims in Georgia about a voting machine company.

And that despite the fact that when he had discussed the claims with advisers in private, he conceded they were unsupported and that the person who had initially made the claims in a lawsuit sounded crazy. And that's very important because it undermines what experts have said is basically Trump's only legal defense here. His claim that he genuinely didn't understand the claims he was spreading were false or believed he knew better, which is something his lawyers have already signaled they're going to argue. But also beyond that, one of the most significant aspects of this indictment is that while prosecutors emphasize that Trump was at the center of all this, they also make it clear that he did not act alone. With it also listing six co-conspirators who Trump enlisted to assist him in his criminal efforts to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election and retain power. While those people weren't named in the indictment, reporters have been able to figure

out who they were from quotes, descriptions, and other context. With it now being widely reported that the co-conspirators are Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Sidney Powell, as well as former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and Trump-aligned attorney, Kenneth Chesbrough, with her as of now not being really solid guesses for the identity of the sixth co-conspirator, with them being described as a political consultant, which really could refer to a number of different people.

And as of recording, only Eastman's attorney has confirmed that he is one of the co-conspirators. The representatives for some of the other assumed conspirators have implied that our assumptions are correct. And specifically here, the indictment outlines five methods through which Trump and his co-conspirators sought to impair, obstruct, and defeat the federal government function through dishonesty, fraud, and deceit. The first is by using knowingly false claims of election fraud to convince state legislators and other election officials to change electoral votes from Biden to Trump.

The prosecutors alleging that Trump pushed officials in certain states to ignore the popular vote, disenfranchise millions of voters, dismiss legitimate electors, and ultimately cause the ascertainment of and voting by illegitimate electors. They also go on to cite the recruitment of fake electors, attempts to use the Justice Department to bolster their false claims, and advance the defendant's fraudulent elector plan, as well as pressuring Pence to delay the certification of the election or reject the legitimate electors. And when all that failed, Trump and his co-conspirators repeated knowingly false claims of election fraud, to gathered supporters, falsely told them that the vice president had the authority to wouldn't overturn the election, that crowd of supporters violently attacked the Capitol and halted the proceeding. With the indictment adding,

As violence ensued, the defendant and co-conspirators exploited the disruption by redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims. And part of the reason I read that word for word is the language in those last two parts are incredibly significant. Because as the Washington Post explains, it suggests that the disruption was the purpose, not an unintentional byproduct.

And so with all that said, you now have the main highlights of the indictment itself. So again, I'm linking to resources down below. Now, as far as how Trump has responded to all this, it's pretty much what you'd expect. He has denied doing anything wrong. He has compared his prosecution to that of Nazi Germany. He has continually whined on truth social

that the DOJ is corrupt and being weaponized to go after him. And that last part, something that's been echoed by so many of his allies. But also, very notably here, and once again, this is a developing situation, the overall response from Republicans has been much more muted than it has been in the past, with actually many top leaders staying totally silent, while others who previously defended Trump toning down their

rhetoric, though also some taking direct aim at Trump, this including Mike Pence himself, who said in a statement, today's indictment serves as an important reminder. Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States. But as far as what happens next, Trump is set to be arraigned in federal court in Washington, D.C. tomorrow. And also with that, a key thing is that the judge who was assigned to oversee this case is Judge Tanya Chutkin, an Obama appointee. And not only has Chutkin overseen trials of January 6th rioters and given them harsh sentences, she also specifically ruled against Trump in the past, rejecting his attempt to avoid giving documents to the January 6th committee in a decision where she wrote, presidents are not kings.

Beyond that, because the trial is set for D.C., Trump is also looking at a pool of jurors in a largely Democratic city where he won just 5% of the vote in the last election. So he's looking at a very different situation than that of the Mar-a-Lago trial, which of course, amazingly, is being overseen by a judge that he appointed, and the area having a much more conservative jury pool. Also with this developing situation, something to look out for are possible additional charges. There are six people listed as co-conspirators in this indictment, and none of them have actually been charged. Given the gravity of the claims made against them, it's entirely possible that we could see a superseding indictment where charges are filed against some or all of them.

But for now, we wait for more of the dominoes to fall. And that is where today's Daily Dive into the News is going to end for you. But for more news, you need to know I got you covered right here. Just click or tap or go into that description. I got links there for you. But of course, remember, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.