The Philip DeFranco Show - The Pentagon Lied To You?! US Troop Casualties Worse Than Reported & Joe Rogan vs Trump Gets Bigger

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pentagon hid this review, that first attack on U.S. troops by Iran? It was so much worse than they let on. Not only were six service members killed. More than 30 are still hospitalized with traumatic brain injuries, memory loss, shrapno wounds, and burns. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency, they're releasing its largest ever oil release from global strategic reserves as Iran keeps up attacks across the Middle East and a bid to show that it hasn't been defeated yet.

Starting point is 00:00:20 And that's even after American and Israeli strikes that were described as the most intense so far. And right, and that's where we have to start. And so with all that, today you had Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, and Oman, all saying, of their forces intercepted drones and missiles. Oman also reported drone strikes and fuel tanks at a port in the southern part of the country. And a British maritime monitoring group reported that three commercial ships in or near the Strait of Hormuz were hit by projectiles within hours of each other.

Starting point is 00:00:41 And Iran appeared to take responsibility for at least one of those attacks with the commander of the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps saying in a social media post that any vessel that intends to pass must obtain permission. And as we've talked about at length before, Iran's ability to effectively lock down the Strait of Hormuz, it's pretty much their best leverage. About a fifth of the world's oil passes through that waterway. And with Iran, not a long,

Starting point is 00:00:59 knocking it almost entirely out of business, you had international oil prices surging to nearly $120 a barrel at their peak, which was the highest level since 2022. And while they've since fallen to around $91 a barrel, in part because Trump says, oh, this is not a forever war, it's actually pretty much done, but then he's constantly contradicting himself. That $91 a barrel, it's still up from less than $73 a barrel before the war began. And with that, you also had another Iranian official claiming today that the world should get ready for the price of oil to reach $200 a barrel. And while these rising prices, they're having the biggest impact in Asia and Europe, which rely more heavily on the Middle East for oil and natural gas. Without a doubt, this is going to have an impact

Starting point is 00:01:32 on the United States and actually it's already having an impact. Prices at the gas station, they have gone up for the 11th straight day. The national average is $3.58 a gallon according to AAA. I saw, I was driving this morning. I saw diesel was $5.18 near me. And well, the markets, you know, they react to Trump's offhand comments and other speculation about when this war might end, that the situation on the ground or maybe in the sea, rather, it seems to just be getting worse. Or you had Trump previously saying that he might order Navy warships to escort merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz. And there's actually precedent there. American forces did that for a period of time in the late 1980s during similar tensions with Iran. And yesterday, you actually

Starting point is 00:02:04 had Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying on social media that a Navy warship had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait, but then he deleted that post. And the Navy's actually turning down requests from the industry for escorts on a near daily basis. Also, Pakistan and France, there are among other countries that are looking into this option, but there's been no movement yet and it may only be about to get more dangerous. Right, because the U.S. reportedly received intelligence yesterday that Iran was getting ready or had even already begun laying mines in the street. With one unnamed official telling the New York Times that none had been laid yet, but preparations were underway, while then other sources told CNN that at least a few dozen mines were

Starting point is 00:02:34 already in place. And then adding that Iran still has 80 to 90 percent of its small boats and mine layers, so its forces could feasibly lay hundreds of mines in the water ray in the days to come. Now then with that, you had Trump writing on social media yesterday that if Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz trade and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed immediately. With Trump then claiming that 10 mine laying vessels had already been destroyed and Pete Hegeseth saying on Twitter, we will not allow terrorists to hold the Strait of Hormuz hostage. And by the end of the day, you had U.S. Central Command saying that the number of mine laying vessels eliminated had gone up to 16. But it also is unclear to what extent that's actually

Starting point is 00:03:05 limited Iran's ability to keep it up. And then in the meantime, you have the international community having to move forward under the assumption that the situation isn't going to, you know, all of a sudden get resolved. And so today you first had Japan, Germany and Austria, announcing that they would release oil from the strategic reserves. With then, the International Energy Agency announcing that its 32 members would together carry out the largest ever oil stock release and history, by releasing 400 barrels of oil from strategic reserves. And in addition to it being the largest, this is also the first time that the agency is taking action in this way since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which on the note of Russia, it's worth pointing out that it and other oil

Starting point is 00:03:37 exporters outside of the Middle East are actually benefiting here. Because prices are going up, sanctions might even be getting lifted and they have supplies to sell that aren't trapped in the Gulf. And so you're saying things like an economist historian at Cornell telling Axios, sanctioned Russian oil is trading at a premium to the most widely traded international benchmark, which is just mad. If you're a Russian oil trader or a Russian company, you have never earned as much money selling oil as right now because of the supply chain interruption. And with that, besides Russia taking advantage, even Iran is weirdly sort of benefiting from this in a way, with the country now reportedly exporting more oil through the Strait of Hormuz than before the war. Though notably, the U.S. likely could destroy Iran's ability to do so at any time, but they're just choosing not to. Right, because the American military claimed to obstruct roughly 5,000 targets in and around Iran, but it is so far kept away from bombing the oil infrastructure.

Starting point is 00:04:19 And that including a place called Karg Island, which handles about 90% of Iran's oil exports. And one reason, at least according to an expert who spoke with The Guardian, is that destroying or damaging the facilities there, it runs the risk of causing an economy shaping increase in oil price that would not drop rapidly. But then she also argues, Karg Island is sufficiently important to the Iranian economy that destroying its facilities would abandon any pretense of fighting a war to create a brighter future for Iran. And actually with that, you had the Trump administration asking Israel not to carry out more strikes on energy facilities in Iran, especially oil infrastructure after previous attacks blanketed Tehran and toxic smoke and acid rain.

Starting point is 00:04:51 And the White House reasons for this, reportedly being that, one, these strikes harm the Iranian public, many of whom opposes the regime. Two, Trump wants to cooperate with Iran's oil sector after the war, similar to the approach that he's taken with Venezuela. And three, the strikes could trigger even more aggressive attacks by Iran on energy infrastructure across the goal. And with that, you reportedly had a source familiar with the details, saying that Trump views strikes on Iran's energy and oil facilities as a doomsday option.

Starting point is 00:05:12 And then as far as, you know, what might trigger that option, that's not entirely clear, isn't Trump, admin, they've continually shifted the timelines and goals for the war. As we've been talking about, just over the past few days, he called for Iran's unconditional surrender while almost simultaneously suggesting that the US had already achieved its objective of decimating Iran's military. And then we had more today with him saying that the war would end soon because there was practically nothing left to target and adding, any time I wanted to end, it will end.

Starting point is 00:05:36 So you have that, as some American and Israeli officials reportedly told Axios that they're preparing for at least two more weeks of strikes in Iran. But then you also have two other Israeli officials telling Reuters that there was no sign that the the US was close to ending the campaign. And then Israel's defense minister today said that the operation will continue without any time limit as long as required until we achieve all objectives and win the campaign. So with so many different statements out there, you had Senate Democrats demanding that Trump send Defense Secretary Pete Hegg said and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to testify

Starting point is 00:06:01 under oath on the war in Iran, arguing that they've failed to explain the objectives, scope and endgame of this war. Right, and then with this as far as the public reaction, while you're seeing a lot of different takes out there, you're also seeing people like podcaster Joe Rogan having yet another remarkable revelation that the promises of this man that he helped get into office, they might have not actually meant anything. But just seems so insane based on what he ran on. I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on no more wars and these stupid senseless wars, and then we have one that we can't even really clearly define why we did it. And then another thing we

Starting point is 00:06:36 need to talk about is just how completely unprepared this administration was to deal with the consequences. Or because it's becoming increasingly clear that this White House was not ready for the fight that Iran's put up. You've seen them unprepared to evacuate personnel, coming up with ideas to deal with rise in gas prices only after the fact and having no real plan for dealing with the Strait of Hormuz situation. And you even had Senator Chris Murphy who said after that briefing that the administration had no plan on how to get it safely back open and adding, which is unforgivable because this part of the disaster was 100% foreseeable. And you also have senior defense officials telling the New York Times that the Iranian military has shown that

Starting point is 00:07:08 it learned a lot more from the 12-day war over the summer than they expected. I mean, going back to that conflict, the U.S. launched somewhere from 100 to 250 Thad interceptors. That made up 20 to 50% of the Pentagon's inventory. In the military, they also used 80 SM3 missiles, which was nearly a fifth of its inventory. And now the Iranian military is believed to recognize that as a vulnerability, and they're focusing its strikes on other air defense and radar systems in the region looking to further deplete those stockpiles. And that's also, as they've had some success going after military communications infrastructure and Iranian-backed militias, they've attacked hotels frequented by American troops. And the actual damage that Iran's done to U.S. troops, it may be far greater than the

Starting point is 00:07:41 administration has led on. Because we know, at least seven service members have been killed, six of them in a drone attack in Kuwait, and we were told yesterday that roughly 140 have been injured, including several with life-threatening injuries. But now you have CBS reporting that the drone strike in Kuwait, it was actually much worse than our government let on. Right on March 1st, they said that five were seriously wounded and several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions. But according to CBS, dozens are suffering injuries including brain trauma, shrapnel wounds and burns, and more than 30 people are still in hospitals as of Tuesday night. And in the meantime, Iran has kept firing and it's preparing to expand its targets today,

Starting point is 00:08:11 threatening attacks on financial institutions that do business with the United States or Israel. But with one official even saying that people across the Middle East should stay a thousand meters away from banks. Also, we're seeing reports that Iran has been launching cluster munition warheads at Israel, which would likely violate the laws of war because they burst and they scatter into small bombs that can cause indiscriminate harm if they're fired near civilians. So with that, as you also have Israel being accused of similarly violating the laws of war by allegedly using white phosphorus in Lebanon. And speaking of Lebanon, we've seen fighting escalating dramatically with Hezbollah despite growing anger from the Lebanese people and government officials.

Starting point is 00:08:41 And this is actually a really important front for us to dive into because it doesn't get as much attention with everything going on and Iran and the constant news cycle, even though a potentially huge battle is brewing and on the cusp of bubbling over. Right overnight, Israel gave evacuation warnings and then launched a wave of strikes bombarding the southern suburbs of Beiru, which are strongholds of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Also Israeli forces launched attacks on the southern city of Tyre, the Israeli forces claiming that they had struck another Hezbollah command center there. But you also had Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health claiming that there were at least three civilian casualties, including a paramedic. Now with this, as of recording, we're seeing a lot of different numbers for the total number of people killed in the sweeping strikes.

Starting point is 00:09:14 Reports ranging around 20 to as many as 36. And, very notably, we saw Israel expanding its attacks beyond the southern reaches of the country and striking a residential apartment block in central Beirut. While there's been mixed reporting on whether there were casualties or not, it's incredibly significant that Israel is striking at the heart of the city, where many civilians and government officials reside in densely populated areas. Meanwhile, you also had Hezbollah, claiming that its fighters had attacked Israeli troops near the southern border and launched rockets at Israel. with an IDF official claiming that the strikes were part of a broader effort by Hezbollah to target Israeli civilians and saying that the group's lashing out because Israel is doing so much damage to its capabilities. But it's also not just Hezbollah that's being impacted here, right?

Starting point is 00:09:48 The Israeli campaign has also taken a massive toll on the country at large. And according to the latest figures from Lebanese officials, 570 people have been killed, including 86 children, 45 women, and 21 paramedics, while another 1,444 have been injured. And because of the continued fighting, the government says that more than 750,000 people have been displaced just in the first 12 days since the US and Israel attacked Iran. Number that the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon called unprecedented. Then also on the ground, you have Hezbollah facing a deep and growing public backlash, with government officials and civilians openly blaming the group for dragging the entire country into the conflict.

Starting point is 00:10:20 Right, in the situation with Hezbollah, it's very sticky because the group is backed by Iran and they've long been a major target of Israel, but it's also deeply ingrained in Lebanese political and military structures wielding immense power over the state. Right, not only does Hezbollah hold cabinet positions and seats in the parliament, it also operates one of the country's most capable armed forces. But the group's continuous confrontations with Iran, they've put the lives of Lebanese civilians in jeopardy time and time again. I mean, it's only been 15 months since a ceasefire was reached in the last conflict

Starting point is 00:10:45 between Hezbollah and Israel, which killed 4,000 and caused more than $11 billion in damage. Though also, I have to note there, that Israel is reportedly broken the 2024 ceasefire more than 10,000 times and killed more than 100 civilians as it continues to target Hezbollah. But also, everything changed when Hezbollah launch strikes on Israel and retaliation for the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, promoting the escalating series of strikes and counter strikes that we've seen ever since. Now, with all this, you've also had the Lebanese government trying to rein the group in, not long after Hezbollah first struck Iran, the cabinet voted, to declare its activity is illegal and ban it from taking further military actions.

Starting point is 00:11:15 But what happened is Hezbollah just continued fighting, making it clear that the group's political arm isn't really having much control over its military branch. And it's very much looking like the situation is just going to get worse amid growing fears about a full-scale Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon. Just yesterday, you had Reuters reporting that Hezbollah fighters are bracing for the possibility of a full-scale Israeli invasion in the South. And at the same time, you have Israeli military leaders ordering the transfer troops from Gaza to the border of Lebanon. And just since this war began, Israeli forces have already seized more territory in Lebanon,

Starting point is 00:11:40 and you have military officials also reportedly outlining plans for a much deeper ground encouragement. Which is why you then have many experts speculating that Israel is trying to use the war as an opportunity to achieve its long-term goal of dismantling Hezbollah entirely. And then with all of this, you have Lebanon's president making a remarkable statement blaming Hezbollah for betraying the country and calling for internationally mediated direct talks with Israel. It's also been reported that the Lebanese government approached the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, last week and asked him to mediate with Israel, allegedly claiming that some Hezbollah members were open to a deal. But at least for now, it doesn't seem like Israel is really interested in those peace talks, nor has the U.S. really had any interest in facilitating them. Where with sources telling Axios that the Israeli government rejected the outreach, indicating that it's too late and that the focus is now

Starting point is 00:12:18 on eliminating Hezbollah. That's something you've also seen echoed by Israeli officials, with one envoy, telling reporters that the only thing that could end the war is if the Lebanese government disarms Hezbollah, which is also a goal that the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey reportedly pushed as a prerequisite to any talks. And so right now, it seems like things, are set just for continued escalation. And then there's more that we've got to dive into in just a minute, but first, let me thank his sponsor and say, let's be real. Your underwear is either on your team or actively trying to ruin your day like a tiny fabric

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Starting point is 00:13:52 of Homeland Security just in shambles. Right? Because last week, Trump gave her the boot, right? You're fired, though he framed it as a promotion, though we really all know what happened. And with that, It's now being reported that by the time she's gone on March 31st, there's likely gonna be dozens of pending contracts still sitting on her desk that she just never got to. That's because back in June, she began requiring that all DHS contracts worth more than $100,000 come to her first for personal approval. The thing is, you'd probably expect, that's like most, if not all DHS contracts. It's an amount of work that more than one person is meant to handle, especially a person who seems more concerned with maximizing her TV presence than actually doing administrative work. So you're seeing things like a source-telling axios. There's a mountain of backed-up contracts and invoices on our desk that the new guy will,

Starting point is 00:14:30 will just have to deal with. Now, Nome's department, they justified the policy as a measure to combat waste, fraud, and abuse claiming back in August that it saved over $10 billion. But then in addition to everyone being pretty skeptical about that claim, you have critics countering that it's also made the department's work impossible. In fact, some vendors have reportedly begun billing the department in chunks of $99,99 at a time just to get paid. With an another source saying, from everything that I've heard, it's still a giant shit show up there. And adding, the ramifications of her tenure are going to be felt for years and years and years and years. And years. We're not really going to know exactly how bad it is until we have a major hurricane that unfortunately impacts some place in the United States

Starting point is 00:15:05 And with the referring to there is the fact that one of the agencies under the DHS umbrella is FEMA which responds to natural disasters And according to Senate Democrats, Nome's personal approval policy is delayed over a thousand grants, contracts and funding awards Worth tens of millions of dollars to help communities rebuild and recover after disasters The average delays that we're talking about they were reportedly lasting three weeks and sometimes longer Contradicting DHS claims that typically nothing's on her desk for longer than 24 hours But it's also not just FEMA, even Trump's own priorities have stalled, including his signature border wall. Right, Trump's so-called big beautiful bill, it funded nearly 2,000 miles of it, but as of mid-February, just 36 miles were complete. And in addition to that, you had two sources telling Axios that dozens of ice facilities currently holding detainees,

Starting point is 00:15:43 they have contract extensions waiting for Nome signature and their awaiting payment. Or with those including Texas' Camp East Montana, whose funding lapsed in February, New Jersey's Delaney Hall, who also hasn't been paid, and the infamous Dilly Family Detention Center in Texas, which just ran dry this month. Now, to be fair to Noem, though, dog can't. killing, Ice Barbie really doesn't deserve it, it may not be entirely her fault. Because her top aide, Corey Lewandowski, also apparently signs contracts before they go to her desk. Right, in Lewandowski, if you've forgotten, he's the guy that Noem's rumored to be fucking, even though both of them are married and his title is special government employee and it exempts him from regular federal ethics laws. And while when Noem was asked whether Lewandowski had any role in approving contracts,

Starting point is 00:16:18 Noam said to the Senate Judiciary Committee, no, pro-publica obtained DHS record showing that Lewandowski personally approved a multi-million dollar equipment contract at the agency last summer. And you have several sources adding that he also approved numerous others and that his signature is often needed before large ones can go through. So you had Senator Richard Blumenthal saying that he would open an investigation into whether Nome committed perjury, right out of federal crime by lying about Lewandowski's involvement. But then with all this, you know, moving our eyes forward, there's the question of, is Trump's new pick to head DHS, Mark Wayne Mullen? Is he going to continue Nome's contract approval policy? Though then even if he doesn't, you had a source telling Axios,

Starting point is 00:16:51 it's going to take weeks, if not months of constant work to restore vendors' funding. And even then, some of the damage is just irreparable. Right, like the 2,500 trucks and SUVs emblazoned with the ice logo and the slogan Defend the Homeland that Nome's DHS purchased last year, reportedly, despite agents warning that branded vehicles would make them targets. So now, according to the Washington Examiner, they just sit idle in garages and detention centers across the country with a source adding. ICE has never had marked vehicles and talking to people. They're like, we don't want to use these. We can't. And then there's the luxury jet that Nomad DHS lease and try to outright purchase for $70 million with NBC obtaining photos of the inside. showing a private bedroom in the back, a queen bed, showers, four large flat-screen TVs and a bar. And then topping off, all of that alleged waste is that $200 million advertising campaign that seemed like it was meant to boost Nome's image as much as encourage immigrants to self-deport.

Starting point is 00:17:39 Though in that case, you have critics saying it wasn't just waste, it was corruption. Or because the contract for it was given to GOP-linked companies without competitive bidding. In fact, for a specific photo shoot with Nome and Mount Rushmore, a contractor called the Strategy Group wasn't even listed on public documents about the contract. And the company that's listed, it was created just days before the deal was finalized. Yet as you had the Daily Beast putting it, no firm has closer ties to Nome's political operation than the strategy group. Right, and not only was it central to her run for governor of South Dakota, but Lewandowski's work extensively with it and its CEO is married to outgoing DHS spokesperson Trisha McLaughlin. But even that, it's just one of the many

Starting point is 00:18:12 sketchy deals at DHS. You've also got a 250K contract to a Republican political consulting firm led by former Trump campaign officials with connections to Lewandowski. And not only was that posted with a bid window of just 31 hours, it also explicitly asked for contractors with an established track record of promoting Trump administration policies in the media. And then with all this, you had a DHS source telling the Daily Beast that Noam and Lewandowski, they could be on the hook here saying, expect scrutiny on the warehouse contracts, the ads, the plane purchasing, the cars, everything. It's adding if the rumors circling Washington are true, Democrats will want hearings and maybe even prosecutions. And there's going to be no Republican with a brain who comes to their defense.

Starting point is 00:18:46 They're fucked. But also I'd say with this Trump administration, I wouldn't hold your breath for accountability. Especially as, you know, what they've done isn't really all that unique for the Trump administration, almost every part of which has been accused of rampant corruption. Right, of course, there's Trump himself who looks like he's enriched his family to the tune of billions of dollars since winning the election, telling the New York Times. I found out nobody cared and I'm allowed to. Also, Trump's Deputy Secretary of Defense, billionaire Steve Feinberg, co-founded the private equity firm that owns at least four of the companies awarded Golden Dome Contract so far. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blan

Starting point is 00:19:13 shown almost $160,000 in crypto-related assets when he shut down investigations into crypto companies, dealers, and exchanges. And Attorney General Pambani sold off up to $5 million dollars in Trump media stock the same day that Trump's tariff announcement caused its value to drop 13% prompting accusations of insider trading. And actually, speaking of Pam Bondi, it looks like the insider trading accusations might be the least of her worry. Because you've got the New York Times now reporting that she has quietly relocated to win a several military bases in the Washington area over mounting threats that she's facing from drug cartels and people upset with her handling of the Epstein files. Threats were flagged by federal law enforcement and they really started picking up after the

Starting point is 00:19:46 capture of Maduro earlier this year. But it also turns out she's not the only official in the Trump administration living in military housing. Stephen Miller, Pete Hague Seth, Marco Rubio, and Christy Noem have all moved into secure military facilities. And where right now we apparently don't know what they're paying to live there or if it even costs them anything at all. You had Noem previously saying that she was paying fair market rent. Well, you know, over the past few decades, it's not an unheard-of thing for government officials to live in these kinds of facilities. Having so many all at once, it's a little unusual. And that's why you had the time saying, this appears to be the first administration to take

Starting point is 00:20:14 such widespread advantage of taxpayer-funded military housing to accommodate political appointees who do not have a direct connection to the military. And so with all that, as far as a response you had a spokesperson for Bondi not commenting on the move, except to say that the Times was not to publish the specific location of the base that she's living in. But also, of course, this is coming, as Bondi's not been able to escape constant public criticism, especially over the Epstein files.

Starting point is 00:20:34 And earlier this week, you actually had a representative introducing articles of impeachment against her for illegally withholding the files, accusing her of protecting predators who abuse children to appease Donald Trump. She was also just subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee, and today, Chairman James Comer said that he's working to schedule her testimony

Starting point is 00:20:47 in the next few weeks. And that says today you have the oversight committee deposing Epstein's long-time accountant to get answers about how Epstein made his money. And there, you had Democrats in the committee, claiming that this accountant was a central facilitator of Epstein's ability to exploit girls and women and saying, we will leave no stone unturned as we seek answers.

Starting point is 00:21:02 But also, when it comes to Epstein news, the biggest headlines today are actually coming out of the UK. Because while the administration in the U.S., they're letting accuse pedophile protectors live in secure military bunkers, the UK, they're releasing bonus extra credit files about their government leaders. Right, in these new files, they center around Peter Mandelson.

Starting point is 00:21:16 It was previously the UK's ambassador to the United States, but also was outstead last year over his Epstein ties and later resigned from the labor party. With the DOJ's file, suggesting that Mandelson received tens of thousands of dollars from Epstein and he advised him on government policy, and there's a photo in the files that shows a man who appears to be Mandelson and a t-shirt and underwear

Starting point is 00:21:32 alongside a redacted person in a robe. And there was a ton of fallout because while he denied wrongdoing, last month he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and then released as the probe continues. And then this has also created a massive headache for Prime Minister Kier-Starmar who, many thinks, should resign as Prime Minister for making Mandelson the U.S. ambassador in the first place.

Starting point is 00:21:48 And so this batch of files at the British government released today, it relates to the betting process behind Mandelson's appointment, and it doesn't really help Stomber in the slightest, right? Because they show that Starmor was warned that Mandelson could generate general reputational risk over its ties to Epstein, with a due diligence checklist saying, after Epstein was first convicted of procuring an underage girl in 2008, his relationship with Mandelson continued across 2009 to 2011, beginning when Lord Mandelson was business minister and continuing after the end of the labor government. Mandelson reportedly stayed in Epstein's house while he was in jail in June of 2009. She'd also claimed that in 2014, Mandelson was a founding citizen

Starting point is 00:22:20 of an ocean conservation group founded by Colleen Maxwell and funded by Epstein. And it says that Mandelson facilitated a meeting between Epstein and former prime minister Tony Blair in 2002. And according to reports, in an email coordinating this meeting, Mandelson described Epstein as someone who has his finger on the pulse of many worldwide markets and as safe, whatever that means. With the Times, also reporting that current PM, Stramer received an email warning him about appointing Mandelson claiming, if anything goes wrong, you could be more exposed as the

Starting point is 00:22:45 individual is more connected to you personally. So you have some feeling like this clashes with what Starmor had said about the situation, because he insists that Mandelson lied to him repeatedly about Epstein and that he would never have made him ambassador if he knew then what I know now. But now you have some feeling these documents they show he had ample warning. And so you saw conservatives in the country slamming storm are claiming. The Prime Minister has already admitted that he knew Mandelson had maintained his friendship with Epstein even after the latter's conviction for his terrible crimes.

Starting point is 00:23:11 That was a bad choice and it's a choice that we can now read about in black and white. Now the Prime Minister claims that he was lied to. He wasn't lied to by this due diligence document. Maybe the prime minister was lied to, but he was lied to by an inveterate liar who had been fired twice before. And we're supposed to believe, Madam Deputy Speaker, that the Prime Minister, who was once the chief prosecutor in this country, couldn't see through this nonsense. It beggars belief. But then on the other side, you have Starrmer's chief secretary acknowledging that, yes, Mandelson should have never been appointed. But he also said that this due diligence report didn't expose the full depth and extent of the former ambassador's Epstein ties.

Starting point is 00:23:48 adding, the Prime Minister deeply regrets taking him at his word. It was a mistake to do so. But as far as what's next, we'll see. There are more files that are expected to come out in the UK still. Where the government's releasing these documents and batches and while some are being withheld amid the police investigation into Mandelson, Starmer's camp. They insist that these files will show that Mandelson did in fact mislead the government. But also, you know, Starmer is in a tricky spot right now with an AP, for example, saying that while he survived initial resignation calls, the position remains fragile, even though he never met Hepstein and is not implicated in his crimes. Which again, it's just while, to compare just our government to any other government.

Starting point is 00:24:21 Our guy, like the main guy is named in the files like a hundred billion times. Being a little hyperbolic, but a bunch. Right, and there are even FBI interviews accusing him of assault and he's not going anywhere. You know, on the UK, their main guy may get the boot because he knew and appointed a guy. And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute, but first let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, hiring's like online dating. Except I guess the bad first date, it costs you payroll. So let's fix resume roulette with skill-based hiring.

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Starting point is 00:25:28 Right, four to five employers who post on ZipRecruiter, get a quality candidate within the first day. So try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash DeFranco or just scan that QR code. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash DeFranco, meet your match on ZipRecruiter. Then, diving right back into the news, more than 70 million American Social Security information

Starting point is 00:25:44 could be at risk, all because of one ex-Doge member trying to leak it to his new private employer. And the reason we know about this potentially unprecedented breach is thanks to a whistleblower. And the key person in question here is reportedly a former Doge engineer who worked for the SSA last year and eventually started a job as a government contractor in October. He reportedly claimed to have two highly restricted databases of US citizens information called numidant and master death file at least one of which he carried on a thumb drive. And the complaint alleges that he claimed to have still

Starting point is 00:26:09 had access to his agency computer and credentials leaving the data wide open to this kind of breach. However, you have the post saying that the SSA denies these claims. And when we wait to learn what the case actually actually is, these databases reportedly hold more than 500 million living and dead American Social Security numbers, birth dates, birthplaces, and parents' names, among other sensitive information. This ex-Doge member reportedly asked the whistleblower for help transferring data from the thumb drive to quote, his personal computer so that he could sanitize the data before using it at his new employer. He allegedly told his co-workers that once he removed

Starting point is 00:26:37 personal details from the data, he wanted to upload it to the company's system. And in response to this, you had one colleague refusing to help the doger because, you know, it'd be illegal. But also, the whistleblower says that the legal recourse was at a concern for the doger. who was allegedly expecting to receive a presidential pardon if he ran into any trouble. Now at least currently, there's no concrete evidence to say that he was ever able to actually upload the data and the post also hasn't confirmed his name or the name of the company that he tried to share the data with, since they haven't independently confirmed the accusations yet. But you had anonymous sources telling the Washington Post that the government accountability office has already started its own audit of Doja's access to the data,

Starting point is 00:27:08 which is indicative of the type of scrutiny that the department is under. And what we do know is that one of the alleged conversations the whistleblower mentioned happened around early January per the whistleblower complaint. However, reports say that when the Post looked into it, the SSA and the Engineer's new companies say they didn't know anything about the complaint and didn't report any findings in their subsequent investigations. And since then, the Engineer's lawyer has also told the Post that he denied all wrongdoing. Right, and in general, this whole situation with the SSA, it's concerning because they've been known to be very restrictive with personal data. But then, you know, things changed when Trump gave Elon Musk to go ahead to lead a White House cost-cutting effort to search for waste, fraud, and excess spending across government agencies. Trump is a puppet of a foreign national whose name is Musk, who has taken We can over our data.

Starting point is 00:27:47 Newed things coming to ahead when the Supreme Court granted Doge full access to social security information last year. And as Dogers combed through the records, SSA workers often push back, but also to no avail. With one source telling the post, Doge boys had preordained answers and weren't interested in anything other than defending decisions they'd already made. And it goes without saying, you know, these type of accounts have inflamed Democrats' ongoing concerns about Doge. Every American ought to be concerned about the fact that they're combing over your personal data and information. You also had Representative Robert Garcia, ranking member on the House Committee on oversight and government reform saying, not only has an ex-Dogh bro been accused of running around with the Social Security information of every American on a flash drive, he also may have the ability to edit and

Starting point is 00:28:25 manipulate data at the Social Security Administration at will. Again, on the other side, you have the SSA speaking out about the whistleblower allegations calling them false. We also have other officials involved, like Leland Dudec, the Trump administration's acting commissioner of the SSA during Doge's efforts, claiming to be unaware of the allegations and stressing the possible legal issue saying. Sharing numidant data with unauthorized third parties, whether via the cloud or a personal thumb drive violates the law. Also say it is weird that there are so many officials either denying the claims or acting oblivious because this doesn't seem to be a new issue. I mean, for example, in a separate claim made last August by the SSA's former chief data officer, he alleged that Doge members

Starting point is 00:28:58 had put private information at risk by uploading social security data to a digital cloud. Doge employees had inappropriate access to our data. They had uploaded sensitive social security data to a cloud server without adequate security controls. He also cited an email thread from last summer where SSA officials discussed letting a Doge member get access and make a copy of the NUMIDENT database. And he even took all these concerns to Congress. And while the SSA seemingly brushed these types of concerns off at first, in January, the Department of Justice acknowledged in court

Starting point is 00:29:26 that Doge members had shared sensitive social security data without agency officials knowing. And then in another case, the Trump administration even admitted that Doge staffers had been to blame for another data breach after a Doge employee signed an agreement to share data with an unnamed political group who was allegedly aiming to overturn election results in multiple states. So you had this guy saying of the data he has seen mishandled that this is absolutely the worst-case scenario saying there could be one or a

Starting point is 00:29:48 million copies of it and we will never know now right now you have people like this who are speaking out they're in a tough spot as the GAO's audit of DOGE's access to data it reportedly lacks protection for whistleblowers so ultimately right now we aren't sure where any of the data that DOJ had access to landed and the people who are trying to keep things in order they're left to free fall we are seeing in real time the consequences of this administration's early decisions to place the president's unqualified friends in these high places it's creating real security problems for Americans those that are trying to do

Starting point is 00:30:14 right thing or in a tough spot and even worse those at the center of all this they get to sleep easy knowing that if things do go left on them the pardon will make it right but then my friends you beautiful bastards is the end of today's show but it also doesn't have to be because you've got that brand new episode of crashing out with myself and Alex Perlman that went out today it's a great one and or maybe you missed last night's Philip de franco's show there was more to catch up there you can click or tap and get there however you want but yeah thank you for watching i love yo faces and i'll see you right back here tomorrow

The Philip DeFranco Show - The Pentagon Lied To You?! US Troop Casualties Worse Than Reported & Joe Rogan vs Trump Gets Bigger

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