The Philip DeFranco Show - The Trump Self-Deportation Leak is Crazy & AIPAC Spent Hidden Millions to Crush Progressives

Episode Date: March 18, 2026

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Rand Paul is a snake, some people just need a good punch in the face, and members of Congress are legally allowed to shoot each other. Those are all positions that Trump's pick to head Homeland Security just endorsed, whether explicitly or implicitly, under oath. Because today was the Senate's confirmation hearing from Mark Wayne Mullen, a lawmaker representing Oklahoma who's supposed to replace the outgoing DHS Secretary Cristine O. Already, on paper, he's kind of a strange pick. But he's got no bachelor's degree, he was a mixed martial arts fighter and the owner of a plumbing company before coming to Congress. Even there, he's never held a prominent party leadership role. He's never served on any congressional committees related to Homeland Security or immigration, and he has no law enforcement experience.

Of course, what we've seen with Trump time and time again is that, you know, these kinds of things like experience and qualifications and competence, they're not really the top consideration. What gets you promoted in Trump's America is loyalty, fealty, and unconditional subservience. So Trump, he's essentially going from someone who used to shoot dogs to just having a dog. With Mullen constantly being on TV, defending Trump, he's also been, you know, one of Trump's closest allies for a while. And in his words, a personal friend in the Senate.

Even today, he was literally brought to tears just talking about how the president supported him after his son suffered a brain injury. And for the next 15 minutes, he did nothing but love on my son. That, um, I hate getting emotional. See, if I talk about my kids, I get emotional. Other than that, you can't make me cry. Mullen also voted to overturn the 2020 election results and he's been a staunch defender of Trump's mass deportation policy. Plus, he's got a real knack for that kind of distinctively Trumpian brand political showmanship. I mean, he wears a cowboy hat on the Senate floor.

And in fact, I don't know if you remember this, he's the one who almost brawled with the Teamsters Union President during a Senate hearing. Bernie Sanders had to chime in like, chill the fuck out. In fact, you tweeted at me, quit the tough guy act in these Senate hearings. You know where to find me, any place, any time, cowboy. Sir, this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here. Okay, that's fine. Perfect. You want to do it now?

I'd love to do it right now. Well, stand your butt up then. You stand your butt up then. Oh, hold on, oh, stop it. Is that your solution every public? No, no, sit down. You're a client. Sit down.

Okay, no, you're a United States senator. Actively. Okay, sit down, please. So when he took to the floor for today's hearing, his attitude toward violence, it was a big point of concern, especially since he's nominated to head federal law enforcement. For Rand Paul, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, it was very person. He was assaulted back in 2017 by his neighbor who tackled him, put him in the hospital. And so today, he confronted Mullen about his comments on that incident.

You decided to transfer the blame. You told the media that I was a first. freaking snake and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted. I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force. Explain to the American public how a man who has no regrets about brawling in a Senate committee can set a proper example for over 250,000 men and women who work at the Department of Homeland Security. Mead Mullen, then going, yeah, that's what I said. I simply addressed that I said I could understand because of the behavior you were having,

that I can understand why the neighbor did what he did. And then, as for the freaking snake comment, I work around this room to try to fix problems. I've worked with many people in this room. Seems like you fight Republicans more than you work with us. But then despite that, he stressed that he has a job to do and partisan bickering won't get in his way. I can set it aside if you're willing to set it aside. Let me earn your respect.

Let me earn the job. But then Rand Paul, he just wasn't. You said a few minutes ago, we can just set it aside. Well, political differences we can. But when you say that you agree with a felon, a Trump-hating felon who attacked me, somehow you think I'm just going to set that aside, oh, it's no big deal. You know, I lay in pain for two months, had six ribs broken, three of them separated, grinding upon bone-on-bone for months, had part of my lung removed, and you think that's great and to be extolled. And then Ran just held Mowen's feet to the fire, first playing the clip that I showed you, the near brawl with the Teamsters Boston,

then playing other clips where Mullen displays a penchant for violence. If he got up too, would you have gone at it right there in the hearing? I would have probably jumped over the dais at that point. But every now they need to get punched in the face. Well, go back to the 1800s and 1700s. They used to have cany's. And duels. And they used to have duels.

Yeah. Right. And there was a way that many used to settle their differences. To move from an almost fight. By the way, I'm not afraid of biting. I will bite. Biting? Well, I mean.

Yeah, I'm in a fight, I'm gonna buy, I'll do anything. I mean, I'm not above it. And then this is where shit gets crazy because when Paul asked him about that caning and dueling clip in particular, Mullen replied. What I was simply pointing out is some of the rules that still applied to this body. For instance, dueling with two consenting adults is still there. I was pointing out what is still- It's been illegal for 170 years. There's no precedent for legal dueling. Even then they fled the country. And then after that, the committee's top Democrats.

Brett Gary Peters got him to concede on at least one of the shootings by federal agents. You, sir, you called Alex Prattie, quote, a deranged individual that came into cause max damage. Like I said, they're sometimes going to make a mistake and I own it. That one, I went out there too fast. I was responding immediately without the facts. That's my fault. That won't happen as Secretary. But then when it came to Renee Goody said that he doesn't regret calling her shooting justified.

It's very clear that an officer had to make a split decision in that case who as a car was running towards him and did strike him. And then the rest of it was pretty much senator after senator throwing hardball questions out of him, and his answers really weren't always reassuring. If directed by the president to take an action that would break the law, would you follow the law or follow the president's direction? The president would never ask me to do that. If confirmed, will you commit to me and the chair and member, ranking member of this committee and the American people that ICE will no longer instruct agents to break into people's homes without a judicial warrant.

Sir, you're using the word break-in to people's houses very loosely. However, I have made it very clear to the staff, and I think when you and I spoke, that a judicial warrant will be used to go into houses into place of businesses unless we're pursuing someone that enters in that place. And you wouldn't attempt to eliminate FEMA. As I said, I think it needs to be restructured, not eliminated. Also, a fun one, as always, he refused to admit that Trump lost the 2020 election,

and then he gave this answer about future elections. If you are Secretary of Homeland Security, do you feel you have the authority to put uniformed officers at polling locations in 2026? The only reason why my officers would be there if there was a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation. And with all this, if he does get confirmed and it does look like his pretty solid support,

he is going to have a hell of a mess to try to clean up over a DHS. For one thing, the reputation it has kind of in a dumpster fire and he says that one of his main goals is to restore the public's Also, thanks to the partial shutdown, funding lapsed over a month ago, and you have Democrats saying that they're not going to pass more spending until they get some concessions on stuff like masks and body cameras. Democrats have also offered solutions where the rest of the government would be funded, right, so you don't have issues like with the TSA, while the debate and negotiations around things around ICE get handled. And then, right, there's all the chaos around DHS contracts that are piling up on Nome's desk because she was requiring that everything above $100,000 get her personal approval. There, when asked whether he would revoke that policy, you had Mullen saying yes. Absolutely. That's called micromanaging.

And among the troubles that Mark Wayne Mullen is inheriting with DHS is its flop of a self-deportation program. Right, because the Trump administration spent nearly a billion dollars on this self-deportation program, claim that 2.2 million people used it. And then leaked documents show that the real number is about 72,000. And more than half of those were already in iced detention and they really didn't have a choice. So let's talk about Project Homecoming and what a billion dollars actually bought. Because last May, the Trump administration launched this program called Project Homecoming, offering undocumented immigrants a free flight to their home country and a,

cash stipend to leave voluntarily. The stipend started at $1,000 and it was recently bumped up to 2,600. They even had an app called CBP Home, ran millions of dollars in ad campaigns at a full social media blitz. And the total cost, nearly a billion dollars. And since launching, the administration, they've released almost no data on whether it's actually working. The closest thing we got was outgoing DHS Secretary Kristy Noem saying back in January that 2.2 million undocumented immigrants had chosen to self-deport. But we really don't know where that number came from. And we do know that it includes a ton of people who never interacted with Project Homecoming at all. DHS basically confirmed that saying that those who use the app and the program are but a fraction of the total and that the bigger number reflects people leaving because they know President Trump is enforcing our immigration laws. And it wasn't until December when sworn statements were filed in court that we got any on-record details with an executive from Salas Worldwide Solutions the company holding the contract to run Project Homecoming saying that the government had authorized nearly 35,000

stipends. So only about half of what had been completed at the time. And then you would see an end reviewing newly leaked internal DHS documents showing that the number had since risen to 72,000. Which if you want the number to be higher, you're supporting this program, it sounds good until you learn that more than half of those were already in iced detention when they signed up. Right. You had David Beer, the director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute putting it this way, saying they're trying to claim credit for those people who are leaving, but it's not obvious to me that those people would have stayed in the absence of this financial incentive. And adding every year, hundreds of thousands of people leave the United States on their own, voluntarily, for various reasons. Before this app, there was a zero cost to the government.

Right. And for the people in ICE detention voluntarily as a word, that's doing a lot of heavy lifting. And there you had a North Carolina immigration attorney explaining they're having to choose between a prolonged detention and spending a lot of money to fight their case or take voluntary departure, get money for leaving and potentially not to have to pay for their flight home. And then looking around for specific situations, you see what happened with Lizette, who self-deported to Honduras back in May after her husband was detained and deported. With her saying that the separation was more than she could handle and so she took a federal immigration officer's suggestion to use the And that, as you have experts and attorneys, concerned that many of the people being funneled into this program don't actually fully understand the consequences, including years-long bans on re-entering the United States. Right. And as far as why this matters, I mean, there's a few things here. You're the White House really not commenting on any of this, which is not surprising given how Trump feels about leaks. Right. And I think it's important we talk about this for

for two reasons. One, in the Year of Our Lord, 2026, the fewer and fewer people are starting from the base core reality. Right. We're not all living in the same world. So we need to talk about what is actually happening and get the truth out there, especially because you have the administration trying to describe this self-deportation thing as a success story. And then secondly, when people are being terrorized or your tax dollars are being used for something, you should care about what is actually happening. Right, not only is this a billion-dollar pressure campaign dressed up as a voluntary program that is also actually a bust, it is a billion of your dollars doing all these things. And so then with all that, one of the final questions is what the new DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen is going to do with it?

Do they continue saying it's a success even though it doesn't actually look that way? Do they make the stipend go up? Does the program quietly disappear while the war dominates the news cycle? Or you know, does someone in this administration actually have to answer for what a billion taxpayer dollars bought? I guess didn't buy. And then there's more that we've got to dive into in just a minute. But first, let me take a minute to thank a sponsor and say, you know what something I love?

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and use code DeFranco for 15% off your first order. Future You will be very grateful. But then, diving right back into the news, Israel took out another one of Iran's highest ranking officials. They also allegedly struck the largest natural gas field in the world and they are continuing to sow death and destruction in Lebanon. But let's start with this latest assassination,

which targeted Iran's intelligence minister. A person that the Israeli military claimed oversaw surveillance, espionage, the execution of covert operations worldwide, particularly against the state of Israel and Iranian citizen. With Israel's defense minister saying in a statement afterward, the intensity of the strikes in Iran is reaching a new level. Israel's policy is clear and unequivocal. No one in Iran has immunity and everyone is a target. I guess also with that, we have to mention that the civilian death toll in the country, according to Iran, is at least 1,348, although that number is now several days old, and Israel's

been hunting down leaders of the regime one by one. Right, today's announcement actually came a day after Israel said that it killed Iran's national security chief who had been serving as the de facto leader of the country since the war began, as well as the commander of the powerful besiege militia. And actually with that, early this morning, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that they had successfully struck Israel in retaliation for the latest assassination. With the Israeli emergency service, reporting that an Iranian missile had killed two people outside of Tel Aviv and injured at least one other, bring the overall death toll in Israel to 14, according to Israeli authorities. Officials also revealed today that missile strikes had hit a major railway station in the country's main international airport, And outside of Israel, Iranian strikes have also kept up across the region with several Gulf nations, including Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, all saying that they were intercepting missiles and drones today.

And at one point, even Iran's Revolutionary Guards, warning people to stay away from major oil and gas facilities in several of these countries, claiming that they would be targeting in the coming hours. And that, coming after what Iranian state media said, were Israeli air strikes that hit what is by far the largest offshore natural gas field in the world. And actually, to give you kind of an idea of what we're talking about this place, it reportedly holds enough to supply the world's needs for about 13 years. The world, and it accounts for roughly 70 to 75% of Iran's natural gas production, which is almost entirely for domestic use, including heat, hot water, and cooking by most Iranians. Although actually, that's just the Iranian portion because these reserves are shared with Qatar. Who also blamed Israel for the strikes, and you had a spokesperson warning that targeting shared energy infrastructure was a dangerous and irresponsible step that could threaten global energy security. And on that note, the impact, it was almost immediate.

International oil prices leapt to around $108 a barrel up from $103 earlier this morning. And that says despite Trump's downplaying of the economic impact this war might have in the U.S., we're continuing to see exactly that. With the national average price of regular gas, reaching $3.84 a gallon today, up 29% since the war began. And of course, that's the average. Like, we're seeing other numbers that are way worse in certain parts of the country. And despite Trump's claims that everything's under control, the trade of her moves remains on lockdown, at least to anyone Iran wants. Because while most shipping traffic through the trade, it's been stopped since the war began, with nearly 20 vessels getting attacked in the area.

About 90 ships have actually made their way through. With Iran managing to export well above 16 million barrels of oil since the beginning of March as subships linked to other countries are allowed to pass at times. And yesterday, you had Iran Speaker of Parliament claiming that the straight won't ever return to its pre-war status. And you were the country's foreign minister doubling down on that today, arguing that after the war comes to an end, countries in the Gulf, they should draft a new protocol for the Strait of Hormuz.

And the aim there being to ensure that safe passage through the waterway is carried out under certain conditions aligned with Iranian and regional interests. And so it might be just getting more and more urgent for Trump to show that there is something that he can do. Although notably, recent reporting from notice showed that his administration might be lacking the expertise to give him good advice, not to say that he would even listen to it. But with the outlet speaking to several former employees and officials who said that back in July, that doge wrecking ball, it took out staff who would have been responsible for gaming out possible scenarios if the straight-over moves was closed. And that's in addition to staffers with close personal relationships at oil and gas companies in the Middle East and experts tasked with maintaining diplomatic contacts at foreign energy bureaus.

With the former Assistant Secretary of State for energy resources under Joe Biden saying, I'm sure Secretary Rubio wishes he had that expertise available today. Most of that institutional knowledge was lost. And also, right, the impact of those cuts. It may extend beyond this specific oil and gas expertise. You have people who quit positions at the National Security Council, the Treasury, and the Department of Energy saying that the usual process of analyzing, reporting, and debating before decisions are made, is virtually nonexistent now. And with all that, you're seeing things like the editorial board of the Financial Times making a similar point in an opinion that was published today, claiming that Trump has undermined the US national security apparatus.

Arguing that Trump's emphasis on loyalty over expertise, at least partially explains how he started this war against Iran, without a clear objective or planned, and he is hampering America's ability to prosecute the war now that it has begun. And that piece, it also pointed to defend Secretary Pete Higgsett's push for what he called unapologetic, lethality, along with his gutting of a congressionally mandated office

meant to help military planners of await civilian casualties. And all of this, it's raising the question of whether all of this could have something to do with what was likely a US missile strike on a girl school in Iran that killed more than 100 children. But with all that, you actually had Trump today

sharing an opinion from a different editorial board, that of the New York Post, which was titled, US allies need to get a grip, step up, and help open, in the Strait of Hormuz. And that's also as he had some words to share himself, writing in another post. I wonder what would happen if we finished off what's left of the Iranian terror state and let the countries that use it, we don't, be responsible for the so-called strait of Hormuz.

That would get some of our non-responsive allies in gear and fast. With that, appearing to be kind of just his latest lash out in response to NATO members refusing to participate in a mission to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz while Iranian missiles rained down on them. And with that strategy fail any to try and other options, right? One to manage the effects of rising prices. Today, he temporarily waived a century-old shipping law called the Jones Act to lower the cost of transporting oil, gas, and other goods around the U.S.

And then of course, the military is continuing to try and degrade Iran's ability to threaten ships in the strait. With CENTCOM claiming today that it had successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran's coastline near the Strait of Hormuz. But still, as right now, there's no sign that the straits opening back up. And it's becoming increasingly clear that the impact, it's not just about rising prices, it's about human lives. With, for example, the United Nations Food Program now saying that because of this war,

the number of people going hungry, it may go up by tens of millions worldwide. And that's partly because of the disruption of a shipping lane since the start of the conflicts delaying deliveries of life-saving food aid. But notably, even aid that doesn't have to pass through the straight-of-hormuz is going to be affected. And that's because shipping costs have risen 18% and higher oil prices are driving up the world food programs operating costs. Plus, as we've talked about it, in addition to roughly 20% of the world's oil and liquid natural gas, so around one-third of global seaborne trade in fertilizers is typically passing through the straight-of-hormoes. So along with oil and gas, fertilizers getting more expensive. And since all three are key agricultural inputs, food is likely going to get

more expensive as well. And overall, the World Food Program estimates that if war in the Middle East goes on through, let's say, June, it'll push around 45 million people into acute hunger. The agency's deputy executive director and operation chiefs saying, this would take global hunger levels to an all-time record and it's a terrible, terrible prospect. The consequences are falling on the world's most vulnerable people who are already living in dire conditions. And actually with that, I will say, even without the war, the situation was bad, getting worse, and partly the fault of Donald Trump. But according to the agency, around 319 million people around the world already suffer from acute hunger, represents a threefold increase in the last five years. But also because the US and several other major donors

have slashed aid funding, the agency has had to reduce rations and cut the number of people receiving food aid. And so kids that might have lived otherwise are literally starving to death. Right, and then also on the topic of dying children, we then still have to talk about Lebanon. Or because the Israeli military has continued

to ramp up its attacks on the country, striking Beirut and other major cities, towns, and villages, while Israeli troops continue to ground invasion in the country's south. And of course, with this, you have Israel claiming that it's targeting Hezbollah. But now many strikes have hit Central and Eastern Beirut, away from where

Hezbollah is generally based, adding to fears that the areas once considered safe just aren't anymore. So in one neighborhood in central Beirut, for example, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for a building that it said was being used by Hezbollah, and his residents fled the area during the morning, called a prayer, a missile hit the building and brought it to the ground. And that's notable because while Israeli airstrikes have targeted some buildings in Beirut over the past two weeks, reportedly they haven't collapsed entire buildings until now. And that also, as some Israeli strikes, it reportedly hit without any warning whatsoever. With one unannounced attack, for example, on central areas of Beirut, reportedly killing at least 10 people,

and injuring 27 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. And overall, the death toll is now reported to be at least 960, including at least 110 kids. And then, you also have the Norwegian Refugee Council reporting today that one million people had now been displaced by the fighting, which is about one-sixth of the country's population. And kind of the worst fear is that we have another Gaza on our hands, which appears to be something that Israel seems absolutely giddy about.

In fact, just last week, you had the Israeli army dropping leaflets over Beirut with what was seen as a mocking text saying, in light of the remarkable success in Gaza, the newspaper, the new reality, arrives in Lebanon. Where is your country heading? We also talked about the country's finance minister claiming that one part of the country would soon resemble Khan Yunus, one of the cities almost obliterated

by the Israeli military in Gaza. And then you also had a member of the party claiming, we must conquer territory in southern Lebanon, destroy the villages there, and annexed the territory to the state of Israel. And that is you had a member of another party there calling for the implementation of a doctrine understood as the strategy of overwhelming using disproportionate force

and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. While the war is still playing out in real time, the top intelligence officials in the country just sat in front of the Senate and they couldn't, or I guess wouldn't, answer a basic question. Did the president know that striking Iran would shut down the straight-of-hoer moves and trigger attacks on our allies? Or because he was either told and then lied about it, or he wasn't told and his own intelligence agencies failed him. Right after three hours of testimony, we still don't know which one it's supposed to be because Tulsi Gabbard, she spent most of the hearing insisting that it's not her job to answer.

And actually, to kind of set this up for you, you had the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, CIA director John Ratcliffe, and other top officials testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday on the war and broader security threats. And this is a hearing that was especially high stakes for Gabbard. She's a long-time anti-interventionalist who has publicly opposed military action in Iran. A year ago, sitting before this same committee, she downplayed Iran's nuclear weapons program, prompting Trump to publicly say she was wrong. And since Trump started this Iran war, she's been almost completely silent. The only time she said anything of substance was after Joe Kent resigned as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, where he said that he couldn't support the war and that Iran didn't pose an imminent threat.

With Gabbard issuing a lukewarm statement arguing that Trump has the authority to determine if there is an imminent threat, and that he made his determination based on intelligence that her office provided. And the key thing is what she didn't say, right? She didn't say that she personally believed the intelligence showed an imminent threat. And with Ken's resignation, Ray, becoming this flashpoint, you have some speculating about how long Gabbard lasts in this administration, or at least in this role. Because a big part of Trump 2.0 is you don't get fired, you get kind of just moved around.

And actually, with all this, one of the things we saw was Ratcliffe pushing back on Ken's claims directly. I think Iran has been a constant threat to the United States for an extended period of time and posed an immediate threat. at this time. But when asked if an Iranian missile could threaten the US within six months, he didn't give a timeline. And Gabbard, meanwhile, she noted in her opening statement that a previous defense intelligence agency report said that Iran couldn't build a viable missile to reach the

U.S. before 2035. When Senator Asaf pressed her on whether the intelligence community assessed an imminent nuclear threat, which is what the White House claimed is justification for the war, she tried to kind of pass the buck. Was it the intelligence community's assessment that nevertheless, despite this obliteration, there was a, quote, imminent nuclear threat posed by the Iranian regime? Yes or no?

It is not the intelligence community's responsibility to determine what is and is not an imminent threat. Okay. That is up to the president based on a volume of information and information that he receives. It is precisely your responsibility to determine what constitutes a threat to the United States. This is the worldwide threats hearing. You're here to be timely, objective, and independent of political considerations. Exactly what I'm doing.

No, you're evading a question because to provide a candid response to the committee would contradict a statement from the White House. Also, the other major line of questioning was whether the intelligence community warned Trump about what would happen to the strait of Hormuz and to U.S. allies in the Gulf. Or because Trump has publicly said multiple times that nobody predicted Iran would attack its neighbors or shut down the strait. And you were the senators wanting to know, is that true or did he just ignore what he was told? And you had Senator Wyden going first.

Every problem we're seeing now was not only foreseeable, but was actually predicted by the intelligence agencies. So, director, in the lead-up to the start of this war three weeks ago, did the intelligence agency stick to their assessment that in response to an attack, the Iranians had the capabilities shut down the Strait of Hormuz? Thank you, Senator Wyden. The intelligence community has continued to provide the president and his team with the intelligence related to this operation in Iran. With the senator then asking Gabbard if intel agencies assess that Iran could strike U.S. partners. And then Wyden brought up Trump's own words. Donald Trump was asked about Iranian strikes on the Gulf states. He said, and I quote, nobody, nobody, no, no, no, the greatest experts, nobody thought they were going to hit the Gulf states.

You all are supposed to be the greatest experts. what we have you there for. Director Gabbard did the intelligence agencies assess that Iran could conduct strikes on our own partners in the region if it was attacked. The intelligence community has continued to assess the potential threats to the region, the existing threats to the region, and providing those assessments to the policymakers. You also had Senator Angus King than pressing harder. Any predictions to the president about the straight of Hormuz?

All you've got to do is look at a map and you'll see that the vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz. Was that part of the briefing, Director Gabbard? I think the Director Ratcliffe made the point here is that this has long been an assessment of the IC that Iran would likely hold the Strait of Hormuz as leverage. And my question is, was that communicated to the president in the lead-up to this action? And it's because of that long-standing assessment that the IC has continued to report that the Department of War took the preemptive planning measures that it did. Well, they've stated that they did not plan for the straight of foremost.

The president said, who knew that was going to happen? Also, Rackcliffe was slightly less evasive here. Senator, I'll answer the question. So with regard to briefings, the president gets a briefings constantly about intelligence. But you had both Gabbard and Rackcliffe claiming that they weren't aware of Trump's public statement saying that nobody predicted these outcomes. Which of course is incredibly hard to believe, given that he has been saying this thing repeatedly For days, why do they lie like this is a question I constantly ask myself.

Right? And so then with all this, Democratic senators were visibly furious. We're trying to figure out if the president knew what the downside was of the straight of Hormuz being closed. And I'm having a hard time finding out whether the White House asked or whether there was a brief, whether the president knew, did he know this was going to happen or did he just disregard it? And part of the reason or I guess part of the supposed. The most of the tight lips is that these officials are also testifying in a closed-door session today where they can discuss more sensitive matters, including the prospect of boots on the ground in Iran. And so in theory, some of these answers may be coming, but again, in theory.

Right, then with all of this, we should talk about this moment that kind of put a bow on everything. Because even Senator Mark Kelly pulling up a fundraising email for a pro-Trump committee. In this email here where there's multiple links to donate money, it says, as a national security briefing member, you'll receive my private national security briefings. Director Gabbard or Director Radcliffe, do you think the public should be able to, supporters of the president should be able to pay and receive his private national security briefings?

Regardless of what that, I don't know what that document is, but regardless of what it says, it didn't happen. With Gabbard also saying she was unfamiliar with the email as well, and so just to recap, the administration just can't get on the same page about why this war started. The top intelligence officials won't say, whether the president was warned about the consequences.

And Trump, he's out here treating national security briefings like a Patreon subscription where his biggest donors get exclusive content. All while, the intelligence community's job is to tell the president the truth. The president's job is then to make decisions based on that truth. And then the public's job, through their elected representatives,

is to hold both accountable. And so since one or both of the first two seem to just be broken, the story in addition to keeping you up to date, it also serves as a reminder. You, I, we, the public. We have a job to do, whether it be a special election, a primary, the primary, the midterms, a big general.

And it's part of the reason why it's so important to be formed and knowledgeable about what's happening. It's not just so that we could just feel horrible about the state of the world. It is so we are equipped to do something about it, whether it be voting, whether it be donating time, donating money, whatever. We get in the word out so we all can collectively

be the change we wanna see and there's, I don't know, some sort of accountability. And while at this point, that word seems miles away, you gotta have eyes on the prize. The truth of the matter is no one is coming to save us. It's on all of us. And then there's, even more that we've got to dive into today, but first, let me thank a sponsor and say,

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And the money trail, it tells a big part of the story. A-PAC affiliated groups, crypto packs, and AI industry donors poured over $32 million into just four Chicago House races. And with them winning most of them, there are now real questions about whether these groups are quietly reshaping what the Democratic Party actually looks like. Especially as among other things, the war in Iran makes their influence more controversial than ever. So Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller, former Representative Melissa Bean, and Lieutenant Governor Julia Stratton, all won big yesterday. With Miller beating former Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. who had $1.4 million from a top AI super PAC after receiving nearly $4.5 million from an APAC affiliated group.

A PACS also threw $4 million behind Bean. Stratton backed largely by Governor J.B. Pritzker with $14.4 million from him, beat Representative Robin Kelly. And not only are these not small numbers, they tell a bigger story about who's actually picking the Canada. Right, Bean's ad campaign painted her opponent as a friend of Elon Musk and fossil fuel interests, even though he's a fairly progressive politician. Meanwhile, Bean herself is generally seen as a centrist ex-lawmaker, but heavy ad support from AI and Cryptopax betrayed her as more progressive than she's likely to govern. In Illinois's 9th District, Apex spent most of the race attacking Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss.

And because that's not the only person they went after, and because Biss won anyway and their candidate loss, they kind of just pivoted seamlessly. Posting on Twitter that they were proud to have helped defeat Kat Abu Ghazale, a fiercely anti-Israel candidate and would-be squad member. That PR move, it didn't go unnoticed. Where you had a senior house progressive telling Axios, APEC wanted Daniel Bis to lose. And adding, it seems their spending harmed their candidate

because it's so toxic in this politically active district. And then there's the transparency issue. APEC funneled its Illinois spending through new super PACs called elect Chicago women and Chicago Progressive Partnership, right? Names that don't exactly scream Israeli lobby. And they only claim credit after the results were in. Which is also wild because you had people shouting, hey, that's anti-Semitic,

when you had people saying that A-PAC was doing this. But also with all these races, right, The scale is hard to overstate. Four Chicago House candidates saw more than $32 million in outside spending, led by APAC groups at upward of $20 million with crypto and AI packs filling in the rest. And understand, that's just Illinois. Reports say that APEC, the AI industry and the crypto sector, they have collectively had about $340 million to spend on political efforts at the start of this year.

And yesterday's primaries, they were just a test run for reshaping the Democratic Party heading into the midterms. And the influence, I mean, it was visible even before the election. You saw some of these candidates openly posting pro-AI and pro-crypto positions, essentially flirting with these industries to attract financial backing. And then on the other side of this, the left had a rough night. The Congressional Progressive Caucus landed just one of its four endorsed candidates, Biss. Justice Democrats, the group that had success unseating moderate incumbent in the past, they also came up short.

And that's being seen as a real blow coming off of the energy that Mumdani's rise in New York and the New Jersey special election. For things that gave a lot of progressives hope that the party was pulling more and more left as the primaries progressed. But after yesterday you have some saying, not so fast. And others arguing, you know, you need different kinds of Democrats in different kinds of places. So I would also argue, especially as you look at a lot of these races with just a lot of people, it's a really good argument for ranked choice voting.

Whether it's the surprise, like in Boca Raton, Florida, of all of a sudden a dem one by like one to five votes, though with well under 50% of the votes, there's that. Or Biss beating Abu Ghazale, even though they were both well under 50%. But of course, that's just me with my eyes pointed towards the future and not the current situation on the ground, which obviously every candidate is going to have to navigate. But then also with everything we're talking about today, what makes all of this even messier is the war in Iran. APAC money that is backing Democratic candidates, it now comes with a war tag attached. And Stratton, the favorite to win her general election, which would actually make her part of the first time three black women have served in the Senate simultaneously.

She's pro-Israel. Miller opposed U.S. military aid to Israel but supports a two-state solution, beans, a returning centrist, and these are the candidates that APAC's money helped select, and voters now have to weigh, you know, what that money means for where these people land on the biggest foreign policy crisis in a generation. So you're seeing some Democrats saying things like, it's difficult to trust politicians who take money from weapons manufacturers and APAC, all of whom are for this war. for those politicians to then stand up and say they are against the war. And more progressive Democrats think that the party should be rejecting A-PAC donations entirely to avoid the conflict of interest. Though you then have moderates saying, you know, you can take the money and then still oppose the war, accusing progressives of manufacturing and conflict for electoral game.

You know, all of this, it's the tension that the Democratic Party is going to have to figure out and figure it out fast. Because A-PAC and its allies, they have the money to pick winners. They just proved that in Illinois. But that money also comes with strings that are becoming harder and harder to ignore as the war is raging on in the Middle East, and voters are paying closer and closer attention to where their can its funding is coming from.

Seemingly, the party's supposed to be anti-war, its donor class is backing pro-Israel candidates, its progressive wings getting outspent, and the infighting over whether to accept APAC money is exactly the kind of internal fracture that could cost Democrats' seats that they need in November. And the Democrats aren't the only one split on APEC. Written in his resignation letter from the National Counterterrorism Center,

Joe Kent warned against Apex's influence on our government, and that was also something that wasn't received well by some on the right, like Ben Shapiro. The letter is deeply, deeply conspiratorial. It states openly that, quote, Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, And it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. Now, that is conspiracy trash.

Right, in $340 million, it buys a lot of candidates. We are seeing that, but the question that remains is whether it buys a party where voters actually want to show up for it. And while time will tell how all this shakes out, in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below. But that, my friends, you beautiful bastards, is the end of your Wednesday, Philip DeFranco Show dive into the news. Thank you for being a part of another one. And remember, the show doesn't have to end. because you're just a click or tap away from today's brand new episode of crashing out with myself and Alex Burlman. Enjoy.

Today we're going to crash out about a lot of different things. So buckle up. Everyone could be lying about every single thing. Is Tucker Carlson going to be the next president of the United States? We exist in a fucking clown country. No one is afraid of Cash Patel. We need to talk about mirror placements in the bathroom. Did he provide proof that he was attacked by demons?

He was like, no, they semen jacked me while I was sleeping. That's what happened to my sheets. If it's a mirror, I'm just watching another dude pee. My apartment in 2012 was $700 and I lived alone. It was nice. I liked the way my body looked. I'm so glad we're doing this podcast.