The Philip DeFranco Show - Trump Epstein Scandal Just Got Crazier As Hillary Clinton Hit With Subpoena
Episode Date: August 5, 2025My New Podcast’s New Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5kyhSDaqirqr6wG3qwPI8H?si=cke6GdFsS1iygu3HjQCXJQ SeatGeek: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF you...r first order. “PDS” for $10 on returning buyers.Use code DEFRANCO at https://incogni.com/defranco to get an exclusive 60% off. NEW https://BeautifulBastard.com DROP IS LIVE! Get 25%OFF w/ code “TY25” ASK ME A QUESTION Got a question? Serious, silly, personal, or newsy — bring the good stuff. Send yours here: https://www.speakpipe.com/PDS LISTEN TO THE SHOW iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V JOIN OUR COMMUNITY 📸Instagram: https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco 🐦Twitter: https://twitter.com/phillyd 🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco TODAY’S STORIES 00:00 - Clintons Subpoenaed in Epstein Investigation 04:15 - Nebraska Rep. HUMILIATED at His Own Town Hall 14:54 - Sponsored by Seatgeek 15:55 - Texas Gov. Orders Arrest of Missing Democrats22:29 - Sponsored by Incogni23:37 - Bolsonaro on House Arrest After Trump Meddling Backfires 27:12 - Bondi Orders Grand Jury Probe of Obama Officials THE TEAM Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL ———————————— #DeFranco #DonaldTrump #JeffreyEpstein Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Trump-Eptstein scandal just got crazier as Hillary Clinton, Bill Barr, and Merrick Garland were just hit with subpoenas.
Trump's efforts to help Jair Balsanaro have backfired.
This Mike Flood, town hall beat down that got caught on camera has exposed a very scary situation for Republicans.
And the Texas gerrymandering battle just hit a new.
key level. We're talking about all that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show you
daily dive into the news and I'm giving you a double dose today after you watch this show.
Click the top link in my description or pinned comment and go listen to today's brand new episode
of the In Good Faith podcast with Philip DeFranco. I've got a special guest for you today.
It's available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you listen to podcasts. And make sure you also
follow the podcast there, give us five stars. But that said, we have a lot to talk about in
the here and now, starting with this. The House Oversight Committee just issued subpoenas to Bill
and Hillary Clinton as well as several other former government officials in relation to the
Epstein probe. With this morning, Representative James Comer, who's the chairman of the
committee, announcing that he is seeking depositions from several people between August and
October, including both of the Clintons, former AGs, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Bill Barr, Merrick
Garland, Jeff Sessions, and Alburo Gonzalez, and then former FBI directors, James Comey, and
Robert Mueller. Notably, you have Trump's name not on that list. But the subpoena does also direct
the Department of Justice to release the full and complete Epstein files to the committee by August
We also had Comer publishing the letters issued to each person, and in the one to Bill Clinton, he wrote,
By your own admission, you flew on Jeffrey Epstein's private plane four separate times in 2002 and 2003.
During one of those trips, you were even pictured receiving a massage from one of Mr. Epstein's victims.
You were also allegedly close to Miss Galane Maxwell, an Epstein co-conspirator, and attended an intimate dinner with her in 2014,
three years after public reports about her involvement in Mr. Epstein's abuse of minors.
But then, the letter to Hillary, also noting the apparent close relationship that the Clint's had with Epstein and added,
Ms. Maxwell's nephew worked for your 2008 presidential campaign and was hired by the State Department shortly after you became Secretary of State.
Then had the letters addressed to the several attorneys general, mostly focusing on what role the DOJ played in the Epstein-related investigations at the time that they were the head of the department.
And in the letter to Bill Barr, who was AG, both under George H.W. Bush and during the latter half of Trump's first term,
Comer said, your second tenure as U.S. Attorney General, beginning in early 2019, coincided with the federal sex trafficking investigation of Jeffrey Epstein as well as his eventual death while in federal detention.
It also coincided with the federal indictment of Ms. Galane Maxwell, which stemmed from the Epstein investigation.
Now, obviously, it's not clear yet how all of these people are going to respond to the subpoenas.
But when it comes to the Clintons, you had people noting they've previously denied any wrongdoing when it comes to Epstein with
when it comes to Epstein, issuing a statement back in 2019 saying,
President Clinton knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago,
or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.
And then further claiming that he only traveled on Epstein's plane in connection with work for the Clinton Foundation,
and he had not spoken to Epstein in over a decade.
But all of that is one, you had many people saying,
Hey, do you know who was president when Bill Barr was the AG?
And who had a long-term intimate relationship with Epstein?
It was also on his plane.
The current president of the United States, why is he not included here?
But then, too, it's going to be interesting to see where this Epstein news goes today
because it's not the only bit.
Right, and that because two of Epstein's victims just sent scathing letters
condemning the Trump administration's handling of the case to a judge in Manhattan.
With both victims choosing to stay anonymous as they asked that any victim identifying
information be redacted from any public release of Epstein-related documents and one writing.
I come forward to you today in disdain, disgusted.
and fear of how the United States of America's DOJ is handled the promise to release the Epstein files.
I use quotations because what are these files exactly anyway?
Sad to say, for the victims, we never got our day in court.
Apparently, Epstein killed himself under whose watch?
Oh, was it Trump's DOJ? Hmm, interesting.
Dating, I am not some pawn in your political warfare.
What you have done and continue to do is eating at me day after day as you help to perpetuate this story indefinitely.
Why not be completely transparent?
Show us all the files with only the necessary redaction.
Be done with it and allow me slash us to hear.
You protect yourself and your powerful and wealthy friends, not enemies, over the victims. Why?
The victims know the truth.
But then the other letter echoing some of those concerns, questioning the circumstances of Epstein's death, and adding,
I am not sure the highest priority here is the victims, justice for the victims or combating child exploitation.
With that victim, then, also asking that a third party review the documents before a public release
to ensure that no victim's names or likenesses are included, arguing that it is imperative with the scrutiny over this media frenzy that the victims are completely and entirely protected.
As far as where Trump was at with this this morning, he was on the roof.
But hey, we'll continue to have eyes on this.
And in the meantime, I really love to know your thoughts and reactions to what we're seeing here.
And then next up in the news, you know, Republicans, they were getting slaughtered in town halls earlier this year.
And then they went away.
And I will say, after what happened yesterday, I don't know if many are going to be coming back.
And I say that because last night you had GOP representative Mike Flood from Nebraska holding a town hall in a state where he answered questions from his constituents.
The problem there, though, is that Nebraska's Democratic Party were like,
hey, let's let our people know that this is happening.
And they posted the details of the event online
and added, you know what to do.
And so when Flood took that stage,
the crowd that stared back at him was not a friendly one.
And then as soon as he broached the first topic,
the big, beautiful bill, he immediately got heckled.
There's been a lot of misinformation out there about the bill.
Okay.
Okay, let's start here.
Let's start here.
Please let me tell you why I voted the way I voted.
And then we will take your question.
and you will have an opportunity to get answers.
Now of course with this, you know that this show
is about trying to make all the news consumable.
With that, I gotta know that if I was to show you
all of the heckling and the booing that he got,
I'd have to just play the entire hour and a half town hall for you
because it just literally never stopped.
Like I think the bad dreams that he had about how this could have gone
were probably smoother than how it actually played out.
And then when Flood actually tried to engage the audience
in a dialogue, he didn't get the reactions that I guess he thought he might get.
If you choose not to work,
to work, you do not get free health care. You do not get free health care.
Okay, okay. So here's a question. So here's a question. Do you think that people who are 28 years
old that can work and refuse to work should get free health care?
The Flood then trying to appease them a little bit, but it just didn't work.
I truly believe this bill protects Medicaid for the future.
And then when Flood celebrated the BBB's tax gods, they responded with a chain of their own.
Next slide, please.
Taxes of free!
No taxes on overtime.
Taxes of risk.
With it then getting to a point where the organizer started reading questions that were submitted from constituents, such as, why did you vote for a bill that increases the debt by $3 to $4 trillion?
When President Trump passed the 2017 tax cuts, we saw explosive growth in this country.
We saw explosive growth.
And then the question, why did you cut SNAP, food stamps, and health care research?
We do not have unlimited money in the United States.
Right, and then they let the audience come up to the mic and ask their own questions directly.
And that is, that's where things really hit a different level.
With 450 million FEMA dollars being reallocated to open alligator Alcatraz
and 600 million taxpayer FEMA dollars being used to now open more concentration camps
and ice burning through $8.4 million a day to illegally detain people.
How much does it cost for fascism?
How much do the taxpayers have to pay for us?
fascist country.
Americans went to the polls in November,
and they had a choice between a Democratic candidate
that had an open border, no enforcement, fentanyl, drugs,
human trafficking.
And they had a choice between that and a candidate that said, close the border.
You then also had another attendee making a point in a similar vein.
There's a saying that silence is complicity.
Your silence tells us that you have no problem with the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
The pardoning of all those involved, the big lie about the 2020 election with absolutely.
no evidence.
These are all markers.
These are markers of fascism.
I have read a dozen or so books
on authoritarian and fascism.
You said in Seward that you were not a fascist.
Your complicity says otherwise.
What is wrong with you?
What is wrong with you?
Sir, I want to be very clear with you.
Fascists don't hold town halls
with open question and answer series.
And what happened on
on January 6, 2021 was not right, and I'm on the record saying so.
But whether you'd think that he's a fascist or a fascist enabler or not,
he was then also accused of being a capitalist show.
Why does it seem like when you make your voting decisions,
they're based on capital rather than the working class?
Billionaires and corporations got their tax issues enshrined into law forever,
but the working class gets a no tax on tips or overtime
that only applies to some of us,
and now we wind up in a situation where we are.
The Republican Party, now more than ever,
represents the heart and soul, the working class.
He was then also asked about Israel and Gaza and the funding of Israel.
What happened on October 8th was an abomination.
Well, October 7th, sorry.
I support Israel.
No American wants any child, no matter the place they live,
to ever suffer.
But you've got to remember,
we're dealing with Hamas.
Then, when he was asked about Trump firing
the Bureau of Labor Statistics had
for publishing jobs data that he didn't like,
Flood just played dumb.
I don't know what the situation was
with the Department of Labor person.
Neither do you.
I don't know.
I will say this, though.
If all that person did
was get the data out there,
if all that, and I don't know that's the case,
but if that's all they did,
I would not have fired her.
I mean, to be honest, but I don't know because things are complicated.
And finally, someone asked the question that really we all knew was coming.
Why are you covering up the Epstein files?
At the next pro forma session of the Congress, you'll find my name as a sponsor on a resolution from the House Rules Committee to release the Epstein files to protect the victims and not re-victimized.
them again. I support Jamie Comer, who is the House's Oversight Committee Chairman
subpoenaing Ms. Maxwell later this month to come testify in Washington. I am for the release
of those records. So there, I should correct him on a couple of things. First, Comer actually
postponed the testimony by Galane Maxwell back to October at the earliest. Right now, supposedly
so the Supreme Court can decide whether to review her case in late September. And second, the resolution
he mentioned is non-binding, so it wouldn't actually force Trump to release the files.
But then, after some more questions, Flood finally wrapped things up to a chance of vote him out.
Thank you very much, and have a safe drive home.
Now, obviously, with this, you have to note that the crowd is some 700 there. It didn't reflect
all of Nebraska. As I noted before, the Democrats encouraged people to attend, and this was held
in Lincoln, which is a relatively progressive city for the state. And all of that, as
Flood occupies a very safe seat, with him winning his district last year by more than 20 points.
Right, and that is, this is not the first time in a town hall where he has faced such a grilling.
We're during another back in May, someone asked him about a line in the big, beautiful bill that stops course from holding the White House and contempt if it ignores their injunctions and flood, gave this answer.
I am not going to hide the truth. This provision was unknown to me when I voted for that bill.
Very notably, Republicans got similar treatment from their constituents as well.
The likes of, for example, Senator Joni Ernst going viral for this response to someone yelling that people will die as a result of the Medicaid cuts.
Well, we all are going to die.
You know, it's been a minute, and now this six-week recess that Mike Johnson called early to avoid voting on releasing
the Epstein files, it's ended up being the first time if they've had an extended break since the BBB pass.
And so this reception that Flood received, it's what a lot of his colleagues were fearing would happen.
Which is actually why back in March, with the chairman of the House Republican campaign arm warning his colleagues
against doing in-person town halls and suggesting, hey, do virtual events where questions in commons could be filtered.
And now it appears that Flood himself agrees with him telling reporters after yesterday's town hall.
This is my third and final one for the year.
we're going to give you all a break, which very much sounds like me on a call that I wish
ended 10 minutes ago going, you know, let me, let me give you back your day. Sorry for holding you up.
But also, notably with this, you had the New York Times adding here that the 35 House Republicans
whose seats are being targeted by Democrats next year. Only one of them, Brian Steele has actually done
an in-person town hall and it did not go well either. But what I view was the moral hazard
created by the Biden administration by allowing the U.S. Mexico border to remain insecure.
And you have many arguing that reflects.
a growing popular frustration with the ruling party, especially on particular issues.
I mean, for instance, polling shows that Americans oppose the BBB, saying it is a handout to the rich
that hurts poor people and balloons the debt.
And in a recent survey, 70% of people said that Trump is not handling the Epstein case well,
with only 18% saying that he is.
And of course, the impact of his trade policy, wherever it lands, it's been chaotic.
It's going to be felt by a lot of people very directly.
So, you know, Democrats, they're wanting to fight that, though, really at this point,
they have no power.
And so they're hoping to capitalize on all those weak points going into next year's midterms.
You know, historically, they have a reason to be optimistic there.
where the first midterm typically punishes the incumbent president's party, and Republicans already have a very slim majority.
Democrats only having to net three seats in the House to flip it.
For the Senate, which is very different, they would have to flip four.
The one, as we've been talking about, the gerrymandering in Texas in other states, it could give Republicans a seats that they need to hold on to the House.
And then as far as the Senate, most of the GOP Senate seats that are up for re-election next year, they're in red states.
So it would be a very big uphill battle for the Democrats there.
But also, and I always try to stress this, whatever we talk about it, as much as people are not liking what Donald Trump is doing and the negative feelings,
we're seeing against Republicans. That doesn't mean they like Democrats. In fact, voters in one poll
this month, they gave the party a 19% approval rating with 72% disapproving. So Democrats, I think they
really need to start adding an end to where they've been ending their sentences. Or just saying
what Trump and Republicans are doing is horrible. It doesn't make a difference if at the end of that
sentence you don't go, and this is what I'm going to do about it or this is what I can offer.
Being against something is only part of a personality. What are you for? And speak like
normal as people. Please do not do such a horrible job one day. I have to leave my
cushy gig and fucking throw my hat in the ring. It would be I would hate it. And then I've got more
news for you in just a minute, but first, you know, summer, it's officially upon us and you need to
get out more. Right. And with that, we've been given out $500 every week for over a year, thanks to
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PDS and go make some memories. And then next step, we've got to talk about how Texas Governor
Greg Abbott, just a few years ago, he was complaining that it was wrong to use the justice
system to target political opponents. And then shortly after the show went out yesterday, he did just
that. Because to give you a quick recap, Texas Republicans want to hold a session to vote on a
variety of things, including redistricting the state at Trump's command, a move that many have
described as Trump trying to steal the election. And state Democrats, they definitely don't have the
votes to stop this blatant attempt to gerrymander. So instead, they, I believe, the technical
term is scaddled out of the state. So the state legislature, they couldn't hold a quorum.
And Abbott was not a fan, and he threatened to arrest them if they didn't return by the afternoon,
which they did not. So Abbott, he followed through and said in a statement,
Texas South Democrats abandoned their duty and are holding flood relief and property tax cuts hostage.
They ordered Texas DPS to arrest and return every derelict House Democrat to the Texas Capitol.
This order will remain in effect until all missing Democrats are accounted for.
That then, followed by this announcement, saying I directed the Texas Rangers to investigate fleeing House Democrats for potential violations of Texas law.
Any Democrat who solicited or accepted funds to break quorum may have violated bribery laws.
Texas Rangers must quickly send any findings to the appropriate prosecutors.
With then, the Texas House Speaker signing civil arrest warrants for the absent Democrats.
And with all that, you'll notice that there's some PR work going on in those statements.
Right Abbott, he never mentions that the Democrats left to protest and stopped redistricting efforts that would egregiously gerrymandered the state.
Instead, claiming that they're holding flood relief and property tax cuts hostage.
You know, like any good political spin, there is a grain of truth to that because the entire reason that Texas lawmakers were even supposed to be meeting for this special session was due to the floods that killed over 100 people.
But then it could easily be argued that it's actually Abbott and Republicans that are holding all that hostage because they decided, hey, we're also going to gerrymander the district in the middle of a cycle.
This is the thing you do every 10 years.
It happened four years ago, and you're doing it because Trump said, get me five seats.
And so with all that, you have Democratic lawmakers pushing back at the idea that those were seriously the focus of the sessions.
With, for example, State Representative John Boosie III saying,
when the governor wants to actually have a special session focused on flood relief, I'll be at my desk.
With him then going on to add,
I didn't run for office to walk out of the Capitol, but I also didn't run for office to stand by while democracy is stolen in broad daylight.
Texas Democrats broke quorum because sometimes the only way to up.
Hold your oath is to refuse to play along with a rig game.
Right. And then he went on to criticize that the special session was supposed to be about
saving lives before getting hijacked by the redistricting bill.
But instead of holding hearings on flood prevention, Greg Abbott and Donald Trump
held eight hearings on redistricting, not for fairness, not for representation, but to manufacture
five more Republican seats in Congress to enable Trump to cling on the power.
But notably, with that, you had Abbott putting spin on that as well in a post this morning
and claiming, Texas Democrats abandoned their duties and fled to blue states with gross
gerrymandering that has distorted our country's politics. That must change.
In Texas, we'll make sure voters can elect the candidate of their choice.
Then Trump, making similar claims this morning, saying,
We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor,
and we have good people in Texas, and I won Texas.
But then, Trump making claims about and criticizing blue states.
That's all gerrymandered. California's gerrymandered.
We should have many more seats in Congress in California. It's all gerrymandered.
So in general, they're claiming that by gerrymandering Texas, they're actually making the state more representative of how the people actually vote. Now, with that on an even playing field, I'm not going to defend gerrymandering in blue states, especially Illinois. They're not innocent. But to claim that redrawing Texas's districts will better represent voters, it's patently false. Currently, they have 25 Republican representatives and 12 Democrats, so 65% of the representatives are Republican. And then if they shift five seats to Republicans, that would mean that almost 79% of the seats are Republican. So then you get to the question of, okay, does that reflect how
Texas voted in 2024. And the answer is absolutely not. Just a little over 56% of Texans there voted for Trump. And if anything, five seats would need to be given to the Democrats to make the number actually closer to how people voted. But with all that said, getting back to the notion of political theater, but for the time being, those arrest warrants, they're largely toothless. Or with legal experts saying that non-criminal warrants like this, they aren't really enforceable outside of state lines. Though for some of the Democratic lawmakers, it doesn't appear like it would even matter. Or you had figures like state representative Ramon Romero saying things like, I'll pay that price for America. That would be a very
small price to pay for what we would save for these Americans that have fought so hard and against
the maps that aim directly at black and brown voices. But then with that, you know, let's say
they just, they never go back. They keep things at a standstill. What then? Well, with that,
you have Abbott threatening to remove them from office and what will undoubtedly be a long and
messy legal process. Because technically, there are laws in Texas's books that allow lawmakers to be
arrested if they don't show up without an excuse. But,
At the same time, the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court ruled back in 2021 that participating in a quorum break was explicitly allowed.
And then, you know, this idea that Abbott might still seriously try to remove the lawmakers from office, it's gotten him a lot of criticism, including from people like California Gavin Newsom, who wrote,
the governor of Texas is threatening to remove democratically elected officials from office because they have refused to rig an election for Donald Trump, United States of America, 2025.
And then, of course, because we're talking about Newsom, I then also have to mention that he threatened again to gerrymander the fuck out of California if Texas does this.
Well, obviously, gerrymandering is bad and lame, you know, Newsom's threat it highlights why Texas's moves here are so dangerous.
Normally, this is a fight that happens once every 10 years and then it's put on ice.
But if states start to decide, you know, they can just draw new maps whenever in order to consistently affect elections,
then it's going to be complete chaos.
The second, one state abandits even pretending to represent voters, every other state feels like they're going to have to do the same or just get walked over.
Which is why we're seeing states like Illinois getting asked if they're going to try to redraw their maps.
And there, you're saying things like Governor J.B. Pritzker is saying it was possible.
and that lawmakers had to put everything on the table.
And then in New York, you have lawmakers introducing an amendment to the state's constitution
that would allow them to redraw district maps before a census.
I mean, it's such a ridiculous situation that we're even seeing some Republican lawmakers
trying to put a stop to it despite Trump wanting to find more Republican seats.
I mean, you've got people like Representative Kevin Kiley, a California Republican,
who wants to introduce a bill today that would pause any redistricting effort nationwide
and nullify new maps made before the 2030 census.
Also, before you give him too much credit, his seat is probably one of the ones that are going to get gutted.
But, you know, with all that said, it does look like this is a situation that is going to continue and simmer.
Especially as Texas Democrats are still refusing to come back to Texas and as I was finishing recording,
the state legislature once again had to end its session after failing to reach a quorum.
You know, in the meantime, one, I had really loved to know your thoughts here.
And two, I actually go more into detail on this and my thoughts and how I think this is going to play out on today's episode of In Good Faith with Philip DeFranco.
So definitely check out that top link after today's show.
There's a lot of chew on here.
And then I've got more news for you in a second.
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And then next up today,
we've got to talk about how Donald Trump's
efforts to help Jaya Bolsonaro, they've backfired.
Because Brazil's ex-president is now under house arrest
for violating a court order that was actually put into place
for seeking out Trump's help in the first place.
And that is, he's already awaiting trial
for allegedly plotting to take over the country
after he lost the election.
Which I will say that that's actually a good place to start.
Because Trump, he seems to see something of himself
in Bolsonaro, which when you look at it,
it makes sense for a number of reasons,
including Bolsonaro, he refused to concede defeat
and basically claim that the only way
that he could have actually lost the election
was election fraud.
And then, just a few months later,
on January 8, thousands of his supporters
supporters ransacked the country's presidential palace, the Supreme Court building, and a house of Congress.
But that is where the similarities end. Because later that year, Brazil's top electoral court ruled that
Bolsonaro abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the country's electronic voting system.
They banned him from running for office until 2030. And last year, the country's federal police
formally accused Bolsonaro of attempting a coup. But the country's top prosecutor later revealing
additional allegations that Bolsonaro actually plotted to poison his successor and shoot dead the
Supreme Court justice that was investigating it. And that's the same justice who ordered his
house arrest this week, the same one that publicly clashed with Elon Musk over his refusal to block
certain accounts on X, and the same one that Trump Media and Technology Group, which is majority
owned by Trump and runs his true social site, sued earlier this year. Also, as far as other
connections, one of Bolsonaro's sons who served as a congressman in Brazil moved to the United
States, and since March, he's reportedly been roaming the halls of the White House trying to
convince people in the administration to help his father. And well, very likely, it wouldn't have
required much prodding. If there was prodding, it clearly worked. Right, last month, he had Trump
threatening that tariffs on Brazilian imports would go up to 50,
with him calling the case against Bolsonaro a witch hunt and also citing a non-existent trade deficit.
And last week, you had him making good on that threat, which actually makes the tariffs against Brazil the
highest of any that Trump has actually gone through with and arguably with even less economic
justification. And that's not even all of it there. You had the White House hitting that Supreme
Court justice with sanctions and accusing him of authorizing arbitrary pre-trial detentions
and suppressing freedom of expression. But then, in turn, the judge labeling Trump's actions
as part of an illegal and a moral effort to obstruct justice. An effort, the judge said, was being engineered
by a group of Brazilian traders who had lobbied foreign authorities to carry out hostile acts
against the country's economy. There, of course, he's referring to Bolsonaro and his allies,
including his son, who, wouldn't you know it, is now reportedly seeking U.S. citizenship to avoid
going back to Brazil. And actually, with that, the judge specifically cited the younger Bolsonaro's
lobbying as a justification for an order last month that banned his daddy from going on social media
and making him wear a tracker bracelet on his ankle. With that, then bringing us full circle,
because that's the order that the judge says that Bolsonaro has now violated.
Remember them pointing to the fact that Bolsonaro recently appeared virtually at a protest via a phone call
with his other son. With that one being a senator in Brazil, and you had the judge writing in his
decision that the former president had used the social media accounts of allies to share
messages containing, quote, clear encouragement and incitement to attack the Supreme
Federal Court and overt support for foreign intervention in Brazil's judiciary. And then adding
that Bolsonaro had repeated his unlawful conduct in an even more severe and defiant banner,
saying that he continued to urge and incite a foreign head of state to take measures aimed at
unlawfully interfering with the normal course of judicial proceedings. Now, there you had
Bolsonaro's lawyers denying that he violated any order, saying that they would appeal the decision.
And also, notably, the U.S. State Department came out with a statement condemning the order very, very fast.
Cusing the judge of using Brazil's institutions to silence opposition and threaten democracy and adding,
the United States will hold accountable all those aiding and abetting sanctioned conduct.
And while it's not clear yet exactly what that would look like, what the further efforts to hold accountable look like,
as far as the things that the United States has tried so far, you have many saying that it's backfire.
I mean, you've seen a lot of anger getting directed at the Bolsonaro as were bringing Trump down on the country.
All while, the country's current president, seemingly getting a bump in the polls because he's being defiant of Trump.
But this is far from over. We're going to have to see where things continue to trend, and also if and how the U.S. gets involved even more.
And then next up to date, let's talk about Attorney General Pam Bondi, now ordering an investigation into whether or not Obama officials manipulated intelligence while assessing Russian interference in the 2016 election.
And this, it comes as members of the Trump administration, have been trying to focus on 2016 a lot lately.
With many describing this as yet another Trump distraction from the just numerous numbers of scandals, including the Trump Epstein scandal.
But with that, you've had Tulsi Gabbard releasing documents that she controversially claimed.
improved wrongdoing in the Obama administration and the DOJ then opening a task force to look at those claims.
Trump himself even accusing Obama of treason. Now you've got Bondi launching a probe with a source even
telling the AP that she directed a prosecutor to present evidence to a grand jury. Though I will say
right now it's not clear which officials will be targeted or which prosecutors will be involved in the
investigation. But still, I mean, we could see big consequences. I mean, this could make way for an
indictment against whichever officials are investigated. So it's no surprise that you had the AP
explaining that, quote, the development is likely to heighten concerns that the Justice Department is
being used to achieve political lens.
Right, because multiple intelligence reports
have already found that, yes, Russia did indeed
seek to sway the 2016 election in Trump's favor.
The Mueller report even landed convictions
for Trump allies, though it didn't prove
any collusion between Russia and members of the Trump campaign.
Then in 2020, a bipartisan review
from the Senate Intelligence Committee
likewise found interference and concluded
that Obama officials acted without political bias
while assessing that interference.
And a very key thing is that current Secretary of State
and then Senator Marco Rubio even signed off
on the investigation and said that while the Trump campaign
did not collude with Russia here, there was still irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling.
So seemingly, because of that and numerous other reasons, you had a former unnamed
DOJ official slamming Bondi's move to NBC News and calling it a political stunt and arguing that
there is no logical, rational basis for this. So obviously, none of those arguments have stopped
Trump in his camp from repeatedly claiming that officials were seeking to undermine his first
term by focusing on Russian interference. So he had Trump applauding the news on truth social.
Writing the truth always wins out, this is great news. And then while on CNBC, he claimed that he was
not part of this decision, though he did continue to cheer it on.
Pam is doing a great job. I have nothing to do with it. I will tell you this.
They deserve it. I was happy to hear it. I actually read it just like you did. I have nothing to
do with it. Yeah, Trump, then going on to again claim that the 2020 election was rigged as well.
So, you know, he's kind of playing the hits. But then a White House spokesperson releasing a statement
saying, this effort aims to provide the American people with the truth about the extent to which
former government officials work to sabotage the Trump administration and undermine the will of the
American people in a clear attempt to subvert our constitutional republic. This is a spokesperson for
Obama already slammed the claims as bizarre and a distraction. But still, distraction or not,
this does appear to be moving forward and it could affect a lot of people. And then, my friend,
you beautiful bastard is where today's show is going to end. But one, remember there's even more
we got to talk about today. I got a brand new episode of the In Good Faith podcast. You should definitely
check it out. Top link in the description. I had Dan Feifron, who I think woke up this morning
wanting to fight. And two, no matter what you do, I'll see you right back here tomorrow
because, of course, I'll have a brand new show for you. So thank you for watching. Stay safe
out there. Stay sane out there and I'll see you then.
