The Young Turks - Mean Muggin'

Episode Date: August 24, 2023

Trump infighting risks rise as allies face legal bills and cash crunch. "Mark was a ringleader": Pence adviser says Meadows was "central" to scheme to overturn 2020 election. The D.C. Attorney General is probing Leonard Leo’s network. Hidden investors took over Corizon Health, a leading prison healthcare company. Then, they deployed the Texas Two-Step. 127,000 New York workers have been victims of wage theft. HOST: Ana Kasparian (@AnaKasparian) SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ https://www.youtube.com/user/theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER: ☞ https://www.twitter.com/theyoungturks INSTAGRAM: ☞ https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK: ☞ https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks 👕 Merch: https://shoptyt.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. What's up, everyone, welcome to TYT. I'm your host, Anna Kasparian, and we have a gigantic, like just list of programming to get to today. Not only will we do, we'd be doing the main show as we typically do, obviously today, tonight is the first GOP primary debate and we will be doing special coverage of that. So after the main show, the debate will be taking place.

We will be watching the debate closely, but not on the show for obvious copyright reasons. Once that debate is over, we'll be back on air to share the highlights of the debate with you and our analysis of it. So make sure you tune into that. In the main show today, I'll be joined by Mark Thompson in the second hour, which I'm really, really looking forward to. And in the first hour, there's a lot to. to get to in regard to updates on investigations pertaining to Donald Trump and all his cronies

attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, we'll also talk about a different investigation that you probably haven't heard of. Leonard Leo, the guy who is, you know, who's called like Trump's court whisper because he's the guy who succeeded in getting Trump to appoint the three conservative Supreme Court justices. He's also facing an investigation, not having to do with the election, but having to do with potentially using nonprofits to enrich himself. I'm really looking forward to sharing the details of that story with you as well. And as always, before we get to all of those stories, just want to encourage you to help

support TYT by going to t.com slash join to become a member. You can also become a member if you're watching us on YouTube by clicking that join button and joining us in that way. We're also going to do special members only bonus coverage of the debate tonight as well. So members get all sorts of benefits for supporting us. But on top of everything, you help to support us and keep us free of corporate sponsorship or corporate influence. And I really, really appreciate that component of it more than anything else. With that said, let's get to our first story.

Donald's an idiot. Let me just be very clear when it comes to paying money. He is truly an idiot. He has not learned yet that the last person that you want, three people you don't want to throw under the bus like that, your lawyer, your doctor, and your mechanic. Because one way or the other, you're going to go down the hill and there'll be no breaks. Trump's allies and co-conspirators are starting to get real salty over the fact that Donald Trump is failing to provide any help with resources so they can fund their defense as they

face indictments having to do with their efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. By the way, we've got some fun mugshots to get to later in this story. So stick around for that. But first, let's get to the details about what is currently happening. Because the latest individual to come out swinging is Trump's former campaign lawyer, Jenna Ellis. You might remember her. She was going around doing press interviews, alleging that there was widespread voter fraud. The election was stolen from Donald Trump, even though she, along with the other co-conspirators, failed to show a shred of evidence to prove that point. But nonetheless, on X, Jenna Ellis wrote the following.

I was reliably informed Trump isn't funding any of us who are indicted. Would this change if he becomes the nominee? Why then, not now? I totally agree this has become a bigger principle than just one man. So why isn't MAGA Inc. funding everyone's defense? Well, Jenna, Jenna, Jenna, Jenna, Jenna. I don't know how many times it was reported that Trump doesn't even pay his own lawyers. He doesn't pay his bills.

Guy went bankrupt six times. We didn't share stories like that just to insult Trump, although that was part of it as well. Those were factual stories about who Trump is and what his character says about the man. So the idea that he would help you after you have implicated yourself in this criminal case having to do with overturning the presidential election is laughable to say the least. And yes, Jenna Ellis, along with others who surrounded Donald Trump and were part of these schemes to install fake electors, they have also been indicted in the Georgia case having to do with the attempts to overturn the presidential election. Now some Trump allies have even resorted

to things like crowdfunding in order to pay for their legal defenses. Some of those who face charges in Georgia have been released on bond agreements, totaling as much as $100,000. And by the way, that's the low end of the scale when it comes to these bond agreements. Ellis, attorney John Eastman and former Justice Department official Jeff Clark have launched crowdfunding pages where they are collecting donations for what is described as their respective legal defense funds. All three pages frame the beneficiaries as victims, victims of politically motivated attacks. Let me just remind you all that there was literally a memo that was spread around by one

of these co-conspirators that said fake electors, fraudulent electors, they knew they were fraudulent electors and described it as such in the memo, in the memo, but they want you to believe that they are victims of a political witch hunt, sure, okay. Now let's get to Rudy Giuliani because this is the most fascinating part of this story, if you ask me. Now Giuliani appears to be getting rather desperate in coming up with the funds necessary to pay for for his own legal defense. In fact, he has listed his Manhattan apartment for sale, and he's looking for any way to find the money necessary to avoid having to be represented by a public defender.

And so Giuliani is facing some of these steepest debts as his cases pile up. Remember, it's not just the case having to do with overturning or attempting to overturn the presidential election. He's facing two criminal cases tied to January 6th, right? But on top of that, he's also facing three defamation lawsuits related to comments he made while seeking to overturn the election. That includes two former voting equipment companies that he lied about. So Dominion voting systems and Smartmatic are the two companies that are bringing defamation

lawsuits against Giuliani and others. He's also facing disbarment proceedings in New York and Washington, and he needs to secure attorneys for that situation as well. And in recent proceedings in the cases, Giuliani's attorneys have noted his inability to pay for bills as well as the apparent cutting off of assistance from Trump's pack after it initially provided him with $400,000 this year to help cover the cost of preserving his records as evidence in court cases. And just check out this poor sum of a bitch, as Jake would like to say, as he surrendered, as he was on his way to surrender in Georgia for his role in attempting

to overturn the election. I'm going to Georgia and I'm feeling very, very good about it because I feel like I'm defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney. People like to say I'm different. I'm the same Rudy Giuliani that took down the mafia. We've made New York City, the safest city in America, produced crime more than any mayor in the history of any city, anywhere. And I'm fighting for justice. I have been from the first moment. I represented Donald Trump, and an innocent man who has now been proven innocent several times. I don't know how many times he has to be proven innocent.

And they have to be proven to be liars. Actually, enemies of our republic who are destroying rights, sacred rights. They're destroying my right to counsel, my right to be a lawyer. They're destroying his right to counsel. It's not accidental that they've indicted all as lawyers. Never heard of that before in America. Now, as goofy as Giuliani sounds there, and I will admit he sounds goofy as hell, what he's doing is he's trying to, in my opinion, mess with the jury pool, right?

Because all you really need is one juror to be skeptical of these allegations of this case, despite all of the evidence. And so what they do is they try to make their case, make their defense publicly. And that's what Rudy Giuliani, in my opinion, is doing right there. Because he's lying, right? Donald Trump has not stood trial over his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election yet. So when he says that Trump has been proven innocent over and over again, what is he referring to exactly? Is he referring to the impeachment proceedings in which he was impeached, but the Republican-controlled Senate refused to convict him of the impeachment charges? Is that what he's referring to? Now, again, he's never

been charged, nor have the co-conspirators in their efforts to overturn, they haven't stood trial, I should say, yet in their efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. So we'll see how it plays out. I do, I do want to show you, I do want to show you how feeling really good looks like, because Giuliani's mugshot is essentially the largest broken window in American history. And I just, I got to share it with you. Here it is. So he had his mugshot taken along with the other co-conspirators, which we'll get to in just a moment. I'm going to tease you with that.

I want to show you the mugshots in just a moment. But let's get back to Giuliani. And what it could mean should Donald Trump fail to provide the resources that these individuals need for their defense. So just last week, CNN had reported that Giuliani traveled to Florida in April to ask Trump to help in covering his legal fees. Trump reportedly was not interested in that, which is no surprise. He's the kind of guy who doesn't really like to pay his bills. So someone coming to him, a loyalist, a lapdog coming to him asking for help in resources might have been laughable to him, and he later verbally agreed, allegedly, to help Giuliani with some of his bills without even committing to a specific amount.

Now, Tim Parletori, who is the individual who represented initially Donald Trump in the Mar-Lago case and also a Giuliani associate in the January 6th case, pretty much issued a thinly veiled threat to Trump during an interview. Here's what he said. He has no legal obligation to pay anybody's fees. But it's a good idea because here's what the Justice Department does. One of their standard tactics is to bleed the defendant and witnesses dry. And once they can bleed you dry to where all of your life savings have been sucked up by somebody like me,

then you're far more pliable and willing to plead guilty to just about anything to stop the bleeding. So when you plead guilty, what does that usually mean? It means that you have taken a plea deal. And in that plea deal, you are cooperating with the investigation, with the prosecutors. And so this is his way of saying, you know, Trump, what are you doing? What are you doing? If you don't help them out, they're going to talk. They're going to fold.

And he's not the only one making that case. Clearly, Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen agrees with this assessment. Let's watch. allegedly from Rudy's own mouth, he claims that he has smoking gun information about Donald. Well, if that's true, I strongly suggest Rudy, and I don't have to suggest anything to Rudy, he's the one that basically came up with this concept of strong arming when he was the head of the Southern District of New York. He's going to need to speak, and he's going to need to speak before everybody else does. You think Trump's making a mistake by not paying for more of Rudy Giuliani's

legal fees? Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, you don't pay for his legal fees. He's going to talk. You want him to talk? I mean, I thought mobsters know how this stuff works, right? Okay, anyway, one little part of that interview with Michael Cohen that I couldn't help but want to share with you wall is something very truthful that he said in regard to Giuliani's legal services and how questionable they were to begin with. Let's watch that. What do you think about Rudy Giuliani? I mean, he, what we are told from our reporting is that he went down there with Bob Costello, his attorney, twice in late April. And I was told by sources, they basically told Trump it was in his best interest to pay for Rudy Giuliani's legal fees. He paid a small

fee, but not the seven figures that he's dealing with. Or any of the money that, Donald allegedly owed to Rudy from past performance, which again, it's not the job that Rudy did for Donald, I don't know if I would pay either, but at the end of the day when your life is basically hanging on the line, once again, you just don't really want to throw another lawyer under the bus. Look, it's not lost on me that Michael Cohen, who clearly is very salty about Donald Trump this entire situation, spent time behind bars for being a lap dog for Donald Trump and essentially implicating himself in criminality in regard to the hush money payments, which Trump is now also indicted for in New York by Alvin Bragg. But it also seems that Trump is starting

to get the message because the New York Times national correspondent Shane Goldmacher reported the following. He posted this on X, knew Trump will head. headline a $100,000 per person fundraiser for Rudy Giuliani's legal defense on September 7th. My colleagues, Maggie Haberman and Ben protests previously reported Trump had agreed to help attend Giuliani legal money fundraisers. And that's exactly what's gonna happen here. Apparently this is gonna take place at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

And the idea that anyone would be willing to spend $100,000 just to sit for a roundtable discussion with Trump and Giuliani and share a meal with them at a fancy steakhouse, blows my mind. But there are people out there who might do it. I'm curious to see how much money Giuliani is going to be able to raise from this effort. But when you look at the millions upon millions, tens of millions of dollars that, hundreds of millions of dollars actually that Trump has been able to fundraise for himself, I can understand why he doesn't want to share that money with all of the co-conspirators who now have to defend

themselves in court because he's got his own legal fees. And he's also running a presidential campaign. He doesn't want to expend all these resources to help his friends or people that he like to use for his own purposes. But these people very likely do have dirt on Trump. And if he doesn't want them to fold, he's got to do right by them. But he doesn't do right by them. He doesn't do right by the many people that he persuaded and incited into rioting on the nation's capital on January 6th, 2021, of course. And I'm wondering what it's going to take for people who like him, for people who believe in him, for people who support him, to actually see this man for who he is, to see this man

for the lack of character that he demonstrates on a regular basis. Donald Trump demands loyalty from others, but he never practices loyalty toward anyone else. He doesn't feel the need to be loyal to anyone. He doesn't feel the need to stick his neck out and try to defend or root for anyone. Donald Trump looks out for Donald Trump. And if he's willing to do that to the people who are closest to him, to the people who have essentially served as loyalist to him for so long, what do you think he actually feels about the American people, the individuals who support him and vote him into office, just something

to think about, something to consider, right? Because I think that loyalty for some, including myself, by the way, is an important thing. I would do anything to protect my friends, my family, the people I love. Anyone who sticks their neck out for me, I've got their back. I think that that shows character. And I know that among conservatives, loyalty, especially for the ones you love, especially for the ones who look out for you, is incredibly important. Just take a good, hard look at who Trump is, how he treats those closest to him, including his own wife, by the way. And ask yourselves, is this the guy who has the character necessary to lead the country? I know some think he does. I just completely disagree.

But let's take a look at the mugshots of people who believed in him and are now stuck with massive legal bills as they defend themselves in court in Georgia. Let's take a look at these mug shots. Let's just put them up. There you have Sidney Powell. Gotta say, I really do enjoy watching Sidney Powell, you know, essentially get arrested, have her mugshot taken. I mean, she spread some of the most vicious, ridiculous lies. But there's more. We've got Jenna Ellis, who I don't know if she thought that this was a headshot situation,

rather than a mugshot situation, but she's smiling. Obviously not smiling when it comes to Trump's unwillingness to help with her legal expenses. And then John Eastman actually was the first to have his mugshot taken and released to the public. Now Donald Trump is set to report to the Fulton County courthouse tomorrow. And based on how Fawnie Willis has treated this situation and her unwillingness to provide any preferential treatment to these individuals, I think it's safe to say that we are going to see a Trump mugshot tomorrow. No promises, I don't know for sure, but she's not playing around. And honestly, I got to respect that because I do have a problem with how our criminal

justice system treats the elites versus everyone else. I don't care if you are a member of Congress. I don't care if you're the president of the United States. Everyone should be treated equally based on the laws that we have. And if that district attorney and that courthouse is known for doing what they've been doing with these co-conspirators, having them, you know, arrested, going through the bond agreements, taking the mugshots, making the mugshots public, they should treat everyone equally. There shouldn't be any preferential treatment. So we'll see what happens tomorrow. We'll see if they actually do release a mugshot of Donald Trump. But he is set to report to court. This is a very expensive. legal defense that he's going to have to deal with. And this is just one of the trials that he's going to have to deal with. So we'll see how it all plays out. As always, we're going to fill you in as we learn more. For now, though, let's take a quick break. And when we come back, Mark Meadows

gets thrown under the bus by a Mike Pence advisor. Don't miss it. Welcome back to the show, everyone, special thanks to Dave Schmidt 311 for gifting two tier one subs to TYT's community on Twitch. We really appreciate you as we appreciate all of our viewers and our supporters. You guys are amazing. But with that said, let's get to our next story because don't you just love it when these right wing grifters start fighting with one another? Because that's exactly what's happening with a Trump advisor and Mark Meadows. Mark was a ringleader of much of the events that happened around January 6th.

He was somebody who was the president sought to to find additional attorneys who gave advice different than White House counsel. That was Mike Pence's campaign advisor, Mark Short. He was also the chief of staff for Mike Pence during the Trump administration, just throwing Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, under the bus. Now Meadows has not been indicted in the federal case pertaining to the attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. However, he is one of the co-conspirators who has been indicted in the Georgia case having to do with attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. And what's interesting is how short is not only throwing him under the bus, but making some pretty strong allegations against Meadows. And it makes me wonder, why wasn't he indicted in the federal case? It might have an answer for that.

But first, let's watch more from short. There had been a lot of conversations leading up to this. And Mark was central to pulling together many of those who were, I think, whispering falsehoods into the president's ear. And so I think that when you look at the federal indictment and he's not in it, I think it is others on your previous panel question, whether or not there's been involvement from Mark with the special counsel's office. There's involvement with Mark and the special counsel. Like definitely I think Mark Meadows is cooperating with special counsel Jack Smith in the federal case. And the reason why I believe that is because, A, he has not been indicted.

And B, there have been some reports kind of percolating showing that he is saying things that contradict Donald Trump's defense. Certainly in the story that we covered recently having to do with Trump's handling of classified documents, we shared with you that Mark Meadows told Jack Smith that Trump never ordered those documents to be declassified. And again, that contradicts Trump, which tells me, or at least gives me and others a hint that he is in fact cooperating. But the situation in Georgia is different because Fannie Willis did in fact indict Mark Meadows in that case. And it is interesting to see the kind of maneuvering he's engaging in or attempting to engage in in order to essentially get to a place of immunity in that case. So as I said, Meadows is indicted in Georgia.

And what he's trying to do is move that case to the federal courts. So far, three of the 19 defendants in the Georgia case or in the Georgia indictments have filed to move their case to the federal court. And that includes Mark Meadows, also includes Jeffrey Clark, who's a former Justice Department official, and David Schaefer, a fake elector and former Georgia Republican Party chairman. So why do these three want to move their Georgia indictment to the federal courts? Well, get this. Meadow's attorneys, first off, have opposed any attempt to delay his August 28th hearing on this. So the other co-defendants can basically have their arguments heard simultaneously.

He's like, no, no, no, I'm not with them. I'm not with them. August 28th, I'm supposed to have my day to make my case to move this to the federal courts. I don't want anything to change. So they're kind of all throwing each other under the bus, which is kind of hilarious. Trump, who plans to surrender Thursday, meaning tomorrow, already tried a similar tactic in another state-level indictment he's facing. The former president previously attempted to move his hush money criminal case in New York to federal court, but a judge rejected the bid.

Trump is now appealing that decision. Now Trump's efforts are clear and what's motivating him, in my opinion, is also clear. First off, if Donald Trump happens to win the Republican nomination and wins another term as president, he would not be able to pardon himself in the Georgia investigation, because he doesn't have the ability or the jurisdiction to do so when it comes to the state charges. However, it's a different story when it comes to federal court. So his motivations here, in my opinion, are pretty clear. But let's talk about the co-defendants here. Let's talk about Meadows and others who want to move their Georgia indictment to federal court. Why do they want to do it?

Well, the first reason has to do with immunity. How does this work? Meadows is trying to move his Georgia case to federal court arguing that he is immune because the allegations against him, his trip to Georgia following the 2020 election and calls he organized between Trump and election officials was part of his job in the White House. So just to shed a little more light on what his role was. Remember that damning phone call that Donald Trump made to Brad Raffensberger, the Secretary of State of Georgia,

basically demanding that he fined enough votes to change the election results from the state going to Biden to instead going to Trump? Well, it turns out that Mark Meadows, his chief of staff at the time, was on the phone call as that conversation happened. and he was also putting Trump in charge with attorneys who were spouting off about this fake elector scheme trying to convince Trump to go along with it allegedly. Now, in court filings, Meadows's lawyers argued that nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in, nothing Mr. Meadows is alleged in the indictment to have done, is criminal per se, okay, arranging oval office meetings, contacting state officials on the, president's behalf, visiting a state government building, and setting up a phone call for

the president. One would expect a chief of staff to the president of the United States to do these sorts of things. But there is a catch here because legal experts say there is a difference between Meadows's duties as chief of staff in conducting official White House business versus what he was engaging in in helping Trump out with his campaign to be president of the United States. There's a distinction there. One of the people making that argument is Jeffrey Cohen from Boston College Law School. He made that argument. I think that's a pretty decent argument. So we'll see whether or not Meadows is going to have his way in getting his case moved from the state of Georgia to the federal courts. Now, the other reason why Meadows would

want to do this is because of the jury pool. Apparently, they are hoping that the federal courts would have a far more favorable jury pool to select from. Legal experts note a federal trial would be heard by a different judge and a jury pool less filled with Democrats than one in the Georgia Fulton County. In Georgia, for instance, the jury pool would be selected from Fulton County, home to its capital city of Atlanta, which President Biden carried by 47 percentage points in 2020. But head out toward the suburbs and a trial in federal court would lessen that advantage. Biden won the area covered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia by only seven percentage

points and the court's Atlanta division by 32 points in 2020, according to a review of state election data. But that doesn't even matter because they don't they don't want the case to be heard in Georgia. Again, they want to move this to federal court because they do think that they'll have a better chance at a jury pool that's a little more empathetic toward Donald Trump and his co-defendants. Now, reason three, less humiliation, okay? Because the trial would not be televised or streamed in the federal courts, but the Fulton County court, they streamed their trials and they don't like that. I don't blame them. I wouldn't like it either. Pretty embarrassing. The mugshots coming out, pretty embarrassing. And what I've seen from Fon

Willie so far, the Fulton County District Attorney, is that she's not playing around. No preferential treatment. These co-defendants are being treated similar to other individuals who stand trial in Fulton County, Georgia. And so they don't want to deal with that streaming. They don't want to deal with it being televised. Maybe they saw, you know, how the whole Amber Hurd situation played out. They don't want to be embarrassed. So they want to move the case.

I don't know if it's going to play out the way that they're hoping. But again, August 28th, Mark Meadows is supposed to have this hearing and we'll see what the outcome of that hearing will be. But really, really interesting to see how this is playing out in Georgia versus the federal case by special counsel Jack Smith. Let's now move on to an entirely different investigation, not having to do with, well, not having to do with Donald Trump and the 2020 election per se, but this certainly does have to do with someone who is closely tied to Trump, friendly with Trump, but it's a completely different

matter. So let's get into it. This IRS document obtained by CNN is evidence of the largest anonymous dark money political donation ever reported. One point six billion dollars. It is, according to experts, a staggering amount. I am just stunned. We are talking about income that is many multiples larger than the largest dark money groups ever found. And it's going to a new organization called Marble Freedom Trust. While you've probably never heard of it or the man in charge of it, the whole country is familiar with his work. His name is Leonard Leo, a devout Catholic known as Donald Trump's Supreme Court Whisperer.

You know, every once in a while, journalists do such a good job that it spurs some pretty serious investigations. And in this particular case, Donald Trump's so-called court whisperer, Leonard Leo, is now facing an investigation by the DC Attorney General after Politico put out a report indicating that he might be enriching himself through his non-profits. Now, how did he do that? I'm going to lay out the case in just a moment, but understand that Leonard Leo had a tremendous amount of influence on the Trump administration and more importantly, the Supreme Court. So this man's influence will impact this country and our lives for decades to come.

He is the person who handpicked the three conservative Supreme Court justices that were confirmed during the Trump administration, he might not be as, I guess, attention grabbing as some of the other Trump cronies, but this guy, again, very well funded and has had a big impact on the country. So let's get into the details of what Politico was able to uncover through their investigation. So back in March of this year, Politico reported that one of Leo's so-called charities called the 85 fund paid his for profit company tens of millions of dollars in the two years since he joined the company. Okay, so let's get to that excerpt by Politico. The Leo aligned nonprofit, the 85 fund, which is registered as a tax exempt charity, paid tens of millions

of dollars to a public relations firm in Virginia, which Leo co-chairs in the two years since he joined the firm known as CRC advisors. Okay, so this dark money gets funneled to the charity, the 85 fund. And then the 85 fund starts making these massive payments to the tune of tens of millions of dollars to for-profit companies that Leonard Leo is the head of. Now, an important thing to keep in mind is that Leonard Leo actually lived a very modest lifestyle up until 2016. Just keep that in mind as I continue laying out this case. So political reported that a total of $43 million flowed to Leo's company over two years

and that the bulk of it came from the 85 fund, a nonprofit run by his allies, which has spent tens of millions of dollars over the past decade to promote Trump's Supreme Court picks, filed briefs before the court, and more recently used an alias to push for voting restrictions and accused Democrats of cheating in the 2020 election. Yeah, he's that guy. So beginning in 2016, his lifestyle changed quite a bit, okay? Over the two decades before he became Trump's so-called judge whisper or court whisper, Leo had maintained a largely middle class lifestyle, okay, directing one of Washington, D.C.'s many nonprofit organizations. He was associated with the Federalist Society. Hence, his...

his handpicking of conservative Supreme Court justices, but since 2016, things changed. Political rights since 2016, however, his recent wealth accumulation has included two new mansions in Maine, four new cars, private school tuition for his children, hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to Catholic causes, and a wine buyer and locker at Morton Steakhouse, which I didn't even know was a thing. because I don't enrich myself through phony non-profits and charities. But nonetheless, I will continue laying out this case. So what happened next?

Well, Politico's reporting sparked in an investigation from a watchdog group. And it turns out that the amount of money that was funneled from the 85 fund to his for-profit companies for, you know, advisors and all that, much, much higher than Politico had previously found. So a campaign for accountability complaint alleges the total amount of money that flowed from Leo-aligned nonprofits to his for-profit firms was actually $73 million over six years beginning in 2016. Listen, how are you going to argue that this scheme didn't happen to enrich Leonard Leo? when Leonard Leo's lifestyle very obviously changed from normal middle class dude to a guy who

now has like multiple mansions, multiple cars, has a locker and a wine buyer at Morton's steakhouse. Like, this is the thing about, like he hasn't been convicted of anything, okay? So I'll say potential criminal. But this is the thing about potential criminals like Leonard Leo. They're stupid. Because if you are potentially breaking laws to, enrich yourself, maybe don't be an idiot and buy multiple mansions and multiple cars immediately after you begin enriching yourself. I mean, it's unbelievable, but I'll continue. So the complaint by the campaign for accountability, which covers the period between 2016 and 2020, reads as follows. There are questions as to whether Leo affiliated nonprofits have diverted

substantial portions of their income and assets directly or indirectly to the personal benefit of Leonard Leo. Such payments were generally listed as made in exchange for alleged consulting. That's my personal favorite. Everyone's a consultant, right? Everyone. Consulting, research, public relations, or similar services. However, CFA, okay, that's the campaign for accountability, has reasonable questions about whether those alleged services are actually rendered at all, or if services were rendered, whether the payments made were substantial. in excess of fair market value. I mean, I don't know, I actually have a good friend who is a consultant, like an actual consultant

who helps to consult with media organizations and all that. He's not paid tens of millions of dollars for his consulting work. He's paid handsomely, not tens of millions of dollars for it though. And the news of the investigation comes as that nonprofit, now that was the subject, this is my favorite part, as that nonprofit, which is the subject of this investigation, just quietly relocated from Virginia to Texas. Now, why would they do that? Could it be that Texas has incredibly weak laws regulating nonprofits? Could it be? I don't know, let me give you the details. In discontinuing the group in the state of Virginia, the new address listed is a virtual

office suite in Fort Worth, Texas, shared by a two men and a truck franchise. The office building advertises virtual and co-working spaces. Now, things get even more shady. Get a load of this. Political reports that in Texas, a new registration for the 85 fund was filed on June 27th under yet a different address in a different city than the one listed on the Virginia paperwork. It is also registered in Texas as a non-profit entity.

This location is a UPS store in a strip mall next door to a restaurant called. called the snooty pig cafe. Hmm, snooty pig indeed. Okay, now the 85 fund switch again, from Virginia to that Fort Worth office building comes days after Politico inquired on June 30th about certain Leo allies who may have personally benefited from millions in anonymous donations that moved through the 85 fund over the past decade. So this is the dark money, going to the nonprofit, and then getting funneled to Leonard Leo and his friends, okay?

Moving to Texas makes sense if laws pertaining to nonprofits have been broken. Texas has limited regulations when it comes to charities, making it a more attractive legal environment for nonprofits that are looking to potentially funnel money to private companies and enrich certain individuals. And again, this is not unprecedented. A good example of this happening is when the NRA, the National Rifle Association, moved to Texas after they were facing multiple lawsuits from attorneys general in New York and Washington, D.C. Now, a number of the groups that receive contributions from Leo's dark money network, in turn, hold sizable contracts with his firm, CRC advisors. This includes the Federalist Society, the nation's preeminent, conservative debating society, where Leo was executive vice president and still serves as co-chairman. And among payments, the complaint flagged to the IRS and D.C. Attorney General is $3.1 million,

which the Federalist Society paid to CRC between 2020 and 2021 for media training. I mean, I'll train anyone in media training. If you're going to pay me $3.1 million, I'll be the best trainer in the world. But here's the thing, media trainers, I don't even know if that's a thing. But if it is, they're not getting paid $3.1 million for their services. I can guarantee that. Now, this might explain, this whole situation might explain why Leonard Leo is such an advocate for dark money in politics.

He loves it. He can't get enough of it. In fact, he doesn't do many interviews, but he did agree to sit down and speak to a conservative podcast called Main Wire. And during that conversation, he decided to talk about how, look, he's a lightning rod for criticism. You know, he doesn't really get it. It doesn't get why he gets criticism for being such a fierce advocate for dark money in politics. Leo spoke about the long history of dark money in U.S. politics. quote, it's not to hide in the shadows, he said.

It's because we want ideas judged by their own moral and intellectual force. Right, right. I mean, he should tell that to the D.C. Attorney General investigating his potential, you know, self-enrichment through this charity. I'm sure it'll go overwhelmed. I'm sure that, you know, they'll buy this argument and this defense. We'll see. But the idea that dark money has been a mainstay in American politics since the beginning is ridiculous.

And if dark money has done anything to this country, it has undermined our voice as ordinary Americans engaging in our democratic process. It has undermined our democracy. It has allowed for all sorts of shady behavior to take place and corrupt the halls of Congress with this disgusting money that again, is obviously doled out for reasons that do not benefit ordinary Americans. So when you take a step back and you look at the policies that get enacted, when you look at the politicians who refuse to look out for the best interests of their own constituents, when you ask yourself, why is it that there seems to be a lot more agreement among Democratic lawmakers and Republican lawmakers when it comes to policies that enrich and benefit big business?

Dark money's got a lot to do with it. Money in politics in general has a lot to do with it. And Leonard Leo loves it. He jumps in it. So we'll see how this case plays out. But I thought it was important to share it with you because dark money does more than just corrupt our politicians. Oftentimes it allows for shady figures to enrich themselves through so-called nonprofits.

All right, we got to take a break. When we come back, we've got more news for you, including Well, pretty sick system we're dealing with when private health insurers provide health care to people in prison. You got to take a look at what this actually looks like in practice. It is unbelievably cruel. I got to share the details. So come right back. We'll do just that when we return.

Welcome back to the show, everyone. Just wanted to give a shout out to all the wonderful people who have been writing in, including the super chat community because, or those in our YouTube community commenting through super chats. Toxic Monster says, keep up the good work. I love the members only video yesterday, very heartfelt and inspirational. Really happy to hear that you feel that way. So if you're a member and you didn't catch that, you can always go to our archives and watch. And if you want to become a member, t.yt.com slash join is the way to do it. Or you can click that join button if you're watching us on YouTube. Jay from New Jersey says deep dive Wednesdays are the reason why I'm a member.

Keep up the good work, even when I disagree. God, I appreciate you so much. As for Trump's lawyers, they should be called friends without benefits. Yeah, that's actually true. There are no benefits. They might think there are benefits, but they're short-lived, to say the least. And stinky, stinky feet says, Anna, I heard that Trump has possibly already violated the terms of the Fulton County bond to not intimidate anyone literally within hours of the order by posting on truth social. I read about that as well. We'll see how that plays out. But Trump, he's his own worst enemy. He doesn't know how to shut up. He doesn't know how to stop essentially implicating himself in various potential crimes. And I'm sure if his lawyers had their way, they would get him

to stop talking publicly about this situation. But they can't control him. No one can control him. He can't control himself. So again, he's his own worst enemy. And if he wants to, to implicate himself, have at it. But Fannie Willis, as I said earlier, she's not playing around. She is strong to say the least and she's going forward full steam ahead. All right, let's move on to something different. I wanted to talk a little bit about the treatment of inmates, especially when it comes to the health care that's being provided to them.

The story is difficult to get through. It's hard to share the details with you all, but it's an important story to talk about. So let's get to it. Correctional health care is a unique field with unique challenges. Caregivers serve a distinct patient population that may have very little or no access to health care. Day in and day out, we strive to meet the health care needs of our patient population. Do you? Do you? The answer is no, they did not do anything that was just listed in that ridiculous promotional video. Who is they? Well, Corizon Health, one of the nation's largest

private health care providers for prisons. Look, we've got issues with private health care. We do, we all know it. You know it, I know it, the American people know it. But imagine private health care in the context of prison and how bad that is. Well, if you can't imagine I'm about to tell you because there are now lawsuits against Corizon Health over the way that they have been treating inmates, the health care practices they've engaged in, the malpractice allegations that have come up in recent years. And they're engaging in what can only be described as a bankruptcy fraud scheme. It's known as the Texas Two Step. I can't wait to share the details of that in just a moment. But first, let's talk about the lawsuits. Let's talk about

their alleged wrongdoing. And then we'll get to how they're trying to skirt responsibility for it. So among the lawsuits is the case of Hector Garcia, an inmate who died just days after arriving at a jail in New Mexico because medical staff employed by this private health care company allegedly failed to give him the proper care, the care he needed to survive. So he collapsed and when a corrections officer found him, he was crawling on the floor, vomiting and moaning in pain. But his requests for medical care were allegedly ignored. So I'm going to pause for a second because the corrections officer should be investigated too, right? So the health care company that we're talking about, that's the main focus of this story. But there is

an issue with the way inmates are treated, right? We're supposed to have constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. You have an inmate crawling on the floor, vomiting, okay, showing signs that he's suffering from internal bleeding and his call for medical help completely ignored. Okay. So the next day, Garcia collapsed again, help me, he yelled. Describing his pain as a 10 out of 10.

Video footage obtained by insider shows him wriggling on the ground in agony before corrections officers and medical staff assist him into a wheelchair. Now the next morning, Corizon staff finally sent, finally, okay? Literally the next day they finally sent him to a hospital. But sometime during the ride, Garcia went into cardiac arrest, and the next day he was dead. Garcia's family filed their lawsuit in 2021, and they joined what was at least, get a load of this. 475 active suits alleging medical negligence over Corizon's health care practices at jails and prisons across the country. So, but Garcia's lawsuit and all the others have now been stayed. So this is

the update to the lawsuits that should infuriate everyone, anyone who cares about justice in this country. The company split and filed for bankruptcy in, again, what's referred to as a controversial maneuver known as the Texas Two Step. Before we get to that, let's dive a little bit deeper into the background of this company and the allegations against it, okay? So from 2011 to 2016, Corizon faced tons of allegations of substandard care, okay, and also malpractice. They claim to offer premium health care, but critics say that the company actually repeatedly cut corners to do what? To maximize their profits. Like, at the end of the day, this is a private company. They're gonna wanna maximize their profits.

And if they're going to do that, they're gonna cut corners, especially in the context of prison, in the context of providing healthcare to prisoners. I mean, just take a step back and think about that for a moment. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of empathy toward inmates. And as a result, these private companies can come in and make money off of them, abuse them. I mean, we've done stories about various companies,

that allow for these inmates to make collect calls to their loved ones. And they charge an insane amount of money per minute, just to essentially rip off the inmates' family members who want to talk to their loved one, you know? Now with that said, in 2013, Corizon told a Florida news outlet, the company had been a defendant in 660 malpractice lawsuits over the previous five years. In 2015, Corizon lost a $154 million contract with New York City. Four years later, it lost a $200 million contract with Arizona. A New York state panel found Corizon's treatment so incompetent and inadequate as to shock

the conscience. And a woman named Madeline Pitkin even died of dehydration in an Oregon jail, Oregon jail under the care of Corizon. This happened in 2014, after four requests for medical help or care were ignored. A former Corizon employee who worked at that jail talked to Al Jazeera about the company's practices and shed some light about the abuse and malpractice. Let's take a look at that. I was concerned for my medical license. There were several times when we had some pretty near misses and it really, it scared me. She quit less than a year before Madeline's death because she was concerned about the

company's quality of care. This is the first time she's spoken publicly. What was it like working for Horizon then? So they were hiring people who were right out of school. They were chronically understaffed. So the people that were there were under trained and they would pressure me to connect with the correctional department and get the patient released as soon as. like they had a major medical problem, which sometimes did happen from my recollection.

If they release like before the ambulance got there, then Corizon was not on the hook for their medical bill. And so they would quick try to expedite their release. How do they respond to your concerns? Corizon's response was to retaliate against me. She ended up leaving her job with Corizon because she has a conscience and she saw saw that their practices were disgusting, she didn't agree with them. And when she, as she mentioned there, as she like voiced her concerns about how they were treating inmates, they decided to retaliate. I mean, it's just, we've seen this situation play out over and over again in different

context. So I'm not surprised. But it is disgusting when you see this case and it's just a perfect, it's a microcosm of something that I find so disgusting. The idea that profits matter more than human lives, right? This company, based on my read of this story, the hundreds of lawsuits, everything that I've consumed about this issue, just tells me that, like, they saw an opportunity to take advantage of a massive group of people in the country, by the way, who are behind bars, who don't get much empathy from communities outside these prisons. And so they think like, let's just make money off these people. Why not? I mean, who's going to

stick up for them? Who's going to look out for them? That's the sense I get here, because this has been going on for so long. This isn't something that just started this year or a month ago. This has been going on for years for decades. Now, the allegations from inmates continued. Tracy Grissom filed a complaint in 2019, saying she was forced to live in her own feces for four months after Corizon contractors at the Alabama prison where she was held, failed to provide a properly fitted ostomy bag. Adri Edmo, a transgender prisoner, filed a claim in 2017, saying she attempted suicide after Corizon providers in an Idaho prison denied her gender affirming care. But right now, all of those suits, all of those hundreds of lawsuits have been

stayed, they've been halted, thanks to a sly legal maneuver. Now we're gonna get to the Texas two-step. Let's talk about that. So Texas law allows corporations to essentially split into multiple corporate entities and divide the corporate assets and liabilities. Okay, so that's step one in the so-called Texas two-step. A recent example of that was Johnson and Johnson. They actually engaged in this practice after they were facing lawsuits and legal claims over its talcum powder causing cancer. And here's more on how the Texas Two Step works. This law enables what has become known as the Texas Two Step, a means by which corporations can avoid liability by strategic use of bankruptcy laws. The Texas Two Step works by converting

an existing company into a Texas corporation and then engaging in a divisive merger. This allows the corporation to split into multiple corporate entities and to allocate the assets and liabilities of the original corporation between the newly created entities. A corporation looking to limit its liability can allocate corporate liabilities to one of the newly created corporations, the so-called Badco, while dedicating the greater part of corporate assets to the other new entity, the Goodco. The Texas Two-Step is completed by the Badco filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This puts on hold-depending lawsuits filed against the original corporation inherited by the now bankrupt Badco, while the other surviving corporation

Goodco operates the business with its assets shielded from recovery. Sounds a little like what Alex Jones did after he lost in the defamation suit having to do with the Sandy Hook victims. Now, what you just saw in that video is exactly what Corizon is doing. Okay, so a group of investors bought out the company in 2021 and within months, created a new company called Yes Care, home to most of Corizon's valuable assets, including hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts with prisons and jails. In April of 2022, Corizon changed its incorporation from Delaware to Texas for obvious reasons. Then the liability-laden Corizon was renamed Tiham.

I don't know, weird name T-Hum. And in February of this year, it filed for bank. So they did the Texas two step to a T. According to its financial statements, the company that's now filing for bankruptcy has transferred tens of millions of dollars to entities. Some of its investors control. So the investors are like, we're good, okay? Because now, you know, those assets have been transferred over to the good company,

yes care, the investors get to protect their investment. and the, you know, renamed Corizon, Tiham, files for bankruptcy, and they get to skirt any of their financial obligations pertaining to these lawsuits. And so it describes an alleged meeting, by the way, the goal of Corizon's two-step may have been exposed even more clearly in a recent civil complaint. So it describes an alleged meeting in which T-Hum director Isaac Lefkowitz says the Texas two-step can be used to force plaintiffs into accepting lower settlements. A former Corizon CEO, James Hyman, who sued Yescare over his 2021 ouster from the company, described the planned two-step in his lawsuit as an old-fashioned bankruptcy fraud

scheme. By the way, Yescare has denied the claim of fraud. But look, the implications of this ongoing battle are huge because Corizon's two step would avoid a much wider range of liabilities than the previous companies who've used it. Like, this is the important thing. Even if you're the kind of person who doesn't care about how prisoners are treated, I obviously disagree with you. I think that's wrong and immoral, but I'm not going to force my morality on you. But consider what this particular case means for all the other corporations, all of

all the other private businesses who want to engage in mistreating people, abusing people, and then want to skirt any financial liability after their suit. They can take advantage of this as well. They can do the exact same thing. In fact, this has happened with other corporations. So if you're victimized by one of these big companies, these major corporations, and you have a suit with merit, you have the evidence, you want to sue them, and you want, you the situation to be made right with a payment of some sort, right?

They can just do the Texas two-step. If you're part of a class action lawsuit, they could just do the Texas two-step. If the company succeeds, it provides a roadmap, a roadmap for eliminating virtually any unsecured liability owed by any corporate entity, regardless of whether that entity is solvent. Ian Cross, a Michigan civil rights attorney who represents multiple prisoners who have sued Corizon wrote in a procedural objection in April. And on top of that, if Corizon prevails, the malpractice suit suits against the company could be settled for pennies on the dollar, along with 44 employment lawsuits over allegations including discrimination, wage theft,

and wrongful termination, and at least $88 million in claims such as unpaid invoices for medical providers, according to bankruptcy filings. All of these issues, all of these loopholes, all of these loopholes that are meant to provide cover for bad behavior by corporations impacts all of us, every single one of us. And so when the justice system is skewed in favor of bad actors in the corporate world, don't think that it has no impact on you. It absolutely does. And Corizon is just the latest example of a company taking full advantage of it. all right we got to take a break i'm massively over time but mark thompson will join me for the second hour of the show don't miss it

dot co slash t yt i'm your host jank huger and i'll see you soon