What A Day - The Unindicted

Episode Date: March 22, 2023

Contrary to what he told his supporters, former President Donald Trump was not arrested on Tuesday — though most observers seem to agree that he’ll be indicted soon, over a 2016 hush money scheme involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels.A Fox News producer filed a pair of lawsuits against the network. She alleges that she was coerced into giving misleading testimony in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against the company, and that she faced discrimination and sexism as a staffer.And in headlines: at least nine people were killed after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan and Pakistan, the 12th atmospheric river storm system of the year slammed California, and TikTok is banning some deepfakes. Show Notes:What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastCrooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Wednesday, March 22nd. I'm Erin Ryan. And I'm Juanita Tolliver, and this is What A Day, where we're just hearing the explosive Vanderpump Rules midseason trailer will not be eligible for next year's Oscars, and I'm distraught. Vanderpump Rules is like boyhood involving a whole constellation of human beings. And we're not rewarding it accordingly? Come on.

The production alone, when I tell you, Cruz rapped on the season and then turned the cameras back on to capture this moment we're about to see. So please give them their due. On today's show, the two candidates forisconsin supreme court sparred in their first and only debate plus if you spent your childhood dreaming of living in a barbie dream house like me there's a competition show in the works just for us i'm here for it but first steel barricades had gone up around the manhattan criminal courthouse and the U.S. Capitol. Protesters and counter-protesters had posted up from Trump Tower to Mar-a-Lago.

And every national publication had its Donald Trump indicted banner headline ready for the next morning's front page. Except Tuesday came and went and there was no indictment. No perp walk, no booking photo, no tiny fingerprints. A lot of people with news cameras did a lot of standing around. This after the former president posted to social media this weekend that he would be arrested on Tuesday. Like many Donald Trump enterprises with his tiny fingers, lol, and posts on Al Gore's internet, no less, like, I don't believe it. But if you can't trust a rumor started on Truth Social, what can you trust? Even the pro-Trump protesters were outnumbered by media and counter-protesters in the most high-profile locations. There was a bomb threat called into the Manhattan courthouse, which delayed proceedings for a short time on Tuesday. But that also turned out to be fake. And speaking of truth social, the president's proprietary social media platform was rejecting all new users for a while on Tuesday after a TikTok video. I'm being totally serious here. A TikTok video

encouraging people to join the site and mess with trending topics went viral. New users swarmed the site and got a Ron DeSantis 2024 related hashtag to the top of Truth Social's trending topics list on what was supposed to be Trump's special day. The site responded by blocking people from joining it. One, the kids, the TikTok crew, they're all right. And I'm here for it. Come on with the digital activism. I'm ready for more.

But this also seems like it's bad for business for a website that's primary business model is on attracting more users. So they're blocking people straight up. Yeah. Yeah. One would think that would be bad business. But as his long career of failure has shown, Donald Trump is bad at business. Tuesday's lull gave the usual suspects a full additional day to gear up for the indictment most observers seem to think is coming sooner rather than later. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has claimed that Congress will investigate Manhattan D.A. Elvin Bragg, who will make the call over any criminal charges. The Republican heads of three different committees are on the case.

OK, this is a message for Kev and all these Republican heads of committee. You can't do anything to D.A. Bragg's plain and simple. This isn't federal dollars that he's working with in his Manhattan district attorney's office. So relax. And number two, Kevin McCarthy just couldn't wait to do more of Trump's bidding, could he? Yeah. Well, here's the thing. Republican elected officials believe that their constituents are stupid. They do. Point blank. They truly do. I mean, this this is a great example of them believing that their constituents don't know how things work. But, you know, even Mike Pence decided to hang in there with Trump, saying that Americans don't want to see him indicted. Probable 2024 Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis has been walking the tightrope where he calls the investigation bad without expressly defending Trump,

implying in a statement that Bragg's pursuit of charges was a form of, quote, weaponizing the office of DA. Look, DeSantis dipped his toe into the world of messy mess, right? Like, because his other statement was he didn't know exactly what went into paying off a porn star, right? Like, like he tried it, but I need him to commit. You can't just half-ass these types of attacks with someone like Trump. But what happens now? Well, Juanita, I'm just going to say real quick that you can always tell when someone who's never You can't just half-ass these types of attacks with someone like Trump. But what happens now? Well, Juanita, I'm just going to say real quick that you can always tell when someone who's never seen Paris is burning attempts shade. Oop.

Name it. Because it's never good. Good try, Ron. But, you know, it needs a little work. We'll have to wait and do better. Seriously, do better in many, many ways. We'll have to wait and see what happens this week, maybe even later today, when the grand jury reconvenes to find out whether Trump will actually be charged or if this is our generation's waiting for Godot. Look, honestly, I keep telling

people this is a big deal for a potential first indictment, but it's not the only source for indictments. Let's not get tunnel vision here because we know Georgia's coming out with some potential RICO charges. We know the DOJ has two active investigations and a grand jury going. So a lot more is coming. And my only request is that they coordinate their calendars. Erin, it will be magical

if we just had one day of indictments for Trump. I think it would actually be magical if they tried to fake that they were going to indict him in New York. And then they indicted him in Georgia, inconveniencing him the most possible. But, you know. I'm into it. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see.

We shall. And moving from Trump to his fave TV network, Fox Not Actually News, was hit with multiple lawsuits on Monday from Abby Grossberg, a booking producer for Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo and primetime host Tucker Carlson. She alleges that she faced discrimination and sexism as a staffer and that lawyers for the network coached and coerced her into making misleading statements when she was deposed in December for the Dominion Voting System's $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the company. So is this the part where i feign

surprise do i fake being shocked because this is what is 100 unsurprising yeah no this is super unsurprising it's like all of the rats running off of the ship and not the rodents suing each other on their way off for infesting the ship in the first place. So what's included in these lawsuits? All right, so Grossberg filed two lawsuits, one in Delaware Superior Court and one in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Her court filings allege that she faced discrimination

as a woman at Fox and that she was, quote, overworked, undervalued, denied opportunities for promotion, and subjected to vile sexist stereotypes. She also claims claims get this that when she first started working for tucker carlson last fall she found the office plastered with large images of none other than nancy pelosi quote in a plunging bathing suit revealing her cleavage this is fucking weird it's horrifying oh my god okay just quick, not to get too Freudian here, but I think that left-leaning women who conservative guys want to sleep with enrage them more than any other left-leaning person.

I'm just going to leave that there. I think there's some stuff going on that maybe people should have worked through before it became part of their career. Second, quote, overworked, undervalued, denied opportunities for promotion. Isn't that kind of the agenda of Fox? A country where that is like totally fine? Like it's, oh, we want to live in a country where it's okay to subject women to, quote, vile sexist stereotypes.

That's literally what they're trying to promote. Yep. Grossberg's suit also alleges that Carlson's production staff, quote, their distaste and disdain for women infiltrated almost every workday decision. What? I mean, that tracks. And I'm talking about more than just Tucker's disgusting segments, but also the sexual harassment lawsuits in 2016 that forced out Roger Ailes and others.

All I can say is gasp, gasp. Right. I can't believe it right but the big explosive part regarding the deposition preparations Grossberg claims that Fox lawyers quote were displeased with her for being too candid and they took extra time to make sure she got her story straight and in line with Fox's position she also claims that the lawyers instructed her to be vague and say, I do not recall. By giving these types of answers, Grossberg says she put herself at risk of committing perjury while, quote, subtly shifting all responsibility for the alleged defamation

against Dominion onto her shoulders and by implication, those of her trusted female colleague, Miss Bartiromo, rather than the mostly male higher-ups at Fox News. You know what? I've heard a story like this before when they blamed a woman for something a man did. It took place. Blame the women. Yeah, the Garden of Eden.

This is very Garden of Eden to me. Girl, she said we're going to the Book of Genesis. Okay, so how is Fox reacting to all of this? You know they're being petty. So a Fox spokesperson stated that the lawsuits were, quote, baseless and, quote, filed following a critical performance review, clearly trying to dismiss Grossberg as a disgruntled employee. And they promptly placed Grossberg on administrative leave after she filed her lawsuits. The network also filed a lawsuit against Grossberg on Monday seeking a restraining order to prevent her from divulging privileged information that it said would cause the network to, quote, suffer immediate irreparable harm. But by yesterday, Fox dropped that lawsuit.

In all of my career of being disgruntled with employers, I have never been like, let's prolong this relationship by engaging them in a legal proceeding that will stretch for months or perhaps years. It seems like that's not. But Erin, the one thing that I glean from this is this ultimate cover your ass move, because she said she might have committed perjury. That's the only thing I can think of. That's the only thing. Yeah, that's the only thing I can think of. But also like, you know, that gif where it's like, let them fight. That's kind of how I feel about this whole thing. Let them fight. How does all this tie back to the Dominion defamation case against Fox News and Fox Corporation? Well, according to reports by The Washington Post, a summary

judgment hearing in Delaware Superior Court yesterday, Judge Eric Davis, the same judge overseeing the Dominion defamation case, seemed to allude to Grossberg's suits when he referenced a new lawsuit that was, quote, related enough to this case that they assigned it to me. And I want to emphasize the phrase summary judgment because both Fox entities and Dominion are arguing that this case doesn't even need to go to a jury trial. According to Dominion, the stacks and stacks of evidence are absolutely clear that they were defamed. And according to Fox, the First Amendment covers everything they do, so they should be off the hook. Nonetheless, it's not that clear cut since the hearing ran for seven hours yesterday and will pick up again this morning at 930 Eastern. One other thing to keep an

eye out for is how parent company Fox Corporation will be involved in this lawsuit because they're arguing that they have next to no editorial control over Fox News and that they should be absolved. Judge Davis could take his time in ruling on the summary judgment motions, but the clock is ticking. Jury selection is scheduled to begin April 13th and the trial is scheduled to begin April 17th. That's the latest for now. And we'll bring you more updates on all of this messy mess very soon. Can't get enough of it. Love it. Love the mess. Let's get to some headlines.

Headlines. At least nine people were killed after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck Afghanistan and Pakistan Tuesday evening local time. The quake was centered in a remote mountainous region in northeast Afghanistan, but the shaking was reportedly felt as far away as India's capital territory, Delhi. Afghanistan, like other countries in Central Asia, is prone to strong earthquakes. More than a thousand people were killed in a 5.9 magnitude quake that struck there last June. California was slammed with more rain and snow yesterday. This is now the 12th atmospheric river system to reach the Golden State this year, as many communities are still reeling from flooding and other damage from earlier storms.

And meteorologists said the San Francisco Bay Area got an unusual dose of weather misery Tuesday morning after a pair of low-pressure systems that were orbiting themselves made landfall there, whooping up hurricane-force wind gusts. My goodness, can California get a break? I mean, what's the point of being here if the weather is going to be bad? I mean, come on. Anyway, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point today in what experts say will be one of the central bank's most consequential decisions under Chair Jerome Powell's leadership. Officials kicked off their

two day meeting yesterday to discuss the ongoing fight against inflation, how to steer the banking sector out of crisis, and restore confidence following the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and others. Doesn't sound like a fun meeting. Not at all. Oh, my God. Worst meeting ever. And I hate meetings. But in some hopeful-ish news, a number of economists, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, say the drama unfolding in the financial sector shouldn't sidetrack the Fed from tackling inflation. I'm just going to say, as a person who was working in the financial sector in 2008, economists get stuff wrong a lot. So I don't know that that gives me a ton of confidence, but I hope that he's right. The two candidates vying for the open seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court faced each other in their first and only debate yesterday.

Republican Daniel Kelly went head to head with Democrat Janet Protasewicz over the state's near total abortion ban. The law, which originally dates back to the 19th century, is currently facing a fierce legal challenge and is expected to wind up before the state Supreme Court. So whoever wins the April 4th election will have the final say in whether that law stays on the books. While neither candidate directly indicated how they would vote on the matter, Protusewitz did point out her opponent's open support for anti-abortion advocacy groups. I mean, if more information there you go the race has already become the most expensive judicial election in american history as both sides have shelled out a combined 30 million dollars in advertising so far i'm gonna say as a wisconsin native i badgers i need you to come through come through on april

4th it is a really, really important election. There is a new TikTok trend and it's called getting your act together before getting grilled by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That's a long trend. Can that fit behind a single hashtag? Hashtag.

TikTok announced new changes to its community guidelines yesterday in an effort to clean house just days before its CEO is set to testify before Congress. Most of the changes are general updates to the app's existing content moderation strategy. But one of the major changes includes restrictions on AI generated deep fakes. Basically, you can still make a deep fake of, say, Donald Trump running at top speed, even though, you know, that's pretty unbelievable.

That man don't run. I could, golf carts are his top speed. But deep fakes of private individuals won't be allowed after the new guidelines take effect on April 21st. TikTok and its Chinese-owned parent company is currently under fire from many Western nations amid concerns about cybersecurity and misinformation on the video sharing app. Warner Brothers is rolling out the pink carpet for some good old fashioned cross network promotion for their upcoming summer release, Greta Gerwig's Barbie

movie. HGTV has ordered a four episode series called Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge, in which eight teams of HGTV superstars will completely renovate a Southern California home to resemble the iconic Barbie Dreamhouse, complete with the pink Corvette. If you can't tell, I'm very excited about this. The network previously did a similar branded renovation series in 2019, buying and remodeling the Brady Bunch home to resemble its television counterpart. As to whether Barbie and Ken, played in the movie by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, will show up themselves, the details are still being ironed out.

But one lucky Barbie fan will get the chance to stay overnight at Barbie's dream house at the conclusion of the renovation. And I volunteer as tribute as a former Barbie dream house owner with the Corvettes. I need to be in this house. Oh my gosh. How much would that Barbie Dreamhouse fetch if you tried to sell it now during this like upswing in real estate value?

Girl, I said former, one. But two, at least, at least 2.5. Oh, okay. Okay, I'd buy that. Okay, apart from the barbie dream house juanita if you could live in any fictional characters home which one would it be and why oh my gosh oh my gosh i just watched nancy meyer's something gotta give diane keaton's beach house one beach access two did you see that kitchen three fresh, fresh paint job. She just had it done.

Like, she's amazing. She's fabulous and thriving. What about you, Erin? That is a really good pick. The Nancy Meyers kitchen is unparalleled. But I would personally pick the Full House house. First of all, yeah, location, because it's in San Francisco. San Fran.

And it's right on a park. Beautiful old Victorian. Great bones. I would flip it. Oh, she said this is not a fixer-upper. This is going back to market for that 2.5. No, she's like 10.5 for the full house. Exactly.

And those are the headlines. We'll be back after some ads to ask, what did Gwyneth Paltrow do now? Girl, what didn't she do? She didn't eat. It's Wednesday, WOD Squad. And today we're doing a segment where we visit the last place where justice can be served in America, a place where the law is administered by people with no legal experience apart from knowing parts of Legally Blonde by heart, a place called the Podcaster's

Court. Juanita, I'm going to tell you about a recent weird thing that's happening in our nation's courts, and you evaluate it on its merits based on your amateur legal expertise. Are you ready? It's bend and snap time. Let's do it. I'm so ready. Exactly. We're in the era of Jennifer Coolidge, so it is always bend and snap time. Period. Yesterday was the first day in court for the retired optometrist who's suing Gwyneth Goup Paltrow for a 2016 collision at an upscale ski resort in Park City, Utah.

76-year-old Terry Sanderson, who is seeking $300,000 for damages, claims Paltrow crashed into him from behind before fleeing the scene with her ski instructor, leaving him with a brain injury, four broken ribs, and emotional distress. On the other side, Paltrow's team is arguing that Sanderson was the one to collide with her from behind and has since concocted a story to take advantage of the actress's fame and wealth. For context, and I just learned this today because I've never been downhill skiing in my life, on ski slopes, whoever is downhill has the right of way, ergo all the business of who was behind whom. Paltrow seeks one dollar in damages plus her attorney's fees and the two appeared in court in park city yesterday to argue their cases so with all this in mind juanita if you could sue gueneth paltrow for damages for one thing

a goop shot if you will oh goodness yeah what would it be i mean easy peasy i would sue gueneth paltrow for promoting eating disorders because what the fuck? Like, it's so low, but it's typical. It's the Goop brand. But it's harmful, especially when Gwyneth Paltrow is someone wrapped in privilege, wrapped in coins to have a full medical team ready and available anytime when she keels over from only having coffee for breakfast. This is not for the regular people. But that's my thoughts. Erin, what would you sue her for? I think I would sue her not for money, but for time. I wish she could just compensate me for the time that I was watching the movie up in the air. I'll confess, I ain't never seen it, but I trust you. It wasn't good. There's a lot of celebrities who i would sue for wasting my time

some of them have made documentary series that should be eight parts long but they're like 12 parts long some of them have made series that should have been movies oh my god yeah i think it's giving maxine waters reclaiming my time i am reclaiming my time and i i request compensation for the time that i watched that bad movie. That was the podcaster's court. This court is adjourned. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, file that goop suit, and tell your friends to listen.

And if you're into reading and not just the mortgage for your average Barbie dream house like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Cricut.com slash subscribe. I'm Juanita Tolliver. I'm Erin Ryan. And please let us live in Barbie's dream house.

Oh my gosh. I want to live there too. Please. I want to live there too. Somebody call me to judge this show. Juanita. I want to be there. Juanita, I'm this show I want to be there Juanita I'm on a part of Instagram that is all like Barbie

nostalgia and it's just like remember this doll remember this one and I like will spend minutes and minutes being like yes I remember this I remember that I'll send you some stuff after we send me the ass immediately 100% Send me the ads. I will. Immediately. 100%. What a day is a production of Crooked Media.

It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Jazzy Marine and Raven Yamamoto are our associate producers. Our head writer is Jossie Kaufman. And our executive producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.