BREAKING: ABC gets the news they FEARED amid Kimmel cancellation

BREAKING: ABC gets the news they FEARED amid Kimmel cancellation

The Disney boycott explodes as ABC sides with Trump over Jimmy Kimmel. And I’ve got two interviews this week. Daniel Goldman joins to discuss Kimmel’s cancellation and Jamie Raskin joins to discuss the Epstein files. I’m Brian Tyler Cohen and you’re watching No Lie. [Music] If ABC thought that their decision to capitulate to Trump by canceling Jimmy Kimmel’s program would pass quietly by, they are sorely mistaken. There is a massive movement to boycott the company and its properties taking place, including at the hands of actors who themselves star in Disney properties. Tatiana Maslani, who’s the star of Marvel’s She-Hulk, Attorney at Law, um, which aired on Disney Plus, is urging people to cancel their subscriptions to Disney services. Rosie O’Donnell, called for a boycott of ABC. Uh, Transparent star Amy Lander, who’s married to Bradley Whitford, she posted an image of the cancellation page from her Disney Plus account. According to Business Insider, the chatter online has also translated to an increase in people googling instructions on how to do so, even as many conservatives, including Trump, praised the decision to suspend Kimmel. Search volume for cancel Disney Plus reached a 12-month high at 9:00 on Thursday. According to Google Trends and continues to be elevated, terms like boycott Disney Plus and Boycott Disney are also listed as breakout searches on Google. Searches for cancel Hulu also soared. And all of this comes amid bipartisan condemnation of the move. Tucker Carlson, Ted Cruz, Andrew Schultz, and the guys from the flagrant podcast, Tim Dylan, Fox News’s Kennedy, Glenn Greenwald, all criticized ABC capitulating to Trump and his FCC. And look, I think it is beyond clear that Trump and Brendan Carr are fascist scumbags. This is legitimately one of the most anti-American moves that I’ve ever seen in this country. And when they jump the shark so bad that they’re causing Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson to find common ground with Rosie O’Donnell, I think that speaks for itself. But let’s be clear here. It takes two to tango. And ABC made the conscious decision to validate Trump’s move. Why? Because NextStar Media Group is the largest provider of local news in the country and operates ABC affiliate stations in dozens of markets across the US. And NextStar is right now seeking FCC approval for a $6.2 2 billion dollar merger with a company called Tegna. So when the FCC chair came out and expressed his displeasure with Jimmy Kimmel, it became very clear that extortion was happening and ABC was clearly perfectly content to give in without a fight. Why? Because it’s all about cash for them. Zero consideration for free speech or the first amendment or democracy itself. Their sole focus is money and shareholder value. And because these multinational conglomerates like Disney are so overleveraged and so susceptible to extortion by the government if they need approval for anything, they capitulate to Trump hands down. But the cost of their capitulation isn’t just that Jimmy Kimmel is canceled. It’s that we all become less safe because we all now live in a country where the president feels emboldened to commit more of these acts. That hurts all of us. ABC and these other outlets like CBS and Amazon and Meta who capitulate to Trump are hurting all of us all because they need another buck because god forbid they didn’t focus on more money, more growth, more shareholder value. And I hope that the rest of the media outlets understand that by capitulating to Trump, you are not plating him. You are just showing him that you’re weak. You’re showing him that you can be extorted. You’re showing him that if and when he wants to do this again, and sure as he will want to do this again, that he’ll be able to do it without a problem. Because look how easy it was the first time and the second time and the third and fourth and fifth. And I can assure you right now, he is not stopping with Kimmel. Just like he wasn’t stopping with Coar, just like he wasn’t stopping with ABC News and CBS and the New York Times and 60 Minutes. Trump is not a good faith negotiating partner. He is looking out for himself. And anybody dumb enough to think that he won’t roll you the moment he feels like it is either a liar or a fool. So look, I’m not going to tell anybody what to do, but I can tell you what I did. I canceled my Hulu package, which by the way, I don’t do lightly. Like, I live in LA. I love the entertainment industry. Uh I I know that hurting ABC and Disney doesn’t just hurt Bob Iger and these feckless executives. It hurts the artists. It hurts the actors who bust their asses for these roles. It hurts the producers and the grips and the PAs and craft services, the local restaurants, everyone who works in an industry that exports our culture to the rest of the world. I think it’s the best industry in America. But I want to be clear here that that industry relies on our right to free speech. And if ABC is going to be complicit in Trump’s effort to curb that right, then that puts the whole industry at risk. Frankly, it puts all of America at risk. So, it’s incumbent on all of us to send a message loud and clear to ABC that while it may be their prerogative to capitulate to Trump, it is ours to spend our money where we see fit. They’re not entitled to our cash and certainly not if they’re going to use it to help Donald Trump on his authoritarian crusade. The sad reality is that these companies like CBS and ABC and Amazon are not in it for free speech or the First Amendment or democracy itself. They are in it for money. That’s it. That’s the entire game. So if they only speak one language, then we need to talk to them in the language that they understand. The only financial risk to these companies cannot just be the one at the hands of Trump. Consumers have power here, too. Don’t forget to actually use it. Next up are my interviews with Daniel Goldman and Jamie Rascin. No lie is brought to you by Shopify. Now, if you’ve shopped online, chances are you’ve bought from a business powered by Shopify. In fact, if you’ve gone to my website, then you’ve gone to a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button you see at checkout? the one that makes buying so incredibly easy, that’s Shopify. And there’s a reason that so many businesses sell with it, because Shopify makes it incredibly easy to start and run your business. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all e-commerce in the United States. 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Now, I didn’t realize how much sitting all day was dragging me down, both physically and mentally, notwithstanding the industry that I work in, but I would end my day feeling stiff and foggy and completely worn out. That’s why I started using this episode sponsor, Uplift Desk. It completely changed my routine and my well-being. And it doesn’t just improve my posture. I’m also moving more, thinking clear, and actually enjoying being at my desk. Great work starts with great workspaces. That’s why Uplift Desk builds premium ergonomic furniture designed to keep you moving, feeling good, and doing your best work. Uplift desk helps you move more and sit less, which does wonders for your posture, circulation, and overall mood. I’m way more productive when I can easily switch between sitting and standing. That keeps me alert and energized and creative. And what I love most is how customizable it is. There’s over 200,000 desk combinations to match your space, style, and workflow. What I find most helpful about my Uplift desk is actually their wire and cable management solutions. Um, there are so many cables around my desk, and I’m kind of a lunatic about making sure that everything is neat. Upliftes makes that so much easier than any other desk I’ve ever had. Your workday does not have to leave you feeling worn out. Go to upliftes.com/btc and use our code BTC to get four free accessories, free same day shipping, free returns, and an industryleading 15-year warranty that covers your entire desk, plus an extra discount off your entire order. That’s uplifesk.com/btc for this exclusive offer. It’s only available through our link. I’m joined now by Congressman Daniel Goldman. Thanks for joining me. Thanks for having me, Brian. So, we’ve just watched as Donald Trump successfully pressure Jimmy Kimmel off the air and we’re watching as his administration officials, including FCC chairman Brendan Carr, are doing a victory lap and uh uh basically putting in place the steps for the next cancellations. Is there anything that can be done as far as Congress is concerned given the fact that this seems like it’s a pretty overt attack on the First Amendment? Yeah, look, I think um to to the degree that we get response from the administration there, we can certainly uh try to conduct oversight, but as you know well, we’re in the minority. We don’t have subpoena power and uh this administration has ignored pretty much all Democratic requests for information. It is very clear that they do not believe that they answer to Democrats. Um, so we have to take the next step here and that is to really rally the people and it’s not just to oppose Donald Trump’s actions. It’s not just to pressure uh vulnerable Republicans uh with opposition to these authoritarian tactics. We have to go back to true advocacy and hold the businesses and corporations that are bending the knee of Donald Trump accountable. Um, it is outrageous to me not only that Donald Trump and Brendan Carr forced Jimmy Kimmel off based on uh absolutely nothing that is I mean frankly it’s not no hate speech. It’s nothing. I mean there is literally just part of his uh comedic comedic show. But the fact that NextStar, which is of course uh hoping to get approval for a merger, and Disney um ultimately acquiesced and we’re seeing this over and over and over again. And you have Mark Zuckerberg at the White House say a asking after he announces a $600 billion uh investment in the United States, which he already had. Asking President Trump, “Oh, I I wasn’t sure what number you wanted me to say. Is was that okay?” Right? you know it is across the board whether it’s law firms whether it’s corporate America whether it’s media companies we have to stand up for the dem our democracy because if we don’t stand up for it and we don’t force not only our elected officials but also uh the corporations that we use um to do so then uh we don’t we are really really falling uh down a rabbit hole right now. You know, the way that this was able to be effectuated was because uh Brendan Carr at the FCC was able to to dangle the prospect of either approving or rejecting this requested merger that would give I believe Nextstar uh by merging with Tangga like some something like 80% uh control of local TV in this country. And and the reason that they’re able to do that is they’re seeking an exemption to the rule that prevents them from from having that much consolidation. It’s it’s basically otherwise a massive violation of of of antitrust in this country. Why does a partisan actor like a president’s appointed FCC chair have the ability to subvert these rules that are put in place uh to prevent monopolistic behavior uh unilaterally? Look, this is why Donald Trump has busted every norm and obviously many laws and constitutional uh requirements. the there was never previously a political component to the approval of any mergers or acquisitions um to you know so many things uh crypto for example or regulation of of financial regulation. Um, there are policy differences and there are policy disagreements, but Donald Trump has turned all of this into a partisan battle and political warfare. Not just that, he’s also using his power for his own purposes, his own political purposes. So, he is not just threatening, he is using the Department of Justice to investigate his enemies. He is using the FCC to threaten media companies with losing their license if they don’t stop any criticism of him. And it’s all part of a larger scheme here, which is to undermine every form of accountability so that he can continue to take more authoritarian control over our government. That’s the really the there’s no other way of looking at it right now. You know, prior to coming into Congress, uh you were an attorney. Um obviously during during the impeachment uh proceedings, you were you were very present there as well. using using your past experience, is there any um is there any likelihood or or is there any grounds for some type of lawsuit on first amendment grounds against this administration either on behalf of of Jimmy Kimmel himself or or some other uh some other party, some other litigant uh to be able to push back on on what we’re seeing happen at the hands of the administration. Yeah, I think so. I I think Jimmy Kimmel should sue. And um what’s what’s shameful is that Disney did not stand up to Trump. Yeah. Force him to actually take away their license if that’s what he was threatening and then if they did file suit. Now Disney in theory is a private company and it has you know reputational considerations. So, you know, the First Amendment doesn’t apply in the same way, but the direct coercion by the government that is connected to Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension um makes this a a government issue in my view. And you know, I’m not a first amendment expert, but uh I think it’s important that uh everyone um take every measure they can to fight against this authoritarian uh regime. And I am especially concerned about corporate America who seems and the tech world where they seem like you know what I’m happy to just give up our democracy as long as you know I get the regulation or the lack of regulation that I want that will make me billions of dollars. Uh and it’s kind of disgusting. Um, and it’s part of the reason why our system has become um, so divided and so unequal is that you have these folks on top who are mingling with Donald Trump and bending the knee to him and then he’s p, you know, giving them back the policies that they want and that’s how policy is now being made, right? It’s uh it’s it’s really really um anti-democratic and and unacceptable. I mean there there really are like to put this as indelicately as possible like they are they are show showing themselves exposing themselves as complete for this administration whether it’s CBS whether it’s ABC whether it’s Meta whether it’s Amazon and the Washington Post whether it’s the LA Times. I mean on outlet after outlet after outlet, including these outlets that that have hid behind these these glossy slogans like democracy’s eyes in darkness back when it wasn’t challenged, back when it didn’t mean anything to say it. It was just a bumper sticker because who cares? No one’s actually coming for those things. So why not just say it? Why not just bolster our credentials and and our reputation uh by saying this kind of stuff? The mo it really is telling that the moment it’s challenged, the moment that they actually have the opportunity to stand up and defend the things that they have said about themselves, that they’re the the esteemed fourth estate that’s going to stand up and and protect democracy when all else fails. The fact that when they have this opportunity, they just bend the knee, capitulate instantly to Donald Trump shows that they’re not just full of now. They’re not just these awful stewards of democracy now, but it was it was all a scam the whole time because now is when they can actually bear out that thesis that what they were saying was accurate. There is a big difference though between what happened in Trump’s first term and what is happening now. There were there was a there were a lot of corporations. There were a lot of business leaders who spoke out against Donald Trump, who opposed what he was doing um and took him on. I mean, even Jeff Bezos was uh ridiculed and attacked constantly by Donald Trump and uh he still managed to try to hold the line. And certainly, as you point out, who’s going to stand up for our First Amendment if not the media, freedom of the press. Yeah. But this time around, we’re seeing a totally different view. And I think the reason is that they know Donald Trump is completely for sale. That everything is transactional. They know if they give a million bucks to his inaugural that he will make sure that his policies line their pockets. And they’d rather do that than have to fight with him. And that’s how we lose uh the fundamental values that this country is founded on. Congressman, what are you hearing from your colleagues? I mean, the Republican party is this self-proclaimed uh uh stalwart bull work against against the censorship of the left. So, like are any of them trying to justify this? Are you hearing rumblings from people who are uncomfortable with this, but you know, who who who may or may not be willing to to speak out? Like, what is what is the general sense on the on the other side of the aisle? I hear very little opposition. Yeah. um you know the the the idea that they’ve been talking about Charlie Kirk as a beacon of free speech and uh to remember him as such a a leader in that area and wanting to have debate and then they turn around five minutes later. Yeah. literally support the the president in um in uh his blatant violation of the First Amendment and Brendan Carr and start, you know, accusing the left and trying to silence the left or silence anyone who even criticizes not Charlie Kirk’s you know supports Charlie Kirk’s murder which we all uh abhore and condemn but start saying, “Well, you know, looking at what his legacy is and saying, you know, maybe he said some things that were not so great.” Oh, that’s off limits. You cannot say anything bad about Charlie Kirk. And it’s like, give me a break. You guys are the ones who are the free speech absolutists. You were so upset about censorship by the Biden administration on social media. you had an entire uh subcommittee that I was on last Congress on the weaponization of the federal government and using it to censor um social media companies and Republican viewpoints. And here then you just turn around and you’re saying, “Well, no, it’s really I only object if it’s speech that I like, right? I got no problem cancelling speech I don’t like.” Right? What is the natural conclusion of what we’re seeing right now? Like clearly clearly this is I mean not a slippery slope is is the most generous way to put this but we’ve watched again I I listed out the whole the whole slew of of companies that have capitulated to the Trump administration um or or that have or uh in instances where the Trump administration has successfully lobbyed to get these people kicked off the air whether it’s Cobar whether it’s Kimmel uh whether it’s you know uh suing ABC or CBS or Meta and getting them all to capitulate. What is what what does this look like a a month, 6 months, a year down the line? Well, we’re at a a real fork in the road right now. Um because this latest action was so far and away the most egregious and it was so out in the public and it was so clear that it is an absolute move that even if you look at the merits of it and what Jimmy Kimmel said there’s nothing wrong with it, right? I I mean certainly the the Republicans I mean Donald Trump himself started accusing the left of being responsible for Charlie Kirk’s murder before the perpetrator was identified or arrested. Right? And that’s all Jimmy Kimmel was saying. So, but even putting that aside, right, is the idea that you can threaten the license of a media organization because you don’t like what they say and that they acquies is next level here. We continue to go further and further and he continues to push the envelope. And so, look, there are different ways we can do it. Donald Trump is not going to care what I say or what your listeners likely say or likely what your listeners say. But there are many Republicans in the House especially who are vulnerable in their elections next year. And the closer and closer that we get to those elections, the more and more the pressure that the American public puts on them will have an impact because Donald Trump does not want to lose the majority. That’s why he’s uh rigging the entire district uh rigging the entire system by redistricting all over the country. Um but if he starts to see that the polling and the the prospects for his house majority and their vulnerable members are getting worse and worse that will have an impact on him. And so I think it’s got to be a combination of that and then putting pressure on corporate America to stand up for our values. Um which I wish we didn’t have to do but we certainly do now. I want to ask one more question here and it’s a little bit of a selfish question but in as we continue to recognize the extent to which legacy media and these legacy outlets are not in it to to defend first amendment rights or free speech or democracy itself. I think the onus does fall more and more on folks in the independent media space to pick up uh to pick up where where legacy media isn’t meeting the moment. And so there is some concern um that as Donald Trump has leaned on these legacy outlets that he that he’ll then turn his attention to uh the platforms where all of uh our content content creators where all of our content is posted um and to to try and you know lean on Tik Tok, lean on Google, lean on uh YouTube and Instagram and Snapchat to to suppress speech that is you know like he’s doing everywhere else critical of him. And so is there do you have concern about that? Is there any bull work to prevent him from overstepping in very much the same way that he’s overstepping as it relates to legacy media? Yeah, I am I am concerned. I mean, look, the legacy media world, as you describe it, is now there almost all of it is just part of larger corporations that are public companies that have earnings and have shareholders and are far more worried about their bottom line than they are about the First Amendment. What if he goes after the platforms? um we’re in a different world because remember that’s exactly what they have been railing against right for years and the platforms are immune you know they do have immunity from uh from liability for that’s that section 230 immunity correct right yeah but you know the idea that Elon Musk could just decide that all right I’m just going to you know suppress as they whatever the word is uh you know whatever uh speech or whatever comments I don’t like uh is really dangerous and that’s where I do think Congress has a role because yes there’s free speech and yes these social media platforms may have immunity from liability for being held responsible for something you say. Um, but they use their algorithms in a very specific and particular way and Congress can regulate those algorithms and there’s a lot of talk about doing it and I think that we’re going to have to ramp up those efforts. All right. Well, we will leave it there. I appreciate your leadership on this issue and thank you for the time today. Thanks, Brian. Take care. I’m joined now by Congressman Jamie Raskin. Congressman, thanks for joining me. Delighted to be with you. So you had the opportunity to question Cash Patel, the FBI director, during a hearing today in Congress. Uh there was a lot of focus on the fact that he had staked so much of his reputation, so much of his credibility on this idea that he was going to be uh uh the guy to come in and expose all of this uh all of this wrongdoing as it relates to Epstein that had been covered up by these deep state operatives only to then basically become the very problem that he criticized for so long. Did anything in his testimony give the impression that he is that that that he’s going to be true to his word um that he gave when he was a podcaster as opposed to what it seems like he’s doing right now which is just perpetuating a cover up. No, he’s in full-blown cover up mode. Um and it is really mind-blowing because I confronted him with just video snippets of him saying um this is totally within the control of the FBI director. um he’s got the black bag, he can release it. Put on your big boy pants and show us who the pedests are. Um and I just turned it around and I said, “So what do you say? You know, are you going to put on your big boy pants and show us who the pedest are?” And then there was a lot of heming and hawing and kind of pointing fingers at the federal courts. And their whole deflection ploy has been to say, well, we asked the courts to release the grand jury material, which is a totally irrelevant distraction. The government has just mountains of evidentiary data, investigative data data that they’ve gotten. And then they’re going and saying, “We want the grand jury data from the old Maxwell and Epstein files, which were about Maxwell and Epstein, not about everybody else.” So th those judges, not only did they say, “No, we’re not going to release this under 6E. you’ve not shown reason why. They also kind of called them out saying this is a deflection because you have a much greater mass of material that you could just release on your own and you don’t need this stuff and it’s pretty extraneous to what the public wants to see. So back a few months ago or years ago whenever he said it when Cash Mattel came out and said that really this this the buck stops with the FBI director who of course was not him at the time but was he telling the truth that the buck does stop with the FBI director which would in turn suggest that he right now as the FBI director has the power to release exactly the files that he’s claiming that that he has no power to release. Yes. Overwhelmingly the buck stops with the FBI director. In other words, the the greater mass of material out there is within the control of the FBI director. Everything they found when they went to Epstein’s house and they were in his safe, all of the computers and the memos and the telephones and the photographs and the videos and so on. and they’re focused on a very tiny percentage of the overall materials which was grand jury material leading up to the indictment of Epstein or the indictment of Maxwell. Again, a small fraction of everything the government has and everything that the people want to see. So, there were a number of false distractions like that that he engaged in, which says to me he’s really just flipped over. He was demanding it. They thought it was to their political advantage to say, “We want to come clean on everything. We’re going to do it on day one.” And so on. And then when they get in and he’s deployed a thousand FBI agents to pour over the material to look for Trump’s name and to make a mark there and to redact it, then that’s when they come back and completely flip over, do 180°ree U-turn, and say, “Um, nothing to see here. We’re not interested in this anymore.” Is there anything to suggest that the FBI under Cash Patel’s leadership is working toward transparency or accountability? Or does the sole project, the sole goal, the sole focus of this whole thing, is this just a protection racket for Trump? I think it is. I mean, a great example is he repeatedly testified to the Senate during his confirmation hearing that there would be no political retaliation or retribution against people in the FBI. And yet there’s all kinds of statements now by the by people at the FBI that that’s precisely what he’s doing. And he’s forcing huge numbers of FBI agents out. Experienced, talented, um awarded uh FBI agents are being pushed out of the department, fired, sacked, demoted, um told they’ve got to leave. Why? Simply because they worked on the January 6 investigation and Trump wants them out. or they’d worked on uh the Russia investigation, the investigation of Russian uh infiltration and attacks on the 2016 election, the 2020 election, the 2024 election, and so on. All these people have been targeted for removal. So, he’s doing precisely what he said he wouldn’t do, which is turning the FBI into an instrument of political revenge and retaliation against people. Well, almost worse than that is even in the event of the Charlie Kirk shooting. I mean, he was live he was basically live tweeting it and and putting on his podcaster hat and live tweeting the thing, offering up fake information, information that was ultimately proven completely false because he can’t get out of this frame of just being this political commentator. So, to what extent is is this harming the credibility of the agency that he’s supposed to be leading right now? Well, yeah, and that might just be general incompetence and inexperience on his part. I mean, he’s um, you know, one of the only people who ever became FBI director with no experience ever at the FBI. I mean, he was writing children’s books about uh, Donald Trump, about King Donald, and about the, you know, the wacky wizard Cash who protects King Donald. I mean, this is the level of comic book fantasy world he lived in. Um, and so suddenly he’s head of the nation’s premier law enforcement organization. And as you say, he thinks he’s still some kind of, you know, just online troll or blogger or something and starts, you know, live tweeting things he’s hearing from afar about the investigation and he had to retract a number of his statements. Can you talk about uh his his unwillingness to respond in any of the correspondents that you had sent to him over the last eight months? Well, we’ve been trying to raise all kinds of things, especially about the personnel matters and the ongoing Stalinist style purge of FBI agents. You know, they’re using polygraphs basically to cross-examine FBI agents as to their political loyalty to Donald Trump. And so we’ve been trying to raise these things and get an answer from him and we’ve simply not gotten an answer. He doesn’t even send me form letters saying it’s been received. It just goes out into the either. So I said we got a lot of stuff to talk about. Of course we were all limited to our five minute question spot and they didn’t want to do another round or a third round. I mean we could have gone for a long time on this. So we’re going to have to get some answers from Attorney General Bondi when she comes in that we never got from Cash Patel. Of course, I think we did have more substantive exchanges than took place over in the Senate when he just started screaming and yelling over the senators. He did some of that today, but I think that his team must have told him that that’s not a very effective communications tactic for the director of FBI. I know that this is a little bit of an unfair question to ask you to get into Cash Patel’s head, but what do you presume Cash Patel, the podcaster, would say if he saw an FBI director being asked these questions point blank, very simple questions about about the Epstein scandal, about um you know, the this this um effort to basically bury any any accountability or transparency. What do you think that he would say uh if he was still in his capacity as a political commentator? He’d say that’s an FBI director in full-blown coverup mode who’s covering up for the deep state. He would definitely say that. I mean, you know, we just learned from the four CEOs of major banks like JP Morgan that there were $1.5 billion worth of financial transactions that they identified as suspicious activity going through Epstein’s various accounts. That doesn’t sound like um, you know, just sort of a a prostitution ring on the corner. $1.5 billion dollars. I mean, my uh colleagues across the aisle went crazy for the SARS reports about Hunter Biden, which were around 20 or 25 million. And here we’ve got a billion half dollars going through this international child sex ring. And we tried to get a subpoena of these bank CEOs. And every Republican except to uh his great credit, Representative Massie from Kentucky, voted against it. But Massie voted with all the Democrats to subpoena these documents. Jaime Diamond released a statement right after I first raised it saying, you know, essentially he’d be happy to comply and they’re sorry they ever had anything to do with Epstein. So, you know, I think the banks would welcome the opportunity to come clean with all the information they’ve got. On the Massie front, to your point, he is the only Republican who seems to be engaged uh in in any effort toward transparency. What is the sense among your Republican colleagues who are actively voting uh to suppress transparency as it relates to to you know a notorious pedophile and the people that he uh surrounded himself with? I mean, these these were people who during the campaign were perfectly content to exploit this issue if it meant they can derive some political benefit. But now that they actually have the power to substantiate their own promises from September and October and every month before that, now they’re the ones actually perpetuating the cover up themselves. Well, in fairness, Lauren Boower, Marjorie Taylor Green, and Nancy May still have their names on the discharge petition. Uh, and we added one more vote on the Democratic side when um Jerry Connley’s seat was filled by Congressman Wenshaw. So now we just need one more Republican, if my math is correct, but one or two more Republicans to add their name to the discharge petition and we will be able to put a bill on the floor which will have to pass overwhelmingly saying release all the files because even the people who aren’t signing the discharge petition say that they would vote for that. But you’re right. I mean, the the truth of the matter is that there’s a lot of fear operating on the Republican side, and some of it is fear of political retaliation. Some of it is fear of all of the death threats and violent threats that are out there today. And then some of it is frankly just tribalistic thinking. Uh we live in very tribalistic times. And so you saw the center of gravity on the GOP side just switch on a dime from release the file. We want to know what’s in there. This is sick. This is a deep state conspiracy to uh no, we’re not interested anymore. We’re willing to go with the president. Yeah. Um simply because Trump changed his mind. That is tribalistic and I think humiliating uh obsequious and sickopantic psychology. But it has really saturated our politics. Now, what about the prospect of the uh Epstein files being released to the House Oversight Committee? I are are is that any different than the effort that would be put forward um if the discharge petition passes? Are are you trying to do them in tandem for some for some reason? Is there some uh some greater degree of transparency that we would get uh if the discharge petition passes? Well, right. The whole point is we’re passing legislation um with the discharge petition that would command the surrender of the entire file. In other words, it would no longer be dribb um parcled out in little political micro doses, right? I think I think the last the first batch had 97% already public uh files included in they were releasing old press releases and old newspaper articles and I mean it was ludicrous just so they could say it was a big batch. It’s not the stuff that they want us to see that we want. It’s the stuff they don’t want us to see that we want. And we’re afraid of course that it could be destroyed. It could be redacted in the meantime. And so we don’t want any more dillydallying around this. We want to just get the file exactly what Cash Patel, exactly what Donald Trump was talking about before they came into office and they were able to review the file themselves. And finally, let’s finish off with this. I know that the Republican effort right now is to try and basically convince Well, actually, I don’t really know what the what the convincing is, but to try and persuade the base that for some reason uh the same Epstein files that they staked all of their credibility on releasing now have to be suppressed. And again, I don’t know if it’s because they’re trying to claim that it was some deep state plot that’s been concocted by by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and James Comey and and and Clapper. or or whatever whatever it may be. I don’t I don’t I don’t know what conspiracy theory we’re up to right now, but what would you say to the folks who, you know, in part stake their votes on this Republican party based on the idea that they would seek some accountability for for this heinous pedophile uh and and only to watch these people now again engage in the same cover up uh that that just a few months back they were decrying. And what we’re getting is deep state double talk. I mean, what Cash Patel was saying was, “Oh, we brought these motions to the the Epstein and Maxwell judges to release the grand jury material, and they said, “No, here’s what Judge Burman had to say about this.” Because these judges, not only did they reject the request and explain precisely why, but they also called the bluff of the Trump administration. So, here’s Judge Burman. This is on page seven of his ruling in the United States of America versus Epstein, which came out in August. And he goes, “The government’s 100,000 pages of Epstein files and materials dwarf the 70 odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials. The government’s Epstein files are sooie generous. That is, they’re one of a kind. they are investigatory and not subject to federal rule of criminal procedure 6E. In other words, Cash Patel comes to us and says, “Well, the court says that we can’t release all of these materials because of rule 6E about grand jury materials. Those aren’t grand jury materials. Those are independent materials that have been collected by the government.” And then Burman goes on to say, “The government is the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein files. By comparison, the instant grand jury motion appears to be a diversion from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the government’s possession.” So, you even have a federal judge saying, you know, basically, don’t make us a party to this fraud on the public, right? And and I think you know Cash Patel himself said it best that the buck stops with the FBI director. So if we’re looking for the person responsible for secretting uh all of this information, Cash Patel just has to consult a mirror. Uh Congressman, as always, thank you for the time. Thanks for continuing to fight on this front. I appreciate it. Thank you, Brian, so much. To listen to the audio version of this episode, click the link right here on the screen and make sure to subscribe to my audio podcast. And of course, to see more of my content, the subscribe button’s on the screen as well. [Music]

No Lie episode 286: The Disney boycott explodes as ABC sides with Trump over Jimmy Kimmel

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