8/25/25: Trump Floats Chicago Occupation, Bill Maher Warns of Trump Coup, Saagar Debunks Ghislaine Testimony

23:30And I do think the gun thing has to be acknowledged. Obviously, we have 400 million guns in the country. I'm not for gun control. Also, by the way, it's just not going to happen. And Illinois has some of the strictest gun laws in the entire nation. So within the framework of like, quote, the possible where we're going to acknowledge, yes, we're going to have violent crime. we're never going to be a European capital. We don't live in Geneva. We don't live in Zurich. We don't live in Vienna. That's Tokyo, any of these places. That is not politically feasible. What is feasible is the year 2000, in my opinion.

23:56And now we have to all ask, how exactly did we get to this point here? Is the National Guard, I just, I continue to emphasize it for a sole reason. I continue to see this BLM style, oh, it's all because of social safety. It's like, no, it's not. It's addiction, a huge part of it, and it's soft on crime policy. And the fact is, is that if you embrace like a narrative of actually crime is down, when in reality, it's still very high compared to 2000, especially 2010. But how does our incarceration rate compare to other countries? Yes, we have one of the higher incarceration rates in the world. Right.

24:28So to say, okay, it's because we're soft on crime. That's nonsense. Well, yeah, but there's been a great shift since the year 2020, of which the consequences have been disastrous. And it isn't just about incarceration. It is about enforcement then why is crime going down so much? Because they're not being enforced. It's because, Sagar, I mean, look, those policies, I'm not going to say that they don't have any impact, okay? I think that would be dishonest. But I think if we talk about, okay, what has really changed between, like, let's say the year 2000 was the benchmark you set out, and now we are suffering through a national societal breakdown, right?

25:02Inequality is skyrocketing. That's part of it. Social misery and stress and political polarization, like all of these things are pulling us apart. It is no surprise that at a time when you had the COVID lockdowns and an additional level of stress and isolation and loneliness, that yes, out of that, you see a spike in crime, not to mention, you know, kids being out of school and all these sorts of things. So, you know, I'm not gonna say the policies don't matter, but I think the bigger picture is those broader societal trends, which is why this is not a blue state or red state or red city or blue city thing.

25:38It is a national epidemic that we struggle with, which has a lot of contributing factors and none of which will be solved by the National Guard standing outside of Georgetown Cupcake. One of the things you didn't mention is illegal immigration, which actually some of this probably will be targeted towards. And so that is an important part of the story as well, where you have a mass illegal immigrant population, which has ballooned since the year 2000. So look, this is why even if you look at violent crime compared to my benchmark. Violent crime is actually, if you look at 2000, it wasn't a great year for violent crime.

26:09Like, that's why it's not the right benchmark. The benchmark is quality of life. The quality of life has many different constituent parts to it. Inequality, certainly. But again, like, culturally, juveniles here today are not getting prosecuted. Juvenile, like, delinquency is a genuine BLM creation, like, from 2020, post on here in Washington. ATV gangs, lawlessness, cashless bail. These are BLM policies directly implemented as a result of the protests, which have skyrocketed crime in New York City, in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Brandon Johnson, 2023. They went ahead and implemented cashless bail.

26:44I get it. If you think about cash bail, it sounds inequitable. But the consequence has been a disaster. And so, I mean, we cover that story of the guy who, what did he do? He like ran into a, it was in the state of Illinois, I believe. He like ran into some parade and killed a bunch of people, released on bail. I mean, these are cashless bail. This is always the issue is that we don't evaluate all of this like new age policy. Oh, we need to talk about addiction and not criminalize it. It's like, well, look at Skid Row. Look at San Francisco. Look at the most non-criminalized areas for people in addiction.

27:19It has destroyed the quality of life of the residents of those cities. So we should definitely not criminalize addiction. We should have much more forceful rehab as you and I discussed. Again, I come back to the point. None of this has to do with the National Guard. None of it. None of it. That's why I find it frustrating to even like indulge the conversation when it's very clear what is being done here. It's the whole attempt is to get this conversation put on the table, even though Trump has no interest in solving it, has been more pro-criminal than maybe any other president. given the way that he's pardoned not only, you know, not only the J6 or all these like, you know, white collar criminal fraudsters who just like pay the right person and are able to get their pardons.

28:02So that's my core frustration with the way this conversation is unfolding. Let me get to the Westmore part because this, you know, this relates to what we're discussing. We can talk about Bill Maher and get into, you know, some of the sort of darker possibilities of what Trump is doing right now. So let's go and put a five up on the screen. Trump going directly after Westmore's governor of Maryland, talked about as a presidential candidate. He's, you know, not really my style. He's a little too moderate, corporate, et cetera, et cetera. But in any case, Trump says, Governor Westmore of Maryland has asked in a rather nasty and provocative tone that I walk the streets of Maryland with him.

28:40I assume he is talking about out-of-control, crime-ridden Baltimore. As president, I would much prefer that he clean up this crime disaster before I go there for a walk. Westmore's record on crime is a very bad one unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other blue states are doing. But if Westmore needs help like Gavin Newsom did in LA, I will send in the troops, which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the crime. After only one week, there is no crime and no murder in DC. When it is like that in Baltimore, I will probably walk the streets with the failing because of crime, Governor of Maryland.

29:11P.S. Baltimore is ranked the fourth worst city in the nation in crime and murder. Stop talking and get to work. West, I'll then see you in the streets. And then he goes on to say, I gave Westmore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge. Not even true. That came from Joe Biden. But and he says, I'll now have to rethink that decision. OK, Westmore responded to this on the Sunday shows. Let's go ahead and take a listen to what he had to say. Are you so opposed to this deployment? Well, there's a there's plenty of reasons. You know, one, it is not sustainable. You cannot continue this type of pace of operations, particularly when you're when it's costing over a million dollars a day in order to do this.

29:45The second, it's not scalable. You're not going to be able to do this in every single major American city, particularly when many of the cities that have the highest crime rates are the places that have actually deployed their National Guard to Washington, D.C. So who's going to who's going to go do the work in their cities? The third, it's unconstitutional. It's a direct violation of the 10th Amendment. The fourth reason is because it's deeply disrespectful to the members of the National Guard. You know, as someone who actually deployed overseas and served my country in combat, to ask these men and women to do a job that they're not trained for is just deeply disrespectful.

30:15And so when we're thinking about all of these lasting factors, when we're thinking about the fact that it serves as a distraction from the fact that the president's disastrous economic policies are making everything more expensive for everyday Americans, it's making life harder for everyday Americans. There is a multitude of reasons that I am against this and I will not authorize the Maryland National Guard to be utilized for this. So his reasons where he said it's unsustainable, it's not scalable, it's unconstitutional, and it's a distraction. So that was his take on all of it. I mean, look, I mean, which, you know, I mean, he didn't downplay that obviously Baltimore has long had a crime issue, although they have done a better job this year in particular.

30:53Violent crime is they have done it. They have done it. Yes. The social worker part of it is not the whole story. Prosecution is a big part of it, having dug a little bit into it. But, yeah, let's give it credit where it's due. I will say Moore also is diving into what is it into the gerrymandering fight? And he's going to make it so there's only one Republican state in the state. No, there is currently only one. Or sorry, no, only one, and they're just going to take it away. They're going to get rid of that, too. Yeah, they're going to take it away. So race to the bottom, I guess. I mean, Maryland, it's been a blue state, I guess, now for quite some time.

31:22Might as well just make it official. I think Moore is, I think he's quite talented, actually. I mean, I don't know. It's like you said, I'm a bit suspicious of the more corporatized element of it. And he does seem very cut of the mold of, like, exactly what the centrist Democrat would want. and almost wears it on his sleeve a little bit about, like, practicing with the football squad and all of that, making it go quite viral. But, I mean, there's no question. He's quite popular, actually, in the state. It is generally smaller. And in terms of national profile, I don't see it as much for him as with Newsom.

31:55But if Trump picks a fight with him, obviously, then he's going to get his role. That would be very elevating for him, yeah. And I think a lot of Democrats, ambitious Democrats, are looking at the Newsom model and they see that, like, this is working for him, you know. And I don't know why it took them this long to realize that trying to troll Trump, get in his face, make a lot of noise, be controversial. Obviously, that's what you have to do in this era. And so I think Wes Moore is trying to do kind of his own version of that. And the fight that Trump has picked with him is obviously very elevating for him.

32:31Right. Anyway, I think broadly, look, yeah, to wrap up our discussion, I agree. I think the National Guard and most Americans are smart. I've always believed that. Yeah, I can see through a lot of what this is. Even people like me who are like, yeah, I think crime is a huge problem. I think illegal immigration and all of that is a huge problem. If they view it as showmanship and is not serious, then they're going to get upset. I do wonder politically how it shakes out because it sounds, quote, unpopular and all of that today. What I continue to wonder about is the actual merits of how the Democratic opposition fights this.

33:04And that's why, you know, that's part of what I thought our discussion is important for is if the alternative is seen as still like soft on crime, then it will be a genuine question at the ballot box, especially for the future of the discourse as to like what this will look like in terms of preference. Because we have to be honest, like, you know, even if you look back at the height of BLM, sending in troops to the cities was broadly popular. And especially in retrospect, if you go back and now look some one or two years later on the question of that polling, people were very upset to break down the social order chaos.

33:40And they're not going to pick, in general, in my opinion, people will pick social order over everything. That is not actually a good societal natural instinct, but it is broadly true. The question politically is how this will sustain it. I think Gavin, one of the ways that he was smart was talking about rule of law and they weren't doing the BLM style like actually it's mostly peaceful. Most Democrats were criticizing the Mexican flag burning, like the burning of the cars, rioting and any of that. That seems to be a politically palatable position that I think a lot of centrists, more Americans could go with.

34:12But it is still like a very live question today. I can see where the centrists are going, but I also see where the activist base is. And so I'm still curious to see how that actually shakes. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a very different moment from the moment of COVID and BLM, because there is a sense that like, you know, things have calmed down in these cities and it's not this heightened moment that it was at that point in time. I was just looking, there is a little bit of polling. I mean, who knows how this shakes out, what people really think in the long run and all of that. But data for progress found a majority of voters, 51 percent, opposed the Trump administration, taking over D.C.

34:50police force and deploying the National Guard in the city. So 44 percent support, 51 percent oppose. That's basically right in line with Trump's approval rating. Yeah. So I think it really is just like a vector for. It's negative polarization. Do you trust Trump or do you not trust Trump? And you've got a lot of people, too, who, you know, think that it is indicative of authoritarian. Trump is being authoritarian. Fifty seven percent. Trump is just doing this to distract from other issues. 51 percent, more than half of voters, 51 percent also agree Trump is doing what's necessary to crack down on crime.

35:25Though voters are closely divided with 46 percent disagreeing with that statement. Apple Vacations, where your story starts. The Summer Savings Event is here at Apple Vacations. It's the perfect time to bring everyone together for the getaway you've been dreaming about. Book between July 24th and August 27th and enjoy up to 55 percent instant savings. From relaxing beach days to unforgettable moments with the people who matter most, your next vacation starts here. Travel through July 31st, 2027. Start your vacation today at AppleVacations.com or through your travel advisor. Apple Vacations, where your story starts.

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37:03Let's go ahead and move on to Bill Maher and then we can talk more about this. But in any case, he had a take on his show over the weekend, which in my opinion is interesting for a variety of reasons. Let's go ahead and take a listen to that. I don't know if I was the first one to use the phrase slow-moving coup. I know I was using it before he was— Thank you. I know I was using it before he was president the first time. So maybe somebody got to it first. I don't know. And people were laughing at it. I mean, whenever I said he was never going to concede power, they would say, oh, you smoke too much pot.

37:34Well, it turned out I smoked just the right amount of pot. He does this magic trick. You know, he's passing out pizza and it's all about big balls and we're all laughing at what's going on in D.C. Yeah, he's passing out pizza to the troops. If there was a slow moving coup, let me just describe some of the steps and you tell me if I'm being paranoid. First, create a masked police force. Get people used to looking at that. normalize snatching people off the street. Get them used to that. Normalize seeing the National Guard and the military on the street. Then start talking about crime in the capital, which is basically, you know, has always been a fairly crime-ridden city.

38:13This is our nation's capital where elections are decided. And then have, because the crime is so bad, have other states start sending their troops, not just the National Guard there in D.C., But now at least six other states are sending their troops, which then Trump can then federalize. So you're having many states troops on the ground there. And now they're under federal control. So you have in the Capitol a sort of permanent police presence. So when an election dispute might come up, just hypothetically. Hypothetically. I mean, I don't want to be a big pessimist, and I'm going to pretend for the rest of the adoration that the Democrats do have a chance of winning, and they might win the next election.

39:02I just don't think they're ever going to take power, because this is what's going to happen, because I think this coup is going to go off a lot smoother than the last one. So what do you make of that saga? Well, it just makes a lot of sense that if you believe that, to go to the White House and to have dinner with that person. So that's why I'm like, Bill, come on here, man. I mean, look, you can't have it both ways. You're either literally a fascist who's trying to take over the country, which I don't think is going to happen, or we're all having dinner together and why wouldn't I go and have dinner?

39:34I mean, you know, it's like, look, Bill, if you believe that, you know, would you really, quote, have dinner with anybody? I don't believe that for a second. That's why, you know, a lot of it just really seems to be centered around him, like personally and like his own ego. So he's happy to talk about soft coups or whatever on his show. But if Trump were to invite him to the White House tomorrow, he would probably go. And then he would, you know, say that there's a reason why it's because we all need to have conversations. And it's like, which what are we doing here, man? And it's funny because for me to be saying this, but I'm just I know for me, I hate inconsistency.

40:09I hate people who are obviously just so wrapped up in their own ego and blowing with the wind. I mean, Bill Maher is probably the most – like the best example of blowing whichever way the tide turns. He's trying to return to some more of his original, like more liberal roots and appear heterodox. But he was basically like a right winger for a year, right? Yeah, the right was loving this guy. The election, yeah, which is humiliating for them because they'll take – like one guy says something like, oh my God, he's making so much sense, Bill Maher. Anyway, that's my own personal pet peeve. But yes, that's my Bill Maher take.

40:44I mean, and it wasn't just any dinner. Yeah, that's right. What was it, Kid Rock? He did, and he did, Dana White was there. But then afterwards, he did a whole monologue about how charming Trump was, how funny he was, and how, why can't this guy be like the public guy? You know what I mean? It was very fawning. And so, and the other thing is, to your point about the self-importance, I mean, these people act like they're like diplomats on some sort of a sensitive government mission. It's the same thing with Joe Amiga, the way they phrased when they did their little trip to Mar-a-Lago. We've gone down to Mar-a-Lago.

41:17He acts like this, you know, comedian with a once a week show going and meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago is like the Camp David Accords. I mean, it's just it's so silly. It's so preposterous. But then, yeah, if you do that and then you turn around and say, which, by the way, I agree with what he's saying here. You know, his language of it's a soft coup, a slow moving coup. I think that everything he said is reasonable, considering what we experienced and saw on January 6th. And, you know, the fact that there's a concerted plan now to roll out National Guard troops in blue cities and blue states across the country.

41:54But you don't have a lot of credibility on that when you're doing the like, you know, the nicey nice with him as well. So I just want to say this, again, comes to the difficulty that I have in trying to accurately assess the threat posed by the Trump administration. Because on the one hand, like we're here in D.C., the National Guard deployment is buffoonish. Like it's silly. It's ridiculous. They're, you know, they're at MRAPs at Union Station and apparently on the National Mall and like roaming around Georgetown Cupcake. I'm seeing videos of them just like going up and down escalators. It's ridiculous.

42:31On the other hand, they are going to be armed, apparently, starting this week. You know, it's not hard to imagine some sort of disaster, disastrous conflagration, which creates way more chaos, way more, you know, violence or way more backlash or whatever it is. And part of you has to wonder if that's not part of the point, right? If that's not part of the desire is trying to stoke this sort of animosity and chaos in the streets. And then you do all he makes the point specifically about elections. And I think it's that one is a fair one, too. Like, are we going to have this armed force in blue cities when it comes to Election Day to try to intimidate Democratic voters from going to the polls?

43:14I don't think that's preposterous to suggest, especially as right now we see the president manifesting concern about the midterms, saying he wants them to try to get 100 new Republican seats already casting doubt on mail-in ballots, which, by the way, he did excellent with mail-in ballots. He would have lost the election. It's because of boomers. He would have lost the election without mail-in ballots last time around. But in any case, this is all about stoking concern and being able to say after the fact that it was rigged. We see him going to red states and saying, you need to create new maps so we can get more Republican seats.

43:44So all of that is to say he's clearly concerned about the midterms. You now have this armed militarized force being deployed in cities across the country. It isn't crazy to say, well, what is this all aiming towards? And, you know, you have the buffoonery and the like idiocy on the one hand. And on the other hand, you have a record of genuinely like nefarious plots executed, you know, by this administration. And Trump being much more sort of unleashed this time around than the first time around. So I do I do give credence to what Bill is saying there, even as I acknowledge he's not the best messenger at this point.

44:22I would say it is incorrect to rule a lot of that stuff out, considering a lot of the ways the administration has acted in its first nine months. I think the greatest danger is actually some sort of spontaneous incident. And like that's the one – which, look, it's fair. I mean you talked about the mask thing. If you come to my door, I mean, especially after more recently that attack, whoever that weirdo was, the pro-life guy who dressed as a police officer with a mask, right? And who went to those politicians' door. Yeah, that's right. I mean, look, even if you're, you know, have that on and I'm looking at the camera, I'm going to be like, look, name, badge number.

44:58Like, who are you? You know, like there needs to be some serious vetting before you open your door for anybody. And I would advise that for everybody out there, especially after that type of incident. And the same with some sort of mass incident, right? So exactly in that scenario, it's dangerous and there were protocols all of there for a reason. That is setting up the ground for something that could go very, very wrong. That's part of the reason why people look at Kent State, for example, as kind of a horror in modern American history. And it's like nobody was going there to kill them. It's just that it erupted in chaos and people ended up dead.

45:37That's the issue. And, you know, like it's not like there wasn't like genuine violence or whatever. But the point is that people looked at that and said, hey, we should not try to normalize this. And that's exactly what I think the danger is, is that the longer that you have, let's say, a deployment or armed deployment or something like this in a 90 percent blue city, it does seem like it's only a matter of time until somebody, you know, somebody crazy. It's a provocation. And then, you know, same from there and then from there. Who knows what's going to happen, right? Yeah. That's not excusing somebody who's going to attack them or whatever.

46:06I'm just, you know, it's obvious. It could happen. And so that, I think that's probably the thing I would be the most afraid, I am most afraid of, especially for the deployment here. Because you just don't know. Like, you know, things, crazy stuff can happen and has happened many times. And you have people out there, you just have no idea. I mean, you had the whole weather. I've been thinking a lot about how America really reminds me today of the 1970s. And the more that we like cling to that framework, it's really important. I mean, the weather underground like tried to blow up the Capitol. Like crazy – a group of just 20 people can cause – can do some crazy shit and can actually cause like some widespread social panic and chaos.

46:40Yeah. That's very possible. And then from there, it's not just a civil liberties question. It's really more about how and what – how are we going to deal with this going forward? And with the administration, you can see like they're not afraid of picking a fight where they think they can come out politically on top. From my conversation with them, they think this is the best thing that they've done so far. They used big balls getting beaten up as like a Reichstag fire to deploy the National Guard. They did. And that's not to say that it was like a setup. I'm just saying they used that provocation.

47:13Sure. Be like, we're sending in the National Guard. Now, let's say, imagine that that homeowner who shot the two, you know, people who were pretending to be law enforcement. Let's say they actually were law. Let's say it was ICE agents. Right. Who refused to identify, who came knocking at the door and the homeowner thought. Or an illegal killer. We're off to the races. I mean, and the homeowner thought genuinely these were home intruders and, you know, killed them. Imagine what this administration would do given any sort of a pretext for some sort of massive crackdown. Like, we know that they'll do it.

47:47They're already doing it based on, like, you know, a few protests with a couple cars set on fire and some Mexican flags and big balls getting beat up. So they'll use anything. I mean, we just had a situation where one of these, wasn't one of the MRAPs that like T-boned a car here in the city. Thankfully, the people in the car were injured. They were taken to the hospital, but I think they survived and aren't going to be okay, which is like a miracle given what unfolded. But again, you can imagine like an angry crowd forming. It's not hard to envision the way this could all go off the rails and the way this administration could use that sort of provocation for an even larger scale crackdown.

48:26So I think we all have to be concerned about those possibilities because and concerned that that is actively the plan. Like that's what they're actually hoping for, because Trump loves to create the pretext of a national emergency to grab more and more and more power. Yeah, I don't think look, I don't think it's that far fetched. I do think it is dangerous just broadly, actually societally for that type of stuff to happen. And if it is seen by the people as something as that, then you're political, even just politically, like you're going to suffer a lot because that is really the question that anyway.

48:59That's just like the question I'm grappling with the most because it's like you said, too. I mean, here's here is the truth that is uncomfortable. A lot of people will choose safety over security. And we've seen that over and over and over and over again. Then safety over freedom. Safety over freedom. The question is about safety itself and like what that even means. I do think there is a deep strain, especially for a lot of America, especially a lot of American Republicans who are still furious about BLM, which I understand is to punish the people who were responsible for that. But, you know, one of the things that they also need to grapple with is three and a half years ain't that long of a time.

49:37OK, because whatever is what's been unleashed, it's coming for you, too. Yeah. I mean, I'm from Texas. I don't know if you remember when Obama, like there was this whole Jade Helm exercise. Oh, yeah. Oh, I remember. And the Texas National Guard was mobilized. People there freaked out. Like my neighbors and other people were like, they're going to come and invade us. And like that's equally, I can see, you know, that strain having lived through that of what that could look like. You know, there's no reason why a liberal city or whatever can't do the same thing. That's kind of a scary place to be.

50:09That's just what I would say. Yeah, I agree. Another pandemic. You ready for Governor Gavin Newsom to send the National Guard into your cities and force everybody, you know, close the churches and lock down? I don't think Republicans are going to be excited about that. That is that is the point, though, that the right wingers always point out is like, hey, you guys are happy to use the National Guard to close down the beach or, you know, to enforce. I don't think they did that. No, in in California, there was maybe not National Guard, but there definitely was. I think there was some National Guard deployment for COVID-19.

50:36I forget exactly what it was for. I think it was Operation Warp Speed. But anyway, law enforcement closing down the beach, a lot of the stupid policies, restaurants, etc. So it's like it's not exactly as if they're like, you know, against like a lot of authoritarian tactics when they want it to be. That was, by the way, another reason why I think it's important to say like there was no mass revolution in America or anywhere in the entire West against draconian COVID policies. People actually should sit with that, especially in retrospect of how ridiculous they were and wonder if we would all do it again.

51:08I personally will not go along with it again. I don't know how many people would go along with it again. And I do think that is an important societal, like, social question for what it means. This is interesting, just aside. I don't know that this is the only deployment, but one of the deployments of the National Guard during COVID was Red State, Ohio, to assist hospitals. But it was, like, to assist hospitals when you had, you know, a low location. But he was the lid. What was the guy? DeWine. DeWine, yeah. Mike DeWine. Basically liberal. Obviously, at the same time, you had National Guard deployed to deal with the George Floyd, the riots in the context of Black Lives Matter.

51:41So in any case. Apple Vacations, where your story starts. The Summer Savings Event is here at Apple Vacations. It's the perfect time to bring everyone together for the getaway you've been dreaming about. Book between July 24th and August 27th and enjoy up to 55 % instant savings. From relaxing beach days to unforgettable moments with the people who matter most, your next vacation starts here. Travel through July 31st, 2027. Start your vacation today at AppleVacations.com or through your travel advisor. Apple Vacations, where your story starts. Shortly after I enrolled at Rasmussen, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

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52:46At Ross, you'll find everything your kids need when they go back to school. From fashion to school supplies to dorm room decor, Ross has it all. Because it isn't just the first day of school for them. It's a new year, a new look, and endless possibilities. When they walk back through those school doors, they're a different kid than the one who walked out months ago, ready for anything. Back to school starts at Ross. Find your nearest Ross at rossstores.com.

53:16You'll all remember that we told you the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sat for two days of interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell in a proffer session. The deputy attorney general and the DOJ has now released the full transcripts, or at least what they say, are the full transcripts of their conversation. And you will be absolutely shocked to know that Ghislaine Maxwell doesn't implicate Donald Trump, doesn't implicate anybody powerful at all. Prince Andrew did nothing wrong. Bill Gates did nothing wrong. Jeffrey Epstein was a simple money manager. By the way, to the extent that anyone did anything wrong, it was Jeffrey Epstein.

53:49And it was, of course, after Ghislaine Maxwell was ever in the picture. Maxwell herself did nothing wrong. Nobody did anything wrong. And by the way, she would like her pardon immediately. She did say a few interesting things to the extent that we give credence at all. Let's keep in mind, every claim that she makes needs to be deeply scrutinized, and I will get into them. Let's go to the first part, shall we? Let's put it up here on the screen. This is the first most important section where Maxwell claims that she does not believe that Epstein, quote, died by suicide. She says, quote, I do not believe he died by suicide.

54:20And Todd Blanche goes, do you believe that? Do you have any speculation or view if you killed him? She says, no, I don't. He continues, I ask that because if you don't believe that and there's any truth for the allegation of blackmail, et cetera, did he have any reason for people to hate him? Why would somebody kill him in prison? And she says, and this is something I keep emphasizing. People are like, how could they get somebody to kill him? Listen to her answer. In prison where I am, they will kill you or they will pay. Somebody can pay a prisoner to kill you for$25 worth of commissary. That's about the going rate for a hit with a lock today.

54:49That is an important thing to underscore because he was in MCC. People keep asking, they're like, who killed him? It's like, it's obviously another prisoner. These guys kill each other over literally 25 cent gambling debts to maintain respect. So the idea that it would be difficult for somebody to kill him or especially to strangle him to death is like so, that is the most plausible scenario. It's far more plausible than that he killed himself. Right. So anyway, the one piece of sense that Ghislaine was saying. But even in that, guess who she doesn't implicate? Yeah, that's right. Of course. The Trump administration.

55:23Not even just that. I mean, anybody. Bill Barr, anyone powerful, right? And obviously, it was the first Trump administration when Jeffrey Epstein died, however that unfolded. And so she's very careful to, you know, I don't think he killed himself, but it was just some, you know, prison beef is probably what happened. Nobody powerful was involved. Don't worry. You can trust me. This whole thing is like a joke. Let's go to the next part here. This is her angling for her pardon, shall we? Quote, I never saw the president in any type of massage setting. I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way.

55:54The president was never inappropriate with anybody in all the times I was with him. He was a gentleman in all respects. And she even says that, by the way, I just want to say that I find it so impressive that he was able to get himself elected president of the United States. Of course, I'm sure those are just, you know, very normal feelings, right? Okay, now let me just again lay out how much of her testimony or whatever, in her proffer session is just a provable lie. And this is the easiest one for me to point out. Let's put it up here on the screen. She told Todd Blanch directly that she built all of Epstein's houses and the idea that there are cameras in them is preposterous.

56:34So here is the exact transcript. From what you know, you do not believe a camera exists or a video camera exists or a camera that takes pictures inside any of his residences. Ghislaine Maxwell, correct. Here is a picture from Jeffrey Epstein's bedroom with a mounted surveillance camera above his bed. There are many other photos of surveillance cameras all over the 77th Street mansion. There are FBI acknowledgments that during the raids of his houses that they found cameras apparently everywhere. Like this is the part where Todd Blanche doesn't even push back in any way. He's like, oh, so you're telling me there's no cameras?

57:15Okay. And she goes on this whole long spiel. She's like, I built those houses from ground to, you know, from floor to ceiling. I know every inch of them and the wiring. There's no cameras anywhere. And he's not sitting there being like, well, what about this photo of a camera? like it's like what you know i'm just an idiot i'm literally an idiot on youtube who's read as much as i can about the epstein case and immediately i'm like what are you talking about here here's 10 photos of cameras in there so did those cameras show up after you built the houses right if they did who put them in there what was the name of the house manager who are the employees who would have known how to do something like that what was a subcontracting firm because you claim to run all of his finances and know every inch of the desk so many of the things that she were total lies, even worse, the way she tries to minimize and everything that happened, it's sickening.

58:01Like I read all 400 pages of this lady's testimony. At every end, she's like, oh, that was Jeffrey. It was after I departed, or I never saw anything wrong. Like every, oh, Prince Andrew, I met him through Diana's friend, and I don't wish to speak ill of her, but Andrew, he's so British, he would never do anything like that. And it's like, for Andrew, for Bill Gates, for Leon Black, for Les Wexner. It's like the most bullshit explanation that does not even pass a remote smell test. Blanche lets her get away with it. And the worst part is this will probably use, is already being used by the Epstein defenders.

58:37Look, see, she drove a knife in the heart of all of the Epstein conspirators. Why would we listen to this lady? This lady was charged with perjury in 2020 for lying in a deposition. Now, to be fair, the prosecution ended up dropping the perjury for her sentencing because she'd already been convicted. The broader charge was going to send her for prison for 20 years. Like, open and shut, decent enough proof that she has lied under oath for a deposition. Not only that, like, let's just be really clear about the context here. This is a woman who wants a pardon. She's trying to get out. And she's trying to project, not just to Trump, but to anyone powerful, that you're not going to have a problem with me.

59:15I'm going to keep my mouth shut. Your secrets are safe with me. I'm going to be no issue. I'm not going to implicate anyone. I'm going to downplay this thing. We can all just move on. I mean, that's the point of this. And so even if she wasn't like a proven liar, which obviously she is, you have to think about what are her motivations? Obviously, she's not going to come forward. Oh, yeah, I saw Trump doing X and Y and Z. Oh, yeah, he's totally Epstein was totally, you know, an intel agent. Oh, yeah, there were, you know, cameras everywhere, because the minute you acknowledge our cameras everywhere, too, that again confirms there's a lot of information out there that we have never been given access to.

59:49So that's why the camera piece is important. And it is one of the most easily disprovable pieces. I mean, didn't we get that information not only from a lot of witnesses who saw such things, but there was also when Epstein's mansion on the Upper East Side was raided by law enforcement, they also, weren't they part of talking about the cameras that were there? Yes, they say it directly. This is proven fact. This is not speculation. This is not conspiracy theory, et cetera. So it speaks to her credibility and the motivations that she has in this whole exchange. Absolutely. Let's go to the next part, please, because, you know, just to continue to give you guys a flavor of what we're all dealing with.

1:00:29This is Maxwell. I never saw a single masseuse ever look unhappy or not come back or whatever. Yeah, that's what we were dealing with. So she's like, so based on my observation, I don't this is classic. I don't think that if you were being raped as he's now like this prolific, I just, I can't even imagine why you would return. All right. So it's like, you know, when battered women, this is the justification that people make about battered women. They're like, well, if they wanted to leave so bad, they would just leave. I'm like, oh, yeah, it's that simple. Okay. Talk to any cop who's ever had to go to a domestic violence call and some lady has her face broken and she's like, oh, we didn't do anything wrong.

1:01:08Maybe there's a bigger context and some power dynamic and money exchange and blackmail or whatever, which is keeping people there. Just my opinion. My opinion. Well, and the testimony is that, I mean, dozens of girls down in Florida, in particular in Palm Beach, that she would intentionally go to rough areas of town where you had, you know, girls from troubled homes who were in very difficult situations. They were desperate. You know, I mean, she preyed on people who had already been abused, who were desperate for Virginia Gouffre being a perfect example of that, you know, as a teenager, as a young teen at Mar-a-Lago.

1:01:44And she recognized this vulnerability. And those would be the girls that she would go after and prey upon. And, you know, of course, to her, she never did anything. She didn't even look at an underage person while she was at the – ever worked for – I'm serious. That's the way that she talks in all of her testimony. Remember Trump even acknowledged that Virginia Gouffre was stolen from him by Ghislaine and Jeffrey Epstein when she was, what, 16? Yeah, I believe so. Let's go to the next one. This is another one. He asks, you know, do you have any reason to think that Epstein was part of Mossad or the CIA or any intelligence agency?

1:02:20she says quote I think it's bullshit because if it were true then Epstein would have bragged about it to her or tried to play it off and tried to be cool about it and so because he was never cool about it and uh he didn't brag about it to her that she thinks that it's all wrong now let's keep that in context at this part specifically for the next which remains the central question of the entire Epstein mythology which is how did this guy make all of his money here is Maxwell's explanation on the type of services that he provided for Les Wexner and Leon Black. Quote, let's say you had a billion dollars to invest.

1:02:55So you would, you know, in people's normal investment portfolios, you would have, you know, some T-bonds and this and that. But Epstein's strategies would be much more sophisticated. So again, we are to believe that the college dropout, non-accredited investor Jeffrey Epstein had, quote, sophisticated strategies that were only accessible to him and not to the richest and most powerful people in the world. There are richest, most powerful people in the world who use investment advisors of all kinds. Goldman Sachs, they don't need to deal with Epstein. Why do they need to deal with the J. Epstein company?

1:03:28All right, Goldman and all those other people can get you into venture capital as an LP or any of that, and they can return on your portfolio between 15 and 20 % per year. Or you could just invest it in the S &P 500 and still get a decent enough deal. This does not pass the smell test at all. Leon Black, one of the most legendary investment advisors of all time, just had to use Epstein and didn't have to use his own money. That's why I paid him$170 million. Again, Todd Blanche, no explanation. He doesn't challenge her. He's like, well, exactly what were the sophisticated strategies? She goes, he was just a whiz at math.

1:04:01What? No. You know, no. This stuff is ridiculous. Well, if that were true, all of the people at the Harvard math department who he was constantly cultivating or MIT or any of them, they would all be billionaires and be filthy rich if that's not the case, is it? So it's just that is the part where the explanation on everything is anodyne. Everything is just, oh, he made his money by being smart. Nobody was abused except by him. I've learned about that after his death, of course. I didn't know about any of it at the time. Everything we ever did was above board. Every connection that he ever had to, quote, intelligence or whatever is, quote, bullshit because he would have bragged to me about it.

1:04:41And I just can't, you know, with the entire thing. It really—Todd Blanch just did a horrible job. Like, he really just did— No, he did a great job for what his purposes were. Sure, but I mean, for transparent purposes, what he effectively did is—it would be like a softball interview is the example of— It's like when Republicans are in trouble or Democrats are, you know, Republicans are in trouble and go on Fox and Democrats are in trouble and go on MSNBC. What can they be assured of? That when they're in their interview that they will be asked in the most anodyne way without any follow up about what's happening.

1:05:17So that they can, quote, get on the record and get ahead of it. But they can't actually they don't actually have to answer any of the specific questions. And that's effectively what has happened here. So it's just the whole thing is preposterous. And I just want people to remember. Yeah, a couple other things, interesting nuggets from there. She was asked about her dad's ties to Intel, and she basically was like, well, once you're, you know, an intelligence agent, I don't think you're ever really not an intelligence agent was basically her response there, which I thought was kind of interesting.

1:05:46And then she got asked about Epstein's relationship with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. He's the one who met with Epstein dozens of times. There's that infamous picture of him like covering with his face covered going into Epstein's Upper East Side mansion. And so Blanche asked about that relationship and if she knew what the nature of that relationship was. And she's just like, no, I didn't know anything. Have, you know, very little memory of meeting him. Don't know if he's with Epstein or I don't remember. I just know that I did see him and I'm trying, struggling to remember the context around it.

1:06:18But if I if I'm sure it happened, but it must have been very brief because I don't have any serious memory of it, any like deep memory of that. So there you go. Yeah, that's what we're all dealing with. Let's just put B7, please, up on the screen just to give people an idea. All the Epstein files given to Congress are apparently already public. OK, got it. Yeah, Ro Khanna sounding up in this piece, by the way. I mean, he's really been leading the charge. Apparently, only 3%, according to him, of the documents given to the Oversight Committee are new. He says the rest are already in the public domain.

1:06:51Less than 1 % of the files have been released. DOJ is stonewalling. The survivors deserve justice. The public deserves transparency. Yeah, got it. And finally, just in terms of the protection, B7, please. We can show everybody here. What do we have? the inmate at Ghislaine Maxwell's new prison was apparently transferred to a grim lockup after slamming Ghislaine in an interview. So, hmm, her name was Julie Howell. She was serving just one year for theft. She was actually removed after blasting Maxwell, quote, as disgusting with a British paper earlier this month. According to her lawyer, the prison warden called her into her office and said that she was being moved immediately because, quote, because that she had given an unauthorized interview.

1:07:37And she literally, quote, only decided to speak up because one of her family members was actually a victim of sex trafficking. She didn't want to be in the same prison as somebody who has had that charge. We will all keep in mind that you're not even supposed to be in the prison camp with Glaine Maxwell's charge. By the way, I will be there next month back in my hometown, so maybe I need to go on by. Let's go buy it. That'd be interesting. Yeah. I mean, I wonder how close you can get, because these daily mail guys all have photos of Elizabeth Holmes, like, working out, and apparently... They have those super long lens cameras, right?

1:08:08Yeah, but there's no fences, apparently. Like, with the camps, like, it's very lax, apparently. They just have to be back for count. Like, there's not a lot of enforcement. It's basically, if you leave, you're like, hey, just so you know, we're coming after you, and you have such a cushy gig, like, why would you actually want to? Just in terms of the way that these federal prison camps work, so maybe I can get... If you're a guard, by the way, Federal Prison Camp Brian, reach out. I would love to talk to you. Yeah. Interesting. But yeah, apparently they're going all sorts of lengths to protect this lady.

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