Trump reheats old election conspiracy theories

0:00Brian Tyler Cohen:Donald Trump dives into a new round of election denialism, and I've got three interviews. Senator Jon Ossoff discusses that very election denialism. Senator Adam Schiff talks Todd Blanche's disastrous Senate confirmation hearing. And California Attorney General Rob Bonta discusses his new lawsuit seeking to block the Warner Brothers Paramount merger. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie. We are once again neck deep in a new round of election denialism as Trump has began issuing the same reheated claims of foreign interference and rigged votes as he has in every other election that's taken place in this country.

0:35Brian Tyler Cohen:So here's a brief smattering of what that looked like at his speech on Thursday night. Tonight, I'm announcing the immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence, revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure. The People's Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history. China and other countries have been trying to meddle in our elections. Evidence of fraud has been buried. And yet we still have elections with no voter ID, no proof of citizenship, and tens of millions of ballots floating aimlessly through the mail.

1:16Congress must pass the Save America Act.

1:20Brian Tyler Cohen:That China got access to 200 million voter files, Venezuela was using software that could flip votes. A quarter of a million non-citizens were on the voter rolls. Now, fact checkers have already come out and debunked all of this. For example, the voter files that China got access to are largely available for sale online. Venezuela experimenting with being able to manipulate their software is not something that could have been done abroad. That's according to the CIA. and those 250 ,000 non-citizens on the voter rolls is exaggerated by about 225 ,000. And there is no evidence that the undocumented immigrants on the rolls have actually cast any ballots.

2:00Brian Tyler Cohen:It's worth noting that this issue in particular was studied in Utah. No Democrats in that state to gum up the works. Those Utah Republicans looked at the entire 2 million voters on the voter rolls because they were searching for undocumented immigrants. They found won. And that person never actually cast a ballot. And then, of course, after Trump's speech, there was this moment later in the evening from MS Now's Vaughn Hilliard. So this is John Solomon. He's a prosecutor that Trump hired at the White House to investigate elections. You acknowledge that there were no votes changed in 2020. All I can acknowledge is what the intelligence shows, right?

2:35I only know the intelligence committee has zero evidence that someone has flipped, that a foreign power flipped a vote in 2020, 22 or 24. And you have no, you're able to acknowledge that Venezuela has not tampered with voting machines in the United States. No, the intelligence is very clear. They did it on their own machines. Why is it important that they did it on their machines? Their machine protocols are the same as America. Why? Because for a long time they did exactly. And so the 2020 election was in fact the results as we, the American public. I'm still researching. So let me, let me, this is the first.

3:09But there's no intelligence.

3:17Brian Tyler Cohen:So even the guy who Trump hired expressly to investigate elections says there was no foreign interference. And of course, you can hear Caroline Levitt in full freakout mode trying to shuttle him away. So why is Trump doing this? Because he is desperate to seize control of how elections are run in this country. His DOJ is suing 31 states for their unredacted voter rolls. DHS is demanding access to run those roles through citizenship verification systems, which keep wrongly flagging eligible voters. You've got the Save America Act that would amount to a federal takeover of state run elections. You've got Republicans refusing to rule out sending ICE to the polls.

3:54Brian Tyler Cohen:So they're definitely trying, but they haven't been able to succeed. They've been stymied by the courts and judges and the filibuster, you name it. So clearly they need a new route, a new justification to shoehorn through some more aggressive action. But you need a pretext. You can't just declare that you're taking over elections. And so what we're seeing right now with these speeches and more speeches, I presume, that are going to come in the future, is that foundation being laid to try and claim fraud. That, you know, the system is broken and China or Venezuela or whatever other country Trump lands on this week is going to steal our elections.

4:31Brian Tyler Cohen:and as such, he has to take extraordinary action to prevent that from happening. Is it true? Not at all. But Trump doesn't need it to be true. He just needs people to believe it. And this is a recurring theme. Remember this from the aftermath of the 2020 election? On December the 27th, there was a phone call between President Trump and the acting attorney general and his deputy. According to notes taken by that deputy, they told Mr. Trump, understand that the DOJ can't and won't snap its fingers and change the outcome of the election. Doesn't work that way. And Mr. Trump responded, just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the our councilman.

5:14Brian Tyler Cohen:See, he has done it before. Again, doesn't have to be real. It just has to be repeated enough that people think it's real. And that's what this moment is about for him. The first step to getting people to believe a brand new big lie is repeating that lie day in and day out. And just look, take a step back here. It's worth noting that if Trump was operating from a position of strength, he wouldn't need to do this. He wouldn't have to serve up a tired 2020 redux to interfere in the next election. But he's not operating from a place of strength. And Americans know it. And he knows it. He's got full control of government, House, Senate, White House.

5:50Brian Tyler Cohen:and we have watched prices surge, inflation rise, new wars start, Epstein files get suppressed, and his approval ratings plummet. You don't do this because you feel like you're winning. You do it because you know you're not. Next up are my interviews with John Ossoff, Adam Schiff, and Rob Bonta. But before that, we are nearing the end of the first week of the release of my new book, The Day After, How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World. If you'd like to support my work, please grab a copy today. I should note that if I have a chance of making the New York Times bestseller list, my best shot is week one of the sale of the book, which ends on Saturday.

6:27Brian Tyler Cohen:So if you think you might be getting it, please do me a favor and try to grab it during that first week period. I really appreciate it. Okay, here are my interviews with John Ossoff, Adam Schiff, and Rob Bonta. No Lie is brought to you by HIMSS. You've got weight loss goals, but hitting them is another story. Enter Weight Loss by HIMSS. It's designed to support you in losing weight and keeping it off. And HIMSS now offers access to an affordable range of FDA-approved GLP-1 medications, including the Wagovi pill and the Wagovi pen. With Wagovi at HIMSS, lose up to 20 % or more of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise.

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8:09Brian Tyler Cohen:We're joined now by Senator Asop. Senator, you've been in the news in a big way, because now we have Donald Trump who is expected to come out in just a couple of days and make a speech. And there are rumors that the speech is going to include this idea that you have been, that your election was illegitimate or tainted by fraud. What's your reaction to that? Let's just put aside the notion that the president has any power to declare sitting U.S. senators illegitimate. Yeah, he does not. But here's what's amazing to me. In Georgia, people are furious at this administration and not just Democrats because it's so clear the president doesn't care about the economic pain Americans are feeling.

8:51And he cares about himself lining his own pockets, building a ballroom. Now, what's he doing now? He's pivoting from the ballroom to election denial and conspiracy theories. Only a shrinking share of his base believes him on any of this. and he continues to demonstrate he doesn't understand the depth of the hole he's dug for himself. He has lost the trust of the American people. He's lost the trust of people in Georgia. The flip side of it is that this is very dangerous stuff. I mean, we can laugh about it and ridicule and it is ridiculous and absurd, but he is making it very clear that he intends to abuse federal power to try to interfere in the upcoming election.

9:35And we need to make sure that people are galvanized to turn out like they have never turned out before.

9:40Brian Tyler Cohen:Do you think that we have the tools necessary to make sure that he isn't able to interfere in upcoming elections? I know that, for example, Republicans refuse to rule out the prospect of ICE going to the polls. He continues to try and pass the Save America Act, which would basically be a federal consolidation of state-run elections. And so do you have confidence as we look toward midterms and beyond that we can have confidence in our elections. I think that this is a real challenge and it is the challenge of our lifetimes. This is the most important civic task that our generation will ever have, is to get out the vote like never before this fall, to protect the voting rights, to educate voters, to navigate whatever obstacles are put in their way or see through whatever misinformation is thrown at them.

10:24And in Georgia, this will be the most crucial and competitive Senate race in the country. Remember that I am the only Democratic senator running for re-election in a state where Donald Trump won. And by the way, everybody out there who cares about this, you want to take action and do something about this, it's electjohn.com.

10:40Brian Tyler Cohen:I'm going to put that link right here on the screen and also in the post description of this video. Can I have your reaction to when Donald Trump, after having campaigned on this idea that he was going to focus on regular issues that impact Americans like rent and housing and groceries, was handed on a silver platter, a housing bill that his own party had advanced bipartisan, but his own party had participated in advancing that bill, refused to sign it because he wanted instead to use it as a hostage to again try and pass a law that would ultimately just be a federal takeover of elections. This is all part of the great betrayal of MAGA.

11:16He promised his movement that he would be for the working man and the working woman. He promised his movement that he would drain the swamp. Right. Instead, this is government of, by and for the elite and the ultra rich. They have slashed Medicaid and jacked up people's health insurance premiums in order to cut taxes for the ultra wealthy and for corporate America. He promised that he would extract America from foreign entanglements and foreign wars. And instead, he's getting sucked deeper into the quicksand of his quagmire in the Strait of Hormuz. So his refusal to sign a bill aimed at lowering the cost of housing, because instead what he wants is national voter suppression legislation is just a demonstration of how out of touch he is, why he's so unpopular, but also why he remains dangerous.

12:06Brian Tyler Cohen:Is that breaking through? I mean, you just mentioned that you were running for re-election in a state that voted for Trump, the only senator running for re-election in a state that Donald Trump won. Among the constituents who you've spoken to on the campaign trail, is that understanding of what he's doing breaking through to those voters? It's absolutely breaking through. And what they see is that my opponent, Congressman Mike Collins, who first of all is a notorious bigot, who is only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman, is such a MAGA loyalist that he will put Donald Trump's interests and Donald Trump's wishes above the interests of the state of Georgia.

12:43This is Mike Collins, who voted with Donald Trump against releasing the Epstein files, who voted with Donald Trump to double health insurance premiums for more than a million Georgians, who voted for Donald Trump's tariffs, who voted for Donald Trump's war. Over and over and over again, Mike Collins puts Trump ahead of Georgia. But But remember, this is the most competitive battleground state in the country. No one should take this race for granted. And I need people across the country to chip in to make sure we defeat my Collins.

13:11Brian Tyler Cohen:We'll leave it there. Again, I'm going to put the link to donate to Senator Ossoff's campaign right here on the screen and also in the postscript in his video. Senator. I know you, bro. No Lie is brought to you by SimpliSafe. So imagine it's the 4th of July holiday. A lot of people leave their homes unattended for vacations and don't have security protection in case of an unwanted intruder. In the US, there is a break-in every 26 seconds. That means somewhere, right now, an intruder is getting closer. The problem is most security systems only alert you after a break-in has already started, and that's too late.

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14:14Brian Tyler Cohen:And of course, there is the peace of mind. Whether I'm going to sleep at night or leaving on a long-term vacation, I am 100 % assured that my house, my stuff, my valuables are all safe and protected. Don't miss out on this exclusive 4th of July deal just for my listeners. Right now, you can get a massive 70 % off your new system at simplisafe.com slash BTC. That is an incredible 70 % off your home security system just by going to simplisafe.com slash BTC. Hurry, because there's no safe like SimpliSafe. I'm joined now by Senator Adam Schiff. Senator, I wanted to get your reaction first and foremost to the hearing that just took place with Todd Blanche, who is, of course, vying to be the next Attorney General.

14:54Brian Tyler Cohen:Did you get the impression after having watched him that he was actually going to be adherent to the Constitution as opposed to continuing his job as Donald Trump's personal criminal defense attorney? No, he made it very clear that through his actions, he is really representing the person of the president, not the American people. And that's the central question at the heart of this hearing. And that is who's representing the public in all of that the Justice Department is doing. So when it came to the Epstein files, for example, he took no responsibility for the fact the court has said the Justice Department is in violation of the law.

15:32He was asked whether he would apologize to the victims. And he tried to obfuscate things by saying, well, I feel bad whenever somebody is victimized by a crime. And it was pointed out to him, no, no, the one who did the victimization, in addition to Epstein, was the Justice Department in releasing victims' names, photos, personal information. Will you apologize for your role in that? He very begrudgingly did. He wouldn't agree to meet with the victims. He initially claimed that he couldn't meet with the victims, which is preposterous. and then when we went to other matters like the slush fund or the bogus sham IRS settlement, he was once again defending the president, really not the interests of the American people.

16:16Brian Tyler Cohen:I thought what was interesting was his claim that when he was asked by one senator if he would just get this over with, release the files, just get it done, his initial words out of his mouth were that would be illegal. Is it illegal or against the law for Todd Blanche to release the entirety of the remaining Epstein files? And of course, I'm not talking about victim information, but there are still 3 million documents that haven't yet been released. So he is under legal obligation to release these documents, not to withhold any of them because they might embarrass people or expose the identities of powerful people who were perpetrating any of these crimes that Epstein and his Confederates were responsible for.

16:59There may be some small set of material that is grand jury material where he would have to go before a court. But we know that there is millions of files still not yet released. And no one has any confidence and not the judge that oversees the case. No one has any confidence that Blanche and the department are trying to do anything but protect these Epstein offenders. The, you know, Todd Blanch today tried to argue that Donald Trump wanted these files released and he was pushing for it when we all know how hard he worked to stop the bipartisan legislation that mandated that disclosure. So his testimony was really duplicitous, particularly when it involved the Epstein files, but also with the whole weaponization of the Justice Department.

17:46At times he would brag, like when he goes before the conservative CPAC convention, about firing all of the prosecutors and the FBI agents who investigated his client, the president. And then when I asked him about that, he said, oh, that wasn't me. That wasn't me. Took no responsibility for it. And that was what we saw throughout the hearing. It was this very duplicitous Todd Blanche giving verbal approval of department policies, but in his actions demonstrating he had really no adherence to the rule of law. His only loyalty is to the person of the president.

18:23Brian Tyler Cohen:Now, just a quick note to say that my new book, The Day After, is now available. If you'd like to support my work and send a message to Donald Trump, who put me on his enemies list this year, that his efforts to silence us and independent media only make our voices louder, then please do me a favor, support my work, and order a copy. You can click the link right here on the screen in the post description or the comments, or go to the link in my bio or to bryantylercohen.com slash book. Senator, if you have a head of the DOJ who is engaged in a cover-up in blatant violation of a law that was passed, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, does he shoulder any legal exposure by virtue of continuing to perpetuate this cover-up?

19:03Yes, he does. He's in violation of the law. And if he's misrepresenting things to the court, and the court has basically said the Department of Justice is misrepresenting facts, then yeah, he can be held accountable for it. But again, he's acting like he is Donald Trump's lawyer in Epstein Files litigation. When he went, for example, to talk to Ghislaine Maxwell, who is one of Epstein's top, his top co-conspirator. when he went to talk with her and interview her for two days, he brought no one who was familiar with the facts of the case. It was an absurdity of an interview.

19:40Brian Tyler Cohen:In fact, he even fired Maureen Comey, who was in charge of the prosecution, who would have been the right person to bring along to something like that. Absolutely. Or the FBI agents that had worked on all those cases or other prosecutors that really knew the facts that could question her when she made denials, when she claimed that she never saw underage girls in the residence or at Mar-a-Lago or whatever, giving out massages, when she made those preposterous claims, there was nobody to press her on it. Certainly Blanche didn't. And when you go to do that kind of an interview, the question is, who are you representing there?

20:20And it was so clear that he was there to represent the president. And not surprisingly, after she gave that superficial, exonerating testimony, oh, I never saw anything about Donald Trump, she's moved to this camp, this prison camp, inappropriate for a sex offender like herself. Right.

20:37Brian Tyler Cohen:I think the word flying around the streets was club fed. I want to switch gears a little bit here. So there is an expectation, a rumor that Donald Trump is going to use a nine o 'clock PM speech on Thursday evening to claim that the election in 2020 was rigged or illegitimate as the result of some foreign interference. There's also some rumors to suggest that he might claim that the election of Senator Warnock and Senator Ossoff is consequently illegitimate. Do you think that he's using this as justification to then shoehorn through some further voter suppression efforts? And if so, what do you think that would look like?

21:19Yes, I think that's exactly what he's doing. It is certainly true that he's never been able to accept his loss in the election, and he's lied about it ever since. and those lies led to that violent attack on January 6th. But it's also the case that the seizure of ballots in Georgia, that this speech that's coming up, this is also designed to lay the foundation for further interference in the upcoming elections, to make some false claim of interference that would justify seizure of ballot boxes or calling out the military. I think it is very much designed to sow doubts in the American people about our election system to somehow rationalize what he may do when, as he fully expects, they lose the midterm elections.

22:02So we have to be prepared for everything. But I think in terms of what we can expect on Thursday, expect the president to come out and lie to the American people. After all, this is the guy who, in that very election he's contesting, called the Republican Secretary of State of Georgia and urged him to find 11 ,780 votes that didn't exist but were just one more necessary than necessary to defeat Joe Biden in that state. So there was somebody trying to commit a massive fraud on that day, and his name is Donald Trump. But expect him to bring more disinformation and lies coming to us on Thursday night.

22:42Brian Tyler Cohen:Obviously, this issue has been litigated and relitigated and relitigated to within an inch of its life. Everybody who's acting in good faith knows that it's complete bullshit. That's not going to stop Trump from doing it, but it does offer kind of an out for those who are, again, acting in good faith to recognize what the truth is. What have you heard from your Republican colleagues? Are they going to allow themselves to be swayed publicly and kind of glom onto his efforts to subvert the upcoming election? Or do you think that there's going to be, you know, some pushback to what is obviously, you know, the umpteenth effort by Donald Trump to claim fraud as a pretext to issue some voter suppression edict moving forward?