Rep. Goldman on Trump Shutdown Disaster and Economic Collapse

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2:39Ben Meiselas:Donald Trump sent out Peter Navarro and others to make their rounds to say that, yes, indeed, we are now bringing in, it's not 17 trillion anymore, which Trump says we already have on a tariff shelf. Although Trump said it was, first it was 17, then Trump said 20 trillion. Now Peter Navarro saying we've got$19 trillion. So our entire GDP in the United States is like 30 trillion, but they figured out a way to bring in$19 trillion into the United States. Wow. wow, here, play this clip. But let's think about this. You can't have the manufacturing jobs until what? Until the plants get built. We got$19 trillion.

3:24Ben Meiselas:Let me say that one more time. $19 trillion of investment promised to come into this country. Now, construction is going to boom in the short run, but we're not going to see the manufacturing jobs until that capacity gets built. So it'll be six months, nine months, 12 months, 18 months. But what we're doing is setting the stage. She's like the reporter for those listening on audio is looking at Navarro like he's an idiot because he's an idiot and a freaking liar. Not bringing there's no 19 trillion dollars is a made up number. When you actually go to the White House, they say eight point eight trillion dollars and they just make up the most ridiculous numbers.

4:05Ben Meiselas:One trillion dollars promised from Qatar. Well, Qatar's annual GDP is$166 billion. They're giving us 10 years of their GDP, $1.5 trillion from the UAE. The UAE's annual GDP is$440 billion. They're giving us, what, four years of their entire GDP? It's just$1 trillion from Japan. Interesting. Japan doesn't know that. Then you have Maria Bartiroma interviewing Kevin Hassett, Trump's other economic guy. And even Fox is saying, are we in trouble? Are we in trouble? Because there seems to be deep signs of distress in the economy. Here, play this clip. There's new nervousness this morning and certainly this week in markets.

4:47Ben Meiselas:Kevin, after this credit stress fears rattled the regional banking sector. As you know, Zions and Western Alliance both disclosed issues in borrower fraud. Zions reported a$50 million loss last quarter. Western Alliance is now suing a borrower, it says, to recover nearly$100 million, even Jeffries falling, tied to the bankrupt auto parts maker First Brands, now under DOJ investigation. And as you know, Jamie Dimon from J.P. Morgan has been warning of credit market excesses after a string of auto sector bankruptcies. What do you make of this, Kevin? Are these isolated fractures, or are these signs of a deeper stress in the economy right now with regard to credit?

5:25Ben Meiselas:Well, right now, the banking sector has very ample reserves. But one of the things that I I think has spooked markets is that they've realized looking at these two anecdotes this week that the Biden administration, like everything, was asleep at the wheel on banking regulation. We had. Oh, it's the Biden administration. It's Obama. It's the whiniest group of people. Meanwhile, the same group of people is covering up the release of the Epstein files, refusing to even swear in congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva while the Trump government shutdown continues. So Arizona's 7th congressional district, literally taxation without representation.

6:07Ben Meiselas:And then here's what MAGA Mike blamed Adelita Grijalva. I mean, this is their sociopathic mindset. The Republicans are blaming Adelita Grijalva for not working. They go, why isn't she working? Because you're not swearing her in, you idiots. Here, play this clip. Say this right now, though, Jake, Rep. Grijalva is she should be working for her constituents. I don't know what she's doing. I keep seeing their political stunt videos and they're knocking on the door and she's not there. She should be in her office. She should be working or in the district for her constituents. She's already hired 16 staffers.

6:37Ben Meiselas:She should be taking constituent calls. Like quite literally crazy people. I mean, liar, liar, liar over and over again. I want to bring a Democratic Congress member, Dan Goldman. Goldman, and everybody will recall back in May, Congress member Goldman and I, we did a video. You wrote that letter to Pam Bondi saying, we know you're doing the Epstein cover up. I've been a former federal prosecutor. You called her out really before anyone did Congress member Goldman. We should talk about that also. But look, we have this Trump government shutdown. There are real serious signs of stress in the economy while Trump's billionaires are grifting away in their, What do they call it?

7:17Ben Meiselas:The Rose Garden Club or the Golden Pal, whatever they're doing. What's going on? Oh, it's it's getting worse and worse. Obviously, they're maintaining this shutdown, even though it requires a bipartisan agreement. And we're happy to negotiate. We're trying to fix the health care crisis that they have created. They don't care about the health care crisis. Now they're announcing they're not even going to pay SNAP benefits in November for the 42 million people who receive food nutrition benefits. They are attacking Democratic districts and states and trying to illegally and unlawfully freeze or take away funding.

8:03And so they're viewing this as just a continuation of their government by and for the billionaires while they continue to punish the American people. Now, this is different than what we had over the summer. they need democratic support. But what they're trying to say is, we need your support. So you should just get on board with whatever we want to do. And we believe this is the right way. So how dare you say that you have some priorities too? Well, we're not giving up on our priorities and we're standing strong. And then you've got MAGA Mike Johnson, as you pointed out, using the shutdown as another mechanism to cover up the Epstein files.

8:52Ben Meiselas:I saw some stat that like in the past 90 days, Magamike has like 78 days, like a crazy stat, it's been 12 days of work in like the past 90 days because he sent everybody home over the summer because of the Epstein files. And normally during a government shutdown though, and this is what all these all members would tell me who've been in past shutdowns before also was okay we'd be back and forth we'd be calling we'd be working figure this out figure let's try to get out of this mega mike now lies and claims that there are negotiations taking place when he refuses to even speak with leader jeffries and trump's order them don't even it's the strangest part to me about this is fifth grade government like you're supposed to talk and that they're refusing to have conversations.

9:41Ben Meiselas:That's so crazy to me. Well, they're refusing to do that. But I think you really have hit the nail on the head as to why Mike Johnson is not doing that. Because if, first of all, if they are, if the Republicans are actually in DC, then they get asked about why they're not negotiating with Democrats when they need democratic votes. There's no good answer to that. They get asked, why don't you support the health care tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, which are which without them, if they do expire at the end of the year, then millions of Americans will lose their health care and prices will go up for every American.

10:26So they don't want to get those questions. So they're on vacation. But the bigger thing is if they are in session in DC, then he has no choice but to swear in Adelita Grijalva. Now, why is that such a big deal? Adelita would be the 218th signature on the discharge petition, which is all you need for the discharge petition to release the Epstein files to come to the floor for a vote. And Mike Johnson is doing everything in his power not to allow Adelita Grijalva to get sworn in so that she can sign the discharge petition. Now, what you just showed is a new one to me. I had not heard him say that.

11:08I have heard him say, oh, well, we want to use the normal course where she gets to give a big speech to everyone in the House. Well, that's not what he did for two of his Republican members in Florida who were sworn in when the House was not in session during a pro forma session back in April. And Adelita doesn't want that. She wants to get sworn in. Now he's saying, oh, she should be working even though she's not sworn in. He is wrong. She is not allowed to actually hire staff. She may have them ready to go. And she has now a key to her office, but there's no furniture, there's no phone, there's no staff.

11:45She is not allowed to do constituent services. So he's just flat out lying now in an effort to avoid swearing her in. She's been in Washington for the last three weeks, ready to be sworn in. And he's doing it all to continue this massive cover up of the Epstein files.

12:06Ben Meiselas:Now, you're a former top federal prosecutor, your federal prosecutor out of New York. And so you have that prosecutorial sense when Trump and Bondi and Patel were going down this path towards cover-up before they put the memorandum out over the summer saying that we're shutting down the Epstein files. You called them out in May. You saw the writing on the wall where this was headed, and you wrote that letter to them where you basically predicted exactly what they were going to do. If anything, I would argue what they've actually done is even worse and more blatant than even some of the worse and more blatant predictions based on their behavior.

12:55Ben Meiselas:And the fact that they've engaged in this level of spoliation and cover up and behavior just goes to tell you if this is what they think is the better option what the hell is in those files because it's got to be it's got to be a truck and then I got to get your other take put that one there then when he's confronted with his own signature on the birthday card to Epstein they just go not my signature so a freaking time it's just so stupid so you're saying a time traveler went back in time to forge your signature 20 years and drop it in the evidence bucket Yeah, yeah, that's what happened. I don't do that.

13:33Ben Meiselas:It's ridiculous. And as a federal prosecutor, former federal prosecutor, you must be like, this is just outrageous. Well, it is the progression of the cover up that is most interesting to me. And you made the point that back in February, Pam Bondi was apparently furious with Kash Patel because for some reason, she thought she was releasing all of the Epstein files when really she was releasing a very small portion of them that had already been released. So she demanded that she get all of the Epstein files and that they go through all of them and they all will be released immediately. She has them on her desk, she said.

14:12Then the FBI spends thousands of hours actually going through the files to redact all the victim's information, which they have to do. Then crickets. I write the letter. They send out that memo all of a sudden saying, there's no credible evidence here that would require disclosure now credible evidence is a very subjective determination by them and it's it's actually uh what they've been using in the tom homan case as well they keep talking about credible evidence it's not that there's no evidence it's that they deem it not to be credible but this is where we are now and this is why the discharge petition right so they they wrote that memo say we don't need to release anything there's nothing to there's nothing to to to see here we're not going to charge anyone else then everyone said that's preposterous so they went to release the grand jury transcripts which would have had no information that's relevant to uh any of Jeffrey Epstein's accomplices uh but that was denied then they have the Deputy Attorney General go and interview Ghislaine Maxwell um in what as a former prosecutor who frankly worked who worked many years with the deputy attorney general that interview was such an abomination and was so uh contrary to all of the proper protocols and procedures that you would use in the department of justice uh that it is is a complete joke she gets moved to a plush camp all right so then they think all right we're we're handling it nope people are still upset People still want it.

15:52So then they open up this oversight committee investigation under James Comer, and they pass a resolution that authorizes this investigation. And it lists out a number of areas that they're supposed to investigate, which would include documents to turn over vitally. And this is really important, Ben, to understand why, because Mike Johnson is talking about we've got this oversight investigation. We are releasing everything. So why does the discharge petition matter? The discharge petition matters because that bill, the Massey bill, requires all of the files to be released. And so the difference between the two is critical.

16:34The oversight and committee investigation does not require video recordings, audio recordings, photographs, witness statements, notes to file, memos to file the case and investigation originating documents. None of that stuff is required to be turned over to the Oversight Committee, but it would all be required to be turned over under the discharge petition bill. And that, as a former federal prosecutor, I know that is where Donald Trump's name would be if it's in there. And all of Jeffrey Epstein's accomplices would be in that part of the investigative file, which is very intentionally being left out of the oversight investigation.

17:24So this cover up gets worse and worse and more detailed and more complicated and more entrenched. And ultimately, that's why they are trying so desperately to stop this discharge petition from getting enough signatures.

17:41Ben Meiselas:You know, we've seen with the emails, I think it was like 19 ,000 emails or so that Bloomberg was able to get their hands on that. Ghislaine Maxwell playing dumb in her interview with Donald Trump's former criminal defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, turned number two at the DOJ. Well, it seems that she knew a lot more, obviously. I mean, in those emails, she talked about very specific transactions that Trump and Epstein were potentially involved in, a real estate purchase in Palm Beach in that 2004, 2005 period. What would what the investigation looked like? Was there an investigation of people speaking to Trump then?

18:18Ben Meiselas:I think a Russian oligarch ended up buying the home three or four years later that Epstein first wanted to buy for double the price. I think Trump scooped it from Epstein. Epstein wanted to buy it for like 35. Trump bought it for 45. Then a few years later, a Russian oligarch bought it for 90 million, 90 million, then demolished it. So there's, there's, there's so much there, there that's probably in this file. Before we go though, I got to ask you about a home and 50, you brought it up $50 ,000 of cash in a Kava bag, Mediterranean kind of fast food restaurant. Decent food. I like, Kava. But he he I guess he went with on Fox that that's how he conducts business as a consultant and then doesn't want to talk about it anymore.

18:59Ben Meiselas:And done. That's it. Just. And then when the questions were directed at Bondi during that Senate hearing, she was like, don't you dare defame him. Don't you dare. It was a weird hearing to a Pam. What did you make of Homan and Bondi before we go? I think it's another massive, massive scandal and cover up. And it really does show you how much this Department of Justice has just become a political weapon of Donald Trump. If a$50 ,000 bribe, and we were talking about my experience as a prosecutor, you don't start an investigation on one day and then have a target of the investigation receive$50 ,000 in cash from an undercover FBI agent the next day.

19:49This was clearly an extensive and long, thorough investigation of which the$50 ,000 bribe was just one part of it. But the notion that Tom Homan does official consulting business by receiving$50 ,000 of cash in a Kava bag is preposterous. It is absolutely outrageous and absurd and unbelievable, not believable. And so the fact that they just closed that investigation while they're charging Jim Comey and Tish James with bogus charges at Donald Trump's direction is completely destroying the Department of Justice, but it's also undermining the very fabric of the rule of law, which is the bedrock of our democracy.

20:41We are certainly going to continue to press for more information on the Tom Homan investigation. Why was it closed? And what was it? Because I will also say, very few investigations include$50 ,000 in cash. Oftentimes you'll get 10 ,000. You have to get special approvals to get that much money. And this was an entirely made up fabricated company by the FBI. It was an undercover company. So there's a lot more there. And Tom Homan, of course, now controls$45 billion that was just given to ICE to pay contracts for private prisons and all these other immigration contractors. It is unbelievably corrupt and remarkable, but not surprising that they shut down that investigation.

21:40Ben Meiselas:Congressman Dan Goldman, we appreciate you and hope you come back. Anytime, Ben. Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our sub stack at MidasPlus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, ad-free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com.

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