Thursday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben — 2/12/26

31:21Ben Meiselas:And we're seeing it accelerate. And there's a lot of reasons for it. And I think the biggest is the Epstein files in the sense that it, I think, broke the hole in the armor of MAGA and allowed people to start saying, if you're lying about this, it's all a lie. It's one big lie. When you say that prescription drug prices are down, lie. When you say there's no inflation, lie. When you say you brought us back from extermination or extinction, lie, lie, lie. There's everything, every word, every single word from the guy, everything he says, everything he says is a lie. He's a crazy person. He's a liar.

32:07Ben Meiselas:He's a dangerous, vile felon. He's a sexual abuser. I'm civilly liable for sexual abuse. He's a bankruptor. He's a fraud. He's a criminal. He's a bad guy. He's delusional. He's demented. Like a demented, sick human. Take our first quick break of the show. We will be right back. Do you find yourself being sluggish throughout the day and just need something quick and convenient without the use of nicotine? That's why I started using Ultra Pouches, and I'm in love. Ultra pouches are completely nicotine-free, caffeine-free, and packed with nootropics that are designed for mental clarity and enhanced focus.

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34:59Ben Meiselas:Jordy, everybody. It was great to see little Jordy on the show. Shout out to our sponsors. Discount codes are in the description below. Donald Trump press conference today. he was asked, were you aware that Secretary Lutnick visited Epstein Island? Were you aware? Were you aware that your Commerce Secretary brought his little children to the child rape island, Donald? Were you aware? Concerning to you, sir? Sir? I said, sir, that concern you at all? Play the clip. Mr. President, were you aware that Secretary of Commerce visited Epstein's island and do continue to have no i wasn't aware of it no i didn't i actually haven't spoken about it i wasn't but from what i hear he was there with his wife and children and i guess in some cases some people were i wasn't i was never there somebody will someday say that i was never there uh yeah please this announcement yeah because mar-a-lago was like epstein island you you were kind of living on your own version of that in a way.

36:13Ben Meiselas:I mean, Mar-a-Lago objectively, undisputedly was one of the sites where the child sex trafficking was taking place. Not even like I have to work. I don't have to say alleged. It's not alleged. It happened. Virginia Giuffre was sex trafficked from Mar-a-Lago. She was a child at Mar-a-Lago. Like I know people, you know, everyone wants to be so careful right now, allegedly.

36:43Ben Meiselas:The guy's living in a home where sex trafficking took place. Let me just repeat it again. The president of the United States, when he's not at the White House, lives at his main residence, which is actually a club where sex trafficking happened.

37:03Hello? Hello?

37:07Ben Meiselas:You're okay with that? That's an undisputed fact. That's where Virginia Giuffre worked as a child. That's where she was recruited from. Trump can say he has no knowledge of it. He can make that argument. But in his statements to at least the Palm Beach police chief who claimed he spoke with Donald sometime in 2006 after Epstein was arrested, not before, after the arrest, when Trump wanted to cover his ass, in my opinion, that West Palm Beach police chief said that Donald Trump said that, yeah, he'd be around little girls, Epstein. And Trump said that would make him uncomfortable. Trump knew about it.

37:53Ben Meiselas:He's also a liar about everything, but of course he knew about it. What do you think was happening when Donald Trump and Epstein would bring girls between the ages of 14, 15 to 22, they'd bring them over to Mar-a-Lago and they would tell them that they were there for modeling events. We know that happened. And it would just be Donald and Epstein there, according to one of the people in the modeling industry who brought these girls there. What do you think was going down? What do you think was happening there? Do you think that maybe, just maybe the guy who says he grabs women by their genitals because he's rich?

38:50You think maybe?

38:52Ben Meiselas:You think the guy, Epstein, who was the biggest child sex trafficker in human history, being your friend, hosting events like that? What do you think happened? it's stuff like that too for me as someone who reports on this it's like you know you we we know like why do we have to act allegedly allegedly allegedly allegedly I could just stick with what's in the documents right I could read the document because go over what Donald Trump just said what Donald Trump just said he didn't even ask Howard Just think about that from a leadership perspective. Imagine you ran a company, and it turns out the person in your company, after saying that they knew they were on notice, right?

39:56Ben Meiselas:Lutnick's whole shtick that he was on notice in 2005 that Epstein was involved in horrific conduct. So I never saw him again until you brought your little children and other children from other families to the island. So then you learn that about a coworker of yours. If you're the boss, you don't even ask after, you know, hey, Howard, what happened? You don't want going to have that conversation even. You're just okay with that, right? So at some point too, you are ratifying in law, going back to law professor mode, there's a concept called ratification. And let's just assume that Donald Trump knew nothing about this, right?

40:50Ben Meiselas:Just does men in black, whatever they call that thing, then men in black that would erase your memory. But now, we just start today or this week, and Donald Trump sees that about Lutnik. Now you are on notice, and then you don't do anything. You take no action. In the law, that in and of itself is called ratification.

41:23Ben Meiselas:And it's heinous. And that's one of the things that we're seeing in front of our eyes right now. I want to show you a few more things. First, I'll just show you from that same press conference. Trump is asked. So, okay, you think that there's nothing wrong with Lutnik bringing children to an island where children get raped. Nothing wrong with that, Donald. Okay. Okay. Any ramifications for the person who worked for you, who you claim was the person who photoshopped former President Obama and former Michelle Obama's faces onto apes? Any ramifications? Are they going to get fired? Any discipline?

42:15Ben Meiselas:What's happened to that? Here's what Donald Trump says. Let's play it. Mr. President, have you fired or disciplined that staffer who posted the video from your account that included the Obamas? No, I haven't. That was a video on, as you know, voter fraud, then fairly long video. And they had a little piece and had to do with the Lion King. It's been very well. It's been shown all over the place long before that was posted. But that was a that was a very strong if you and I'm sure you saw it, a very strong piece on voter fraud. And the piece that you're talking about was all over the place many times, I believe, for years.

42:57Yeah, please.

42:59Ben Meiselas:It was a very strong piece on voter fraud. You know, that's why I just always go back to it. It's like it's it's not a Democrat, Republican or independent issue. If you like that guy, if you like that guy, you're a horrible person. It's just that simple. You are a bad person if you like that guy.

43:30Ben Meiselas:What the hell? Now, I'm going to show you a clip here. And Jeremy, when I show this clip, just do look for what I'm going to do, Jeremy, because I don't want to show the full clip of it. But I want to give people a flavor of what's going on in the right-wing media ecosystem. But I don't want to play a two-minute clip of Nick Fuentes. But I just want to show people what's happening and how right-wing, ultra-MAGA, ultra-right-wing extremists view Donald Trump right now. So let's just play a little bit of this clip and then just watch for me, Jeremy. Let's play Fuentes first. Trump is delusional.

44:10Okay. You need to know this. Trump is sick. He is a delusional person. I don't know if it's his age. I don't know if it's his personality. I don't know if it's because he's been in this reality distortion field for so long. But I know firsthand from people that talk to the president, from people that know the president. This guy is delusional. you pick up the phone and talk to the president you go to a meeting and talk to the president and i know people that have done this and it's hours of self-congratulations hours of this is my most successful administration we've done more than anybody the east wing is going great we've got the best numbers it's all the so this is like the mad king this guy is sick heaves his own press he is in his own world out here in reality everybody knows this is a disaster everybody knows immigration's a disaster the economy's a disaster the foreign policy's a disaster it's a giant disappointment this epstein thing is a catastrophe he doesn't know that now because of that and because of his cult-like control over the administration administration, he is advising his people to run this playbook.

45:39So I'm sure that.

45:41Ben Meiselas:Okay, let me show you Tim Pool, just to give you a sample of what's going on out there. Here, play this clip. I ain't cutting Trump any slack. Now that we know that they've covered up the co-conspirator documents, there's a document saying that they were investigating co-conspirator Epstein. There's photos and videos of minors and children. Dan Bongino was like, look, a lot of these things were hearsay and, you know, fake tips that were uncorroborated. All of that is true, but there's still no excuse for them not exposing these deep, dark, corrupt pedos. Like I can understand. I can understand Bill Gates didn't do anything criminal.

46:15If it is true that he got an SDD from Russian hookers and gave it to his wife on accident, that's not illegal. He got divorced. I can understand why it's embarrassing. And I can respect someone saying, please don't release that email it's not material to anybody just just internal drama that's gross and embarrassing yeah but there is other stuff in there like that's already being brought up that i would say is shocking to the conscience that trump called it a hoax or andrew schultz

46:44Ben Meiselas:play the clip glane speaks with trump's former lawyer and then all of a sudden now she's in a a nice cushy place and all of a sudden she's pleading the fifth. That's weird. I'll blab if you let me out. No, she says if he gives me immunity or clemency, is that the word? What's the difference between clemency and immunity? I thought clemency, you take away the charges. Immunity is just like... You still have the charges, but anything I say can't be used against me. Got it. Okay, so she wants clemency to talk, to clear Trump's name. And it's like, Well, if his name was clear, why do you need clemency?

47:24Ben Meiselas:Before, clemency's after. That's what they're saying. But to me, is she shrewd enough to indict him that way? Is she smart enough to go, yeah, I'll clear Trump if you give me clemency? Well, if he's clear, why are you even putting that on the table? That's... She might be shrewd enough, but she doesn't have to be because her attorneys are meeting with her being like, hey, just say this. You know what I mean? Like you have enough smart people working on her behest. Yeah. Like, hey, here's what you're going to say in order to put pressure on the right.

47:58Ben Meiselas:Let me show you, as it relates to Ghislaine, the questioning by Democratic Congresswoman Ross, who did a very good job here. And she cross-examined Pam Bondi on why did you move Ghislaine to a club fed VIP section in Camp Bryan, Texas? Why did you give her this upgrade? Put her in the best facility out there. To which Bondi says, I don't know how she got there. That wasn't me. But then there was a moment where Bondi forgot her script for just a single moment. And I'll show you the ramifications of not remembering the full script. Let's see if you can find out where Bondi breaks character for just a moment.

48:44Ben Meiselas:Let's play it. Attorney General Bondi, I think you and pretty much everybody else here and throughout the country believes that convicted sex offenders don't deserve special treatment or privileges in prison. And yet Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirator, received perk after perk in prison. In July, she had a two-day interview with your deputy and President Trump's former defense attorney, Todd Blanche. Just days after that, Maxwell was transferred from a federal correctional institution in Florida to a minimum security camp in Texas, which she as a sex offender would normally be ineligible for.

49:29At this new facility, as the ranking member talked about, and by the way, it's nicknamed Club Fed. We've heard reports that she's been afforded special privileges, puppy time, private workouts, personal mail, secretarial services. Attorney General Bondi, does a convicted sex offender like Elaine Maxwell deserve special treatment and privileges in prison? Yes or no? Let me be crystal clear on this. No. Thank you. Perfect. No, let me keep going. Perfect. Well, I did not know she was being transferred. I asked you yes or no. She was not transferred to a lower level. Mr. Chairman, please stop the clock and remind the witness of the rules.

50:11One rule she needs to understand here. And I'm glad that we're agreeing. So when we're agreeing, we can move on to some other things.

50:19Ben Meiselas:Later in that clip as well, Bondi says something like Ghislaine should rot in prison or either she should die in prison. which was the one moment there, actually, of all of the stuff that Bondi said. That was the one moment that I thought was like a normal moment. But then she went on and denied that she had any knowledge of it. But she goes, no, I want Ghislaine to serve the rest of her life and die in prison. So then Ghislaine responds right away. And yes, Ghislaine has access to social media. Her family operates an account for her. And here's, and by the way, after invoking the Fifth Amendment and not testifying at all before the House, even though she spoke with Donald Trump's former criminal defense attorney turned deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, this was the statement posted by Ghislaine.

51:19Ben Meiselas:America's Attorney General told a House Judiciary Committee meeting today she hopes Ghislaine Maxwell dies in prison. That is an extraordinary thing for a nation's chief law enforcement officer to wish. It sounds less like justice than bloodlust. Ghislaine is serving a 20-year sentence, not a life term. To hope it proves fatal blurs the line between punishment and revenge. The Justice Department is already under scrutiny for its handling of the Epstein files. and now faces a simpler question. If the guardian of the law talks like a shock jock, what faith should the public have in the system she runs?

51:57Ben Meiselas:What happened to prosecution without passion, to prosecution without prejudice? Keep that up there though so people can see. You realize that Ghislaine is doing what Epstein did to people and which is what Trump does to other countries. You realize, do we all see what's happening here? This is a shakedown. And this is coded language right here. What she's saying is, this is a message to Trump, not a message to Bondi. And the message to Trump is, your Justice Department is already under scrutiny for its handling of the Epstein files. If the guardian of the law talks like a shock jock, what faith should the public have in the system she runs?

52:47Ben Meiselas:Like you all realize that she's saying, you want me to spill the beans? You want me to start giving the roadmap to some of the other documents out there? Don't forget that I hold the cards here against you, Donald. That's what this, if you think that this statement is not that, then that's naivety because that's clearly what that statement is saying. Ghislaine likes Todd Blanche. And also, that's who she spoke to. What I believe is happening here is Ghislaine wants Todd Blanche to be the attorney general. Todd Blanche wants to be the attorney general. Pam Bondi was trying to throw Todd Blanche under the bus for moving Ghislaine from Tallahassee to the facility in Texas, the club fed.

53:45Ben Meiselas:So there was a lot of things happening there behind the scenes where Bondi couldn't say Blanche was the one who did it, but she was basically saying Blanche was doing it. Bondi wants to help Trump with the cover-up, but where Bondi lost sight of the script was, I think she hates Blanche. And so that's where she said she should rot in prison, not because she thinks Ghislaine should die in prison, but because she thought that was a good attack on Blanche. And then Ghislaine is stepping up, boom, with the statement right away, also saying, I did what you wanted me to do when Blanche spoke to me. I invoked the fifth.

54:24Ben Meiselas:And now your AG is out there making these types of statements. I better hope, Donald, that that's just performative. And she's just saying that. And our deal is not going to be ruined. And I think she's signaling to Donald, you've got to make some statements now to give me the assurance that we're still on the same page here. Now, you can call me a conspiracy theorist. And many people thought that my language about what was going on in the files and this or that was hyperbolic. It's all true. everything. So it's all true because they weren't wild predictions. I mean, I litigated. This is what I did for my whole life before doing Midas Dutch.

55:14Ben Meiselas:I litigated these guys. I represented survivors in cases like this. I sued massive Ponzi scheme people, and I went through documents that had 20 million documents or three terabytes. That's what I did. That's what I did before starting Midas Dutch. So it's, you know, this was the type of investigations that I would do. These are the types of cases I would handle. It's so obvious. It's so obvious what is happening here. And then when you see the testimony of Lutnik and when you see the testimony of Bondi and you just see how these people are behaving, it's so obvious. I mean, isn't it so obvious to you what's going down here?

55:55Ben Meiselas:Some people are asking what types of dogs I have. I have a toy poodle. and I have a Maltese. So I have two dogs. The toy poodle is named Taquito and the, is called Chaquito and the Maltese is Taquito. So the dogs are named Taquito and Chaquito. And if you're wondering, isn't that confusing and that the dogs get confused over, it's accurate. It's, it's, it's, I didn't think through that step. I just, I like tacos. Favorite food is, tacos. My mom would make tacos growing up, Tuesday, sometimes Thursday. I like tacos, so taquito. And then chaquito, you know, it's cute. So that's what their names are.

56:42Ben Meiselas:I want to remind everybody that the Brother Show will be taking place tonight. The show I do, the Brother podcast I do, is also tonight at 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific. Make sure, Love to see you there. We do a brother banter, different take, different perspectives, obviously. We just come at it from the lens of three brothers. So make sure you watch that. I'll be excited to see everybody there live tonight. Check out our sub stack, MidasPlus.com. M-E-I-D-A-S-P-L-U-S.com, MidasPlus.com. That's our sub stack. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, We're pretty close to 6 million subscribers. I'd love to try to get 6 million subscribers in February.

57:31Ben Meiselas:Let's do our best to get there. And you can join and become a member of the YouTube, and you can gift memberships to other people on YouTube. And I'm not sure if you saw, but I'm sure you saw Pablo Monriquez, who works with the Midas Touch Network, and he works with our D.C. Bureau. He was there on the ground in D.C. He's been on the ground every day. And so a lot of the stories right now about what these lawmakers have been saying outside of Capitol Hill or on the steps of Capitol Hill, those are all Pablo Manriquez clips. And I mean, Pablo is leading the way right now in speaking with lawmakers, getting their perspectives.

58:22Ben Meiselas:And so I'll give you an example of what Pablo Manriquez was able to capture. Here he is speaking with AOC on the steps of the Capitol building. Let's play it. Did you make a deal of the tracking search histories of your colleagues as you search for the Epstein files? Oh, it's deeply, deeply disturbing that Pam Bondi had, and they had preserved essentially, as you mentioned, search histories of sitting members of Congress on the Epstein files. They were looking at what members of Congress were looking at, and they were using that, importantly, as ammunition against them, their own search histories against them in a hearing by Pam Bondi.

59:04I think that... Powerful power.

59:09Ben Meiselas:I'll show Congresswoman Jayapal also, because when she was being questioned, that's where we were able to see that her search history was captured by the DOJ. And then we learned that all of the search history of members of Congress who were given access to the unredacted Epstein files, they were being spied on by the executive branch. Just think about it. One branch is spying on the other branch that has oversight functions without knowledge or notice, which is illegal wiretapping, by the way. It's a felony. It's a felony. But here's what she has to say. Let's play it. What did you make of the DOJ apparently monitoring search histories?

59:49It is so outrageous. I think we just put out a tweet on it. I mean, I found out about it because a reporter called me and wanted to know about the emails that I had searched. And I was like, how did you know what emails I searched? I mean, there is a separation of powers for a reason. This is spying. This is the DOJ spying on members of Congress and what we search. So we are putting together a letter with ranking member Raskin and others on the committee to say, we need a full accounting of what you searched for, what you're using it for, and you need to stop that. We need a new process that assures us that you are not spying on members of Congress.

1:00:30Ben Meiselas:There you have it, everybody. Grateful for your time. Grateful for hanging out with you. I'll see you on the brother show this evening. Great, great episode. Great, great chat. We'll chat soon, everybody. Have a good one. Shout out to the Midas Mighty. We'll see you all soon. Have a good one. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our sub stack at midasplus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, add free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at midasplus.com.

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