Trump Witnesses Get Wrecked on Live TV at Hearing

0:00Meiselas:Republicans in the House and Senate were absolutely stunned as Democrats took command, cross-examining witnesses and exposing the MAGA Republicans' fraudulent talking points. Led by Democrats like Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and Jamie Raskin and others, Democrats were winning the day in a big way, finally being aggressive. of Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett was basically saying, hey, you MAGA Republicans are here at this hearing trashing Los Angeles and trashing blue states. You may want to get your facts straight. Here, play this clip. In fact, I have another you see. All right. Blue states are bailing out red states.

0:41I have another you see. Massachusetts sends more funding to the feds than any other state. It seems like blue states are constantly putting red states on life support, yet we got these little red states that ain't contributing nothing, but they are definitely taking up a lot of money. You know, it is interesting because the governor in California, I don't know if you caught this, but Governor Newsom was talking about just holding on to his dollars because California is what they call a donor state, meaning that they actually contribute more than they take from the federal government. And then you can go down south to states like Louisiana who are broke.

1:15And so they need California to pay in. So it is so interesting that we are so concerned about whether or not we are pushing certain ideologies.

1:25Meiselas:And here she was again at the same hearing. Let's play it. Earlier, someone mentioned these hell holes talking about the cities, right? Talking about cities being hell holes. I just want to point to Los Angeles. I'm sure that's one of the cities they were referring to when they said that. Los Angeles contributes almost$20 billion in taxes. You know what? That's more than all states in this country, except for four. So guess what? If we are going to push any ideologies, it seems like LA should have an outsized interest in the ideology because it seems like they actually contribute more money than all these other states, especially these red states, to be clear.

2:03In fact, I have another you seen. All right. Blue states are bailing out red states.

2:09Meiselas:Democratic Congress member Jamie Raskin is saying, OK, the whole country is saying release the files because that's what Trump was saying. Now you all are hiding it. Very suspicious. Here, play this clip. Associate Ms. Maxwell's in jail for 20 years. The whole country is saying release the files. That's what Donald Trump said. That's what J.D. Vance said. That's what the attorney general said. That's what the FBI director said. And now suddenly they want to sweep the whole thing under the rug. Why don't we have a real hearing with real government officials talking about the government and talking about a real investigation with a real problem?

2:44Meiselas:Now, going to the Senate where there was a confirmation hearing of Mike Waltz, who used to be the national security advisor. Yeah, he's the guy who did the signal chat and invited the reporter from the Atlantic to join that chat and then attack the reporter for infiltrating the chat. And then there was all that classified information and war plans about the attack on the Houthis, which was an unsuccessful attack because the Houthis are still operating in the Red Sea right now. But here, Mike Waltz has now been nominated to be the United Nations ambassador, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

3:21Meiselas:But even though he was fired, he was kept on the payroll of the White House and he was paid$200 ,000 a year. So Democratic Senator Rosen said that seems like waste, fraud and abuse to me, don't you think? And he was like, I was never fired. I stayed on as a consultant. Here play this clip. This morning it was reported despite being removed from your role as national security advisor in May, removed from your role, right? Not working. Surprisingly, you've been on the White House payroll for the last few months. So throughout this hearing, you've made assertions that if confirmed, you would root out waste and unnecessary overhead at the UN.

4:04Meiselas:So can you confirm for us whether you've been receiving a salary from the White House since being let go at the NSA? Thank you, Senator. I was not fired. The president never said that, nor did the vice president. I was kept on as an advisor, transitioning a number of important activities, and now hope to be confirmed with the Senate's consent to be UN. So you're saying that you were not dismissed from your role, as was publicly reported, because it's also been publicly reported that you've been receiving almost$200 ,000 of the taxpayer money since you were dismissed from being the National Security Advisor.

4:43Meiselas:Well, the reporting, Senator, is fake news, which shouldn't surprise anyone. The president was clear. His announcement was, I will nominate Mr. Waltz. And then the vice president was quite clear. So we're going to move on to UNESCO because we got a lot to talk about. Next, you have Democratic Senator Coons cross-examining Waltz and saying, you know, you're not supposed to use the signal chat for that. And he's like, no, I am. I'm supposed to use the signal chat. No, you're not. Here play this clip. Particularly if you are a highly targeted individual, such as Signal or similar apps. SISA recommends an encryption messaging on both government and personal devices.

5:23Meiselas:For sensitive military operational information? Oh, of course. Of course, Senator. There was no classified information exchange. For sensitive military operations. You were sharing details about an upcoming airstrike and the time of launch and the potential targets. I mean, this was demonstrably sensitive information. And the question I asked was, were you investigated for this expansion of the signal group to include a journalist? The White House conducted an investigation, and my understanding is the Department of Defense is still conducting an investigation. Was any disciplinary action taken?

6:06Meiselas:From the White House investigation centers? No, the use of signal was not only authorized, it's still authorized and highly recommended. Would you recommend the use of signal for classified information to be shared between folks who have access to? Again, we followed the recommendation, almost the demand to use end-to-end encryption, but there was no classified information shared. Now, here's more from that cross-examination by Democratic Senator Coons of Mike Waltz during his confirmation hearing to be the United Nations ambassador from the United States. Play this clip. In your role in the Army, in the House, as National Security Advisor, you have long handled classified and highly sensitive information.

6:52Meiselas:We both know Signal is not an appropriate, secure means of communicating highly sensitive information. And yet, on March 24th, the Atlantic magazine published a series of signal messages, including sensitive information about a U.S. military operation against the Houthis in Yemen, involving you and several other Trump officials. Were you investigated for this disclosure of sensitive operational information on signal? Thank you, Senator. And that engagement was driven by and recommended by the Cyber Security Infrastructure Security Agency, by the Biden administration. The guidance. I'm sorry. And I have here.

7:38Meiselas:Well, just the use of information on signal. No, excuse me. The use of signal is not only as an encrypted app is not only authorized, it was recommended in Biden's the Biden era guidance. Here's Democratic Senator Murphy. Let's play this clip. The secretary looked across the interagency and those entities. They made those decisions. But the private sector isn't going to fight Russian and Chinese propaganda around the world, right? I mean, that has to be an essential function of U.S. national security policy, correct? Well, what they are going to do is show the power of free markets, the power of entrepreneurship, and show really the power of the U.S.

8:25Meiselas:in terms of a free society and with our values. We're going to ride like Disney? I think we're actually more aligned than what you think. What we were looking at is the actual effectiveness. It's the tool that we questioned. And then the president and secretary made a decision to reallocate resources. I hope the administration does rethink this. If they've got a better idea on how to try to project power in the information space, then I think we're all willing to hear it. But right now we're taking ourselves off the playing field. That was great cross-exam right there. More from the Chris Coons cross-exam.

9:06Meiselas:Let's play it. Was any disciplinary action taken? From the White House Investigation Center? Yes. No, the use of signal was not only authorized, it's still authorized and highly recommended. Would you recommend the use of signal for classified information to be shared between folks who have access to? Again, we followed the recommendation, almost the demand, to use end-to-end encryption, but there was no classified information shared. Did you speak to Secretary Hegseth about his decision to share detailed information on the specifics of an imminent military strength? What we spoke about, Senator, was a highly successful mission that did something that something that the Biden administration did not do was actually target the Houthi leadership.

9:57Meiselas:We subsequently saw a ceasefire, an increase in shipping and a drop in attacks on on our ships. Well, look, here's what I hear on this exchange. And I want to get to the UN point. At the time, you took responsibility for having added a journalist inadvertently to a signal chat. But it doesn't seem to me that the administration's taken any action to make sure this doesn't happen again. There's been no consequences. And yet the president continues to denounce those who leak information. We both know Signal is not a secure way to convey classified information. And I was hoping to hear from you that you had some sense of regret over sharing what was very sensitive, timely information about a military strike on a commercially available app that's not, as we both know, the appropriate way to share such critical information.

10:47Meiselas:Again, Senator, I think where we have a fundamental disagreement is there was no classified information on that chat. With prices rising on, well, just about everything, managing your money could feel totally overwhelming. Subscriptions, bills, takeout, it all adds up fast. That's why I started using Rocket Money, and I'm so glad I did. Here's what happened to me. I found out I was still paying for a streaming service I hadn't used in months. It was buried in my expenses, and I would have never caught it without Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

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11:58Meiselas:rocketmoney.com slash Midas Touch. This is from Democratic Senator from Virginia, Tim Kaine's cross-exam. Let's play this clip. Signal is useful because it's encrypted, and a whole lot of people use Signal, and there's nothing wrong for it. But as far as I know, Signal has not been approved for use by U.S. government officials for the sharing of classified information. Is that correct? That is correct, Senator. Thank you for the shout out on VMI, Robert. Great, great institution. You indicated in your testimony that no classified information was shared. And I see nothing in the reporting about your situation to suggest that you shared classified information.

12:37Meiselas:I do see the question of, you know, why did your office add the Atlantic reporter that was an amateurish move? And I'm sure you've learned something from that. But on the question of whether classified information was shared, there are at least two DOD investigations, one the DOD IG and the second Air Force and investigation ongoing into whether Secretary Hegseth shared classified information. My understanding is those are ongoing. They haven't yet reached a conclusion. They certainly haven't reached the conclusion that no classified information is shared. Am I wrong about that? Senator, thank you for the question.

13:14Meiselas:I shouldn't and can't comment on ongoing investigations. What I can do is echo Secretary Hegseth's testimony that no names, targets, locations, units, routes, sources, methods, no classified information from his perspective was shared. I got it. I'm sure Secretary Hegseth says he didn't share any classified information. But the fact of the matter is there are two investigations going on at the Pentagon precisely to determine in an objective and independent way whether classified information was shared. And a minimum sharing attack plans was sensitive military information. Democratic Senator Cory Booker laid down the law in his cross-examination of Waltz.

13:56Meiselas:Let's play this clip. Congressman Walz, I've watched this hearing and I've been really disappointed. And what's been troubling to me about your nomination from the beginning is your failure to just stand up and take accountability for mistakes that you made and that all Americans know that you've made. Everyone in this room, every one of us has made mistakes. But what America expects from leaders, especially leaders who are tasked with our national security or could be tasked with the position for which you're nominated for, is for people to stand up and just take responsibility, take accountability.

14:32Meiselas:But I heard you just blame Biden. I've seen you not only fail to stand up, but lie. you you said about this person when you were involved in the sharing of sensitive information about imminent military operations i i've listened to you now for weeks and months you said this journalist intentionally infiltrated that signal chain you said that he was sucked in you denied deflected and then you did something that to me really lacks integrity is that you out to demean and degrade that very journalist in crass and frankly cruel ways that made him a target. That's not leadership. When you blame people that tell the truth, that's not leadership when you can't say the words, I made a mistake.

15:23Meiselas:I could have done better. I learned valuable lessons from this experience. Instead, at a moment where our national security was clearly compromised, you denied, you deflected, and then you demeaned and degraded those people who objectively told the truth and criticized your actions. Smearing people, attacking folks, singling them out, just furthers, compounds what I think is disqualifying about you for this position. It also to me just shows profound cowardice. You should step up right now. I heard Senator Coons, I heard you being asked by Senator Cain again and again to simply say I was wrong.

16:08Meiselas:I made a mistake. I take responsibility for my actions. Unfortunately, what you're doing to me is perfectly in line with the way this administration as a whole has operated. I've never seen an administration that has made no mistakes, can't learn constructively from things they did wrong, has no sense of self-interrogation or integrity. And should they be criticized legitimately, they go on the attack. We have too much of that rhetoric, that divisive, demeaning, degrading, cruelness that's being elevated and celebrated by this administration that you seem to fall in line with. I just watched with great disappointment that even after weeks, if not months, of reflection, you couldn't sit before this committee and take some responsibility and talk constructively about what's learned.

17:01Meiselas:Instead, you do what seems to be yet another creative tool that people are doing, which is, hey, let me just blame Biden. Now, here's what Congresswoman Crockett had to say about the Republican plan in Texas to try to do an emergency gerrymander to get rid of basically all of the Democratic districts in Texas, or at least four of them. Here's what she has to say, Let's play the clip. So first of all, it hasn't quite been said clearly that Texas has always been found to be intentionally discriminatory. And so I want y 'all to understand the makeup of my state. The state is a majority minority state.

17:39And what this legislature historically has done is what they plan to do again is to dilute the voices of people of color in order to make sure that they can get to where they're trying to go. We saw this Department of Justice decided to put out a letter. And what did they do? We only have four seats that are represented by black folk, where the vast majority of the people that get to decide who they have represent them are black. They decided to attack three of the four seats that we have in the state. They decided to go after a Latina. They are specifically deciding to splinter the communities of common interest, as well as just blatantly say we are going to dilute minority voices.

18:25So we know that the courts, ever since we've had a Voting Rights Act, have always found this state to be intentionally discriminatory. That is what they are going to do. So I need people of color to understand that the scheme of the Republicans has consistently been to make sure that they mute our voices so that they can go ahead and have an oversized say in this. So I fully anticipate that's exactly where they're going with this map. It's the only way to do it. We didn't understand how we got to the map that they gave us last time because that state was grown by 95 percent people of color. They went out of their way to make sure that we got zero new seats for people of color.

19:07So that's exactly what they're going to do this time.

19:09Meiselas:Now, here is Democratic Congress member Ted Lieu. Let's play it. In fact, she said that Jeffrey Epstein's client list is, quote, sitting on my desk right now. Where is that client list? What is Attorney General Pam Bondi hiding? She needs to release the Epstein files as soon as possible. I talked about the Epstein files under the Biden administration. I'm talking about it under the Trump administration. This is a case of the powerful protecting the powerful. We need to have those files released. I also note that the Epstein files that have already been released show that Trump is all over the files.

19:46Meiselas:He's in multiple pictures with Jeffrey Epstein. There's multiple videos of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein. There are plane logs of Trump on Epstein's plane. There are statements by Trump about Epstein. There are court pleadings of alleged victims of Epstein naming Trump. So we need to have these Epstein files released. Now, here is Democratic Senator Markey. Let's play it. I want to talk to you about NOAA. We're seeing these flash floods now in several states now that, of course, in Texas that caused a devastating amount of death. At the same time, the Trump administration is pushing for Congress to make more cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which provides that critical data for forecasting and severe storm warnings.

20:31Meiselas:What happens in your mind if Congress approves the new proposed cuts to NOAA. Look, this is what you get when you have a climate denier in chief in the Oval Office. Just 10 days ago, he had House and Senate Republicans vote to slash wind and solar, all electric vehicles, battery storage technologies, the solution to the warming of the planet. Now he wants to cut NOAA, the weather service, the warning system, In other words, the radar, which gives people some idea as to when this problem is going to emerge in their own community. And he wants the Republicans to slash that money as well. And on top of that, he has been proposing kind of an elimination of FEMA, the actual emergency team that has to come in when when the problem is so bad.

21:27Meiselas:and it has not been identified early enough to act in a preventative way, that now the emergency crews, and we've seen all of the evidence with regard to Christine Noem not responding quick enough. She should resign. What she did in response to the Texas floods is an absolute disgrace. She did not get the relief there fast enough. She did not have the phone answering capacity in place quick enough to hear people be able to call in with all of their problems. Only 16 % of the calls were being answered by FEMA. And here is what MAGA Mike Johnson had to say, which is all he was saying is basically like, God gave us Trump.

22:12Meiselas:God bless Trump. Trump, God. So pathetic your play this clip. Social media platforms removed his ability to communicate with his supporters. Armed FBI agents raided his home. Democrat judges and prosecutors bent the law to arrest him and multiple assassins tried to try to kill him. But God miraculously spared the president's life. I think it's undeniable. And he did it for an obvious purpose. And his presidency and his life are the fruits of divine providence. And he points that out, obviously, now all the time. And he's right to do so. Stop invoking religion and God and divine intervention. You're just taking Medicaid away from Americans.

22:52Meiselas:You are killers. You have murder bills. All you care about is supporting the oligarchy to destroy Americans' health care, education, and lives and make people suffer. Y 'all are a bunch of sickos, you MAGA Republicans, sick people who feast on the suffering of others. Finally, let me show you this. Here was Democratic Senator Markey one more time. Here he is talking about Epstein. Let's play it. Again, it's all part of this larger conspiracy environment that Donald Trump thrives in, whether it be birtherism or it be this elite group of people who are always trying to keep information from the public.

23:30Meiselas:Well, now the Frankenstein monster has returned to his front door and they are saying to Donald Trump, release the files. And as recently as yesterday, Republicans in the House of Representatives blocked Congressman Ro Khanna from even having an amendment to be debated on the House floor saying that those files should be released. So that's where we are right now. And Donald Trump is now caught in a crisis of his own making. Do you think a special counsel should be put in place? I think we should be releasing the files right now. Donald Trump is reaping what he sowed. and we should have a debate in Congress on this issue and have these files released now.

24:20Meiselas:We don't need to wait any longer. We need to get the information right now. His MAGA base is demanding a release of all of this information and Democrats agree with Donald Trump's MAGA base. He's alone in a corner right now blocking the release of this information. Tell me what you thought about that exchange right there. It was good to see Democrats going on the offense. Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Thanks for watching.