WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.259 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. Today we're doing 00:00:02.259 --> 00:00:05.120 a rapid fire look at some high stakes political 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:07.980 conflicts, some really unexpected electoral shifts 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:11.039 and, well, the explosive results of mandated 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:14.189 transparency. That's right. If you need a shortcut 00:00:14.189 --> 00:00:17.350 to understand the three big fault lines just 00:00:17.350 --> 00:00:19.550 ripping through the political world this week, 00:00:19.850 --> 00:00:22.329 this is your deep dive. Absolutely. What we're 00:00:22.329 --> 00:00:25.649 doing here is analyzing how this one single issue, 00:00:25.809 --> 00:00:28.469 the huge push to get the Jeffrey Epstein files 00:00:28.469 --> 00:00:31.170 released, is basically acting as a political 00:00:31.170 --> 00:00:33.329 stress test. A stress test. I like that. Yeah, 00:00:33.429 --> 00:00:36.090 and it's changing the power dynamics for both 00:00:36.090 --> 00:00:38.439 parties. at the same time. And what the sources 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:40.259 are showing us isn't just what's in the files, 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:43.159 but the crazy, often contradictory political 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:46.600 scrambling to survive this whole push for transparency. 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:49.000 So let's start with the vote. Tamara's vote on 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.299 H .R. 4405, the Epstein Files Transparency Act. 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:54.479 Right. The whole point of the act is to force 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:56.600 the Department of Justice to release everything, 00:00:57.020 --> 00:00:59.859 all the files. And the reason this is even happening 00:00:59.859 --> 00:01:02.399 against the wishes of some of the GOP leadership 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:04.579 is because of something called a discharge petition. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:07.040 OK, so for anyone who doesn't live and breathe 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:09.019 congressional procedure, let's break that down. 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:12.359 Why is a discharge petition such a big deal here? 00:01:12.739 --> 00:01:15.659 Think of it as a as a kind of procedural revolt. 00:01:16.379 --> 00:01:19.340 Normally, the speaker, you know, he decides what 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:21.299 bills come to the floor for a vote. He controls 00:01:21.299 --> 00:01:24.090 the agenda. Exactly. Yeah. But a discharge petition, 00:01:24.170 --> 00:01:27.010 if you get 218 signatures, it lets you go around 00:01:27.010 --> 00:01:29.590 the speaker, go around the committees, and just 00:01:29.590 --> 00:01:32.150 force a vote on the floor. It's a direct challenge. 00:01:32.250 --> 00:01:35.069 And while they only needed 218 to force it, the 00:01:35.069 --> 00:01:37.609 vote itself is expected to be a landslide. Oh, 00:01:37.810 --> 00:01:41.150 huge. Probably 250, maybe even 300 votes. Which 00:01:41.150 --> 00:01:44.469 creates, I mean, a complete catastrophe for someone 00:01:44.469 --> 00:01:46.950 like Speaker Mike Johnson. He's really caught 00:01:46.950 --> 00:01:49.230 between a rock and a hard place. It's an impossible 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:51.750 spot. It really is. If a Republican votes for 00:01:51.750 --> 00:01:54.329 releasing the files, they risk getting a primary 00:01:54.329 --> 00:01:56.569 challenger backed by Donald Trump. It's seen 00:01:56.569 --> 00:01:58.709 as disloyalty. But if they vote against it? Then 00:01:58.709 --> 00:02:01.790 the Democrats get this. This perfect, devastating 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:04.769 campaign slogan. Congressmen so -and -so tried 00:02:04.769 --> 00:02:07.209 to protect pedophiles. You can't recover from 00:02:07.209 --> 00:02:10.150 that. You can't. The only safety, as our sources 00:02:10.150 --> 00:02:13.129 point out, is in numbers. If a whole bunch of 00:02:13.129 --> 00:02:15.710 them vote yes, it's harder for Trump to go after 00:02:15.710 --> 00:02:18.310 any single one of them. So what about the Senate? 00:02:18.469 --> 00:02:21.030 John Thune faces the same political backlash, 00:02:21.550 --> 00:02:24.009 but he has a bit of an advantage, institutionally 00:02:24.009 --> 00:02:26.030 speaking. He does, because the Senate doesn't 00:02:26.030 --> 00:02:28.330 have a discharge procedure, so he can just refuse 00:02:28.330 --> 00:02:31.069 to hold a vote. Wow. Yeah, he can just sit on 00:02:31.069 --> 00:02:34.479 it, shield Trump, shield the party. Unless, of 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:37.259 course, the public outcry gets so loud, he starts 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:39.180 to worry about Democrats taking the Senate in 00:02:39.180 --> 00:02:42.199 2026. But then, just when you think you know 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:44.900 how this will play out, everything changed. Late 00:02:44.900 --> 00:02:47.840 Sunday night, Trump did a complete 180. It was 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.789 a shocking U -turn. He went from fighting this 00:02:50.789 --> 00:02:53.729 to suddenly telling all Republicans to vote for 00:02:53.729 --> 00:02:56.030 releasing the files. And calling it a Democrat 00:02:56.030 --> 00:02:58.389 hoax. Right saying we have nothing to hide. That 00:02:58.389 --> 00:03:00.330 feels like a very defensive move. If you know 00:03:00.330 --> 00:03:03.090 the bill is going to pass with like 300 votes, 00:03:03.090 --> 00:03:04.750 why not try to get in front of it and claim you 00:03:04.750 --> 00:03:07.689 wanted it all along? That's exactly the strategy. 00:03:08.250 --> 00:03:10.590 He saw it's unsompable. So instead of it looking 00:03:10.590 --> 00:03:13.370 like this massive rejection of his power, he 00:03:13.370 --> 00:03:15.969 pivots and tries to spin it like he was leading 00:03:15.969 --> 00:03:18.659 the charge. But here's the key point. Now he 00:03:18.659 --> 00:03:21.759 owns it. He is now politically responsible for 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.139 whatever comes out. He can't blame the Democrats 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:27.000 anymore. He told his party to do it. The fallout 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.419 is his. Speaking of fallout, let's talk about 00:03:29.419 --> 00:03:32.439 what's already leaking from those 23 ,000 pages 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:34.259 given to the House Oversight Committee. Some 00:03:34.259 --> 00:03:36.960 of these little nuggets are pretty revealing. 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:38.759 They really are. And they hit people all over 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:40.960 the map, which confirms this is less about one 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:43.379 party and more about, you know, elite power. 00:03:43.939 --> 00:03:47.060 First up is Michael Wolf. Right. There's an email 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:49.500 from Epstein back in 2019 that apparently says, 00:03:49.580 --> 00:03:51.939 of course, Trump knew about the girls. Yeah. 00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:54.180 And it seems Wolf had offered to help Epstein 00:03:54.180 --> 00:03:57.400 manage that. That is incredibly specific. But 00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:00.740 it's not just Trump. The net is way wider. We've 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:02.740 got former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers in 00:04:02.740 --> 00:04:05.460 there. Yep. The documents say Summers mentioned 00:04:05.460 --> 00:04:08.319 that Saudi officials saw Trump as a dangerous 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:12.039 clown. And, maybe more damaging, there are these 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:13.900 derogatory comments he apparently made about 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:18.360 women in science linking it to IQ distribution. 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:22.100 It's this bizarre window into what powerful people 00:04:22.100 --> 00:04:24.529 say when they think no one is listening. There's 00:04:24.529 --> 00:04:26.629 even a comment from Katherine Wimley, who is 00:04:26.629 --> 00:04:29.689 a White House counselor for Obama. That one was 00:04:29.689 --> 00:04:32.149 shocking. It was this really personal, candid 00:04:32.149 --> 00:04:35.069 admission about having a panic attack after seeing 00:04:35.069 --> 00:04:37.129 overweight people at a rest stop in New Jersey. 00:04:37.290 --> 00:04:39.730 It just paints this picture of a world completely 00:04:39.730 --> 00:04:42.370 detached from everyday life. Totally. And we 00:04:42.370 --> 00:04:44.550 also see Epstein trying to set up a meeting with 00:04:44.550 --> 00:04:47.730 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, claiming 00:04:47.730 --> 00:04:50.110 he could explain Trump's whole personality, that 00:04:50.110 --> 00:04:52.250 Trump always has to be seen as getting something 00:04:52.250 --> 00:04:54.629 out of any deal. Okay, one last piece before 00:04:54.629 --> 00:04:56.930 we move on. The Ghislaine Maxwell situation. 00:04:57.490 --> 00:04:59.370 The sources detail some very unusual treatment 00:04:59.370 --> 00:05:01.290 she's getting in her minimum security prison. 00:05:01.529 --> 00:05:04.529 Highly unusual. We're talking custom meals, private 00:05:04.529 --> 00:05:06.810 use of the exercise room. Visitors are bringing 00:05:06.810 --> 00:05:10.050 computers into her cell. Into her cell. Allowing 00:05:10.050 --> 00:05:12.490 who knows what contact with the outside world. 00:05:13.069 --> 00:05:16.250 And get this, she apparently has access to a 00:05:16.250 --> 00:05:20.990 puppy. A puppy? In a federal prison? That screams 00:05:20.990 --> 00:05:24.079 special treatment. It raises a huge question. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.699 What did she tell Deputy Attorney General Todd 00:05:26.699 --> 00:05:29.560 Blinch to get all that? Whatever it was, it was 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:32.339 clearly considered incredibly valuable. And the 00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:34.319 fight over that kind of information leads us 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:36.819 right to our next political fault line. This 00:05:36.819 --> 00:05:39.600 incredible public war between Donald Trump and 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.199 Marjorie Taylor Greene. His once staunchest ally. 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:45.100 And her push on the Epstein files is what set 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:47.470 this all off. That's the link. This isn't just 00:05:47.470 --> 00:05:49.290 policy anymore, it's personal. Trump is calling 00:05:49.290 --> 00:05:52.329 her wacky Marjorie, a ranting lunatic. Marjorie 00:05:52.329 --> 00:05:54.810 Trader Green. And she's hitting right back, directly 00:05:54.810 --> 00:05:57.149 connecting his anger to her push on the Epstein 00:05:57.149 --> 00:05:59.870 files. She basically said she never imagined 00:05:59.870 --> 00:06:02.129 fighting for this would cause such a war, which 00:06:02.129 --> 00:06:04.870 suggests a reaction itself is telling. She claims 00:06:04.870 --> 00:06:06.670 this is all because Trump has drifted from his 00:06:06.670 --> 00:06:09.670 America First agenda. Let's run through the five 00:06:09.670 --> 00:06:12.589 big policy splits the sources lay out. OK, first, 00:06:12.970 --> 00:06:16.290 the obvious one, the Epstein files. Green was 00:06:16.290 --> 00:06:18.550 one of only three Republican women to sign that 00:06:18.550 --> 00:06:21.689 discharge petition. The other two, Lauren Boebert 00:06:21.689 --> 00:06:24.230 and Nancy Mace, are both survivors of sexual 00:06:24.230 --> 00:06:26.790 assault or trauma, so for them this is deeply 00:06:26.790 --> 00:06:29.529 personal. Right. Second is health insurance. 00:06:29.949 --> 00:06:32.649 Green is hammering the GOP for not having a real 00:06:32.649 --> 00:06:35.610 alternative to Obamacare, especially with premiums 00:06:35.610 --> 00:06:39.069 potentially doubling. Third, affordability. She's 00:06:39.069 --> 00:06:41.329 basically saying the GOP is headed for a disaster 00:06:41.329 --> 00:06:43.569 in 2026 if they don't get the cost of living 00:06:43.569 --> 00:06:45.870 down. And she's attacking Trump for not doing 00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:49.089 it when he had the chance. Fourth is H -1B visas. 00:06:49.329 --> 00:06:51.149 This is a big one. She wants to phase out the 00:06:51.149 --> 00:06:53.899 whole program, stop all foreign workers. Trump, 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:56.019 on the other hand, has called for more skilled 00:06:56.019 --> 00:06:58.199 immigrants. And his own company requested, what, 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:01.980 a record 184 temporary visas last year? Exactly. 00:07:02.379 --> 00:07:05.100 And finally, number five, foreign affairs. Green 00:07:05.100 --> 00:07:07.660 wants to cut all funding to Ukraine and Israel. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.500 She's a strict isolationist. Trump, meanwhile, 00:07:10.660 --> 00:07:13.540 is still sending aid to Ukraine and maybe starting 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:15.579 a new fight with Venezuela. So she's not just 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:17.500 attacking him personally. She's building a case 00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:20.579 based on actual policy. It's a strategy. A strategy 00:07:20.579 --> 00:07:22.459 for what, though? Well, she probably knows she 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:24.959 can't be president. But what about vice president 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:26.699 in twenty twenty eight? Think about advanced 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:30.319 green ticket by challenging Trump now. She stays 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:33.379 relevant. She gets in the news and she positions 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:36.560 herself as the person to get man gay back on 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:38.899 course in the next cycle. That's a fascinating 00:07:38.899 --> 00:07:41.660 angle, turning a feud into a long -term political 00:07:41.660 --> 00:07:44.259 play. OK, let's shift from future races to the 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:46.120 electoral map right now, because there's a huge 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:48.339 development with the Latino vote. This is really 00:07:48.339 --> 00:07:50.839 significant. We're looking at data from recent 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:53.819 elections in New Jersey Union City, Perth Amboy. 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:57.959 In 2024, we all saw that big swing of Latino 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:00.699 voters from Biden to Trump. Everyone was talking 00:08:00.699 --> 00:08:03.600 about it. A major realignment. Well, in 2025, 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:06.120 those exact same voters swung just as hard back 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:08.180 to the Democrats. So it wasn't a permanent realignment 00:08:08.180 --> 00:08:10.459 after all. It doesn't look like it. The strategist, 00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:12.480 Mike Madrid, had a great explanation for this. 00:08:12.819 --> 00:08:15.180 He says it's an anti -incumbent protest vote. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.240 In 2024, the party in power nationally was the 00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:21.819 Democrats, so they voted Republican. A protest 00:08:21.819 --> 00:08:25.300 vote. Exactly. Yeah. In 2025, in these local 00:08:25.300 --> 00:08:27.480 races, the establishment was often Republican, 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:30.459 so they protested by voting Democrat. It's this 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:34.500 powerful, but very volatile anti -establishment 00:08:34.500 --> 00:08:36.720 feeling. And adding to those worries for the 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:39.500 GOP, there's a YouGov poll showing a total collapse 00:08:39.500 --> 00:08:42.299 for Trump among independents. It's brutal. His 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:44.299 approval with independence started his term at 00:08:44.299 --> 00:08:47.250 a net negative five percent now. negative 35 00:08:47.250 --> 00:08:49.470 percent. That's way worse than at the same point 00:08:49.470 --> 00:08:51.549 in his first term. And when the president's numbers 00:08:51.549 --> 00:08:53.389 with independence fall off a cliff like that? 00:08:53.409 --> 00:08:55.809 It drags everything else down. The generic House 00:08:55.809 --> 00:08:57.909 ballot, according to the sources, is now at D 00:08:57.909 --> 00:09:00.889 plus seven. D plus seven. That's a wave election 00:09:00.889 --> 00:09:03.529 territory. And there's a Democrat who seems to 00:09:03.529 --> 00:09:06.549 be seizing on this moment, Arizona Senator Ruben 00:09:06.549 --> 00:09:09.899 Gallego. Let's talk about his profile as a potential 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:12.659 2028 contender. I mean, he's ticking every single 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:15.120 box. He's Latino. He's a decorated Marine combat 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:18.100 veteran. Harvard degree. A Harvard degree. And 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:20.500 from a critical swing state, Arizona, which borders 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:23.340 another one, Nevada, he has this really broad 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:26.940 appeal. And his message is already laser focused 00:09:26.940 --> 00:09:30.620 on those kitchen table issues. He's blaming Republicans 00:09:30.620 --> 00:09:33.399 for rising health care premiums and cuts to Medicaid. 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.409 Yep. His plan 2029 is all about affordable housing 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:40.250 and health care. He's speaking directly to that 00:09:40.250 --> 00:09:42.149 anti -incumbent anxiety we were just talking 00:09:42.149 --> 00:09:44.070 about. So while he's gearing up, the Democrats 00:09:44.070 --> 00:09:46.850 as a party are already testing a strategy for 00:09:46.850 --> 00:09:49.429 2026. And it's interesting, they're targeting 00:09:49.429 --> 00:09:52.259 someone who won't even be on the ballot. Robert 00:09:52.259 --> 00:09:55.500 F. Kennedy Jr. It's the classic create a boogeyman 00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:58.840 strategy. R .F .K. Jr. is unpopular enough, especially 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:01.539 on things like vaccines, that the plan is to 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:03.960 tie every single Republican candidate to his 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:06.700 views. The goal being to reinforce that idea 00:10:06.700 --> 00:10:09.080 that Republicans care more about tax cuts for 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:11.279 the rich than your family's health. Exactly. 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:13.940 They'll cite his past association with, you know, 00:10:14.100 --> 00:10:17.659 cuts to cancer research, firing CDC staff, all 00:10:17.659 --> 00:10:20.029 of it. Okay, finally, we have two quick updates 00:10:20.029 --> 00:10:22.009 that say a lot about who really has power in 00:10:22.009 --> 00:10:24.450 Washington. First, the influence of Laura Loomer. 00:10:25.110 --> 00:10:27.269 It's kind of amazing. She has no official role 00:10:27.269 --> 00:10:29.269 at all, yet she's getting White House nominations 00:10:29.269 --> 00:10:32.289 pulled. The latest was Donald Corb for IRS chief 00:10:32.289 --> 00:10:34.370 counsel. A very experienced guy. He'd already 00:10:34.370 --> 00:10:35.850 cleared the Senate Finance Committee. Cleared 00:10:35.850 --> 00:10:38.029 the committee. But Loomer goes after him on social 00:10:38.029 --> 00:10:41.379 media. And Trump yanks the nomination just like 00:10:41.379 --> 00:10:44.139 that. And now you have this huge leadership vacuum 00:10:44.139 --> 00:10:46.960 at the IRS right when they're trying to implement 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:49.720 all these complex new tax laws. That could have 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:52.779 some serious real -world consequences. For sure. 00:10:53.539 --> 00:10:55.440 And our last note is on the Fulton County case 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:58.120 in Georgia. Fannie Willis is out and veteran 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:00.639 prosecutor Pete Scandalakis is in. And we should 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:03.700 just remind everyone why this state RACO case 00:11:03.700 --> 00:11:06.500 is so important. Yes. Because it is a state case, 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:09.259 the present United States has zero pardon power 00:11:09.259 --> 00:11:13.120 over any of the 19 defendants. Scandalakis has 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:15.679 complete and total discretion here. The legal 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:18.500 threat is absolute. So we started this deep dive 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:21.139 with this tension between transparency releasing 00:11:21.139 --> 00:11:24.519 the Epstein files and the extreme political gymnastics 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:27.399 to control it. The sources really paint a picture 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:29.850 of a party and its leader being forced into a 00:11:29.850 --> 00:11:32.549 complete reversal just to try and manage the 00:11:32.549 --> 00:11:35.070 damage. And this brings us back to the Watergate 00:11:35.070 --> 00:11:38.330 comparison the sources make. If the cover -up 00:11:38.330 --> 00:11:40.980 is worse than the crime. And Trump fought this 00:11:40.980 --> 00:11:44.159 so hard before his sudden flip. You have to ask 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:46.779 yourself, how will the public's perception of 00:11:46.779 --> 00:11:49.500 just the effort to keep these files hidden affect 00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:52.840 the 2026 and 2028 elections? Right. Even if the 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:54.940 files themselves end up being heavily redacted. 00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:57.279 Exactly. The damage might already be done just 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.580 from the fight itself. The aggression, the denial, 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.639 and then this very sudden, very strategic reversal. 00:12:02.980 --> 00:12:05.299 For a lot of voters, that might be all the evidence 00:12:05.299 --> 00:12:07.230 they need. And that's something for you to think 00:12:07.230 --> 00:12:09.210 about as you watch this all continue to unfold. 00:12:09.529 --> 00:12:10.750 Thanks for joining the Deep Dive.