WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.459 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today, we're taking 00:00:02.459 --> 00:00:07.059 you right into the middle of three really major 00:00:07.059 --> 00:00:09.800 political and legal firestorms that are all connected. 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:12.539 They really are. Our mission is to give you that 00:00:12.539 --> 00:00:15.140 shortcut, you know, the distilled facts on accountability 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:18.239 for federal officers, the huge political fallout 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.500 from weaponized investigations and how all this 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:23.679 chaos is actually unexpectedly reshaping the 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:26.440 2026 election map. And this is really a deep 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.960 dive into that tension, that clash between a 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:32.359 political story and, well, the hard legal reality. 00:00:32.780 --> 00:00:35.439 We're looking at what happens when parts of the 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:36.880 government, I mean, from the Federal Reserve 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.939 all the way to ICE, get turned into tools for... 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:43.439 frankly, political revenge. And how the legal 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:45.179 system pushes back, even when it's under all 00:00:45.179 --> 00:00:47.240 that pressure. Exactly. Our source material for 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:50.200 you today is pretty rich. We have detailed analyses 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:53.939 of the Minneapolis ICE shooting, a really gut 00:00:53.939 --> 00:00:56.320 wrenching firsthand account from a U .S. citizen 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.600 who was detained in all of that. And on top of 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:01.439 that, the surprising fallout from a, let's just 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:04.500 say, very bad political misstep in Washington, 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:06.420 D .C. OK, so let's unpack this. Let's do it. 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:08.790 We're going to start in Minneapolis. The administration 00:01:08.790 --> 00:01:11.670 is engaged in this, well, this pretty clear effort 00:01:11.670 --> 00:01:14.790 to protect a federal agent, Jonathan Ross, who 00:01:14.790 --> 00:01:18.129 shot Renee Good. And at the same time, they're 00:01:18.129 --> 00:01:19.689 pushing this narrative that the shooting was 00:01:19.689 --> 00:01:23.569 justified, that Minneapolis is a city out of 00:01:23.569 --> 00:01:25.750 control. Right. The standard playbook. But our 00:01:25.750 --> 00:01:28.590 sources all point to one thing that makes this 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:31.209 case profoundly different. And that's the video 00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:34.189 evidence. It is just unusually clear. And that 00:01:34.189 --> 00:01:36.890 clarity completely rips apart the administration's 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:39.430 defense. That clarity is everything. It forces 00:01:39.430 --> 00:01:42.150 us to look past the usual talking points. And 00:01:42.150 --> 00:01:44.549 you have to understand, Ross, he's an experienced 00:01:44.549 --> 00:01:47.170 agent. Right. A decorated Iraq war vet, been 00:01:47.170 --> 00:01:49.590 in federal law enforcement since, what, 2007? 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:52.629 Since 2007. And with ICE since 2015. So this 00:01:52.629 --> 00:01:54.650 is not, you know, one of the new recruits they've 00:01:54.650 --> 00:01:56.590 been rushing through training. But that training 00:01:56.590 --> 00:01:58.549 context is still so important right now. Our 00:01:58.549 --> 00:02:00.409 sources confirm the... administration's rush 00:02:00.409 --> 00:02:04.950 to staff ICE has led to these drastically shortened 00:02:04.950 --> 00:02:07.269 Academy programs. Oh absolutely. Training that 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:09.169 used to take five months is now crunched down 00:02:09.169 --> 00:02:12.770 to 48 days. And we're even hearing this detail 00:02:12.770 --> 00:02:16.729 about a 47 -day target. Yeah that specific number, 00:02:17.189 --> 00:02:20.289 47, allegedly a nod to the 47th president. I 00:02:20.289 --> 00:02:21.930 mean that tells you everything you need to know 00:02:21.930 --> 00:02:24.960 about the priorities here. So even if Ross himself 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:27.939 is experienced, the standards for his whole unit 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:30.400 are just eroding. Exactly. And it doesn't rule 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:33.900 out the possibility that his partners, the people 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:36.500 right there with him, were poorly trained and 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:38.900 that their failures helped this whole thing escalate. 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:41.840 At first, a lot of legal observers were, well, 00:02:41.979 --> 00:02:44.159 they were pretty pessimistic. They were. Law 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:46.340 professor Emmanuel Malian was quoted saying that 00:02:46.340 --> 00:02:49.319 a state prosecution would be close to impossible 00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:51.919 without the feds cooperating. Meaning without 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:54.680 access to FBI. eye reports, body cam footage, 00:02:55.020 --> 00:02:57.120 all the stuff that DOJ controls. But that's where 00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:59.699 the story really shifts because of local resolve. 00:03:00.139 --> 00:03:02.599 Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty, who ran 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:05.099 on a platform of holding law enforcement accountable. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.340 She's not backing down. No. She announced her 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:10.759 own investigation and publicly demanded that 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:13.560 all the evidence be preserved. Her determination, 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:17.099 it just signals that she sees a clear legal path 00:03:17.099 --> 00:03:20.099 forward with or without federal cooperation. 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:23.159 Which is a huge deal. So if Moriarty is going 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:25.780 to charge, and the administration just keeps 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:29.020 yelling absolute immunity, what is the biggest 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:31.800 legal flaw in their argument, the one she's going 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:34.479 to exploit? OK, so the biggest flaw is that they're 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:37.699 basically mistaking civil protection for criminal 00:03:37.699 --> 00:03:39.860 protection. They are conflating two totally different 00:03:39.860 --> 00:03:42.360 legal concepts. Then what are they? Well, Agent 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:44.599 Ross is protected by qualified immunity. But 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:46.840 you have to remember. That is a civil protection. 00:03:47.099 --> 00:03:50.800 It's designed to shield officers from frivolous 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:52.560 lawsuits when they're doing their job legitimately. 00:03:52.740 --> 00:03:55.560 So from being sued for money. Exactly. But critically, 00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:57.979 qualified immunity provides no shield whatsoever 00:03:57.979 --> 00:04:00.580 against a criminal prosecution brought by a state. 00:04:00.939 --> 00:04:03.360 Zero. OK. And what about the other big one we 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.360 hear all the time? Sovereign immunity. The idea 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:08.479 that a state just can't charge a federal employee. 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:11.819 That argument is just as weak here. Sovereign 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:14.419 immunity is not some blanket get out of jail 00:04:14.419 --> 00:04:17.990 free card. States are absolutely free to sue 00:04:17.990 --> 00:04:21.209 or charge federal employees who violate state 00:04:21.209 --> 00:04:23.490 law. Especially when they're acting outside the 00:04:23.490 --> 00:04:26.370 scope of their duties. That's the key. The moment 00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:28.790 an agent commits a crime, especially one like 00:04:28.790 --> 00:04:31.930 this, where his actions seem to violate the DOJ's 00:04:31.930 --> 00:04:34.889 own rules for lethal force, he has stepped outside 00:04:34.889 --> 00:04:37.250 the bounds of his lawful function. And Mori already 00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:39.389 knows this. That's why she's moving forward. 00:04:39.670 --> 00:04:41.730 So let's get into the specifics of the incident 00:04:41.730 --> 00:04:43.970 itself, because this is where the sources suggest 00:04:43.970 --> 00:04:46.149 any justification Ross tries to make just falls 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:48.670 apart. The standard here is based on the Supreme 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:51.170 Court's Tennessee v. Garner decision right from 00:04:51.170 --> 00:04:54.029 85. Right. And the standard from that is unequivocal. 00:04:54.250 --> 00:04:56.529 Deadly force cannot be used just to stop someone 00:04:56.529 --> 00:04:59.790 from escaping. That's it. If you fire at a moving 00:04:59.790 --> 00:05:02.370 car, it has to be because there's an objectively 00:05:02.370 --> 00:05:05.069 reasonable threat of death or serious injury. 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:07.410 And no other option exists? And no other option 00:05:07.410 --> 00:05:09.069 exists, like simply stepping out of the car's 00:05:09.069 --> 00:05:11.629 path. And the fact pattern we're seeing from 00:05:11.629 --> 00:05:15.170 video in Minneapolis shows, well, clear procedural 00:05:15.170 --> 00:05:18.750 errors. Ross fired the second and third shots 00:05:18.750 --> 00:05:21.449 through the driver's side window. And the victim's 00:05:21.449 --> 00:05:23.350 tires, they were turned sharply to the right. 00:05:23.709 --> 00:05:25.930 It really suggests she was actively trying to 00:05:25.930 --> 00:05:28.069 steer away from everything. But the core issue 00:05:28.069 --> 00:05:31.769 here, it's the procedural malpractice. Experts 00:05:31.769 --> 00:05:34.069 quoted in Forbes were, and I'm quoting, absolutely 00:05:34.069 --> 00:05:36.470 baffled that Ross walked in front of that vehicle 00:05:36.470 --> 00:05:38.670 after the incident was already underway. You 00:05:38.670 --> 00:05:41.430 just don't do that. You cannot deliberately create 00:05:41.430 --> 00:05:44.670 a situation that puts you in harm's way and then 00:05:44.670 --> 00:05:46.829 use that as the justification for lethal force. 00:05:47.589 --> 00:05:50.110 I mean, that is just profoundly poor procedure. 00:05:50.290 --> 00:05:52.050 And this is where the crucial context comes in, 00:05:52.050 --> 00:05:54.149 the part that makes this poor procedure look 00:05:54.149 --> 00:05:57.069 a lot like an accident. We have to look at Ross's 00:05:57.069 --> 00:05:59.730 history. Where he came from. Exactly. He was 00:05:59.730 --> 00:06:02.029 with Border Patrol in El Paso for eight years, 00:06:02.329 --> 00:06:05.410 2007 to 2015. And that history is so telling. 00:06:05.509 --> 00:06:07.810 It's a key insight from our sources. They point 00:06:07.810 --> 00:06:11.050 to a leaked 2014 Border Patrol report. And what 00:06:11.050 --> 00:06:14.389 did it say? It detailed a long -standing documented 00:06:14.389 --> 00:06:17.209 pattern where agents would intentionally step 00:06:17.209 --> 00:06:21.300 in the path of moving cars, specifically... To 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:23.500 manufacture a threat. To manufacture a threat. 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:27.060 Yes. The entire purpose of this tactic was to 00:06:27.060 --> 00:06:29.139 claim the driver was trying to hit them so they 00:06:29.139 --> 00:06:32.540 could retroactively justify using lethal force 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:34.920 under that Tennessee v. Garner standard we just 00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:37.899 talked about. So he's not just making a mistake 00:06:37.899 --> 00:06:40.060 and walking in front of a car. He's potentially 00:06:40.060 --> 00:06:43.519 using a known dangerous tactic that was historically 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:46.480 employed by his former agency to justify a shooting. 00:06:46.939 --> 00:06:49.160 Precisely. And when you combine that historical 00:06:49.160 --> 00:06:52.120 documented pattern with his actions in Minneapolis, 00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:54.540 walking in front of the vehicle after the chaos 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:57.180 started, a jury would find that context highly, 00:06:57.180 --> 00:06:58.959 highly relevant when they're trying to figure 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.139 out his intent. And on top of all that, Ross 00:07:01.139 --> 00:07:03.519 has, well, some serious credibility issues from 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:06.639 a previous case. He does. During the Munoz Guatemala 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.620 trial last year, Ross allegedly perjured himself. 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:12.699 No. He claimed the suspect asked for a lawyer. 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:14.800 It was a detail he had never mentioned before. 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:17.259 And it was directly contradicted by an FBI agent 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:19.180 who was on the scene. That is definitely going 00:07:19.180 --> 00:07:21.339 to come up if he takes the stand. It absolutely 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:24.399 will. So if you pull the lens back, the high 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:27.379 probability of both eight. civil suit for wrongful 00:07:27.379 --> 00:07:30.959 death and a criminal prosecution means this story 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:32.800 is going to stay in the headlines for months. 00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:35.819 It's a massive political anchor, as our sources 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:38.100 call it. Yeah. The combination of the video, 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:40.860 the procedural malpractice, the credibility issues. 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:44.279 It makes protecting this agent incredibly costly 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:46.879 for the administration. Extremely. OK, so now 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:49.339 let's transition from that high level legal analysis 00:07:49.339 --> 00:07:51.199 to what this was actually like on the ground. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:54.759 We have. the really powerful account of Brandon 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:58.019 Seguenza, a U .S. citizen who was there as a 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:00.399 legal observer. And his experience just reveals 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:03.220 the sheer force and, frankly, the intimidation 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:06.079 tactics that ICE agents were using. He describes 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.819 this just terrifying sequence of events. ICE 00:08:08.819 --> 00:08:12.019 stops his car. They pepper spray his air vent. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.160 And he has his hands up. The car's in park, but 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:16.699 they still smash the windows, rip him and his 00:08:16.699 --> 00:08:19.009 friend out and arrest them for obstruction. And 00:08:19.009 --> 00:08:21.050 some of the details, the individual actions of 00:08:21.050 --> 00:08:22.930 the agents, they just suggest this was about 00:08:22.930 --> 00:08:25.310 deliberate psychological pressure. Oh, absolutely. 00:08:25.670 --> 00:08:28.110 An agent rips the legal observer whistle from 00:08:28.110 --> 00:08:31.350 Seguenza's neck and mockingly says, I'll be taking 00:08:31.350 --> 00:08:33.409 this. I might need it later. And when he asks 00:08:33.409 --> 00:08:35.850 for a seat belt, he's ignored. When he says he's 00:08:35.850 --> 00:08:38.289 losing circulation in his hands from the handcuffs, 00:08:38.450 --> 00:08:42.269 he's refused. This wasn't just chaos. These details 00:08:42.269 --> 00:08:45.450 point to calculated intimidation. They take him 00:08:45.450 --> 00:08:47.970 to the Whipple Federal Building. And Segrenza 00:08:47.970 --> 00:08:51.149 sees dozens of, in his words, brown people being 00:08:51.149 --> 00:08:54.190 processed in an unheated garage. He saw buses 00:08:54.190 --> 00:08:57.029 being prepped for deportation. Right. And he 00:08:57.029 --> 00:08:59.470 also noticed all this internal confusion. Agents 00:08:59.470 --> 00:09:01.210 were struggling to use their phones. They couldn't 00:09:01.210 --> 00:09:03.409 get doors open. They were complaining about no 00:09:03.409 --> 00:09:05.929 cell service. He even thought one agent was being 00:09:05.929 --> 00:09:07.490 trained right there in the middle of all of it. 00:09:07.730 --> 00:09:10.629 And the environment itself sounds just harrowing. 00:09:10.669 --> 00:09:13.549 He heard terrified screaming, crying, wailing. 00:09:13.809 --> 00:09:16.509 Yeah. The fellows held up to eight people and 00:09:16.509 --> 00:09:19.850 he described most of the detainees as just staring 00:09:19.850 --> 00:09:22.509 at the ground with almost no energy. As a U .S. 00:09:22.809 --> 00:09:24.850 citizen, he was put in the USC section. He was 00:09:24.850 --> 00:09:27.149 held for eight hours. And during that time, he 00:09:27.149 --> 00:09:29.570 was only offered non -vegan food like turkey 00:09:29.570 --> 00:09:31.769 and gelatin snacks, even though he told them 00:09:31.769 --> 00:09:34.190 his dietary needs. And this is where it crosses 00:09:34.190 --> 00:09:36.830 a line from just enforcement into intelligence 00:09:36.830 --> 00:09:40.379 gathering. Seguenza says he was approached by 00:09:40.379 --> 00:09:42.840 DHS investigations agents. And they made him 00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:45.600 an author. They did. They offered him legal protection 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:48.419 for any undocumented family members he might 00:09:48.419 --> 00:09:51.559 have or even money in exchange for names. Names 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:54.419 of protest organizers or other undocumented people. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:57.919 Exactly. It was a clear, documented attempt to 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:00.700 turn a detained U .S. citizen into an informant 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:04.049 while he was under duress. And the release. The 00:10:04.049 --> 00:10:05.970 way they released him is just shocking. After 00:10:05.970 --> 00:10:07.889 eight hours, they let him go. No charges. No 00:10:07.889 --> 00:10:10.509 charges. But they direct him to go right back 00:10:10.509 --> 00:10:13.190 toward the active protest area. And five minutes 00:10:13.190 --> 00:10:15.730 later, tear gas is deployed. He gets hit by a 00:10:15.730 --> 00:10:17.710 paintball gun. And he ends up having to help 00:10:17.710 --> 00:10:20.029 a stranger who's been tear gassed find a medic. 00:10:20.269 --> 00:10:23.169 His whole account just highlights this dual reality. 00:10:23.789 --> 00:10:26.649 His citizenship, you know, it gave him some protection. 00:10:26.830 --> 00:10:28.549 He was eventually released. He got access to 00:10:28.549 --> 00:10:31.019 a lawyer. Right. But he saw that the hundreds 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:34.519 of others who were detained had no such due process, 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.679 no legal advocates. His story just captures the 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:42.139 aggressive, disorganized, and deeply intimidating 00:10:42.139 --> 00:10:45.100 nature of that whole federal operation. All right. 00:10:45.340 --> 00:10:47.340 So speaking of weaponized government instruments, 00:10:47.539 --> 00:10:52.269 let's shift gears now over to Washington. Well, 00:10:52.370 --> 00:10:54.929 a pretty significant political miscalculation. 00:10:55.169 --> 00:10:57.029 I think miscalculation is putting it mildly. 00:10:57.070 --> 00:10:59.950 OK, fair. The announced investigation into Federal 00:10:59.950 --> 00:11:02.909 Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for fraud related 00:11:02.909 --> 00:11:05.129 to the two and a half billion dollars spent on 00:11:05.129 --> 00:11:07.330 the Fed's new headquarters. And this move is 00:11:07.330 --> 00:11:09.509 just widely seen as political retaliation. Yeah. 00:11:09.509 --> 00:11:11.870 I mean, Powell's term as chair ends in May anyway. 00:11:11.950 --> 00:11:14.169 So this investigation isn't really about removing 00:11:14.169 --> 00:11:16.570 him immediately. It's a revenge. Pure vengeance 00:11:16.570 --> 00:11:19.350 for, you know, poor economic numbers. And it's 00:11:19.350 --> 00:11:21.620 a huge warning shot to other federal officials 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:24.519 about institutional independence. But the blowback 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:27.659 has been just enormous and it's directly hurting 00:11:27.659 --> 00:11:30.279 the administration's own goals. First off, you 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:33.789 have economic instability. Markets hate uncertainty. 00:11:34.690 --> 00:11:37.690 Exactly. This investigation injects deep uncertainty 00:11:37.690 --> 00:11:39.990 into the financial markets, which weakens the 00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:43.610 U .S. economy. It's so damaging that even Treasury 00:11:43.610 --> 00:11:45.990 Secretary Scott Bessent was publicly complaining 00:11:45.990 --> 00:11:49.730 about it. And critically, this completely compromises 00:11:49.730 --> 00:11:52.129 their ability to reshape the Federal Reserve 00:11:52.129 --> 00:11:55.269 Board. Powell, in response, might just decide 00:11:55.269 --> 00:11:57.769 to stay on as a governor. His term as a governor 00:11:57.769 --> 00:12:00.629 doesn't expire until 2028. Right. So he could 00:12:00.629 --> 00:12:02.539 stay on specific. specifically to block them 00:12:02.539 --> 00:12:04.799 from appointing a replacement chair. And there's 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:06.659 a fascinating connection here to the Supreme 00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:09.440 Court of all things. Yes. So the Supreme Court 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:12.460 is set to hear a totally separate case involving 00:12:12.460 --> 00:12:15.500 Governor Lisa Cook, who's also facing similar 00:12:15.500 --> 00:12:18.179 fraud accusations. Because the administration 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:20.500 is now so publicly weaponizing these fraud claims 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:23.000 to try and remove people, sources are suggesting 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:25.600 the Supreme Court is now far less likely to approve 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:28.500 that as a valid reason for firing a federal governor. 00:12:28.649 --> 00:12:32.049 So the move against Powell could actually backfire 00:12:32.049 --> 00:12:34.909 and protect Cook? It could cost the administration 00:12:34.909 --> 00:12:37.409 two appointments on the seven -seat board. It 00:12:37.409 --> 00:12:40.509 turns their political attack into a massive strategic 00:12:40.509 --> 00:12:43.149 loss. And if that wasn't enough, then came the 00:12:43.149 --> 00:12:45.610 Senate revolt. Oh, yeah. Senator Tom Tillis, 00:12:45.629 --> 00:12:47.570 who's on the banking committee, he announced 00:12:47.570 --> 00:12:50.889 he would block all future Fed nominations until 00:12:50.889 --> 00:12:54.230 the Powell investigation is resolved. And Senator 00:12:54.230 --> 00:12:56.710 Lisa Murkowski immediately joined him. Which 00:12:56.710 --> 00:12:59.929 means total paralysis at the Fed for the foreseeable 00:12:59.929 --> 00:13:02.250 future. The whole thing is just so counterproductive. 00:13:02.289 --> 00:13:05.350 And Tillis went even further. He did. He publicly 00:13:05.350 --> 00:13:07.629 stated that the independence and credibility 00:13:07.629 --> 00:13:10.009 of the Department of Justice under AG Pam Bondi 00:13:10.009 --> 00:13:12.580 is now question. So what does that mean strategically? 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:16.100 It means it opens the door to intense scrutiny 00:13:16.100 --> 00:13:19.820 of any future DOJ nominees. It could even lead 00:13:19.820 --> 00:13:21.840 to potential impeachment proceedings against 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:25.240 Bondi in 2027. What started as a simple attempt 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:28.080 at political payback has resulted in legislative 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.059 gridlock, economic instability, and the weakening 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:33.789 of their own authority. Our sources are just 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:37.370 calling this a profoundly, colossally stupid, 00:13:37.470 --> 00:13:40.710 unforced error. The harm just far outweighs any 00:13:40.710 --> 00:13:42.789 benefit. So let's pull the lens back one last 00:13:42.789 --> 00:13:45.350 time and connect all this political chaos to 00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:48.950 the 2026 electoral landscape. OK. Former representative 00:13:48.950 --> 00:13:51.269 Mary Peltola has announced she's going to challenge 00:13:51.269 --> 00:13:54.750 Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska. This gives the 00:13:54.750 --> 00:13:57.889 Democrats a clear, strong candidate. It does, 00:13:58.029 --> 00:14:00.840 but it's an undeniably tough fight. Alaska is 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:03.519 historically very hard for Democrats. It's R 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:05.679 plus 13, meaning the last Republican presidential 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:07.940 candidate won there by 13 points. And Sullivan 00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:10.460 is an incumbent. A Republican incumbent who probably 00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:12.919 won't face a serious primary challenger. So it's 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:14.580 an uphill battle. However, there are some real 00:14:14.580 --> 00:14:17.600 opportunities here. Alaska is significantly less 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.899 red when Trump isn't on the ballot. Its partisan 00:14:19.899 --> 00:14:22.399 voting index drops to R plus six. It's a big 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:25.519 shift. And Peltola is incredibly popular. She's 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:29.019 described as a moderates moderate. And if all 00:14:29.019 --> 00:14:31.480 the talk and chaos coming out of DC, like the 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:34.120 Powell episode, if that continues to alienate 00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:36.059 independent voters. So I could see a real shift 00:14:36.059 --> 00:14:38.480 toward her. You could. And we also have to talk 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.700 about the mechanics of an Alaska race, rank choice 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:46.179 voting. RCV. That was critical to her 2022 House 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:48.299 win. Remember, the Republican vote was split 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:50.980 between Begich and Palin, and that allowed Paltola 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:53.299 to win in the second round of counting. So how 00:14:53.299 --> 00:14:56.019 does that play out in 2026 with Sullivan as the 00:14:56.019 --> 00:14:58.389 incumbent? Well, it still complicates things 00:14:58.389 --> 00:15:01.210 for the Republicans, even if Sullivan consolidates 00:15:01.210 --> 00:15:03.870 the base more effectively. If a strong third 00:15:03.870 --> 00:15:06.090 party or a moderate independent candidate jumps 00:15:06.090 --> 00:15:09.730 in, RCV gives Peltola a crucial path to victory 00:15:09.730 --> 00:15:12.110 by picking up all those second place votes. And 00:15:12.110 --> 00:15:14.210 what's the polling look like? Early polling, 00:15:14.250 --> 00:15:16.429 and this was even before last October, already 00:15:16.429 --> 00:15:18.950 showed the race is a dead heat. It ranged anywhere 00:15:18.950 --> 00:15:21.529 from D plus three to R plus five. That tells 00:15:21.529 --> 00:15:23.649 you the race is incredibly volatile and really 00:15:23.649 --> 00:15:25.809 responsive to all this current political turmoil. 00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:30.360 So strategically, what does this new focus on 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:32.840 Alaska mean for the whole Senate battle? The 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:36.240 significance is crystal clear. Republicans now 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:40.320 have to spend valuable resources. time, money, 00:15:40.659 --> 00:15:43.159 high -profile surrogates defending a seat they 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:45.519 thought was completely safe. A seat that should 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:48.360 have been off the table. Exactly. And committing 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:51.299 those resources to a state like Alaska directly 00:15:51.299 --> 00:15:53.740 widens the Democrats' path to keeping control 00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:56.860 of the Senate in 2026. It turns a sideline race 00:15:56.860 --> 00:15:59.250 into a major battleground. So we've completed 00:15:59.250 --> 00:16:02.289 a pretty comprehensive deep dive today. We've 00:16:02.289 --> 00:16:04.409 covered the complexity of federal law and accountability 00:16:04.409 --> 00:16:06.990 in Minneapolis. We've seen the danger of political 00:16:06.990 --> 00:16:09.409 vendettas destabilizing our key institutions. 00:16:09.750 --> 00:16:12.929 And we've watched the 2026 map unexpectedly widen. 00:16:13.149 --> 00:16:15.129 And I think the big theme connecting all of this 00:16:15.129 --> 00:16:17.690 is just how hard accountability is. The legal 00:16:17.690 --> 00:16:19.570 system, even when it's facing all this political 00:16:19.570 --> 00:16:21.970 obstruction, it does have mechanisms to push 00:16:21.970 --> 00:16:24.610 back. You know, from the limits on qualified 00:16:24.610 --> 00:16:27.230 immunity to determine local prosecutors and all 00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:30.370 the civil suits that are coming. But that process 00:16:30.370 --> 00:16:33.169 is so long. And the court drama and political 00:16:33.169 --> 00:16:35.330 fighting that come with it can have these massive 00:16:35.330 --> 00:16:38.250 cascading consequences for any administration 00:16:38.250 --> 00:16:41.250 trying to shield its agents. We discussed that 00:16:41.250 --> 00:16:44.230 historical documented pattern. Border Patrol 00:16:44.230 --> 00:16:46.690 agents intentionally stepping in front of vehicles 00:16:46.690 --> 00:16:49.710 to manufacture a threat to justify using lethal 00:16:49.710 --> 00:16:52.899 force. So, considering the administration's current 00:16:52.899 --> 00:16:55.980 push to rapidly staff both ICE and Border Patrol 00:16:55.980 --> 00:16:57.899 with these shortened training periods, we'll 00:16:57.899 --> 00:16:59.879 leave you with this provocative thought. How 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:02.159 might that historical pattern of poor procedure 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:04.460 and manufactured threat proliferate across the 00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:07.339 entire DHS apparatus today, and who might be 00:17:07.339 --> 00:17:08.000 the next target?