1 00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: To night. Michael Brown joins me here, the former FEMA 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: director of talk show host Michael Brown. Brownie, No, Brownie, 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,200 Speaker 1: You're doing a heck of a job. The Weekend with 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,119 Speaker 1: Michael Brown broadcasting Life in Denver, Colorado. It's the Weekend 5 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: with Michael Brown. Glad to have you joining the program today, 6 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: and a Merry Christmas to everybody too. Easiest rule of 7 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: engagement to follow. If you want to tell me anything 8 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,240 Speaker 1: or ask me anything, the text line number is always open. 9 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: Three three one zero three three three one zero three, 10 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: keyword Mike or Michael. Do me a favor, Go follow 11 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: me on X at Michael Brown USA. I casually mentioned 12 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: in that last segment talking about the fraud going on 13 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: in Minnesota that a non government organization and NNGO was 14 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: involved in part of that fraud. The Federal Reserve recently 15 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: disclosed a figure that probably I should give you a 16 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: heart attack at least stopping in your tracks and ask 17 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: where did it come from? You know, the five ws 18 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,559 Speaker 1: who want where, when and why. As of the second 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:12,839 Speaker 1: quarter of this year, NGOs in this country held fourteen 20 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 1: point twelve trillion dollars in assets. Yeah, let me give 21 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: you that number again. NGOs, non government organizations that we'll 22 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: see in the meanly get a lot of their money 23 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: from taxpayers. Held fourteen point twelve trillion dollars in assets. Now, 24 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: that balance sheet at fourteen point twelve twillion dollars is 25 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: larger than the combined gross domestic product to Japan, Germany, 26 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: and India by about five percent. That is a fact 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: drawn from You can go on to the Federal Reserve website. 28 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: You can look into their own financial accounts. Now you 29 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: can dispute how the assets are distributed. You could dispute 30 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: or argue about how actively they get deployed, but the 31 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:14,239 Speaker 1: magnitude itself is no longer debatable. A sector of formally 32 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: private tax exempt institutions now commands wealth on a scale 33 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: that is normally associated with Great Western powers. Japan, Germany, 34 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:34,679 Speaker 1: India are smaller combined in their GDP than the fourteen 35 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 1: point twelve dollars held in US non government organizations. Now, 36 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 1: at first, just you know, when you just first think 37 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:48,239 Speaker 1: about it, it may seem unremarkable or maybe even reassuring, 38 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: because I think many people think, oh, non government organizations, 39 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: that's kind of associated with a lot of people with 40 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: things like oh, the homelessness problem, the drug problem, soup kitchens, 41 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,799 Speaker 1: or they're involved in disaster relief, or they're going out 42 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: on medical missions around the world, or they're involved in 43 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: conservation projects. In this country, I think too many Americans 44 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:22,519 Speaker 1: have given to these causes in good faith. And the 45 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: legal framework that gives these nonprofits tax exemption emerged from 46 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: precisely that moral bearing. The state steps back. We whether 47 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: it's state, local, or federal, refrain from taxing donations and endowments, 48 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: and civil society supposedly steps forward to meet human needs 49 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: that the free markets or the private sector, or that 50 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: governments can't address, or when they do address it, they're 51 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: not very good at it. And so for much of 52 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, and now I think moving into well 53 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: into now the twenty first century, I think that bargain 54 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: for a while may have worked. But the moral intuition 55 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: that justified the nonprofit model does not automatically justify the 56 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: present form and the extent of these NGOs. You know 57 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:29,280 Speaker 1: as well as I do, that when incentives change, the 58 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: institutions change, and we also know this scale matters. All 59 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: we have to do is look at our own federal government. 60 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: We know that now it's not just the federal government, 61 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: all levels of government. I've given you this challenge before, 62 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: and I will challenge you again. As you go through 63 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,280 Speaker 1: your daily life, you think about whether you're driving a car, 64 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: shopping at a grocery store, or you know, my favorite 65 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:58,479 Speaker 1: one of all is the next time you fill up 66 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,920 Speaker 1: with gas, because everything's self service. Now on this say, 67 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: is it still organ in New Jersey? I forget whether 68 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: Oregon in Jersey is still it's required that you can't 69 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: have self serve? I don't remember. If somebody knows, text me, 70 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,840 Speaker 1: let me know. When you're filling your car up with gas, 71 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: don't just look at the price. Don't just look at 72 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: you know, as the digital numbers spanning, you realize, oh 73 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: my gosh, this is gonna cost me a hundred bucks. 74 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: I want you to step back, and I want you 75 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: to look at the placards on the side of the 76 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,720 Speaker 1: gas pumps and read all of the rules that you're 77 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: supposed to follow when you're filling your vehicle with fuel. 78 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: That's a government regulation. Or you go into a restaurant, 79 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: and again I'm not opposed to all regulations, but you 80 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: go into a restaurant, I want you to find somewhere. 81 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 1: If you can see into the kitchen or in a 82 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: hallway or somewhere, you'll see all the licenses, you'll see 83 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: all the rules, you'll see all the things. Or go 84 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: into your own company. I can walk downstairs too, or 85 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: actually I can walk up to the fourth floor of 86 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,919 Speaker 1: this building, and in our kitchen area there is a 87 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: gigantic bulletin board that has all of the announcements about 88 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 1: workers comp and everything else. Everywhere you turn, government has 89 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 1: intruded into our lives. That's why I point out that 90 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: at some point, when the incentives change, the institutions change, 91 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: and also when the scale becomes so large that matters too. 92 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: A legal structure that was designed for just modest charities 93 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: does not remain benign when it governs entities that collectively 94 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: rival the productive output of advanced economies like India, Germany 95 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,679 Speaker 1: and Japan. At that point, we're not talking about charity 96 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,280 Speaker 1: in the ordinary sense that I think most Americans think 97 00:06:53,279 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: about charity. We're talking about power, absolute power. Let me 98 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: give you a simple comparison. A corporation, just a company 99 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: publicly traded with fourteen trillion dollars in assets, would be 100 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: among the most heavily regulated company in the world. Its 101 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: disclosures to the SEC, to banking regulators, to everybody would 102 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: be highly scrutinized. The activities of that corporation that has 103 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: fourteen trillion dollars in assets would be obviously taxed, Its 104 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: political engagement would be constrained, and the c suite, the 105 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: leadership of that company would be subject to continuous oversight. 106 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: A sovereign state commanding similar resources would be constrained. If 107 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: you had a small country Japan that's smaller than these NGOs, 108 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: they would be constrained by elections, by treaties, by laws 109 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: if they're parliament or in this case with the United States, 110 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: that our Congress might pass now. And in GOO, despite 111 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: controlling comparable wealth, they now operate in a space that 112 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: is neither market. It's not a free market, and it's 113 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: not a state. It's not a government. They're private, but 114 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: they're subsidized. They're powerful, but they're unelected. They're political, but 115 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 1: they claim to be nonpartisan. That's ambiguity, and one time 116 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: ambiguity seemed like a virtue. I think today that ambiguity 117 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: is a loophole. The problem is not that we have 118 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: non government organizations. It's that the tax code treats them 119 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: as if they were still what they once were. You 120 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: see the exemption from income taxes, capital gains taxes, and 121 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: in many cases even property taxes. All of that was 122 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,359 Speaker 1: justified at one time on the assumption that these organizations 123 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: were very thinly capitalized. They were primarily driven by their mission. 124 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:25,439 Speaker 1: And so you know CEOs of the chief executive officer 125 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: or the executive director, the chief operating officer, the chief 126 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:36,839 Speaker 1: technology officer, the chief information officer, they were all getting salaries, 127 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: but they were reasonable salaries, salaries that were maybe competitive 128 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 1: in the marketplace, but they weren't absurd. We talked about 129 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: on the local program. I talked about a company that 130 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,199 Speaker 1: a couple of years ago had very little in assets. 131 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 1: Today they've got hundreds of millions of dollars in assets 132 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: and the CEO it makes million dollars a year. How 133 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 1: did that happen? It's the Weekend with Michael Brown. I'll 134 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: explain next how that happens and why it needs to change. 135 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: I'll be right back. Merry Christmas everybody, So Weeked with 136 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: Michael Brown. Thanks for tuning in. So we're talking about 137 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:27,079 Speaker 1: NGOs and how you know, I've long complained, but I've 138 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: never really dug into the details about just you know, 139 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: there's a point where you recognize, Okay, I keep bitching, 140 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: complaining about NGO's, let's dig into them further. So I did, 141 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,199 Speaker 1: and then now I'm really ticked off, and Merry Christmas, 142 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: I'm really ticked off. The Tax Foundation has been warning 143 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: for years about how this nonprofit sector has quietly grown 144 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: into just a parallel economy. By the Tax Foundation's own accounting, 145 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:04,080 Speaker 1: even going back several years, NGOs represented about fifteen percent 146 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: of America's gross domestic product, and for years they've controlled 147 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: trillions and assets, and that trend has only accelerated. Its hospitals, universities, 148 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: credit unions, advocacy groups, you know groups again. You know, 149 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:24,319 Speaker 1: whether it's for drugs, homelessness, you know, illegal aliens, whatever, 150 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 1: NGOs for everything you can possibly imagine. And they now 151 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: generate business like income at scale. But even though they 152 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: generate huge amounts of income, they face none of the 153 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:43,680 Speaker 1: physical obligations that are imposed on their for profit counterparts. 154 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: So the result is not charity. I think it's distortion. 155 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: An example, two hospitals across the street from one another. 156 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,440 Speaker 1: One is organized as a nonprofit the other as a 157 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: for profit hospital. Both charge market rates, both employee professional management, 158 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: both invest in real estate and technology, but one pays 159 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 1: corporate taxes the other does not. The tax burden borne 160 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 1: by the for profit hospital doesn't disappear, it gets shifted 161 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: either onto the patients or onto taxpayers. In effect, the 162 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:29,679 Speaker 1: nonprofits tax exemption becomes a subsidy financed by everybody. Now, 163 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,679 Speaker 1: if you're a defender of this system, you're going to 164 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 1: respond that maybe I'm sending a straw man here. But 165 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: I would say that defenders of the system typically respond 166 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: by arguing that the nonprofits reinvest their surpluses in their mission. Well, 167 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. Endowments grow faster 168 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: than the services expand the other thing that happens is 169 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: that the compensation of the C suite reaches levels that 170 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:08,199 Speaker 1: are indistinguishable from the private sector. For example, university endowments 171 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: that exceed fifty billion dollars, they increase their tuition relentlessly 172 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 1: while accumulating wealth that compounds tax free foundations that satisfy 173 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: minimal payout requirements while preserving capital imperpetuity in the legal 174 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: form signals altruism, but the economic behavior signals something closer 175 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:36,080 Speaker 1: to just pure raw asset management. And then the problem 176 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:41,199 Speaker 1: deepens when you turn from economics to politics. NGOs are 177 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: not supposed to engage in partisan activity. I can't help 178 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,079 Speaker 1: but laugh when I say that they're not supposed to 179 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: be partisan organizations, but in practice many do, often through 180 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 1: elaborate networks of affiliated entities, and so they move the 181 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: money between their five oh one C three entities and 182 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: their five one see four organizations. And I don't think 183 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: that anybody has exploited that structure more effectively and more 184 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: efficiently than George and Alec Soros. Through their Open Society foundations. 185 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,960 Speaker 1: They have perfected the use of tax exempt capital to 186 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: finance lawsuits, advocacy, and political pressure campaigns across jurisdiction and 187 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: across probably every kind of topic you can imagine. The 188 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: result is a system in which political activism gets subsidized 189 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: by the tax code. The donors receive deductions, the organizations 190 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: avoid taxes. Litigation, lobbying, narrative shaping. Those are all financed 191 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: with dollars that would have otherwise flowed to the treasury 192 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: because they don't pay taxes. There's a delta between what 193 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: a private organization. What they're you know, net income would 194 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: be versus what the net income is of an ng 195 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: O over here, because they're not paying taxes. So in 196 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: that delta, that difference, they can use to file lawsuits, 197 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: to lobby, to go out and use the cabal to 198 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: shape and narrative. And this isn't an abstract idea either. 199 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,120 Speaker 1: Both during Trump one point oh and Trump two point zero, 200 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: do you know that more than ninety percent of the 201 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 1: lawsuits brought against the Trump administration were either filed directly 202 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: by an NGO, or the lawsuits were financed by an NGO, 203 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: or they were coordinated by the NGOs. They were operating 204 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: behind just nominal plaintiffs. Let me explain what that means. 205 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: They might come to me. Let's say that I'm i'm 206 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: I'm enraged with Trump arrangement syndrome, or I'm an illegal alien, 207 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: or I've got some cause that I believe in. Well, 208 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: the NGO would put me up as the plaintiff and 209 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: then they would fund the law firm. I don't do anything. 210 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: I just put my name in a lawsuit. Oh, I'd 211 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: have to appear for a deposition, I'd have to answer interrogatories. 212 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: But I wouldn't have to worry about a thing in 213 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: terms of the legal expenses. And all of these cases, well, 214 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: let's see, they challenged immigration enforcement, they challenged energy policy, 215 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: they challenged election law, and they challenged they even challenged 216 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 1: national security decisions. And they all got funded with tax 217 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: exempt capital, tax exempt money. The plaintiffs paid nothing into 218 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: the system that they were suing or contesting. Yet what 219 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: did they do. They deployed vast resources against agencies that 220 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: are funded by you and me, by the taxpayers. Now, 221 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: you can agree or disagree with the substance of any 222 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: particular lawsuit. The structural question is the main question. Should 223 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: the tax code sub dies permanent legal opposition to democratically 224 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: enacted policy. My answer is no, it should not. The 225 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:13,119 Speaker 1: traditional answer, though, has been that civil society must remain 226 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 1: independent of the government of the state. Well, that answer 227 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:23,119 Speaker 1: presupposes that NGOs are meaningfully separate from the political process. 228 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,640 Speaker 1: Do you think they are When you think about an NGO, 229 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 1: do you think they're separate from the political process. I 230 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: think they're an inherent part of the political process. I'll 231 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:43,920 Speaker 1: explain why next. Don't go Away to Night. Michael Brown 232 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: joins me here. The former FEMA director of talk show 233 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,879 Speaker 1: host Michael Brown. Brownie, No, Brownie, You're doing a heck 234 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: of a job. The Weekend with Michael Brown. Merry Christmas 235 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 1: and welcome back to The Weekly with Michael Brown. Glad 236 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: to have you with me. Text line, of course has 237 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: always opened three three one zero three keyword Michael Michael 238 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: goes follow me on x at Michael Brown Usay. So 239 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: back to nngos. As I said after Trump one point 240 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 1: o Trump Trump two point zero, almost all of the 241 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: lawfair against him was done by mngos. Those organizations filed 242 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 1: and funded waves of lawsuits. They coordinated investigations, they submitted 243 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: This is interesting to me anyway, as a lawyer. They 244 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:36,199 Speaker 1: submitted countless bar complaints against Republican lawyers, Republican officials and 245 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: advisors who had law degrees or who were admitted to 246 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: the bar, had a bar license. Why would they do that, 247 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: because those complaints were more than just punitive, they actually 248 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: functioned as a killing mechanism. Because you're going to be 249 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: loath to take on a case for the administration or 250 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 1: for anyone representing the administration, or for someone defending the administration, 251 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: because you don't want to go fight a bar complaint, 252 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: your likelihood is at stake, This is warfare. And then 253 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 1: those same organizations, those same NGOs, continue to bring in 254 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: finance these cases into Trump's second term reveally not a 255 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:29,160 Speaker 1: temporary reaction, but has become an institutional strategy. The NGOs 256 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:34,680 Speaker 1: are so now are now so deeply integrated into our 257 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 1: policy networks, and they're usually staffed by former government officials. 258 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: They coordinate with all these partisan actors, and they focus 259 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:51,199 Speaker 1: less on service delivery than on an ideological outcome. The 260 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 1: distinction between nonprofit advocacy and political organization has become so 261 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 1: intertwined to the point because it really is truly irrelevant. 262 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:07,880 Speaker 1: And the scale of assets involved fourteen point two trillion dollars. 263 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: Think about it this way, that's not passive capital. That 264 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:20,320 Speaker 1: fourteen point twelve trillion dollars generates a whole hell of 265 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:24,879 Speaker 1: a lot of income, and it provides influence and of 266 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: course leverage. It can shape labor markets, It can shape 267 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:35,359 Speaker 1: and influence media ecosystems, the cabal, It can influence academic priorities. 268 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:41,439 Speaker 1: It can even influence that regulatory agenda that I beg 269 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,119 Speaker 1: you to think about as you go through. I know 270 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:48,120 Speaker 1: it's Christmas time. But sometime during your Christmas holiday, there'll 271 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: be somewhere where I'm going to plant this earworm brainworm 272 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:55,160 Speaker 1: in you, and you'll think, oh yeah, Michael Brown told 273 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,440 Speaker 1: me to think about government regulation. There is a great 274 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: example of a government regulation I haven't thought about in 275 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:07,919 Speaker 1: your everyday life. When that power operates outside the normal 276 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:13,480 Speaker 1: mechanisms of our accountability, like elections or recalls, the result 277 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:20,679 Speaker 1: is not That is not pluralism. It's a symmetry. Now. 278 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: I know that people will argue or object that the 279 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: figure of the fourteen point twelve trillion dollars it aggregates 280 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: very different institutions. Of course it does, but it shows 281 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: you the scale. Yes, churches or a food bank, labor unions, hospitals, universities, foundations, 282 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: they're all included in that figure. But aggregation is precisely 283 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:51,000 Speaker 1: my point. The legal regime does not meaningfully distinguish among 284 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:55,399 Speaker 1: them a local charity that's barely getting by trying to 285 00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: feed some homeless people, or a multinational foundation funding political advocacy. 286 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:06,640 Speaker 1: Both benefit from the same basic tax privileges. The former, Yes, 287 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: the small local food bank is small, it's dependent. The 288 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:19,159 Speaker 1: latter is wealthy, it's entrenched. Treating them identically is not fairness. 289 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: I think it's negligence. And of course, let me add 290 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: a footnote. While I rage against the machine, and while 291 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: I rage against this injustice, and while I rage against 292 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:40,400 Speaker 1: this horrific system that we have, I'm also realistic enough 293 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: to know that do we think that Republicans have the 294 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 1: cajones to do anything about it? About it? Well? Maybe, 295 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: but let's let's temper it a little bit. Some recent 296 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:03,840 Speaker 1: policy developments that the reality is finally being acknowledged. This year, 297 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:08,160 Speaker 1: Congress enacted higher excise taxes. For example, in large university 298 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 1: endowments and some private foundations, investment income that once escape 299 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: taxation entirely now faces some graduated rates up to a 300 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: whopping eight percent. In some cases. Excessive executive compensation in 301 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 1: these nonprofits is now subject to excise taxes. Now, I 302 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: know it's modest relative to the scale of the problem, 303 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: but at least I see some shift in principle. Tax 304 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:47,960 Speaker 1: exemption is no longer assumed to be sacred, and it 305 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: should not be. More and more in goo's function, as 306 00:23:56,359 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: we often refer to the deep state or the administrative state, 307 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: how about another shadow state, the NGO state. Exercising power 308 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:11,639 Speaker 1: without any sort of electoral legitimacy. I know that's provocative, 309 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,000 Speaker 1: but the underlying concern is a serious concern, because when 310 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:20,720 Speaker 1: policy outcomes get shaped by organizations that are insulated from voters, 311 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: that get funded by untaxed wealth, that get shielded by 312 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:32,159 Speaker 1: complex legal structures, accountability starts to dissipate, this disappear, and 313 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: then decisions start to migrate from our elected representatives and 314 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: get moved into courtrooms. It gets moved from voters to foundations. Now, 315 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: none of what I've just said requires denying that genuine 316 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:54,360 Speaker 1: charity exists. It does, and a lot of Americans give 317 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: their own personal time, they struggle, and they give what 318 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 1: little money they have to organization that truly relieve suffering, 319 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 1: that strengthen communities. My argument is not against charities. It's 320 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 1: against a regulatory framework that allows immense concentrations of wealth 321 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:20,880 Speaker 1: to operate indefendent, indefinitely and independently, without taxation, no transparency, 322 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:27,679 Speaker 1: no meaningful constraint. By simply adopting a legal construct, Oh 323 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: I'm a five O one C three. Oh I'm a 324 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 1: five O one C four. And then I'm going to 325 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: blend those two together and nobody's ever going to question me. 326 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: A more rational system would begin by distinguishing some way 327 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: among functions. Organizations primarily engaged in direct charitable services like 328 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: that little local food bank, it really should receive favorable treatment. 329 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:01,359 Speaker 1: Entities that operate businesses, or manage large investment portfolios, or 330 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: engaged in ongoing, sustained political advocacy, they should not get 331 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:11,560 Speaker 1: that favorable treatment. Income from commercial activity should be taxed 332 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,479 Speaker 1: at the same rate, regardless of what their corporate form is. 333 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 1: And if you have an endowment above a certain threshold, 334 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 1: you want to face a mandatory payout or at least 335 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 1: some sort of asset based taxes on that endowment. And 336 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: political activity, any political activity, the slightest little political activity 337 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:36,239 Speaker 1: that auto trigger an automatic loss of exemption. Not some 338 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,400 Speaker 1: sort of little penalty, but an automatic loss of exemption, 339 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: and then you would have to fight in court and 340 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: go and argue to get your exemption back. In other words, 341 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:51,199 Speaker 1: put some bonus on these organizations. It's not going to 342 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:56,640 Speaker 1: destroy nonprofits. It's not going to destroy charities. I think 343 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,480 Speaker 1: it would clarify it. They would have to align tax 344 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: treatment with their behavior, rather than just with some dumbass 345 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:09,359 Speaker 1: mission statement that really doesn't or actually hides what they're 346 00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:13,199 Speaker 1: really doing behind that mission statement. It would restore the 347 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:18,879 Speaker 1: original logic of a nonprofit status by reserving nonprofit status 348 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:23,560 Speaker 1: for organizations that actually operate as charities and not those 349 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:28,480 Speaker 1: that are perpetually financially and political operating as financial or 350 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:32,639 Speaker 1: political machines. Go back to that fourteen point two fourteen 351 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:37,399 Speaker 1: point twelve trillion dollar figure. It matters because it ought 352 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:44,879 Speaker 1: to force a reckoning any sector. Again, remember, fourteen point 353 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:50,919 Speaker 1: twelve trillion dollars is larger than the combined GDPs of Germany, Japan, 354 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 1: and India. A sector that is that large is no 355 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 1: longer just ancillary to our economy or to our politics. 356 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: It is now a central influential factor. And central and 357 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:13,119 Speaker 1: those kinds of influences require rules that are commensurate with 358 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 1: their power. And if we're going to pretend otherwise, that's 359 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: going to confuse your you know, your grandmother's sentiment about 360 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: giving to the local food bank. With governance of institutions 361 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: that are influencing our government outside our vote, we don't face, 362 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: for example, a choice between compassion or accountability. It's a 363 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:45,880 Speaker 1: choice between a legal fiction and a changed reality. Because 364 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: I don't think that nngos were ever meant to become 365 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:54,520 Speaker 1: this gigantic, untaxed empire. If they have become one, and 366 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: I argue that they have, the fault lies not in 367 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 1: the charity itself necessarily, you know where it lies in 368 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: our refusals to update the structures that we used to 369 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: govern charities. Put that in your pipe and smoke it 370 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: and think about that, particularly in this season when you're 371 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: asked to give. Everybody in their dog is asking you 372 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 1: to give. Maybe you'll start looking at it. I'll be 373 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: right back. Merry Christmas and welcome back to the Weekly 374 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,480 Speaker 1: with Michael Brown. Glad to have you with me. TEXTA line, 375 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: of course has always opened three three one zero three 376 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: keyword micro Michael go follow me on x at Michael 377 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:42,520 Speaker 1: Brown Usay. But I was a kid growing up. There 378 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,480 Speaker 1: was and I think it was Friday. I think it 379 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: was on Friday nights. Remember the Rockford Files. James Garner, 380 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: he played this private investigator. He was kind of a goofball. 381 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 1: I think, if I recall correctly, he lived on a 382 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: boat somewhere on the Pace coast, maybe along the Pacific 383 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: Coast Highway. I don't remember. Here we are fifty years later, Well, 384 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: Friday nights are again for files, but it's the Rockford Files. 385 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 1: We have the Epstein Files. Yes, they got released yesterday 386 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 1: last night on a Friday, Friday news done Now, Usually 387 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 1: the government saves Friday nights for the kinds of things 388 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 1: that it doesn't want the news to cover. Well, the 389 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: Friday before Christmas is generally a pretty darn good place 390 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 1: to hide. But in the age of this instantaneous news cycle, 391 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:40,800 Speaker 1: in a world where there's is Santa Claus alive, I 392 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: don't know, they're not going to get their holiday wish. 393 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: Because this week's episode of The Epstein Files involves several intersecting, 394 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:53,920 Speaker 1: ongoing plot lines that has a common theme. The Democrats 395 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: are constantly trying to swing and smack the pinata that 396 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: they tried to make Donald Trump him too. Instead, they 397 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:06,560 Speaker 1: always seem to pin the tale on Bill Clinton, and 398 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: they really did in this one New York Times in 399 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 1: their story. We'll get that in a minute. This this 400 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: document dump that occurred during a time when official Washington 401 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:25,080 Speaker 1: and most you know, members of the cabal are drinking 402 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: and trying to forget the week that was. They're you know, 403 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:31,280 Speaker 1: they're already on their Christmas vacation, they'll be back. You know, 404 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:35,560 Speaker 1: I'll be back on air on January five. If I 405 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: remember of Congress, I'll be back on air probably on 406 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: January twenty five, because you know, Christmas is just such 407 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,240 Speaker 1: a difficult time for members of Congress and they just 408 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:46,800 Speaker 1: need they need that extra time because they've worked so 409 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: dang hard. Well, here's Bill Clinton, the big dog himself, 410 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: front and center of the week's most salacious photos. In 411 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,000 Speaker 1: one photo that I saw online, he in a swimming 412 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: pool with Epstein fixer Gislaine Maxwell and a woman who 413 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,920 Speaker 1: was either unfortunate who have been born with a black 414 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:13,000 Speaker 1: box for a head, or whose identity the government had 415 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:17,240 Speaker 1: redacted him doesn't let us see. In another there's another 416 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:23,400 Speaker 1: black box head woman sitting on Bill Clinton's lap less salaciously. 417 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: Clinton piles around on a private jet with Michael Jackson 418 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 1: and Diana Ross. And then there are photos of Mick Jagger, Yeah, 419 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:37,240 Speaker 1: the Stones, Mick Jagger having dinner with Gislaine Maxwell and 420 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: Bill Clinton, and of course former Prince Andrew of the 421 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:44,920 Speaker 1: United Kingdom. He sprawled across the laps I mean literally 422 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 1: sprawled across the laps of several black boxed headed women. 423 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 1: And then Epstein himself features prominently, of course, in one 424 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 1: photo on the phone while examining a cake shaked like 425 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: a woman's breast, and another wearing a hat in the 426 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,840 Speaker 1: style of Fidel Castro. And then there's the photo of 427 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:04,680 Speaker 1: Clinton lounging in the hot tub with yet another redacted woman. 428 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 1: As always, Clinton World denies everything and turned it back 429 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 1: on Trump World. A Clinton spokesman said, quote, this is 430 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 1: about shielding themselves from what comes next, from what they'll 431 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: try to and hide forever so they can release as 432 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: many grainy, twenty plus year old photos as they want. 433 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 1: But this isn't about Bill Clinton, never has, never will be. 434 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 1: Even Susie Wiles said Donald Trump was wrong about Bill 435 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: Clinton close quote Now, I don't know, as I kind 436 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:35,840 Speaker 1: of dug you. Actually, when I went on to the 437 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 1: DOJ website, I got put into a queue. I was 438 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: number sixty two, and my wait time was about a 439 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,360 Speaker 1: minute and a half. And then I spent about a 440 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,440 Speaker 1: minute and a half on the website because it was 441 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:50,360 Speaker 1: like there's nothing here. You know, you search for Trump, 442 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:54,640 Speaker 1: you find stuff that you've already seen heard about. Nothing new. Now, 443 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: the Epstein Files Transparency Act does allow the Department of 444 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 1: Justice to withhold certain information to protect the identities of 445 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: the victims. And I'm all in favor of that, but 446 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:11,080 Speaker 1: one hundred completely redactive pages can of Beggar's belief in 447 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:16,240 Speaker 1: a missing Watergate type minute sort of way. California congress 448 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:18,759 Speaker 1: and Roll Connor wrote, who co wrote the Act with 449 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: Thomas Massey from Kentucky. The Republican says that the DOJ's 450 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:28,959 Speaker 1: release doesn't comply with the congressional legislation at all. He said, 451 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 1: and I quote, our law requires them to explain redactions. 452 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,640 Speaker 1: There's not a single explanation. So he and Massey, of course, 453 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:37,960 Speaker 1: are going to continue to demand the full release of 454 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: the files. And AOC gets in on the Act. She 455 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 1: posted on x Now the cover up is out in 456 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:46,160 Speaker 1: the open. This is far from over. Everybody involves is 457 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,760 Speaker 1: going to have to answer for this. Pam Bondi, Cash Betel, 458 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 1: whole administration protecting a bunch of rapists and pedophiles because 459 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,040 Speaker 1: they have money, power and connection. Bondie should resign tonight. 460 00:34:55,360 --> 00:35:00,319 Speaker 1: You get a spoiler resort, spoiler report. Pam Bondi did not. 461 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:02,799 Speaker 1: She didn't resign last night, and she hasn't so far. 462 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:07,000 Speaker 1: This morning. I don't know what the Democrats were expecting 463 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,359 Speaker 1: in those reductive pages. They seem to have some sort 464 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: of secret knowledge that there's gonna be all this detailed 465 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,200 Speaker 1: descriptions and photos of Donald Trump having sex. I don't know, 466 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 1: with kids, animals, you know, you know, aliens from Mars 467 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:22,560 Speaker 1: or something, or maybe all three at once in the 468 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:26,319 Speaker 1: manage a trois, I don't know. It would be the 469 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:28,800 Speaker 1: equivalent of Alexis in the driveway with a bow on 470 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,440 Speaker 1: it for Christmas for them, you know the commercial we 471 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 1: see all the time, or you know all the Turk 472 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 1: commercials with bows on them. But instead there's gonna get 473 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:39,560 Speaker 1: some new socks, a sweater from you know, Grandma, and 474 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:42,720 Speaker 1: a twenty five year old photo of Bill Clinton swimming 475 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:47,720 Speaker 1: with the lady. President Trump disappoint them, as he always does, 476 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,920 Speaker 1: But we don't know for sure. What's in the blacked 477 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:55,400 Speaker 1: out page. Is the President the greatest sex criminal in 478 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,600 Speaker 1: the history of mankind? Did Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson 479 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:01,000 Speaker 1: do the Harlem shuffle with a drag queen at Jeffrey 480 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:05,680 Speaker 1: Epstein's birthday party? Did Bill Clinton snog a big haired woman? Well? 481 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:07,680 Speaker 1: Tune in next Friday Night. We will have another dump. 482 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 1: I won't be here. You'll be on your own. You'll 483 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:14,480 Speaker 1: have to go search yourself because I don't care. I'll 484 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:16,920 Speaker 1: be right back for you.