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Speaker 1: Don't talk over me talking about in nineteen. It's my

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Speaker 1: hearing pal as early as one tenty nineteen, don't come

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Speaker 1: whistleblowers came to well, I should call you prisoner because

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Speaker 1: you got to be jail.

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Speaker 2: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.

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Speaker 3: Good Tuesday morning.

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Speaker 4: It's so nice to have you with us on the

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Speaker 4: forty seven Morning Update, and we've got.

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Speaker 3: Two very big stories for you.

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Speaker 4: First up, President Trump imposes a fifty percent tariff on

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Speaker 4: a variety of Canadian goods over what he describes as

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Speaker 4: discrimination of American autos and other manufacturing goods and services.

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Speaker 4: How big of a deal is this, I'll explain it

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Speaker 4: to you. Plus, we now know that the IRS is

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Speaker 4: going after those that were involved in the eighteen billion

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Speaker 4: dollar Minnesota welfare laundering scandal. The Treasury Secretary deploy the

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Speaker 4: IRS to defend working Americans and launching a mass audit

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Speaker 4: of banks and financial services.

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Speaker 3: It's incredible.

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Speaker 4: It's the forty seven Morning Update and it starts right now.

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Speaker 2: Story number one.

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Speaker 4: President Donald Trump, He's coming out swinging, not against Iran,

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Speaker 4: but this time it's an escalating trade battle with our

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Speaker 4: northern neighbor, the President announcing a fifty percent tariff on

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Speaker 4: a wide range of Canadian goods, and the White House says,

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Speaker 4: this isn't about raising revenue, it's about what the administration

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Speaker 4: calls Canada's discriminatory treatment of American goods and products, especially

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Speaker 4: American automobiles. In other words, the President's doing what he's

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Speaker 4: been doing since the day got back into office, standing

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Speaker 4: up for American workers, standing up for American manufacturers, standing

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Speaker 4: up for American companies, and when we're being taken advantage of,

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Speaker 4: even if it's Canada, the President saying, not under my watch. Now,

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Speaker 4: if you're going to discriminate against American workers and American farmers,

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Speaker 4: we should also mention that American manufacturers, well, the White

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Speaker 4: House is saying, don't expect unrestricted access to the American

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Speaker 4: marketplace now. According to the White House, Canada has been

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Speaker 4: giving preferential treatment of products from other countries while imposing

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Speaker 4: policies that specifically are designed to disadvantage the United States. Now,

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Speaker 4: the Trump administration points to Canada's treatment of American made vehicles.

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Speaker 4: Restrictions affecting US alcohol is another example. And then they're

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Speaker 4: dairy policies that they argue favor other trading partners over

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Speaker 4: American producers.

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Speaker 3: Now, let's also talk about.

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Speaker 4: One of the big issues, and that is the American

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Speaker 4: auto industry, because that is the centerpiece of all of

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Speaker 4: this announcement. The White House argues Canada has maintained policies

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Speaker 4: that place unique burdens on American made vehicles while also

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Speaker 4: treating imports from other countries much more favorably. Now, the

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Speaker 4: administratation says those policies violate the principle of fair trade

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Speaker 4: and that puts the US manufacturers at a massive competitive

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Speaker 4: disadvantage on purpose. Now, to be clear, President Trump isn't

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Speaker 4: using his typical tariff authorities. Instead, he reached back to

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Speaker 4: section three three eight of the Teriff Act of nineteen thirty. Now,

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Speaker 4: that's a law that gives President Trump the authority, or

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Speaker 4: any president for that matter, the authority to impose duties

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Speaker 4: of up to fifty percent when another country discriminates against

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Speaker 4: US commerce. And that's remarkable is the fact that this

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Speaker 4: authority has rarely ever been used in modern history. But

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Speaker 4: the President, well, he doesn't care about history. He cares

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Speaker 4: about what's happening now and making sure that Canada doesn't

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Speaker 4: continue to take advantage of US, and that is why

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Speaker 4: this announcement was making headlines not just in the.

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Speaker 3: US or Canada, but around the world.

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Speaker 4: The administration says this isn't a blanket te if on

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Speaker 4: everything Canada exports. By the way, there are significant exemptions,

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Speaker 4: including energy products, fish, critical minerals, and certain other strategically

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Speaker 4: important goods are excluded, but a wide variety of other

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Speaker 4: Canadian products, from wine and furniture to cement, clothing and

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Speaker 4: sporting goods will now face a new fifty percent duty

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Speaker 4: if the policy takes effect on August the nineteenth.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 4: White House has also said the goal is real simple,

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Speaker 4: level the playing field. Officials argue that for far too long,

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Speaker 4: Americans have accepted trade agreements where foreign governments protect their

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Speaker 4: own industries while expecting unrestricted access to American consumers, and

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Speaker 4: the Trump administration says that error is over now. Supporters

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Speaker 4: of the president are also arguing that this fits perfectly

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Speaker 4: with the economic philosophy that we've seen in Stay One.

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Speaker 4: Trumps repeatedly said that tariffs are used as leverage, and

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Speaker 4: he believes America's enormous consumer market is one of the

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Speaker 4: country's greatest negotiating tools.

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Speaker 3: And assets.

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Speaker 4: And look, the Trump doctrine, the White House says, is

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Speaker 4: very clear. If another country, doesn't matter who it is,

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Speaker 4: wants to sell billions and billions of dollars worth of

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Speaker 4: products to American consumers, then their view is that they

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Speaker 4: should treat American companies fairly in return. And that's exactly

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Speaker 4: what the White House says this action is designed to accomplish. Now,

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Speaker 4: of course many on the left, they're furious over this,

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Speaker 4: as they always are when President Trump does anything like this.

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Speaker 4: Economists they're warning that the tariffs are going to increase

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Speaker 4: costs or businesses, and it's going to shut down and

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Speaker 4: put American consumers and workers lives at risk. Yes, it's

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Speaker 4: the same thing they said the last time the President

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Speaker 4: put serious tariffs in Europe and Asia and other parts

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Speaker 4: of the world. Canadian officials have already indicated they intend

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Speaker 4: to continue negotiations while defending their own trade measures, and

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Speaker 4: some provisional leaders have even discussed possible responses. So the

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Speaker 4: big question now is what happens next. Does Canada come

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Speaker 4: back to the negotiating table, does it remove some of

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Speaker 4: the policies Washington say unfairly target American products and manufacturing

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Speaker 4: or do both countries continue escalating in what would become

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Speaker 4: an even larger trade confrontation. Not to be clear, Canada

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Speaker 4: needs America more than we need Canadian goods, and they

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Speaker 4: desperately need to sell those products to the United States.

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Speaker 4: To America, There's a very good chance the President's going

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Speaker 4: to get exactly what he wants here. You also have

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Speaker 4: to remember the United States and Canada aren't just neighbors.

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Speaker 4: They're well two of the world's largest trading partners. Every

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Speaker 4: day billions of dollars in goods across the border. Supply

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Speaker 4: chains are deeply integrated between the two countries, a specially

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Speaker 4: in manufacturing. That means decisions like this don't just affect politicians,

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Speaker 4: they affect everyone. I'm talking about the factories, the truck drivers,

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Speaker 4: the suppliers, the farmers, the retailers, the consumers, and the

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Speaker 4: White House is betting that Canada has more to lose

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Speaker 4: by maintaining what it calls discriminatory policies than by negotiating

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Speaker 4: a new agreement. Now, this also sends a very clear

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Speaker 4: message beyond Canada as well other countries you better pay

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Speaker 4: attention because these negotiations. Now know that the Trump administration

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Speaker 4: is willing to use authorities. And by the way, the

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Speaker 4: President's also sending a very clear message to other countries

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Speaker 4: around the world that are watching these negotiations, and the

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Speaker 4: message is this, the Trump administration is absolutely willing to

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Speaker 4: use its authorities that previous presents left untouched if they

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Speaker 4: believe that American industries, well, if we're being treated unfairly. So,

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Speaker 4: whether you're talking about automobiles or agriculture, or manufacturing or

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Speaker 4: consumer products, this announcement reinforces one central theme, and that

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Speaker 4: is President Donald Trump's economic agenda is this, America is

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Speaker 4: no longer going to accept trade relations that this administration

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Speaker 4: believes put American workers at any disadvantage. And by the way,

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Speaker 4: this is what the majority of the American people voted

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Speaker 4: for in the last presidential election. And clearly this is

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Speaker 4: sending a message before the midterms that if you want

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Speaker 4: to put America first, then the America First agenda by

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Speaker 4: this president and conservative candidates is exactly what you should

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Speaker 4: be voting for.

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Speaker 3: Next story number two, I want to.

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Speaker 4: Catch you up to date on a studying development in

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Speaker 4: what is becoming one of the largest public fraud investigations

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Speaker 4: in modern American history. The Treasury Secretary Scott Besson has

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Speaker 4: announced that the IRS is now auditing financial institutions and

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Speaker 4: money service businesses that allegedly help facilitate the laundering of

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Speaker 4: stolen taxpayer funds connected to Minnesota's massive social services fraud scandal.

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Speaker 4: That the Treasury Department says this is part of a

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Speaker 4: broader crackdown involving the IRS, Finsen, and federal law enforcement. Now,

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Speaker 4: let me just remind you about how we got to

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Speaker 4: this point. Senaer Josh Hawley was grilling Minnesota's attorney general

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Speaker 4: over the nine billion dollar fraud scandal, and I want

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Speaker 4: you to hear what he had to say before Congress,

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Speaker 4: which is now open up the floodgates for the IRS

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Speaker 4: to get involved.

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Speaker 3: Don't talk over me.

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Speaker 1: Talking about in nineteen it's my hearing pal as early

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Speaker 1: as nineteen, don't come. Whistleblowers came to well, I should

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Speaker 1: call you prisoner because you ought to be a jay.

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Speaker 1: Mister Ellison, let me start with you. You're the attorney general

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Speaker 1: of the state of Minnesota. Do I have that correct?

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Speaker 1: That's a yes.

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Speaker 3: So you're aware you know that.

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Speaker 1: You're not going to answer my questions. Are we going

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Speaker 1: to start this way? Are you the Attorney General of

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Speaker 1: the State of Minnesota.

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Speaker 5: Yes or no?

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Speaker 3: You know the answer, Shelson.

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Speaker 1: You're in my courtroom now, you're under oath, So I

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Speaker 1: suggest that you answered my question to the chief law

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Speaker 1: enforcement officer of the State of Minnesota. Yes or no.

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Speaker 3: Let's try another question.

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Speaker 1: You familiar with the nine billion dollars in historic fraud

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Speaker 1: out of your state, including the two hundred and fifty

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Speaker 1: million dollars in the Feeding Our Future program alone? Are

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Speaker 1: you familiar with that? Don't turn to the pages in

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Speaker 1: your book to get your potted answers. Are you familiar

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Speaker 1: with it? Yes or no?

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Speaker 3: Yes, I am familiar with very familiar, aren't you.

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Speaker 1: Because the people who ran the Feeding Our Futures program

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Speaker 1: came to you in your official office in the state

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Speaker 1: capitol of December eleventh to twenty twenty one and ask

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Speaker 1: for your help in getting investigators off their backs. They

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Speaker 1: complain to you for upwards of an hour about state

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Speaker 1: investigators going after them, and they begged you to help them,

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Speaker 1: and you agreed to it amazingly, And we know you did.

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Speaker 1: That's me because it's all caught on tape. Every single

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Speaker 1: sentence is caught on tape. Here's what you said. Let's

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Speaker 1: take it on you. This sid a question. You said

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Speaker 1: to them, send me the names of all these folks

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Speaker 1: who are investigating them, and I'll take that list and

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Speaker 1: I'll call the person over at Education who was investigating

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Speaker 1: them and say, what's going on? Why am I getting

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Speaker 1: these complaints? Then you went on to say, I already

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Speaker 1: have my team working on this. What day should we

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Speaker 1: get together to discuss it again? You said, let's go

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Speaker 1: fight these people, meaning the people who are investigating the fraud.

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Speaker 3: Nine days after the meeting.

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Speaker 1: False you took ten thousand dollars as early as twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 3: Whistle.

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Speaker 4: Now that is a flashpoint moment which now has turned

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Speaker 4: into actual actions from the Trump administration. The Treasury Secretary

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Speaker 4: Scott Besson is announcing that the IRS is now auditing

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Speaker 4: financial institutions and money services business that allegedly helped facilitate

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Speaker 4: the laundering of the stolen taxpayer funds. In just eighteen seconds,

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Speaker 4: he made it clear that we're going on offense.

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Speaker 5: As civil enforcement is auditing financial institutions that facilitated the

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Speaker 5: laundering of Minnesota funds. In addition to helping support criminal

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Speaker 5: and civil enforcement efforts. The IRS will also soon announce

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Speaker 5: the formation of a task force.

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Speaker 3: Now let's break down what this means.

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Speaker 4: You have the Treasury Secretary Scott Besson announcing that the

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Speaker 4: Internal Revenue Service is launching not a little investigation, a

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Speaker 4: massive audit of financial institutions that he says facilitated the

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Speaker 4: laundering of Minnesota fraud funds.

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Speaker 3: What does that mean?

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Speaker 4: And I'm trying to paint a picture so you understand

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Speaker 4: just how big of a deal this is. This is

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Speaker 4: auditing banks, MSB's financial middlemen, anyone who helped move the

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Speaker 4: dirty money. The IRS and the federal government is coming after. Now,

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Speaker 4: usually they just go after the person that's doing the scheme.

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Speaker 4: Many times the banks and others they just claim ignorance

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Speaker 4: and nothing happens. Not anymore, the IRS is now being

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Speaker 4: deployed for Americans first, not against Americans and Americas working families.

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Speaker 4: That is also something that many Americans are not used to.

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Speaker 4: And what Scott Besen said there is this Number one,

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Speaker 4: We're gonna follow the money. Number two, we're gonna audit everything,

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Speaker 4: and then number three, we are going to prosecute whoever

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Speaker 4: broke the law and that can include again banks, bankers, MSBs,

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Speaker 4: financial middlemen, you're all now open up to this. If

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Speaker 4: you were cleaning this money that was being stolen, this

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Speaker 4: is on you too. Now, by the way, this is

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Speaker 4: music to the years of many Americans who said, we're

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Speaker 4: sick and tired of two different sets of rules in

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Speaker 4: this country. And that's why he mentioned it the way

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Speaker 4: he did that. This is an audit that is going

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Speaker 4: to reach far and wide. Now, investigators again, they primarily

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Speaker 4: focus on people allegedly stealing taxpayer money, but now they're saying,

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Speaker 4: after we find that money, we're going to see where

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Speaker 4: it ends up. And this message from the Treasury Department

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Speaker 4: is this, if a financial institution I'm quoting now knowingly

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Speaker 4: look the other way or failed to meet their anti

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Speaker 4: money laundering obligations, they're going to get scrutinized as well.

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Speaker 4: That's coming from the US Department of Treasury. Now, the investigation, again,

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Speaker 4: all of it centers around what the Trump administration now

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Speaker 4: estimates could total roughly nine billion in fraud involving Minnesota's

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Speaker 4: social service and public benefit programs. It is going to

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Speaker 4: to be one of the largest alleged taxpayer fraud schemes

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Speaker 4: that has ever been investigated in a single state. Now

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Speaker 4: we're talking about nine billion. That's not a bookkeeping error,

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Speaker 4: that's not someone filing one bad reimbursement. Okay, that is

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Speaker 4: enough money to build schools in a state, to hire

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Speaker 4: thousands of police officers, to repair countless miles of highway,

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Speaker 4: or here's a novel idea reduce taxes for millions of

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Speaker 4: Americans in that state.

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Speaker 3: Instead of all that, what do you have?

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Speaker 4: Investigators are now clearly connecting the dots that there were

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Speaker 4: enormous suns of money. It was intended to help vulnerable

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Speaker 4: Americans that were deliberately diverted and stolen through these fraudulent schemes. Now,

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Speaker 4: according to Secretary Besstont, and later in that announcement, he says,

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Speaker 4: the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network better known as is investigating

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Speaker 4: several Minnesota money service businesses. Then they said the IRS

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Speaker 4: Civil Enforcement Division has begun auditing financial institutions believed to

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Speaker 4: have handled suspicious transactions connected to the billions in fraud.

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Speaker 4: Now you may say, all right, Ben, why does this

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Speaker 4: really matter? Fair question? And I'm going to answer it

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Speaker 4: this way. When you have fraud that is this large,

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Speaker 4: and you have a scheme that is this big, it

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Speaker 4: rarely ever ends with a person who actually cashed the check.

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Speaker 4: The money has got to be cleaned. The money has

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Speaker 4: to move, it has to be depositive, It has to

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Speaker 4: then be transferred, it has to be converted into where

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Speaker 4: whatever currency they want to go into. And much of

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Speaker 4: this money we know also was wired overseas. And so

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Speaker 4: you look at this and banks and inutions, money institutions,

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Speaker 4: they're saying, there's so much money coming in, they had

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Speaker 4: to know something was up. So did you deliberately look

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Speaker 4: the other way to get the business and to help

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Speaker 4: launder the money? Now, investigators also say they've got a

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Speaker 4: very clear list of what they want to know. Number One,

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Speaker 4: who moved the money, then who received it? And then

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Speaker 4: did anyone ignore obvious warning signs? Right, we're anti money

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Speaker 4: laundering safeguards bypassed on purpose. All of this is the

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Speaker 4: questions that Scott Bessen said they're going to answer. So,

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Speaker 4: if you care about your tax dollars, you should be

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Speaker 4: thrilled right now because what we have witnessed so far

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Speaker 4: is egregious. And it shouldn't just be the people that

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Speaker 4: were doing the scheme that go to jail. It should

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Speaker 4: be the people that help them launder the money as well.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update

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Speaker 2: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit some subscribe

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Speaker 2: wherever you're listening to this podcast right now and for

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Speaker 2: more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson

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