1 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: Thing from iHeart Radio. It's officially summer, and that means 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: it's time for our tradition at Here's the Thing, where 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: our staff shares their favorite episodes in our Summer staff series. 5 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: Next up is our producer Maureen Hoben. 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 2: Thanks Alec. There are many things I admire about California 7 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 2: Representative Katie Porter. She's a single mother who fearlessly speaks 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 2: truth to power, from pharmaceutical executives to Wall Street CEOs. 9 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 2: Which if you've ever seen her at a congressional hearing 10 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 2: using her infamous whiteboard, you know she fights to crack 11 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 2: down on price gouging to protect public land, and she 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 2: refuses money from any special interests or corporate packs. I 13 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 2: knocked on doors for her twenty eighteen campaign when she 14 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 2: flipped a seat that had always been held by Republicans, 15 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 2: and now after three terms, she's running for Senate. I'm 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 2: pleased to share Alex twenty twenty one conversation with Congressperson 17 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 2: Katie Porter. 18 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: My guest today is United States Congresswoman Katie Porter, a 19 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: Democrat in her second term. Porter represents California's forty fifth 20 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: district in Orange County, which is traditionally conservative. She's a 21 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: consumer protection attorney and a law professor. She quickly developed 22 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: a name for herself in her first term with tough 23 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: questioning of people testifying before Congress, often using her famous 24 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:38,960 Speaker 1: whiteboard to hold CEOs and political appointees accountable. Katie Porter 25 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,960 Speaker 1: grew up on a farm in Iowa. During the farm 26 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: crisis of the nineteen eighties, she broke with family tradition 27 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: of attending state school to go to Yale and went 28 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: on to Harvard Law School. She decided to run for 29 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: office after Trump's win in twenty sixteen and became the 30 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: first Democrat elected in her district. Katie Porter is comfortable 31 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: being a fish out of water. 32 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 3: I like to be challenged. 33 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 4: I like to learn, and I think that was a 34 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 4: huge part of, you know, why I chose to go, 35 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 4: you know, off to college far away from Iowa to 36 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 4: kind of stretch myself. I loved being a professor. I 37 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 4: was a professor here at the University of California, Irvine, 38 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 4: teaching business law courses, and then really stretched myself when 39 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 4: I ran for Congress. And one of the great things 40 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 4: about being in Congress that I never hear anyone talking about, 41 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:30,679 Speaker 4: which makes me kind of skeptical. 42 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 3: Act frankly, is that. 43 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 4: The great thing about this job is every minute you 44 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 4: should be learning something. Whether that's listening to your constituents, 45 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 4: whether that's a briefing from about national security, you know, 46 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 4: whether that's you know, having a meeting with your staff. 47 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 4: There's just so much to learn to be able to 48 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 4: do this job effectively. 49 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 3: And I like that. 50 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 4: So in some ways it's very much like being a professor. 51 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 4: My job is to learn stuff. 52 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 3: And then to help teach. 53 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 4: And so in this case, instead of teaching a classroom, 54 00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 4: I think about teaching the American people. 55 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: You graduated Harvard Law School. 56 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 3: What year, two thousand and one? 57 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: So when you left there? Where did you go from there? 58 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: Where did you first go out of school? 59 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 4: So I went to clerk for a federal judge in 60 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 4: Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a wonderful judge. And this 61 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 4: mon't surprise people. There weren't a lot of other law 62 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 4: clerks who wanted to work on the bankruptcy cases, and 63 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,120 Speaker 4: so literally, I think I got to work on every 64 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 4: single bankruptcy opinion in the entire Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, 65 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 4: which stretches from North Dakota down to Arkansas. 66 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 3: Worked on that year, and then I went off and 67 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 3: I practiced. 68 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 4: I took the bar exam, and I practiced law in Portland, 69 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 4: Oregon for a couple of years. 70 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: What led you to Portland from Little Rock? 71 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 4: My now ex husband is from there, right, family? Yeah, family, 72 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 4: and you know it was a good place to practice there. 73 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 4: And then decided that I wanted to become a law professor. 74 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 4: And I hadn't really gone to law school thinking maybe 75 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 4: I want to be a professor. I had thought about 76 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 4: getting a PhD. And at the time, the idea of 77 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 4: writing a book seemed really long to me, which is 78 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 4: funny because I've now written two law textbooks that are 79 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 4: like a thousand pages each. But when I got to 80 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 4: law school, I really liked it. I wasn't sure what 81 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 4: I wanted to teach, what did I love? What did 82 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 4: I want to spend my whole career studying? And then 83 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 4: I took Elizabeth Warren's bankruptcy class and that was it. 84 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 4: That was what I wanted to spend my life working on. 85 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: This is why you were in law school. 86 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 3: This is when I went to law school. My third 87 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 3: year of law school. 88 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: Tell the story if you would have you approached Warren 89 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: after she was less than cuddly toward you in class. 90 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 3: Yeah. 91 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 4: Yeah, So Elizabeth was a really great professor. She called 92 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 4: on students and you had to have your homework done. 93 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 4: You had to be prepared if you showed up. And 94 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 4: so I was a rule follower. I did my homework. 95 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 4: I sat in the front row, which I thought would 96 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 4: help her overlook me, but it didn't really work out 97 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 4: that way. And so, you know, one of the solutions 98 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 4: to not being called on is to raise your hand. 99 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 4: And so she was asking a question and I raised 100 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 4: my hand and I gave what I thought it was 101 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 4: a pretty good answer, and I remember her turning to me, 102 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 4: I'll never forget I mean, the hand gesture. I can 103 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 4: do it today. She said, thank miss Porter. Think and 104 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 4: I remember just wilting inside because I was thinking. I 105 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 4: was thinking so hard and I was coming up short. 106 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 4: And I went to see her after that, and I said, 107 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 4: don't give up on me. I've never taken a course 108 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 4: like this before. I didn't take some of the there's 109 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 4: a couple kind of courses you often take that are 110 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 4: introductory to bankruptcy. And I just jumped into the deep end. 111 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 4: I was like, don't give up on me. I really 112 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 4: care about this stuff. And the reason I cared so 113 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 4: much about bankruptcy was growing up in Iowa in the 114 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,720 Speaker 4: nineteen eighties during farm Aid and the tractor motorcades and 115 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 4: watching the farming community where I grew up really struggle economically. 116 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 4: When I got to bankruptcy, I realized there are tools 117 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:50,719 Speaker 4: in law and policy to help. 118 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,720 Speaker 1: Right now. When you made that request of Warren, did 119 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: she grant it? Was she more give and take with 120 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: you in the classroom, did she really? 121 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 4: I mean no, it actually was the opposite. She came 122 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 4: back to me even more because she knew I really cared. 123 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 4: Like she knew that it mattered to me. My message 124 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 4: to her wasn't taken easy on me. It was don't 125 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 4: give up on me. And a lot of professors, I mean, 126 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,280 Speaker 4: I see this in witness rooms actually in hearings, and 127 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 4: people will ask a witness a question and the witness 128 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 4: will stonewall give a nonsense answer, another question, answer another question. 129 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 4: And what my colleagues will do is they'll just give up, 130 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 4: they'll move on, they'll start giving a speech. But just 131 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 4: like in the classroom, when I gave a wrong answer, 132 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:33,679 Speaker 4: Warren didn't say, oh well, let me go find someone 133 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 4: more cooperative. 134 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 3: She told me. Think she's stuck with me as I 135 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 3: was learning. 136 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 4: So whenever I hear someone, you know, they give a 137 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 4: nonsense answer, I'm not going anywhere. 138 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: You said something interesting. When people don't give a good answer, 139 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: you know, I myself become exhausted by the unwillingness of 140 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: people to answer the questions of the duly elected members 141 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: of Congress. You are here, and Congresswoman Porter or anybody, 142 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: You're not doing this for your health. You're doing this 143 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: on behalf of your constituency, the American people. You're representing 144 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: the American people, and many of them are so smug 145 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: and so arrogant and won't answer your question. And I 146 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: was wondering, do you find that the authority of the 147 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: Congress has weakened in recent years because people feel like, 148 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: what does it matter? There's no teeth behind this. 149 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 4: So I think that some of the things that we've 150 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 4: been able to do with our hearings is actually restore 151 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 4: a sense of accountability to this, which is if you 152 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 4: if I ask you a question and you give me 153 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 4: a nonsense answer, I'm not going to pretend that what 154 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 4: you said makes sense. I'm not going to accept a 155 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 4: wrong answer. If you're dodging, if you're stonewalling, I'm going 156 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 4: to try to get you to answer, so. 157 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 3: You would think. I mean, it's sort of an interesting 158 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 3: to me. 159 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 4: I remember, like maybe the second or third hearing I 160 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 4: was at, I said, well, surely you know now everyone 161 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 4: will come really prepared, like I won't stump anybody anymore 162 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 4: because they'll know that you have to show up and 163 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 4: take me seriously. But you know, I've been underestimated my 164 00:07:57,680 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 4: whole life. 165 00:07:58,560 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 3: At this point. 166 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 4: I kind of explain like that, and witnesses still show 167 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 4: up and they're contemptuous or they're unprepared. I mean the 168 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 4: other day Steve Menuchin said, well, are you a lawyer? Like, yes, 169 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 4: I am, like since you mentioned it, but I think 170 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 4: that you know, the goal is that these shouldn't be 171 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 4: performance art moments. 172 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 3: They shouldn't be substantive. 173 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 4: And so you know, the one thing I'll say about 174 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 4: the whiteboard is it's not about trying to go viral, right, It's. 175 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: Not about it's not an antic, it's. 176 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 3: Not an ANTIQ. 177 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 4: It is a tool, and so sometimes I use it. 178 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 4: Sometimes I don't sometimes I use other things. 179 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: Whose idea was that, I don't you know. 180 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 4: I think it was maybe one of my staffers when 181 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:43,599 Speaker 4: we start. The first time we ever used it was 182 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 4: with Jamie Diamond. We were trying to go through the 183 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 4: budget of a worker where a typical family would spend 184 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 4: and compare it. 185 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,319 Speaker 3: To the salary and show that. 186 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 4: Even though he's paying more than minimum wage, people can't 187 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 4: make against meat On that she had twenty four hundred, 188 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 4: twenty five dollars a month. She rents a one bedroom apartment. 189 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 4: She and her daughter sleep together in the same room 190 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 4: in Irvine, California. That average one better apartment is going 191 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 4: to be sixteen hundred dollars. 192 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 3: She spends one. 193 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 4: Hundred dollars on utilities, take away the seventeen hundred, and 194 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 4: she has nets seven hundred and twenty five dollars, four 195 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 4: hundred dollars for car expenses and gas net three twenty five. 196 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 4: A low food budget is four hundred dollars. That leaves 197 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 4: her seventy seven dollars in the red. She has a 198 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 4: Cricket cell phone, the cheapest cell phone she can get 199 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 4: for forty dollars. She's in the red one hundred and 200 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 4: seventeen dollars a month she has after school childcare because 201 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 4: the bank is opened during normal business hours. That's for 202 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 4: fifty a month. That takes her down to negative five 203 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 4: hundred and sixty seven dollars per month. My question for you, 204 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 4: mister Diamond, is how should she manage this budget shortfall 205 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 4: while she's working full time at your bank. And so 206 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,960 Speaker 4: the idea of the whiteboard was just instead of having 207 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 4: all these numbers what she spends on rent and food 208 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 4: and rattling it all off a million miles an hour 209 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,199 Speaker 4: and then he says, I'm sorry, could you repeat that? 210 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 4: I mean, that is what every the first refuge of 211 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 4: every unprepared student in every classroom in America is to 212 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 4: ask the teacher, I'm sorry, could you repeat the question. 213 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: That's a courtroom tactic, Yeah. 214 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,440 Speaker 4: Exactly, So, especially in Congress, we only have five minutes. 215 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 4: So if someone says could you repeat that, and you've 216 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 4: spent a minute setting up the question, your loss. So 217 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:22,959 Speaker 4: the idea of the whiteboard was to prevent him from 218 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,319 Speaker 4: being able to, you know, sort of dodge install. And 219 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 4: you know the interesting thing that he said is I'd 220 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 4: have to think about it. And I asked him, you 221 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 4: know again, and he said, I have to think about it. 222 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 4: And I asked him, well, what about this? And he 223 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 4: said he'd have to think about it. And really, I 224 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 4: hope he is. I hope that moment did prompt him 225 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 4: to think. 226 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 1: When I was doing Saturday Night Live for this long 227 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: run during Trump's thing, and we would be there and 228 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: I would pitch ideas, and I wanted your character to 229 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: have the whiteboard everywhere, like you were with your kids 230 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: at the breakfast table. All right, let me show you 231 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:57,439 Speaker 1: and think you have the whiteboard out of here, drawing 232 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: everything for your children and your boyfriend and your at 233 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 1: the gas station and whatever. Everywhere you go, someone is 234 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: handing you a whiteboard. But I wonder, is there a 235 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,439 Speaker 1: distinction between when you're questioning people, not only the questions 236 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: you ask, the way you ask them again, you only 237 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,560 Speaker 1: have five minutes, but the way you anticipate they're going 238 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: to respond when they are government administrators who are there 239 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: to protect an administration. Do you see there's a difference 240 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,439 Speaker 1: between the two. When someone who is a political appointee 241 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: is before you, are they even worse in terms of 242 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:26,319 Speaker 1: their caginess? 243 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 4: No, not always. I mean I think that you know 244 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,479 Speaker 4: it just depends on the witness. We try to anticipate 245 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 4: what the witness will say. In other words, what's the 246 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:37,959 Speaker 4: obvious thing they're going to try to dodge with Where 247 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 4: are they going to try to misdirect us? If we 248 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 4: research the witnesses, sometimes we'll watch video clips of them 249 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 4: to try to understand kind of what they're like, whether 250 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,679 Speaker 4: they get easily frustrated, whether they launch into long, boring explanations. 251 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 3: So I'm prepared to cut that off. 252 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 4: But I think one of the great myths is that, 253 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 4: you know, the Oversight Committee, where I'm so excited to 254 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:02,199 Speaker 4: be serving again in this Congress, somehow is less important 255 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 4: or less exciting in a democratic administration, given that I'm 256 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 4: a Democrat than it was when you know, we were 257 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 4: Trump administration on so opposite. I would just tell you 258 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 4: that these are both oversight stay is important. I mean, 259 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 4: once we're enacting programs that I have supported and I 260 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 4: have voted for as a Democrat, I'm even more concerned 261 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 4: that these programs are working as intended. So the responsibility 262 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 4: to do good oversight, it's not a partisan thing. It's 263 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 4: part of effective government. 264 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: Now, do you go back to your office sometimes and 265 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: watch yourself watch clips of yourself and review what you've 266 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: done to see how effective or ineffective you think it 267 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: might have been. 268 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 4: Not usually, I mean it's interesting after I question, and 269 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 4: when I'm questioning, I typically have no idea what anybody 270 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 4: else around me is doing or saying or reacting. It's 271 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 4: just me and that witness, right and just looking at them, 272 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 4: you know. I question postmaster to Joy. 273 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 1: Oh my god, Oh my god. 274 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 4: I wasn't sure that I made the point that I 275 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 4: wanted to make. Now it turns out I think I did. 276 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 4: But when I got off, I was just like, I 277 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:11,440 Speaker 4: don't think I did it. 278 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:12,559 Speaker 3: I think I messed it up. 279 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 4: So it's often, you know, it's it's not about how 280 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 4: I'm feeling, it's about whether it's resonating with the American people. 281 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 4: So it often, you know, that's about how people react 282 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 4: to it. So you can make something that you think 283 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 4: is great, you know, but if other people don't. 284 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 3: Find it moves them, then it doesn't really work. 285 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,439 Speaker 1: What's going to happen with the Joy? Is it a 286 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: civil service thing? In his job is safe, he can't 287 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: be fired. 288 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,920 Speaker 4: Well, so he was appointed by the Postal Board, which 289 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 4: oversees the post office. So they can remove him, and 290 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 4: I hope they do. There's also the possibility that he 291 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 4: does what so many people have done it, you know 292 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 4: who came from the Trump administration, which is that they quit, 293 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:54,560 Speaker 4: which I certainly hope is what happens. 294 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 3: If he doesn't quit, then I helped. 295 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 4: The Postal Board holds him accountable because they really a 296 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 4: lot of the problems that he created, you know, he 297 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 4: has not been able to fix. And the most revealing 298 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 4: part of that was when I asked him, I said, well, 299 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 4: you keep saying you didn't do. 300 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 3: All these things. Not my fault. 301 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 4: Someone else did this, So I am the very last 302 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 4: person to question. I think I am the forty eighth 303 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 4: person to ask questions or something crazy like that. 304 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 3: So I asked him, well, you said you didn't do this, 305 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 3: who did? 306 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 1: I'm with you, which seems like. 307 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,600 Speaker 3: A pretty obvious question, right, But nobody had. 308 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: Asked something he should know, Like all day long. 309 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 4: People had just said why did you do this? And 310 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 4: the answer had been well I didn't. And I asked him, well, 311 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 4: who did it? And he said he couldn't tell me, 312 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 4: which tells you there's an even bigger problem. 313 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 1: Well, I'm sorry that you don't have the opportunity to 314 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: remove him yourself, because I mean he basically turned the 315 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: post office into an office max for the Republican Party. 316 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 1: But I want to get back to something else, and 317 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: that is so when you're down in southern California and 318 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: you go to Orange County, it was primarily to take 319 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: the teaching giket you see Irvine. If you see Irvine 320 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: as a ca us inside the red, red red part 321 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: of California, there in Orange County, what was it like 322 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: for you down there working there? Was it a very 323 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: conservative staff and administration and faculty. 324 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 3: No. 325 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 4: I mean, look, Irvine has changed a lot, and a 326 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 4: big part of the reason that Irvine and Orange County 327 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 4: has changed is in part the presence of the university. 328 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 4: It's a large employer here. It attracts bright and interesting 329 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 4: and thoughtful people from all around the country and even 330 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 4: the world. And so you know, my kids go to 331 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 4: school in public school here and they have some very 332 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 4: conservative classmates. I mean, one of my former Cub Scouts, 333 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 4: I was his Cub Scout dead leader for five years. 334 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 4: That kid actually made phone calls for my publican opponent 335 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 4: in twenty eighteen. 336 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 3: So I don't know what that says. About my cub 337 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 3: Scout skills. 338 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 4: But you know, actually there are a real diversity of 339 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,080 Speaker 4: opinion here. But there are very progressive people here too. 340 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 4: There are people in the middle, there are Republicans. I 341 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 4: like that diversity. I represent roughly equal numbers of Republicans, Democrats, 342 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 4: and no party preference or independent voters. And what that 343 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 4: means is, on any given topic, I need to know 344 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 4: how to talk to people who will come at it 345 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 4: from a lot of different perspectives. And that is an 346 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 4: incredible skill to have, and I wish all of my 347 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 4: colleagues had it. 348 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: Frankly, so when you won in twenty eighteen, it it 349 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: was close. It was tightrase correct, very close. 350 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 3: I lost. 351 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 4: I like to say I lost before I won. So 352 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 4: on election night, you typically have three speeches in California, 353 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 4: you have I won, I lost, and we don't know 354 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 4: because it often takes a while to count all the 355 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 4: mail ballots. And so I gave that I don't know 356 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 4: speech that we don't know. But everybody was crying and 357 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 4: telling me, good try. I got all these sympathy calls 358 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 4: and sympathy emails. 359 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 3: You know, we love you anyway. Nice try. 360 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 4: You know you made a difference even though you're you're 361 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 4: not going to make a difference kind of things. And 362 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,400 Speaker 4: then slowly but surely, over the next couple days, took 363 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 4: about seven days. 364 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 3: I won. 365 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:09,439 Speaker 4: And so why would get these messages back? Never mind 366 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 4: delete my message? 367 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: You're my hero. 368 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:14,399 Speaker 3: I knew you could do it. 369 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: I always I lost faith in you. 370 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:17,679 Speaker 3: Yeah. 371 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: Now in the second race, this last election, you won 372 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: more handily. Correct. 373 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 4: I won by a couple six percent I think, and 374 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 4: the first time it was four, So I made I 375 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 4: made up a little bit of ground. 376 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, who was your opponent in the twenty twenty race. 377 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,320 Speaker 4: My twenty twenty opponent was a man named Greg Raths 378 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,360 Speaker 4: who's been on the city Council of Mission Viejo here. 379 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 1: And what did he come after you with? What was 380 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: his pitch? 381 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 3: It was just, you know, she is a Democrat. She's 382 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 3: a Democrat and this is Orange County. Yeah, I mean 383 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 3: just sort of like, like, you. 384 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 4: Know, I think there is an attitude that you know, 385 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 4: sort of people are entitled to have Republican representation here. 386 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 3: What they're entitled to is. 387 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 4: Good representation, right, people who listen to them, people who 388 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:02,400 Speaker 4: fight for the people, who are not corrupt, And that 389 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 4: can come in your Democratic or Republican forms. And so 390 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 4: the fact that I don't take corporate pack money, that 391 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 4: I'm grassroots funded, I think that really helped me reach 392 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,880 Speaker 4: a lot of those independent voters and even Republican voters 393 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 4: who are really skeptical, including younger Democratic voters who are 394 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 4: really skeptical about whether in people in Washington really work 395 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:23,920 Speaker 4: for them. 396 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,800 Speaker 1: Congressperson Katie Porter, I'm Alec Baldwin, and you're listening to 397 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: here's the thing from iHeartRadio. If you like conversations about politics, 398 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,879 Speaker 1: go to our archives from my live show with Nixon, 399 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:39,880 Speaker 1: Whitehouse and Watergate figure John Deane. 400 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,880 Speaker 5: It's after listening to that conversation, I let my fingers 401 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 5: do the walking in the criminal code to figure out 402 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 5: what in the world are we doing. And I discovered 403 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 5: the obstruction statute, and I discovered the conspiracy statute, and 404 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:55,679 Speaker 5: I realized we're in a whole lot of trouble. 405 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: Now. You might have thought that. 406 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 5: First reaction would be to run for the hills. I 407 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 5: mean I had exactly the opposite reaction. That's when I 408 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 5: double down, That's when I try to make the cover 409 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 5: up work. 410 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: Here more of my conversation with John Dean in our 411 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: archives at Here's Thething dot org. After the break, I 412 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: talked to Katie Porter about what surprised her when she 413 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: got to Washington in early twenty nineteen. I'm Alec Baldwin, 414 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: and you were listening to Here's the Thing. I wanted 415 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: to know how Katie Porter won her seat. 416 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 3: People people send me money. 417 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 1: How much you spend in twenty twenty. 418 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:45,120 Speaker 3: I spent six million dollars. 419 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,280 Speaker 1: To raise six million from individual contribution. 420 00:19:47,359 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 4: I spent six million, and I spent six million in 421 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 4: twenty eighteen. TV is incredibly expensive here. I have to 422 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 4: advertise to all of Los Angeles and all of Orange County, 423 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,159 Speaker 4: even though I just represent a little part of a 424 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 4: part of Orange County. But you know, people will send 425 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,640 Speaker 4: five dollars, ten dollars, they'll send notes with it. 426 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 1: When you got there in twenty eighteen, what did you 427 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,959 Speaker 1: think the job was going to be like? And what 428 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: did you find out it was really like? 429 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:16,359 Speaker 4: I think one thing that surprised me, and I know 430 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:20,160 Speaker 4: it surprised some of my fellow colleagues is how much 431 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 4: I really loved doing the work in the district with 432 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 4: my constituents here in my home, and how much I 433 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,920 Speaker 4: really didn't like being in Washington, right, So I ran 434 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 4: for Congress because I wanted to make policy. I wanted 435 00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 4: to make people's lives better, and I think I associated 436 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,159 Speaker 4: that with things that happened in Washington. But it turns 437 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 4: out that a lot of the time you spend in 438 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:47,679 Speaker 4: Washington is just scurrying back and forth to votes that 439 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 4: are sometimes important but sometimes are really like, you know, meaningless, frankly, 440 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,199 Speaker 4: or almost meaningless. And being here in the community was 441 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 4: so rewarding. So you know, behind kind of the stucco 442 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 4: and the neatly trimmed hedges of Orange County are amazing 443 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 4: and interesting businesses and nonprofits and community organizations. So some 444 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 4: of the favorite things I've done are I toured a 445 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:16,719 Speaker 4: lightweight body armor manufacturer here in Irvine that I had 446 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 4: driven down that road a million times taking my kids 447 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:23,960 Speaker 4: to the target and never known that right there they 448 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 4: are making body armor that keep men and women safe, 449 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 4: and they're working to design actually special armor that better 450 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 4: fits women's bodies. And so, you know, seeing those little 451 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 4: parts and pockets of your community and realizing just how 452 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 4: amazing things are around. 453 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: You, you really learned every nook and cranny of your district. 454 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: And what's really going on there. 455 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 3: I'm still learning. I absolutely love it. 456 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,160 Speaker 1: And when you went to Washington, and you talk about 457 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: the importance of the work that you do within the district, 458 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 1: But when you went to Washington, what did you think 459 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,399 Speaker 1: that was going to be like with your colleagues and 460 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: so forth, and what did it turn out to be. 461 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:07,200 Speaker 4: I thought there'd be more substantive policy discussion among regular members. 462 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 4: House Representatives is four hundred and thirty plus people, so 463 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,159 Speaker 4: it's big. And so it turns out that a lot 464 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 4: of things are kind of decided before they get to you, 465 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,640 Speaker 4: that they're decided by leadership, that you know, the relevant 466 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 4: committee has kind of figured everything out before it comes 467 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 4: to you, and you're just in a situation of yes 468 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 4: or no on the vote. 469 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 3: And I think that's where I saw. 470 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 4: Hearings as this great opportunity because if you're not if 471 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 4: you're a newcomer to Congress, you don't have a lot 472 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 4: of power, especially on the Democratic side. 473 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:39,360 Speaker 3: But we have a strong seniority system. 474 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,880 Speaker 4: But one of the few equal things about Congress is 475 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:47,760 Speaker 4: everybody gets five minutes for their questioning. So I decided 476 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:49,959 Speaker 4: I was going to use my five minutes better than 477 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 4: anybody else or as well as I could the maximum 478 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 4: of kind of my ability, And that's where I found 479 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,919 Speaker 4: the greatest reward, really, And the thing that's rewarding for 480 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 4: me is it's not the answers that these witnesses give, 481 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 4: because they're often really bad answers. It's the American people 482 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 4: watch and they see that lady is. 483 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 3: Asking what I've always wondered. Why do the drugs cost 484 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 3: so much? 485 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:15,200 Speaker 4: Right? 486 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 3: Why does the drug keep getting more expensive? 487 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:19,399 Speaker 4: Do you know what the price of revealment was in 488 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 4: twenty thirteen. 489 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 1: I can look it up, but I don't recall. I 490 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: don't have it in front of me. 491 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 4: Four hundred and twelve per pill. How about twenty seventeen, 492 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 4: I would. 493 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,399 Speaker 1: Say approximately seven hundred dollars a pill, but again I 494 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:33,440 Speaker 1: don't have it in front of me. 495 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,679 Speaker 4: Seven hundred and nineteen per pill, and today Revelmed costs 496 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 4: seven hundred. 497 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,719 Speaker 3: And sixty three dollars per pill. 498 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:47,080 Speaker 4: I'm curious did the drug get substantially more effective in 499 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 4: that time? 500 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 3: Did cancer patients need fewer pills? 501 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 4: She's asking about me, and that's really for me. In 502 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 4: the most rewarding part. 503 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 1: You were a single mom, Well you got divorced when 504 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: your kids are how old now? 505 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 3: They're now fifteen, twelve, nine. 506 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: So you were a single mom now for almost a decade. 507 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: And do you maintain because I know that we one 508 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: of the things you focus on is about all the 509 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: women that are losing jobs. We're losing a lot of 510 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:13,680 Speaker 1: women in the workplace because of the COVID. 511 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,000 Speaker 3: Correct, absolutely huge issue. 512 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:18,120 Speaker 1: What are some of the legislation you might or might 513 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: not propose to address that. 514 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,640 Speaker 4: So when I was elected in the last Congress, at 515 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 4: that time, I was the only single mother of young 516 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,119 Speaker 4: children to serve. Since then, the Republicans have elected one. 517 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:33,680 Speaker 4: But this idea of the single household, the single parent household, 518 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,199 Speaker 4: isn't well represented in Washington, to put it mildly, So 519 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 4: when we talk about issues like child poverty, one of 520 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 4: the reasons for that is women, single women, single moms, 521 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 4: single dads, trying to raise a family on one income. 522 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 4: What happens financially to families when they get divorced, you know, 523 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 4: it's very difficult. And so when we see right now, 524 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,399 Speaker 4: what we know is about twenty two percent of women 525 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 4: have left the workforce since the pandemic. A lot of 526 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 4: those are lost jobs. Some of them are women who 527 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:04,879 Speaker 4: are leaving because they're put in a position to choose 528 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:07,920 Speaker 4: between taking care of their kids who are out of 529 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 4: school remote learning, or having to go to work and 530 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,520 Speaker 4: leave their kids home alone. This has long term implications 531 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 4: not just for women's economic opportunities and child poverty, but 532 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 4: also for our economy as a whole. If we're a 533 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 4: capitalist economy, we need our best and brightest doing the work, 534 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,359 Speaker 4: competing for the jobs, and that means men and women, 535 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,439 Speaker 4: people of different backgrounds, all having an opportunity to be 536 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:37,679 Speaker 4: in the workplace. And in our country, we're losing a 537 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:39,399 Speaker 4: lot of women out of the workforce, and that's going 538 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,440 Speaker 4: to have big implications for our global competitiveness. It's not 539 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,919 Speaker 4: just a women's issue. We all benefit from a strong, 540 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,959 Speaker 4: healthy economy. One of my favorite phrases, and I use 541 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 4: it all the time with my staff is buy the ticket, 542 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 4: take the ride right. And this actually applies to capitalism too. 543 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 4: If we want to say, and you hear these people 544 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 4: who are uber capitalists, they're anti government, they're worried about this, 545 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 4: they're throwing up this ridiculous specter of socialism. Well, guess 546 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 4: what inherent in capitalism is equal opportunity to compete. And 547 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 4: that's true about antitrust enforcement, but it also has to 548 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 4: be true about social mobility. It has to be that 549 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,919 Speaker 4: you're not allowing things like race discrimination to taint who 550 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 4: you promote in the marketplace. You're paying people not because 551 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:30,120 Speaker 4: of the color of their skin, but because of how 552 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 4: good they are at their jobs. All these things are 553 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 4: perversions of capitalism, and we ought to be standing up 554 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:37,080 Speaker 4: for them on that basis, as well as the fact 555 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 4: that they're morally reprehensible. 556 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 1: Now, obviously, we have a graduated income tax in this country. 557 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 1: The more money you make, the more you pay in taxes. 558 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 1: Why isn't the same principle applied to these trillion dollar 559 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: COVID relief bills? Meaning why are we giving a single 560 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 1: penny to a family that's making over two hundred and 561 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars? 562 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:57,199 Speaker 4: Okay, great question. So I want to push back on 563 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 4: a couple of things. One is you said we have 564 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 4: a graduated income tax. I want to push back on 565 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:05,879 Speaker 4: that and say, we theoretically have a graduated income tax. Okay, 566 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 4: that's what it says on paper when you look it 567 00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 4: up on the little back of the IRS booklet. 568 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 3: If you still do your taxes. 569 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:15,400 Speaker 4: On paper, but in actuality, people who earn a lot 570 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,880 Speaker 4: often pay a lower effective tax rate because we have loopholes. 571 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 4: We have problems in our tax system, and so we 572 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 4: need to close that gap because a lot of people 573 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:25,639 Speaker 4: who are running around talking about how they're in the 574 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 4: highest tax bracket aren't paying taxes in that higher bracket 575 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,639 Speaker 4: because of capital gains, because of all kinds of other things. 576 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,679 Speaker 4: The other issue with regard to COVID relief is, look, 577 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 4: we definitely want to focus the help where it is needed, 578 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,640 Speaker 4: but we also cannot be so focused on making sure 579 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 4: that nobody gets any help that they don't need that 580 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:50,840 Speaker 4: we slow the whole thing down, and we ultimately allow 581 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 4: people to die and to suffer while we're waiting around, 582 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,120 Speaker 4: and there are people in it very expensive areas where 583 00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,440 Speaker 4: they were spending all of their money to make ends meet. 584 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:05,159 Speaker 4: Now boom childcare, you have kids childcare. For my daughter Betsy, 585 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,680 Speaker 4: when she went to the University of California Irvine, childcare 586 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 4: costs more than it would have for her to have 587 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:15,919 Speaker 4: been an undergraduate at UCI. Childcare one year preschool was 588 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:17,399 Speaker 4: more than it would have been for her to be 589 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 4: an undergraduate so all of a sudden, when you'd have 590 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 4: all these kids out of school, people's expenses are going up, 591 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 4: even if their income may be stable. So we have 592 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 4: to think about the entire effect here. And here's the 593 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,040 Speaker 4: main thing I have to say to people. COVID relief 594 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 4: is the financially and fiscally responsible thing to do. If 595 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 4: we get this wrong, it will set our economy back 596 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 4: for a decade or more. 597 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 1: It'll be into pressure. Howard Dean was on the show 598 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 1: the other day and said the same thing. I said, 599 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 1: do you think we're running a risk by printing trillions 600 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 1: of dollars? He said, the problem will be if we 601 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:53,719 Speaker 1: don't spend that money. 602 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 4: Absolutely, we have to invest it wisely. We have to 603 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:58,959 Speaker 4: make sure we're putting it into programs that are working. 604 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 4: We have to out fraud, waste, and abuse, you know. 605 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 4: So I think it's ridiculous, for example, that we passed 606 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 4: a paycheck Protection program, a PPP program for small businesses 607 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 4: that allowed Congress members to get loans. 608 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 3: That's nuts. 609 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 4: That's a mistake in the program. But our biggest risk 610 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 4: here is not doing enough and leaving people mired in 611 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:23,080 Speaker 4: long term poverty, in hardship, out of the workplace with 612 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 4: atrophying skills when other countries are not making that same mistake. 613 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 1: So obviously the current senator there Padilla is an appointee 614 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,040 Speaker 1: interim because Harris is now the vice president. Do you 615 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: think that that's his seat to hold on to or 616 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 1: does the congresswoman have other ideas about her future in 617 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: California politics. 618 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 4: I'm really excited about Alex Padilla representing me and my 619 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:52,040 Speaker 4: family in the Senate, and I've contributed to his reelection 620 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:53,200 Speaker 4: campaign already. 621 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 3: You know, I think he's going to be a. 622 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 4: Wonderful partner and a really important voice for California. He 623 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 4: has an a amazing life story, he went to MIT, 624 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,440 Speaker 4: he's incredibly smart. So I think you can safely paint 625 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,280 Speaker 4: me as a fan of Alex Padia and somebody who's 626 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 4: really excited about working with him. He just got added 627 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 4: to the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, so I told my staff, like, 628 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,440 Speaker 4: call him up, let's start working on bills together. 629 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 1: Do you think that you have what it takes to 630 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 1: serve in the Senate or do you think you're better 631 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: off where you are on the Congress. 632 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,480 Speaker 4: Oh, look, wherever you put me, I'm going to fight 633 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 4: for the American people, I'm gonna I mean, this is 634 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,040 Speaker 4: when I was a professor. I became a professor to 635 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:34,560 Speaker 4: understand what was wrong with our laws and how we 636 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 4: could make it better. When I'm in the house, that's 637 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 4: what I'm thinking about, what's wrong, how can we make 638 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:40,760 Speaker 4: it better. It's going to be the same thing whether 639 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,400 Speaker 4: I would be in the administration, whatever I go on 640 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 4: to do after this. You know, these are the fundamental questions. 641 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,080 Speaker 4: The fundamental question that has motivated my life is how 642 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 4: do we achieve economic prosperity for all Americans? And I'm 643 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 4: going to keep asking that question whatever job I'm in. 644 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 4: And you know, I kind of look, the house is fun, 645 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 4: it's scrappy, it's a little bit chaotic. You're right, But 646 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 4: you know, wherever I've gone, I've always tried to make 647 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 4: the most of what I've gotten. And so you know, 648 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,680 Speaker 4: whatever the future holds, I'm pretty sure I'm going to 649 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 4: still be asking tough questions. 650 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 1: The Honorable Katie Porter. If you're enjoying this conversation, be 651 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,480 Speaker 1: sure to subscribe to Here's the Thing on the iHeartRadio app, 652 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,960 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. While you're there, 653 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: please leave US A review. I really appreciate it. When 654 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: we come back, Katie Porter talks about why Trump must 655 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: be convicted by the Senate. I'm Alec Baldwin, and this 656 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: is here's the thing from iHeartRadio. When protesters storm the 657 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:55,560 Speaker 1: US Capitol building on January sixth, Katie Porter wasn't far 658 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:56,800 Speaker 1: from the insurrection. 659 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 4: I was on the Capitol grounds in my office, which 660 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 4: is not in the Capitol. 661 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: Which house building are you in? 662 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 3: Longworth? 663 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:08,440 Speaker 4: In Longworth and More as AOC has now memorialized it, 664 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,120 Speaker 4: the dunkin Donuts building, which was actually a factor and 665 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 4: why I picked that. It's very handy to be able 666 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 4: to go get coffee in the morning. But I was 667 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 4: in my office and Alexandri Kasio Cortez. I passed her 668 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 4: in the hallway as I went into my office, and 669 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 4: you know, she kind of you know, she waved, and 670 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 4: a few seconds later she came back and knocked on 671 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 4: the door and said can I come in? And I said, 672 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 4: of course, and you know, she came inside. She was 673 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 4: obviously very rattled. There had been a bomb threat in 674 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,080 Speaker 4: her building. I didn't know that at the time, and 675 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,320 Speaker 4: so we sheltered together, along with a couple of staffers 676 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 4: for about four or five hours, six hours in my office, 677 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,960 Speaker 4: barricaded the doors, turned the lights off, pulled the windows, 678 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 4: silenced the phones, just in the cold and the dark, 679 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 4: you know, worried that what was going on at the 680 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 4: Capitol where there were cameras watching. What you can't see 681 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,360 Speaker 4: is that there are underground tunnels connecting the capital to 682 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,840 Speaker 4: our office buildings. If the attackers had come down those tunnels, 683 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 4: we would not have known they were coming. And so 684 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:09,120 Speaker 4: we just stayed barricaded in there for hours and didn't 685 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 4: know what was happening. 686 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,040 Speaker 1: And when you look back on it, now, what do 687 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 1: you think should happen? 688 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 3: Oh, to protect us? I mean, look, we have to. 689 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 4: We have a real problem in this country with misinformation, 690 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:23,959 Speaker 4: with violence. You know, our democracy is strong, but it 691 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 4: is not unshakable, and this was a this was a 692 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 4: powerful kind of I think earthquake a powerful shake to 693 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,240 Speaker 4: our democratic principles. So I think we have to reaffirm 694 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:37,160 Speaker 4: that it's okay to disagree, so kay to have different ideas. 695 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 4: I represent Range County, I represent a lot of constituents 696 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 4: that I disagree with. That's okay, that's healthy. But violence 697 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:46,680 Speaker 4: in a democracy is never. 698 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 1: Okay, do you voted to impeach Trump? I did twice, 699 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 1: and the Senate's not going to convict him. 700 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 3: You know, I think they should convict him. 701 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:55,880 Speaker 4: I think that this is and I think too many 702 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:59,120 Speaker 4: people are thinking about this just from the punitive angle 703 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:02,520 Speaker 4: about up. But we have a rule of law in 704 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 4: this country, and part of that rule of law is precedent. 705 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 4: So what we are doing here is saying this conduct 706 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 4: was not acceptable. 707 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 3: And if anyone who we are, again, it's not who 708 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:15,279 Speaker 3: we are. 709 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,439 Speaker 4: So if you're wondering future president whether you can act 710 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,560 Speaker 4: like President Trump did, the answer is no, you will 711 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:22,160 Speaker 4: be impeached. 712 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 3: This is illegal. So we need to set that precedent 713 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:25,880 Speaker 3: and establish that boundary. 714 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:29,799 Speaker 1: I would have bet you everything I own at the 715 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,839 Speaker 1: onset of Trump's administration that it never would have ended 716 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:36,760 Speaker 1: this way. I mean, it ends. His political legacy ends 717 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: on this note, one of destruction and hate and lawlessness 718 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 1: and stuff with which defines them. You know, I've always 719 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,720 Speaker 1: said that the government's purposes to do the greatest amount 720 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,040 Speaker 1: of good for the greatest number of people. This is 721 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,560 Speaker 1: not some concierge service to help wealthy Americans. And I'm 722 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:54,880 Speaker 1: wondering what's the change you'd like to see in the 723 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,440 Speaker 1: campaign finance laws that will help clean that up. 724 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:01,480 Speaker 3: Yeah, No, corporate pack money is a huge part of it. 725 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:04,760 Speaker 1: Citizens United saying companies are are people, right. 726 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:09,640 Speaker 4: So, you know, reversing Citizens United stopping corporate pack contributions 727 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 4: or at least forcing corporations to disclose them to shareholders 728 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:17,640 Speaker 4: and justify how this actually provides any value to the corporation. 729 00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:19,800 Speaker 3: I think that's really important. 730 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:22,920 Speaker 4: I think campaign finance generally, you know, I think small 731 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:27,600 Speaker 4: dollar contributions are great because you know, five dollars a dollar, 732 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:31,439 Speaker 4: you know, volunteering your time. People can feel themselves part 733 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:35,200 Speaker 4: of democracy, part of the process. But you know, until 734 00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:37,600 Speaker 4: we clean that up, until we clean up some of 735 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:39,200 Speaker 4: the corruption, it's going to be really hard. 736 00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:41,279 Speaker 1: I think it's the source of all of the problems of. 737 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:42,920 Speaker 3: This country, source of all of the problems. 738 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,719 Speaker 1: Which committee you want to You're on one exclusive committee. 739 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 4: I was on an exclusive committee lost Congress, which is 740 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:49,520 Speaker 4: financial services. 741 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:50,760 Speaker 1: You're not there anymore. 742 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:52,239 Speaker 3: I'm not there anymore now I'm not. 743 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 4: I was on financial Services, and then later in the 744 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 4: year I got added to oversight when they were openings. 745 00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,799 Speaker 4: So now I'm on continuing on the Oversight Committee. I'm 746 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:03,279 Speaker 4: really excited about that. I love that oversight and I 747 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 4: like doing it for all different kinds of areas, everything 748 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,720 Speaker 4: from you know, pentagon spending to pharmaceuticals to car seats 749 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 4: to civil liberties. And then I'm now joined the Natural 750 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:18,720 Speaker 4: Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over public lands, over tribal lands, 751 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 4: all the drilling on public lands, oceans and wildlife. So, 752 00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 4: you know, I said the other day, polluters, I have questions. 753 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,360 Speaker 4: So I'm really excited about that. It's an incredibly important 754 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 4: issue in California. It's important to our global competitiveness in 755 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,640 Speaker 4: the future. The company, the economy, the nation that has 756 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:41,480 Speaker 4: manufacturing jobs in the next decade will be the country 757 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:43,640 Speaker 4: that figures out how to manufacture in a green way. 758 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:45,600 Speaker 3: We need that to be us. 759 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:48,640 Speaker 1: Bobby Kennedy Junior used to say, let's force them to 760 00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:51,799 Speaker 1: bring their products to market at their actual cost. YEP, 761 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:54,400 Speaker 1: what are the American people really paying for a gallon 762 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,279 Speaker 1: of gas? You throw the PCBs in the Hudson River 763 00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:58,600 Speaker 1: and we have to clean it up. That should be 764 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 1: a part of the cost of your thing. The woman 765 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 1: who's studied bankruptcy law at Harvard with Elizabeth Warren. Are 766 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:04,920 Speaker 1: you sorry you're out on the Finance Committee anymore? 767 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,400 Speaker 4: Sure, I'm definitely sorry. I mean, I asked to serve 768 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,440 Speaker 4: because I wanted to. I want to continue working on 769 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,799 Speaker 4: those issues, and I hope there'll be an opportunity for 770 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:15,600 Speaker 4: me to fill a vacancy in the future to get 771 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:18,400 Speaker 4: back to that committee. You know, I'm excited to be 772 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 4: on the Economic and Consumer Protection Subcommittee of Oversight. 773 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:23,040 Speaker 3: I'm going to keep doing a. 774 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:25,359 Speaker 4: Lot of work on financial services issues from that. So 775 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 4: absolutely wish. 776 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:26,960 Speaker 3: I were on. 777 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:28,040 Speaker 1: What happened? 778 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,600 Speaker 4: You know, they just decid they had so many spots. 779 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:32,480 Speaker 4: They voted people on and off. I was one of 780 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,120 Speaker 4: two people who didn't get it. You know, eight or 781 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:35,880 Speaker 4: ten people. 782 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:36,080 Speaker 3: Did get it. 783 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:38,720 Speaker 1: Other people were chosen, other people were chosen. 784 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,439 Speaker 3: But you know what, Like remember what I said about 785 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:43,000 Speaker 3: I've been underestimated a lot. 786 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,000 Speaker 4: When I went on now, people are like, oh, well, 787 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:48,759 Speaker 4: she can't go off financial services. Financial services is where 788 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 4: all the hot committee action is. 789 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:51,560 Speaker 3: Trust me. 790 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:54,520 Speaker 4: When I went on financial services, everyone was like, oh 791 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,160 Speaker 4: my god, that's the most boring committee. 792 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:57,279 Speaker 3: No one's going to pay attention to you. 793 00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,399 Speaker 1: Let's go deductive donuts, right, So. 794 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:02,640 Speaker 4: I go I'm going to try to engage the American people. 795 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,840 Speaker 4: And I don't think there is a bad committee in Congress. 796 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:07,320 Speaker 4: These are all important. 797 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: Well, let me just say I really mean this. People 798 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 1: who really are so disheartened. I mean they're crushed and 799 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:19,320 Speaker 1: demoralized by the inefficiency of the American government. They've lost faith. 800 00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:23,879 Speaker 1: And then along you come, and all my friends who 801 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:26,719 Speaker 1: see you, you know what they are. They're proud of you. 802 00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:30,560 Speaker 1: They're so proud of you because they get when you're there. 803 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,200 Speaker 1: You're not there for the self aggrandizing. You're doing this 804 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,440 Speaker 1: because you care, and you take the job seriously, and 805 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 1: you're finding and honing a way to use the job 806 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:44,840 Speaker 1: the office as a tool. You're honing a tool to 807 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:46,799 Speaker 1: do the work you want to do on behalf of 808 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:49,080 Speaker 1: the American people. So thank you so much, thank you. 809 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,240 Speaker 3: Oh absolutely, thank you so much for having. 810 00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:57,360 Speaker 1: Me us representative Katie Porter. I'm Alec Baldwin. Here's the 811 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:00,640 Speaker 1: thing that is brought to you by iHeartRadio, produced by 812 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:05,279 Speaker 1: Kathleen Russo, Krie Donahue, and Zach MacNeice. Our engineer is 813 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:15,440 Speaker 1: Frank Imperial. Thanks for listening.