WEBVTT - Executive Disorder: Portland Shooting, the FED, Visa Pause & Turtle Island Liberation Front 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:07.160 Cool Zone Media. 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:11.920 This is It could Happen here Executive Disorder, our weekly 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:14.720 newscast covering what's happening in the White House, the crumbling world, 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:17.279 and what it means for you. I'm Garrison Davis today. 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:21.560 I'm joined by James Stout, Mia Wong and maybe Sophie Lichtermann. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:26.720 Maybe, yeah, let's send you first name. 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:30.440 I'm always here. I just don't necessarily have anything to 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:33.960 add because you're all so good at your jobs. 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:37.040 No, no, we love when Sophie has something to contribute 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.479 to this show. So what should we talk about? 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:40.840 First? 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.519 Let's do some quick updates from last week. As we 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.640 mentioned in the episode description, last week we recorded prior 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:51.200 to an incident that happened in Portland where two people 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:57.200 were shot by board patrol or ice. Very unclear that 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.440 there was not a lot of information given out and 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:04.600 the way that the situation unfolded, the way that DHS 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.280 said it that there was a targeted stop of two 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:11.480 people and they resisted arrest. So of course what do 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:11.840 they do? 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:14.319 Just shoot into a car and. 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.600 Those people drove away and then quickly called for help 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.160 and then went to the hospital. We really don't know 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:29.000 anything further than that. I watched many press conferences from 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.400 Oregon and Portland officials, including the governor and the mayor, 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:38.160 talking about the situation. Everybody's pretty horrified by it locally. 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:43.440 But that's not the story we were getting from DHS. 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:48.400 I can read the statement if you guys want, okay, yeah, 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.960 since Robert's don't here. Robert was at CS but was 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:55.360 also following the story very closely and did some reporting 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:57.480 on his Blue sky if you want to go back 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.920 and look at that. But the statement from DHS said 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:04.720 at two nineteen pst. US Border Patrol agents were conducting 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.840 a targeted vehicle stop in Portland. Organ The passengers of 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:12.079 the vehicle and target is a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:16.760 with the transnational gang trendy Agua prostitution ring and involved 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:19.760 in a recent shooting in Portland. The vehicle drivers believed 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.800 to be a member of the vicious Venezuelan gang trendy Agua. 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:24.600 They love to just throw that out of that. When 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:28.840 agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponized 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.959 his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents. 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:35.000 Fearing for his life and safety, An agent fire defensive 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.440 shot the driver drove off, with the passenger fleeing the scene. 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.600 The situation is evolving and more information is forthcoming. That 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:45.600 was on January eighth, at about five pm Pacific, And 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:50.320 that's their take, that's their go to move. The excuse 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.320 for randomly shooting at a car is that they were 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:57.360 weaponizing the vehicle towards the agent. We really don't know 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.160 much further than that, Miya. Do you have anything you 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:00.640 want to add? 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:03.960 Yeah, so I think we should make two things through one. 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:06.480 Both of the people who were shot have survived, which 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:06.880 is good. 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:07.600 Yeah. 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:12.120 Yes, it's also worth noting that. So the day we 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:15.880 are recording this, on the fourteenth, there was a report 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:21.280 released by Del Cameron and Ryan Shapiro at Wired talking 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:25.320 specifically about how they got a bunch of intelligence documents 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:30.960 from the Trump administration about trend Agua and briefly supprised 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:33.000 or I'm just going to quote the subtitle of it 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.080 because it gives a good representation of what is in 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:39.160 the actual intelligence documents. That's all the info we need. Yeah, 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.800 hundreds of records that pained by Wired shows thin intelligence 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.279 on the Venezuelan Gang of the United States, describing fragmented 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:50.080 low level crime rather than a coordinated terrorist threat, So 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:54.680 they could barely even find existence of this group in 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:59.000 the United States. These two people. I am ninety nine. 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:01.960 I would I would stake my life on the on 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:05.040 none of the stuff in that report about them being 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:10.440 in this Venezuelan criminal organization being true. Almost everything that 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.800 has come out of Homeland Security, as we've talked about 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.920 with every other previous shooting, almost everything that comes out 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.599 of Homeland Security is a lie. So yeah, we will 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:24.120 probably in the coming weeks figure out what actually happens. 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:28.960 But unfortunately, right now we're relying on a combination of 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.200 Portland government officials who are somewhat more reliable, and the 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:36.240 Department of Homeland Security, which is utterly unreliable. Yeah. 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:39.680 I do have one thing to note here as for 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:43.280 what the local officials in Portland are saying. Portland Police 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:47.040 Bureau Chief Bob Day started a January tenth press conference 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:51.640 by saying, quote, recently, I read the Declaration of Independence 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:56.600 for the first time unquote, and then stated that the 0:04:56.640 --> 0:05:00.600 two victims of the shooting have quote some next is 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:05.240 to involvement with Trenda Agua, and then on January eleventh, 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.080 Maltnama County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez was interviewed on CADU 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.560 News and said that he believes trend to Agua is 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:13.599 active in Portland, but he can not confirm in his 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.640 office has any criminal cases against the gang. 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.960 The Department of Homeland Security has identified the people who 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.160 were shot, saying they are affiliated with Trinda I Ragua, 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:27.000 the Venezuelan gang, and are connected to other crimes in Portland. 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:30.279 Does your office have any cases against these individuals? 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:32.320 You know, this is all These are all things that 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.280 we're going to be looking at and going through very 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:38.159 carefully as we evaluate the case. One to make sure 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.159 that if there are other pending matters out there that 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.720 they're taken care of, but also just to make sure 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:44.240 we get a full picture of what's going on in 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:44.800 this situation. 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.279 Do you have any knowledge of whether trendera Ragua is 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:50.360 active in Portland and Maltnoma County. 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.799 It's certainly something that we have seen and we are 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:57.360 we are working on with our local law enforcement. We 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.560 have seen them in our area. They are one of 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:04.160 kind of a host of different groups or individuals out 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:06.960 there that are engaged in criminal activity, and it's something 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:07.800 that we're working on. 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:15.120 Just a lot of biased disinformation and misinformation. We don't 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:19.400 actually really know what happened, but I am grateful that 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:23.279 those folks did not lose their lives unlike Renee Good. 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:24.440 Yeah. 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:28.159 Yeah, And I also briefly want to mention here about 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:31.960 Renee Good. There's been an attempt by the Department of Justice. 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.200 A bunch of people at the Department Justice have resigned 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:36.760 rather than attempt to prosecute Renee Good's wife. 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:41.040 Six high level prosecutors have resigned in the past week. 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.400 And this has been a very very standard reaction from 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.240 law enforcement when they don't kill someone or when there's 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.200 someone else on the scene. A few months ago, Ice 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:54.880 shot a woman in Chicago. She thankfully survived, but they 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:58.440 also charged her afterwards. So this is a very very 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:00.960 standard practice, and they are right now trying this on 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:04.599 Rene Good's wife after she watched her fucking wife get 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.680 killed in front of her. Yeah. 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:09.640 So I know people have also been waiting for updates 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:12.480 on Iran. We have an episode that came out. It 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:15.640 will have come out on Wednesday, two days before this 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:17.440 comes out, So if you'd like to know more about 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:19.960 what's happening in Iran, we had a really excellent talk 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.040 with Gordayen, and I would suggest you go back and 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.800 find that episode. And I wanted to update people on 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:29.600 what is happening in Syria. I guess specifically northern Syria 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:34.200 right now. So the two neighborhoods Shikmunk sud Ne so Fria, 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:38.080 those are both neighborhoods in Aleppo. Right that there's sometimes 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:42.360 characterized as Kurdish neighborhoods, but like ZD people live there. 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:45.120 There are various Christian people living there as well. Right, 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:49.000 it's not one hundred percent Kurdish. I think sometimes there's 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:51.560 a tendency among people who write about Syria to see 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.880 things as ethnic modelists, and I think that is not 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:58.160 the way to approach these things. But anyway, both of 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.920 those neighborhoods have now been fully seized by the Syrian 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:06.760 Transitional government. Some SDF fighters will bust back to Kamishlo, 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:10.160 which is the capital of the aa Nes somethimes known 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:15.840 as Frojava fighting is now moving closer to the Euphrates, right, 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:19.000 closer to the core of what people will call Rasjava. 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:22.240 I think at a minimum, the goal is probably to 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:26.880 remove the SDF from any areas and are not majority Kurdish, 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.800 so right now that they're fighting in der Haafa and 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:33.679 they will begin fighting, or that they have already been 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:36.640 drawne attacks in other areas as well. In a leopard 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.240 Is Syrian observed. Joined Human Rights, which is a Writen 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:42.840 based human rights organization, documented several war crimes and going 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:46.520 to quote here, SOHR documented twenty three cases of extra 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:49.920 judicial executions and desecration of bodies in shik Maksud and 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:53.440 Alasafriya neighborhoods in Aleppo City in the past few days. 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:56.760 Here are further details. The bodies of fifteen members of 0:08:56.800 --> 0:09:00.520 the Internal Security Forces ASAISH including body. These are four 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:04.040 female members were deliberately incinerated. A female member of the 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.559 SAH forces was killed during the clashes and her body 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:08.680 was thrown from the top of the building. The reason 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:10.960 they've been able to document these is that they're widely 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:14.280 broadcast on telegram. Right, people are very proud of what 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:18.360 our war crimes, the desecration of the remains. At the 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:22.880 same time, the Islamic State carried out three simultaneous attacks 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:27.000 on the twelfth of January during several SDF personnel and 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:31.840 it seems that this whole debacle has put the peace 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:35.679 process between the PKK. The PKK is a distinct entity 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:39.920 from the SDF right, but nonetheless the PKK yes it 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:44.400 is seeing Kurdish people killed in Syria and Turkish support. 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:44.560 Right. 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:48.800 There have been some reports of Turkish drones being used 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:52.160 or flying around there. So the KSEK, if people aren't 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:55.200 familiar to, KSEK, is the organization that brings together the 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:58.520 different political groups in Kurdis Dan that broadly adhere to 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:02.960 the political idealogy your thought of Abdula oh Julan, but 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:06.040 take different approaches to that. The k c K released 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.520 a statement saying, quote, the attacks on Chikmunk, Sud and 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:11.440 Asafria and the preparations for attacks on the east of 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:14.000 the Euphrates also call into question the cease fire between 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:18.240 our movement and Turkey and the ongoing peace and democratic society. 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.199 That is not great, right, Yeah, you know, this is 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:23.760 a place where people have been at war, killing and 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.680 dying for more than a decade, and it's very sad 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:29.960 to think of more killing and dying happening there. Garina, 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:33.400 you wanted to talk a little bit about some domestic terrorism, 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:36.880 I guess some actual domestic terrorism and us an attack rate. 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:37.760 Do you want to talk about that? 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:38.640 Yes. 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:44.360 On Saturday, January tenth, the Beth Israel Congregation Synagogue in Mississippi, 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.360 and historic synagogue, the oldest in the state that was 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:51.000 once targeted by the KKK, was set on fire in 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:55.559 the middle of the night, damaging the interior of the building. 0:10:56.200 --> 0:11:00.400 A nineteen year old college student named Stephen Spencer Pittman 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:03.480 has been charged with federal and state arson charges, as 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:07.720 well as a hate crime enhancement. On Instagram, Pittman described 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:12.120 himself as a quote unquote follower of Christ and shared 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:16.320 a meme of the anti Semitic happy Merchant hours before 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:16.920 the attack. 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:18.840 Jesus Christ Jesu. 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:22.760 The happy Merchant is an anti Semantic Jewish stereotype that 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:27.200 is often used in memes originating from the four Chen 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:31.120 era of WOA Jack memes. You've probably seen it before. 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:34.240 It's a crude, anti Semitic rendering of a Jewish person 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:40.320 with his hands clasped together. Pittman has confessed to starting 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.080 a fire in the building, which he described as the 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:47.199 quote unquote Synagogue of Satan. According to an FBI affidavit 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:51.760 and reporting from the AP states that during his first hearing. 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:55.640 When the judge read him his rights, Pittman said, quote, 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:57.520 Jesus Christ is Lord. 0:11:58.120 --> 0:11:58.440 Quote. 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:02.160 According to the FBI ay Affidavid Pittman texted his own 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:05.599 father during the arson, sending a photo of the synagogue 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:09.199 with the messages there's a furnace in the back, hoodie 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:15.240 is on, and they have the best cameras unquote. Pittman's 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:18.560 father attempted to convince his son to come home and 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:23.120 later turned him into the authorities. Pittman suffered burns to 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.800 himself during this attack. He's the only person injured as 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:28.600 a result of this incident. 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:32.000 Big flee. I'm glad he got hurt. 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:37.120 Pittman's phone was found in the synagogue, damaged from the fire, 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:39.920 though his location was able to be tracked via the 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:44.920 Life three sixty GPS tracking app, which shows a stop 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:48.359 at a gas station where Pittman allegedly picked up gasoline 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:51.160 before heading onto the synagogue. 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:56.000 Great of what a fucking idiot. But yeah, I think 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.240 this is the only synagogue in the state right like. 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:01.280 To the oldest synagogue in the state. I doubt this 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:03.840 is the only synagogue in Mississippi. 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:04.720 The largest one. That's it. 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.360 Yeah, yes, yeah, it's it's like the most famous one 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:07.800 from the Yeah. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:09.640 Yeah, and like you said, it was attacked by the 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.319 Klan before it was didn't he attack exactly the same 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.880 part of the synagogue that the Klan previously burned. 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.080 I don't have that in my notes, but that is it. 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.680 Seems like that's what he was same vibes. 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:24.920 No, he did say that he did a lot of 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.480 research on the target and that he needed a home 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:32.920 run in communications to his father, and Pittman was a 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:37.000 baseball player in the state. There's not much more to 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:42.480 say about this, Like this is a weirdo Instagram Christian 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:48.760 Zoomer who also offered like a fitness service. It's unclear 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.560 how real this is or if he had like, you know, customers, 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:55.400 but he was offering faith based fitness transformations. 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:57.600 Jes Yeah, that's the thing. 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.480 Like you have a little bit of like the Christian 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.439 looks Max sur Vibe going on with him, as well 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:07.679 as sharing a series of anti Smitic posts made on Instagram. 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:12.600 Yeah did you see this, Deborah lipstat tweet gere No So. 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:16.040 Deborah lipsdat right, who was previously the she like the 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:20.360 envoy on anti Semitism, posted a twenty three on January eleventh. 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:22.520 This is a major tragedy, but it's more than that. 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.320 It's an arson attack and another step in the globalization 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:26.280 of the Intefada. 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:29.560 Thates not seem to be the case. Yeah, it doesn't know. 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:33.520 No, but this is like pretty uh way off base 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:36.880 in fact, right, But yeah, I think it's still rather 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:37.520 telling that. 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:41.240 This is This is not like a Hamas anti imperialist 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:46.280 Zoomer red triangle in biotype guy. This is a right 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:52.520 wing Christian nationalist college athlete, Christian Zoomer who shares anti 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:56.120 Smitic memes on Instagram. This is a pretty standard, you know, 0:14:56.240 --> 0:15:01.440 pre twenty twenty two type of like synagoguet. Yeah, in fact, 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.000 the fire was started right in front of a Tree 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:06.680 of Life memorial plaque in this synagogue. 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.840 Jesus Christ God, of course it was yeah. 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:15.280 Fuck quick correction or clarification. Though the fire was started 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.600 in front of a Tree of Life wall plaque, this 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:22.440 wall memorial plaque is unrelated to the Tree of Life 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:25.640 shooting in Pittsburgh and is specific to the Beth Israel 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:29.960 Synagogue to commemorate and honor important life events for members 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:31.720 of the congregation. 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:47.520 And we are back. So, the thing I thought I 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:49.600 was going to be talking about this week was a 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:52.840 Supreme Court ruling on Trump's tariffs. However, the Supreme Court, 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:56.840 contrary to the expectations of basically everyone, didn't actually release 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:58.800 a ruling on the tariff stuff today. We have no 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:03.000 idea when they're going to release that. However, instead of that, 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:07.400 we got one of the most bizarre and extraordinary statements 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:09.960 and videos I have ever seen from someone who was 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:13.880 even remotely affiliated with the US government. So on Sunday, 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:18.760 Thorer Reserve Chair Jerome Powell released, I don't even have 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.000 a good reference for what this is. The closest thing 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:22.920 I can think of is it's a kidnapping video, but 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.280 it's more like a help I'm about to be kidnapped video, 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.920 in which she says, quote, the Department of Justice serve 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:33.600 the Thorough Reserve with grand jury subpoenas threatening a criminal 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.800 indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:41.360 last June. So this is nominally about cost overruns effectively 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.760 in renovations of the Federal Reserve. If anyone has ever 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:47.200 paid attention to any single US government project ever, you 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.960 will know that there are cost overruns on by most projects. 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:54.800 This is just how the government works, because you come 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.000 in with your little bid that's below what the actual 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:58.320 cause is going to be, and then it costs more 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:03.400 than that. Now this investigation is being run directly into 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:07.159 Jerome Powell. And by the way, this statement was published 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.200 on the Federal Reserves. This is like an official statement 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:11.800 from the Federal Reserve Board. 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:12.880 Yeah. 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:15.199 So he also says later in the statement, quote, the 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:18.160 threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:22.040 Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessments of 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.080 what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:27.720 of the presidents. This is about whether the Fed will 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:29.960 be able to continue to set interest rates based on 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:34.440 evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:40.120 be directed by political pressures or intimidation. This is extraordinary. 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:45.800 They got sixteen other central bank leaders from around the world, 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:50.120 and we're talking about Norway to Indonesia to submit a 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:54.320 letter expressing where they use the word solidarity to express 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.359 the support of Powell. I cannot emphasize enough. Do you 0:17:57.440 --> 0:17:59.960 know how bad it is to get central bank leaders 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.040 is to say the word solidarity? 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:05.560 Yeah? 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.840 Now, this is following a Trump two pattern of using 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:12.640 the DOJ to attack their political enemies. Today, the fourteenth, 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:15.600 as we're recording, this also saw the beginning of investigation 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:19.720 into Senator Elisa Slotkin over her participation in a video 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:23.320 a few months ago encouraging US troops to disobey illegal orders. 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.920 Mark Kelly, who was also in that video, was also 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:30.439 targeted with a Pentagon investigation over the video. So this 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.560 has become very common. However, Jerome Powell is a Trump 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:38.399 one appointee, so this is someone who is also and 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:40.879 this is this is this is something that that worth mentioning. 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:46.440 Powell is very popular in conservative circles, largely outside of 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.520 a very very immediate circle of people around Trump who 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.400 want their president to be able to control the interest rate. 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:56.080 Now I'm going to do a full episode about this 0:18:56.240 --> 0:19:00.800 probably next week, but the independence of the central bank 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.160 is one of the core pillars of the global reputation 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:08.080 and stability of the US dollar. Now I'm not saying 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:11.440 here that the central bank is good. I'm saying that 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:15.160 this is how the entire world economic system operates. 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:15.840 Right. 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:19.959 It is based on the central bank operating as a 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.840 series of quasi public but still technically non government entities 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:28.440 that make independent decisions on interest rates. Now, FED interest 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.879 rates effectively and I'm saying effectively here because I'm simplifying 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:35.520 a very complicated set of economic interactions into one sentence, 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:38.480 but they effectively set interest rates for bank loans in 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:41.720 the broader economy, which in turn has a massive impact 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:44.679 on how fast or slow the economy grows, and the 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:48.359 FED uses this as a tool to control inflation and 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:52.879 unemployment through a basically a single macroeconomic policy lever. The 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:56.200 FED does much much more stuff than this. I will 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:58.520 get into this in the other episode. It has a 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:03.280 series of unbelievably crucial functions. But what is happening here 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:07.760 is the Trump administration attempting to directly seize control of 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:14.040 the FED, and this is a nightmare. The actual mechanisms 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:17.399 that work here, in terms of the relationship between interest 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:20.960 rates and the fed's economic policy toolkit and inflation are 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:24.840 not well understood even by the FED, which is something 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.080 you can get if you go read the Federal Reserve documents. 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:32.520 It's very complicated, it's all contested, but it is the 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:34.720 Fed's job to be able to do this, and they 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:37.359 will admit they're not incredible at it if the Trump 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:41.160 administration is running this directly. The Trump aministration has absolutely 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:43.640 no idea how any of this stuff works. Yeah, this 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:45.800 is giving them the keys to the global economy and 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.359 they are going to just start pushing buttons. This is 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:52.240 a significant enough threat that several Republican senators and this 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:56.600 is not just Morowski, these are just regular Republican senators 0:20:57.160 --> 0:21:01.000 have spoken out against this move and have express, you know, 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:04.199 expressed that they think that drump Powell is innocent and 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:08.240 that they will vote against any attempt to approve a 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:11.520 Trump nominee for the head of Federal Reserve, which is 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.480 also extraordinary. This is one of the largest breaks we've 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:18.000 seen with Trump from the Republican Party so far. And 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:20.080 the reason that there have been actual breaks from the 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:23.760 Republican Party is that this is the rubicon for a 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:29.280 lot of sectors of capital. Almost anything can be endured 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:33.520 as long as the president does not have direct control 0:21:33.560 --> 0:21:36.280 over the money supply, which is what Trump controlling the 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:41.400 Federal Reserve directly would be. Now. Part of what's going 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:43.520 on here right is that this is an attempt to 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:46.280 choose a new chair of the Federal Reserve Board by 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.240 getting Powell out of his job. However, so Powell's term 0:21:50.320 --> 0:21:54.399 expires in May, but that's Powell's term as the chair 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:57.400 of the Federal Reserve. He's still on the Board of Governors, 0:21:57.800 --> 0:21:59.760 and the Board of Governors also has to approve and 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:03.160 you to the Federal Reserve. So Trump needs to oust 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:05.639 him from his position as the governor of a Federal 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:07.720 Reserve board because if he doesn't do this, he doesn't 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:11.639 have enough votes to get his appointments. The really dangerous 0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:15.719 thing here, on top of the abstract principle of you know, 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:20.080 the president having direct control over the central banking system, 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:23.600 the direct media threat is that because preferred candidates, who 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:26.840 is currently one of the Federal Reserve Board governors or 0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:28.760 one of the Federal Reserve governors she's on the board 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:31.439 is Stephan Mirin, who is the guy who wants to 0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:36.720 charge other countries for holding US bonds. So yeah, I 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:41.120 forget that this guy is a mediac, right, Like, that's sorry, 0:22:41.320 --> 0:22:43.240 that is that is deeply unfair to mediacs, who are 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:48.080 very reasonable people. This guy is I cannot emphasize enough 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:51.320 if you put someone in charge of the Federal Reserve 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:54.880 who literally did not understand what economics was, they would 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:59.920 do less damage than putting Steve Sevan Mirn in charge 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:04.280 of this. This is a nightmare. This guy has no 0:23:04.359 --> 0:23:07.639 idea what he's doing at all. He is effectively a 0:23:07.640 --> 0:23:10.760