No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen

Episode: CBS gets exposed for carrying water for killer ICE agent
Date: January 18, 2026
Host: Brian Tyler Cohen

Episode Overview

In this episode, Brian Tyler Cohen investigates CBS’s reporting on the fatal shooting of Renee Goode by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, arguing that CBS uncritically parroted Trump administration talking points and failed in journalistic rigor. The episode features four in-depth interviews:

• Rep. Jamie Raskin (Epstein investigation and DOJ coverups)
• Rep. Jared Moskowitz (January 6th pipe bomber, Trump’s party, and Fed independence)
• Abdul El Sayed (Trump’s Michigan visit, ICE abuses, and Medicare for All)
• CA Attorney General Rob Bonta (Lawsuit/investigation into Elon Musk’s XAI and redistricting litigation)

Main Theme

Corporate media’s failure, right-wing narrative laundering, and institutional complicity in Trump-era abuses—plus the need for independent progressive media, accountability for government agencies, and policy debates on healthcare and tech regulation.

Key Segments & Insights

1. CBS "Reporting" on ICE Killing of Renee Goode

[00:01–06:55]

• Headline incident: ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Goode, an unarmed mom of three, in Minneapolis.
• Media manipulation: Republicans and Trump claimed agent Ross acted in self-defense.
• CBS tweet: Claimed Ross “suffered internal bleeding” per anonymous officials. No named sources, medical records, or on-the-record confirmation.
  • “CBS is literally just doing stenography and no actual journalism. ... This is literally not journalism. It is just parroting White House propaganda.” — Brian Tyler Cohen [02:50]
• Internal dissent: Guardian reporting reveals internal CBS skepticism. Medical producer wanted more details. Editor said, “internal bleeding is a very broad term.”
  • “There was big internal dissension about the internal bleeding report ... it was viewed as a thinly veiled, anonymous leak by the Trump administration to someone who would carry it online.” — CBS staffer via Brian Tyler Cohen [03:45]
• Bari Weiss’s role: Heavily involved as top CBS editor; accused of being a Trump administration water-carrier.
• Critical point: Trump leverages media conglomerates' vulnerabilities to force compliance, effectively turning legacy media into extensions of White House messaging.
  • “Trump finds these weak, over-leveraged media companies ... and he makes sure the only way they get what they want is if he can force compliance or capitulation.” — Brian Tyler Cohen [04:40]
• Call for independent media: Establishes the need for a robust left infrastructure to counter both right-wing and compromised legacy media.

2. Jamie Raskin Interview – Epstein Files & DOJ Coverup

[06:57–18:04]

Epstein Files New Revelations

• College admissions as grooming: Epstein exploited promises of Ivy League admissions as part of recruitment.
  • “He maintained very cozy relationships with a lot of colleges and universities ... and used [admission] as part of his recruitment of young women.” — Jamie Raskin [07:09]
• Multiple accomplices: Associates Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn handled logistics, with Epstein “schmoozing” and running the bureaucracy.
  • “We know there were many other people, of necessity, involved in this situation.” — Jamie Raskin [08:51]
• DOJ cover-up: Trump DOJ (with Bondi, Patel, Bongino) publicly claimed no other crimes/participants; then walked that back as more documents (a million) “mysteriously appeared.”
• Political stonewalling: Trump, despite campaigning on transparency, has gone all-in on covering for the ring.
  • “You don't run a billion-dollar-plus global sex trafficking ring ... with one person. ... It takes a whole bureaucracy of complicity.” — Jamie Raskin [10:22]

Upcoming Congressional Hearings

• Pam Bondi to testify (Feb. 11): Raskin wants to probe her contradictory statements and refusal to turn over Epstein files. Republicans’ rules, however, limit questioning time.
• Scope: Will cover not just Epstein but also DOJ handling of January 6th, pardons for Jan 6th insurrectionists, and attacks on law enforcement.
• Hypocrisy on subpoenas: Republicans call for Clinton accountability while ignoring that their own (Jordan, Biggs) defied Jan 6th subpoenas.
  • “We're way beyond the point of trying to correct their hypocrisy. That's a lost cause. But ... the law requires the administration to turn over all these documents.” — Jamie Raskin [16:54]

3. Jared Moskowitz Interview – Jan 6 Pipe Bomber, Trump Party, and Fed Independence

[19:30–32:34]

January 6th and the Pipe Bomber

• Pipe bomber was a Trump voter: Moskowitz not surprised, frames it as unsurprising among Jan 6 participants.
  • “Everyone who came into town that day ... who just didn't storm the Capitol ... decided to go lay pipe bombs.” — Jared Moskowitz [19:57]
• GOP revisionism: Republican hearings seek to whitewash Jan 6, but Democrats intend to “remind everyone” of the law enforcement deaths and ongoing lack of accountability.

Trump’s Foreign Policy and Domestic Constraints

• Trump’s chaos as strategy: Foreign policy is where he can act unchecked, while domestically constrained.
  • “Domestically, (the president) has a lot of checks ... But in foreign policy, the president is king.” — Jared Moskowitz [22:40]
• Greenland talk as distraction: Lampoons Trump’s “ideas” (annexing Greenland) as unserious, but notes the real risk in his impulsive style.
• GOP lack of principle: Party’s “policy” is whatever Trump says. No ideological consistency; only personal loyalty.

Coercion of the Federal Reserve

• Trump threatening Powell: Trump’s implied threats against Fed chair Powell worry the financial world; even Senate Republicans and investors push back.
  • “You don't want Venezuelan monetary policy here in America.” — Jared Moskowitz [26:48]
• Precedent being set: Even after Powell, the next chair would be forced to “cow to Trump.”
  • “Isn't the issue of coercion basically eliminating the independence of the Fed still very much on the table ...?” — Brian Tyler Cohen [28:05]
• Market impact: The market's decline and growing global mistrust as result of threats against Fed independence.

Dan Bongino & Right-wing Grifter Media

• Bongino’s hypocrisy: Criticizes Bongino for posturing as a transparency crusader after covering up Epstein files.
  • “This is a guy who got his job on the Epstein files ... and then as soon as he got there and read that Trump's name is in it hundreds of times ... let me go back to my podcast.” — Jared Moskowitz [31:00]
• Fractured right-wing media: Notes rising infighting among right-wing online commentators (Owens, Rogan, Fuentes).

4. Abdul El Sayed Interview – Trump in Michigan, Police Violence, ICE, and Medicare for All

[34:37–64:50]

Trump’s Middle Finger & Worker Hostility

• Incident: Trump flips off and curses at a Michigan auto worker; worker suspended by Ford afterward.
  • “He like flips him the bird and he drops the F bomb against him twice. This is how he feels about working people.” — Abdul El Sayed [34:57]
• Ford’s response critiqued: Worker gets suspended for expressing First Amendment rights.

ICE as Paramilitary Organization

• ICE’s transformation: Used as a “paramilitary force” and compared to Gestapo in methods and impunity after Goode’s killing.
  • “What ICE has been weaponized to do ... is to attack the Constitution via the premise of immigration, and ... normalize paramilitary forces demonstrating the raw power of the state.” — Abdul El Sayed [38:44]
• Republican hypocrisy: Traditional conservative arguments about “tyranny” now ignored, as the government weaponizes agencies with impunity.
• $185 billion ICE budget: Now rivals military budgets, used for domestic repression rather than actual crime prevention.

Media’s Weakness and Trump’s Manipulation

• Legacy media capitulation: ABC, CBS, etc., “think that if they confer some goodwill ... Trump will be a good transactional partner. Transactionality only goes one way with Trump.” — Brian Tyler Cohen [47:07]
• Need for resistance: Democrats must “bully bullies” and develop courage, not try to appease Trump-style narcissism.
  • “Once you decide ... I am not afraid ... that becomes contagious.” — Abdul El Sayed [46:16]

Medicare for All

• Public support growing: Outside left-right framing, the public wants solutions to health care’s failures—including among non-progressives.
  • “Most folks don't really ask whether or not this is too progressive for me. They're asking, does this actually solve a problem I really have?” — Abdul El Sayed [52:37]
• **ACA is an outgrown “starter home”—profiteering by insurance/hospitals is at the root of spiraling costs.
• Health outcomes: Infant mortality in U.S. cities rivals developing countries; $225B in medical debt is tolerated as ICE and military budgets balloon.
• International comparison: U.S. is the envy of no country for healthcare—other nations want our culture, but not our medical system.

Notable quote:
"Medicare for all is not government health care. Medicare for all is guaranteed baseline government health insurance ... you should be able to get the health care you need and deserve without having to worry about a premium, a copay or deductible. That's not a crazy idea." — Abdul El Sayed [54:13]

5. Rob Bonta Interview – XAI Lawsuit & Redistricting Litigation

[64:54–76:47]

Lawsuit Against Elon Musk’s XAI

• XAI’s “GROK” generates non-consensual explicit images: Bonta launches investigation for facilitating illegal deepfakes of women and children.
  • “This has happened in full view of the public on the X platform ... and it is shocking and very possibly illegal.” — Rob Bonta [65:08]
• Not a bug, but a feature: Bonta asserts XAI built these abuses in by design—"deliberate, a purposeful provision"—and continues to profit via a paywall (Spicy Mode).
• California law: At least three state laws prohibit these practices; possible civil ($25k per violation) and criminal penalties.

Redistricting Lawsuits

• California’s maps upheld: Federal court affirms Prop 50’s partisan redistricting is legal; GOP lawsuits keep failing (six losses so far).
  • “We've beat them back six separate times ... this is about facts and law.” — Rob Bonta [73:53]
• GOP hypocrisy: Accuses Republicans of decrying racial gerrymandering in CA while demanding racially gerrymandered seats in TX.
  • “They start with the outcome that they want ... and then they back into some cockamany theory or logic and they'll say one thing one day and something else the next day.” — Rob Bonta [75:51]

Notable Quotes

• Brian Tyler Cohen [02:50]: “CBS is literally just doing stenography and no actual journalism. ... This is literally not journalism. It is just parroting White House propaganda.”
• Jamie Raskin [10:22]: “You don't run a billion-dollar-plus global sex trafficking ring ... with one person. ... It takes a whole bureaucracy of complicity.”
• Jared Moskowitz [26:48]: “You don't want Venezuelan monetary policy here in America.”
• Abdul El Sayed [38:44]: “What ICE has been weaponized to do ... is to attack the Constitution via the premise of immigration, and ... normalize paramilitary forces demonstrating the raw power of the state.”
• Rob Bonta [65:08]: “This has happened in full view of the public on the X platform ... and it is shocking and very possibly illegal.”
• Abdul El Sayed [54:13]: “Medicare for all is not government health care. Medicare for all is guaranteed baseline government health insurance ... you should be able to get the health care you need and deserve without having to worry about a premium, a copay or deductible. That's not a crazy idea.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:01–06:55: CBS ICE shooting coverage & media critique
• 06:57–18:04: Jamie Raskin (Epstein files, Pam Bondi, Jan 6)
• 19:30–32:34: Jared Moskowitz (Jan 6, Trump party, Fed independence, Bongino)
• 34:37–64:50: Abdul El Sayed (Trump in MI, ICE, healthcare)
• 64:54–76:47: Rob Bonta (Lawsuit vs. XAI, California maps litigation)

Episode Tone

Direct, indignant, unapologetically progressive. The conversations are sharp, frequently critical of institutional actors (media, courts, legacy agencies), and unflinching in holding both Republicans and legacy media to account. There is a strong undercurrent urging courage, solidarity, and the building of progressive alternatives.

Useful For:

• Anyone tracking media accountability and the spread of state-sanctioned disinformation.
• Listeners seeking updates on high-profile investigations (Epstein, Jan 6th).
• Progressives wary of the erosion of norms and institutions under continued Trumpist influence.
• Voters interested in health care reform and labor issues.
• Anyone concerned with tech regulation and the abuses of new AI platforms.