DOJ to Investigate Epstein Ties to Democrats & Reopen Clinton Foundation Probe

Summary

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The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: DOJ to Investigate Epstein Ties to Democrats & Reopen Clinton Foundation Probe
Date: November 15, 2025
Host: Ben Ferguson (Premiere Networks)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Ben Ferguson delves into the latest political developments surrounding former President Donald Trump’s directive to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s connections with prominent Democrats and major banks. Ferguson also discusses renewed scrutiny on the Clinton Foundation, referencing the reopening of a previously shelved IRS criminal probe. Throughout the episode, Ferguson contrasts Trump’s assertive strategy with Democratic responses, taking aim at media narratives and perceived political motivations behind ongoing investigations.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Trump’s DOJ Directive on Epstein Files (Starts ~03:36)

• Trump’s "Chess vs. Checkers" Move:
  Ferguson frames Trump as strategically outmaneuvering Democrats:

  “Donald Trump playing chess while Democrats playing checkers over the Jeffrey Epstein files.” (03:51)

• Scope of Investigation:
  Trump directs DOJ, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and the FBI to focus on Epstein’s ties with “prominent Democrats and banks,” specifically Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, JP Morgan Chase, and others.

  “I will be asking the attorney general, Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, JP Morgan Chase and many other people and institutions to determine what was going on with them and him.” (04:52)

• Trump’s Positioning on True Social:
  Trump argues the Epstein issue is a Democrats’ problem, not Republicans’:

  “Epstein was a Democrat and therefore is the Democrats’ problem, not the Republicans’ problem.” (05:47)

2. Media Narratives and Dem/GOP Positions (05:47–09:45)

• Democratic Focus on Trump:
  Ferguson claims Democrats are obsessed with linking Trump to Epstein, but offer no evidence:

  “Many Democrats are now obsessed over the Epstein files and trying to use anything where Donald Trump's name was used to connect him to some sort of horrific behavior without any evidence to back it up.” (03:58)

• Victim Testimony and Media Spin:
  Ferguson references Virginia Giuffre, a survivor in the Epstein case, highlighting that she never accused Trump of wrongdoing and criticized Democrats for hiding her name.

  “She accused Democrats when she was alive, her words, of hiding her name because she had not alleged Trump to have done anything wrong. That is how sick and partisan this has become.” (06:56)

  • Ferguson clarifies she did not make these statements as a direct response to Democrats, ensuring accuracy. (08:16)
• Call for Transparency:
  Ferguson pushes for the release of all Epstein-related documents (with victim protection):

  “As long as you protect the victims, release it.” (09:13)

• Critique of Democratic Motives:
  Ferguson claims:

  “The only thing they want to do now is hurt President Donald Trump. They want to do anything they can to try to imply that he did something terrible … He didn't do anything wrong. That is the biggest difference here.” (09:23)

• Historical Context:
  Ferguson highlights a lack of action by Democrats when previously in power:

  “You guys gave this much thought and much obsession over this when Joe Biden was president ... I wish you guys cared about the victims as much as you care about trying to attack Donald Trump.” (06:22)

3. Clinton Foundation Probe—A Revived Scandal (09:51–13:05)

• IRS Criminal Probe History:
  Ferguson details how, in 2019, the IRS opened a criminal probe into the Clinton Foundation, later abruptly halted under a Democratic administration:

  “The IRS actually opened a criminal probe into the Clinton foundation in 2019. But guess what? In 2019, a Democrat was in charge of the White House, the FBI and all of law enforcement. So what happened? The investigation was abruptly stopped.” (10:43)

• Whistleblower Involvement:
  IRS agents John Moynihan and Larry Doyle worked with authorities, reporting that the Clinton Foundation operated as “a closely held family partnership,” not a charitable organization, and even as a foreign agent.

  “The foundation was not a charitable organization per se, but in point of fact was was a closely held family partnership.” (11:40)

• Nigerian Officials and “Pay for Play”:
  Ferguson mentions allegations of Clinton Foundation donors receiving political favors:

  “The Nigeria office had phone tapped interviews with Nigerian officials saying that they had donated to the Clinton foundation and they were getting favors in return.” (12:27)

• Clinton Foundation Response:
  Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton have denied wrongdoing.
• Upcoming Legal Actions:
  Moynihan and Doyle are pursuing whistleblower cases, with one tentatively set for trial Dec 1st.
• Renewed Probe Under Trump:
  Ferguson emphasizes that the Trump administration is reopening the investigation and aims to uncover the truth behind why it was stopped:

  “Now the Trump administration has reopened it and making it clear they're going to look into ... why it was stopped and what crimes could have been committed.” (13:05)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ben Ferguson on Partisan Motives:

  “I wish you guys cared about the victims as much as you care about trying to attack Donald Trump ... That is how sick and partisan this has become.” (06:32)

• On Transparency:

  “As long as you protect the victims, release it.” (09:13)

• On the Clinton Foundation:

  “The investigation clearly demonstrates that the foundation was not a charitable organization per se, but ... a closely held family partnership.” (11:40)

• On Trump’s Counteroffensive:

  “Okay, doj, you guys want to go there, you want to play this game, fine, we will investigate you.” (09:33)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:36] Trump’s DOJ directive to investigate Epstein ties to Democrats
• [05:47] Trump’s statement that Epstein is a “Democrats’ problem”
• [06:22] Ferguson’s critique of Democrats’ concern for victims
• [06:56] Virginia Giuffre’s statements and the partisan response
• [08:16] Clarification on Giuffre’s comments
• [09:13] Ferguson’s open call: "As long as you protect the victims, release it."
• [09:51] Deep dive into the Clinton Foundation and the IRS investigation
• [11:40] Whistleblower testimony and the alleged misuse of the Clinton Foundation
• [13:05] Trump administration reopening the Clinton Foundation investigation

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Conclusion

Ben Ferguson’s episode centered on Trump’s efforts to redirect scrutiny from himself to prominent Democrats through federal investigations into Epstein’s network and the Clinton Foundation. Ferguson maintains a sharp, critical tone toward Democratic leadership and media coverage, repeatedly demanding transparency and accountability while positioning Trump’s actions as both strategic and justified. The episode offers a blend of news commentary, background analysis, and pointed debate, serving as a window into current conservative perspectives on these high-profile investigations.

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Transcript

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[Ben Ferguson]

Pam Bondi said she was going to release all of the documents the FBI said they were going to release. Cash Patel was calling for the release and now they're not releasing the documents. Now does that mean that that's because Donald Trump engaged in criminal activity?

[News Reporter]

No.

[Ben Ferguson]

In fact, you talk to the people who actually talk to all the victims in this case and they will tell you that they don't have any evidence of Donald Trump engaging in any criminal activity. You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Good Saturday morning. It's nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update. And we've got a big story for you. Donald Trump playing chess while Democrats playing checkers over the Jeffrey Epstein files. Donald Trump now asking the Department of Justice to investigate Epstein ties directly to prominent Democrats and banks that financed him. But first, I want to tell you about our friends over Patriot Mobile. Every so often, something happens that reminds us just how fragile our freedoms are. We can't afford to take our rights for granted. We must draw a line in the sand and our friends at Patriot mobile have been doing just that for more than 12 years. 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Every month, about 5% of your bill is given back to conservative causes at no extra cost to you that stand up for our first and our second amendment rights, the rights of unborn children and our wounded warriors and those that have fought for our country. And wear a badge. So take a stand today. Go to patriotmobile.com ben47 or call 9-72-PIOT and if you use the promo code BEN47 47, you're gonna get a free month of service. That's patriotmobile.com BEN47 or 972-PIOT and make the switch today. It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now. Story number one, there has been a lot of conversation about the Epstein files. Many Democrats are now obsessed over the Epstein files and trying to use anything where Donald Trump's name was used to connect him to some sort of horrific behavior without any evidence to back it up. Well, while they're playing checkers, Donald Trump is now playing chess. A pretty brilliant move by president Donald Trump on Friday. He has now directed the Justice Department to investigate the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein and his ties to several high profile Democrats as well as certain banks. The president writing this. Now that the Democrats are using the Epstein hoax involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous government shutdown and all of their other failures, I will be asking the attorney general, Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, JP Morgan Chase and many other people and institutions to determine what was going on with them and him. Trump writing this on True social this is another Russia, Russia, Russia scam. With all arrows pointing to the Democrats, he added Records show that these men and many others spent large portions of their life with Epstein and on his island. Stay tuned now. In an earlier post on Friday, Trump said that Epstein was a Democrat and therefore is the Democrats problem, not the Republicans problem. He also accused the Democrats of doing everything in their withering power to push the Epstein hoax again. Despite the DOJ releasing more than 50,000 pages of documents, Trump said lawmakers should not waste time looking into him and instead should focus on the Democrats he later named in the post announcing the probe. Democrats, of course, are trying to use this to hurt the president. What's interesting is if you go back and look at the history of this, Democrats never gave a about the victims. In fact, it's a point that I brought up on Fox News Channel to the Democrats face saying, where were you guys when you had the power to do something about this? Take a listen to what I had to say on Abby Phillips show on cnn. You guys gave this much thought and much obsession over this when Joe Biden was president. I wish you were asking for this much transparency when it wasn't about Joe, president of the United States of America and score political points. I wish you guys cared about the victims as much as you care about trying to attack Donald Trump. When CNN's own reporting says, and I quote, the woman who is the survivor literally accused Democrats, not Republicans, of hiding her name because she had not alleged Trump anything wrong. You're talking about Virginia, correct, who we just talked about. And my point is she died by, just to be clear, she said, but she accused Democrats when she was alive, her words, of hiding her name because she had not alleged Trump to have done anything wrong. That is how sick and partisan this has become. You guys didn't care about the victims. You didn't care about anything else. And now you're saying, well, well, maybe Donald Trump knew of a crime and maybe didn't report it. That's just straight up slander and libel. You're telling the president, I let you finish watch the crime. Turn that glove. One thing up because I think this is important. I don't want this misinformation to be out there.

[Grainger Announcer]

When Virginia Giuffre said that Trump had.

[Ben Ferguson]

Not done anything wrong, she was not.

[Grainger Announcer]

Accusing the Republicans accused Democrats of withholding her name for that reason. She just separately said that, that she did not see Trump do anything untoward.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's, that's the quote. And so I go back to the point he made, which is that he said, because I don't want people to think that that it was that she was responding to Democrats, which she was not. But go ahead. Here's the thing. First of all, Joe Biden was not on the plane. He was not at the island. Well, then there you go. Jump to another subject. Was not on the plane, was not there. Everybody say, well, Joe Biden didn't do whatever. The Democrats were never saying don't release. The Republicans now are saying don't release. That's not true. I've said release it. I stay consistent. I have no problem released.

[Grainger Announcer]

Ironically, the reason this is such an issue right now is because Republicans campaigned on it and made it a big issue. Frankly, shame on the Biden DOJ for not having been more proactive.

[Ben Ferguson]

Thank you.

[Grainger Announcer]

And thank you to the Republicans, the manosphere, all of the blogosphere, the Republican right wing who spent the campaign making this into a big issue.

[Ben Ferguson]

And I say now, release it. As long as you protect the victims, release it. What you, you notice Democrats, and that's why I went back in history, they didn't care about this at all. The only thing they want to do now is hurt President Donald Trump. They want to do anything they can to try to imply that he did something terrible, that he did something that is like awful. He didn't do anything wrong. That is the biggest difference here. And so now with the president saying, okay, doj, you guys want to go there, you want to play this game, fine, we will investigate you. Now, let's go through the names of people you notice. He said Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton has never been investigated for going to Epstein island, flying on his plane or any of the connections there. Which, by the way, also brings us to another story that involves the Clintons. The Clinton foundation, where money was flowing in when Hillary Clinton was the secretary of state and running for president, is now the center of more attention. Now, there's a part of this story that you may not actually even know about, and that is the IRS actually opened a criminal probe into the Clinton foundation in 2019. But guess what? In 2019, a Democrat was in charge of the White House, the FBI and all of law enforcement. So what happened? The investigation was abruptly stopped. Here's more of the background on that story.

[Grainger Announcer]

And a criminal probe into the Clinton foundation in 2019, but then suddenly stopped. That's according to new memos detailing how agents suddenly cut off contact with whistleblowers after months of cooperation. The national News desk, Jeff Harris joining us. The federal government, as we know, has long been concerned about the Clinton Foundation. But these memos, they only add to that worry. What Are you learning tonight?

[News Reporter]

So the memos detail how IRS agents abruptly cut off contact with two whistleblowers, John Moynihan and Larry Doyle, they had been working with for several weeks now, several meetings even taking place with them between January and April of 2019 before then abruptly getting cut before losing contact. Moynihan, a retired DEA financial crimes analyst, and Doyle, a corporate tax compliance officer, had spent years researching the Clinton foundation, even testifying before Congress.

[Ben Ferguson]

The investigation clearly demonstrates that the foundation was not a charitable organization per se, but in point of fact was was a closely held family partnership.

[News Reporter]

Just the news Reviewing internal IRS emails and memos which show an IRS office in New Jersey initially took serious interest in the allegations, meeting with the two in late 2019. One memo reading in part, they found numerous problems with the Clinton foundation and the Clinton foundation was operating as a foreign agent. But weeks later the agents reversed course, saying we can't talk about the cf. Others looking into the foundation include author Peter Schweizer, who spoke with the national news desk Thursday morning about his own investigation. The Nigeria office had phone tapped interviews.

[Ben Ferguson]

With Nigerian officials saying that they had donated to the Clinton foundation and they were getting favors in return.

[News Reporter]

But the Clinton foundation has long denied any wrongdoing. Hillary Clinton even pushing back when asked about possible pay for play during her 2016 presidential campaign at the Clinton foundation spend 90%.

[Grainger Announcer]

90% of all the money that is donated on behalf of programs of people around the world and in our own country.

[News Reporter]

Now just the news reports. Both Moynihan and Doyle are currently pursuing two whistleblower cases involving the Clinton Foundation. One is tentatively scheduled for trial beginning December 1st.

[Ben Ferguson]

Here's what's interesting about this background of it stopping this investigation in 2019. Now the Trump administration has reopened it and making it clear they're going to look into a why it was stopped and what crimes could have been committed. Again, the IRS opened opened the criminal probe and they were shut down by the Biden administration. This is truly shocking. But now we're gonna get some answers, we're being told moving forward. Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here on Monday morning.

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