Ben Ferguson (6:05)

Next, story number two.

Ben Ferguson (6:06)

As I mentioned earlier, a dear friend of mine, Chad Prather, he is the host of the Chad Prather Show. You should download it. And also a morning show called Dear America. He got the phone call to go to the White House and to have a conversation about the Epstein files and even get that binder that's now become famous. Chad joins me now to talk about this. Chad, let's start from the very beginning. When did you get asked to come to the White House and did you even know what the meeting was going to be about or who was going to be there?

Chad Prather (6:35)

I did not know. In fact, we were invited for a completely different reason. We were not invited on the basis of knowing anything about the Epstein file. In fact, we were invited simply to go meet with President J.D. vance to talk about messaging and specifically, if we had opportunity, to visit with some of the Cabinet members and talk about just the things that the administration is prioritizing. And this was part of President Trump's initiative to sort of sidestep the mainstream and legacy media in order to deal with podcasters and influencers and people of that nature so that the truth could get out there to people. I mean, people with an audience, people like me, people like you. And this was a part of that, what happened as we met with various Cabinet members today, it was a great meeting. We didn't think anything of it. Attorney General Pam Bondi came in. She came in with Director Cash Patel of the FBI, and she said, you know, as a gesture of good faith, there's no smoking gun here. She said, but we do want to give you phase one. She said, the significant thing that we want to expose is there's a letter that reveals that we're missing thousands of pages of Epstein documents.

Ben Ferguson (7:38)

So, yeah, you got confirmation, that file today of what a lot of what we'd heard about. But you mentioned that letter, and so explain how important that is to this being, quote, phase one.

Chad Prather (7:48)

Well, I think that, first of all, if it wasn't phase one, if there wasn't more to be revealed, they wouldn't have put the Phrase, phase one on the front of the notebook. That's. That's something that people tend to forget that we need to remember this. This was Attorney General Bondi, whether you agree with her or not. I mean, we're all hopeful that this administration is going to do what they say and they're going to be transparent. It's not that there's nothing in that notebook. It's just not what we want yet. And that's a big difference. So to answer your question, there are those who are out there who are saying, you know, why weren't we invited? Well, there were literally 15, 16 seats around the table. We were invited for a completely different reason. And I'll be honest with you, Dan, and I can't stress this enough. Most of the influencers and creators and hosts out there that I know, if they had gotten the message that I got to be there, they probably would have snubbed it. They probably would have said, I'm not interested in going to that. I'm not interested in being a part of that. Because there was nothing about it that was, that was, you know, intriguing in regards other than we want to just sit down and talk about message points.

Ben Ferguson (8:45)

It is, it is truly shocking when, when you see those that attack because you got this incredible honor to be there and.

Chad Prather (8:53)

Yeah.

Ben Ferguson (8:53)

And to see this. And look, this wasn't just a meeting about the Epstein files. There was a lot that you guys talked about as well. And I want people to understand that this was not just one thing only.

Chad Prather (9:03)

No. And we can walk you through it. I mean, from, from Bobby Kennedy telling us his, you know, Secretary Kennedy talking about what he plans to do with hhs, you know, Carolyn Levette talking about the priorities of the messaging of the White House. J.D. vance coming in and spending a minutes with us hanging out and us able to talk about. I mean, I literally. All these people posting on social media. I literally talked to both the vice president and the president about them holding not just the mainstream and legacy media accountable, but holding social media owners accountable. Accountable and the Google overlords. And they both assured us and gave us a plan of action whereby they're going to take care of that. So all these people out there complaining about it, our priorities were completely different. This just got dropped in our lap.

Ben Ferguson (9:43)

The FBI is what we've been told, withheld thousands of pages of Jeffrey Epstein documents. Pam Bonney says, and she's demanding that they be turned over. This is the deep state. But they said she's demanding that they be turned over by Friday morning. I mean, this is the Attorney General. You've got Cash Patel, who was there today, that this was a whistleblower, a tipster that said that all but, quote, approximately 200 pages of documents were still being kept secret at the FBI office in New York, despite her repeated requests for the full Epstein files. That is a takeaway from Yalls meeting today.

Chad Prather (10:14)

Anyone, anyone in our shoes would be excited. Anyone sitting in those seats today would be excited. They would have responded the same way. They would have been hopeful. They would have been anticipatory. You know, you go through that and you and I chatted a little bit earlier today, and I expressed you before doing other media hits. I said, you know, I'm trying to decipher what it is I'm reading in here. You know, I've got a lot of people who are apparently. Well, we've had this information. Well, not all of it. You haven't. There is some stuff in there that is different. For instance, you're looking at Ghislaine Maxwell's black book versus Jeffrey Epstein's black book. So anybody would have been excited to receive that. And also, you know, what you're seeing paraded across the AP and Fox News and all these others is when we went out, obviously the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was coming in today. The press pool was there in full force. They were out back when he walked out. You know, unbeknownst to us, we walk out in front of a giant pile of cameras and reporters, and they're taking the pictures and they're taking the snapshots. You know, it's a. It's. It is in the messaging of the Trump administration reminding the mainstream media that they're not kings and they're not God.

Ben Ferguson (11:19)

Those that are criticizing, saying today was an embarrassment, that it was a nothing burger, that we learned nothing new. The point, I think that I want to make sure this audience understands is that this is the beginning of what we. Of this, not the end. Is that a fair way of putting it?

Chad Prather (11:34)

You read that letter that Pam Bondi wrote to Kash Patel, and you would think, oh, somebody's in trouble here. This is sort of a rebuke. But it wasn't. And she wanted to make sure that everybody knew that, that clear they are working in conjunction with one another in this new Department of Justice to make sure that this information comes out. And I believe them. I believe them. You know, Ben, I don't. I don't. I don't suffer fools. And, man, I can see through people. I'm pretty intuitive. But this, this administration, what I saw today, the sense, the atmosphere, just the, as I said earlier, just a back slapping camaraderie of a team working together, to use Carolyn Levette phrase, this, you can't keep up. It's a whirlwind. This administration's working around the clock. I truly believe them.

Ben Ferguson (12:14)

We ain't fly over cod country. They want to talk to Americans and that's who you talk to. That's the reason why you and I are friends. You're a real person with a real story to tell, with a real audience of hard working men and women that just want to be left alone by their government and they want to have a great life for their kids and their grandkids.

Ben Ferguson (12:30)

And finally, story number three, it is.

Ben Ferguson (12:33)

A headline that shocked the world coming from the New York Post would be Trump Assassin Thomas Crooks may have had an accomplice. Data shows as investigators say the FBI is suppressing information. Well, it's been almost nine months since the seemingly mild mannered 20 year old attempted to assassinate then Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at that rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and we still have no good reason why. Well, sources are now telling the New York Post the FBI has obstructed efforts to solve the mystery of why the individual who left no manifesto did what he did. It's also left local law enforcement, as well as his former friends, classmates and teachers incredibly frustrated. And those who may know his parents have refused all interviews and remain in their small three bedroom home, sealed off from the world like hermits. Neighbors say they only leave the house at 3am to buy groceries. Even just last week at the CPAC convention, Elon Musk yelled out the audience saying this, quote, by the way, why do we know nothing about that guy in Butler? We also know that Cash Patel, the FBI director, is saying that we are, quote, going to get to the bottom of it. So this is where the New York Post story gets interesting. Quote, a veteran private investigator from Erie, Pennsylvania, who was hired shortly after the fatal July 13 event at the Butler farm was hired to look into the man by a private client. That's what he told the Post. He believes a, quote, criminal network, quote unquote, was operating with him at the time of the assassination attempt is still in existence and still wants to kill President Trump. Doug Hagman, whose team of six other investigators have been working the case for months and have interviewed more than 100 people, said they also conducted extensive geofencing analysis of cell phones and tablets not belonging to the young man that were found with him at his home, at the rifle range, where he took target practice at the rally, and at Bethel Park High School where he graduated in 2022. Quote. We don't think he acted alone is what the investigators said to the New York Post. This took a lot of coordination. In my view, the shooter was handled by more than one individual and he was used for this assassination attempt. And I wouldn't preclude the possibility that there were people at the rally itself helping him. Now the question now is will we actually, because of this article coming out in the New York Post, start to get some more answers or at least will people start asking more questions? We also know about the egregious breach in protocol, having someone on a rooftop just 130 yards away open fire onto the main stage in but where minutes after Donald Trump, 78 at the time, was up there speaking to the crowd. We also know he fired eight shots, one of them striking the former president in the right ear. Not only did he shoot the President of the United States of America, but he also killed someone in the crowd and seriously wounded two others. The autopsy report indicated that the would be assassin was pronounced dead at 6:25pm on July 13 from a gunshot wound to the head by a counter sniper. At the end of the day there seems to be a lot of questions that need to be answered and the New York Post seems to be exposing a lot of what has not been talked about so far.

Ben Ferguson (16:04)

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 tomorrow.