Donald Trump (13:45)

I don't know anything about it. I'm not a big fan of the Atlantic. It's, to me, it's a magazine that's going out of business. I think it's not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it. You're saying that they had what they.

Ben Shapiro (13:55)

Were using signal to coordinate on sensitive.

Donald Trump (13:59)

Materials and having to do with what? Having to do with what? What were they talking about with the Houthis. The Houthis? You mean the attack on the hood?

Ben Shapiro (14:07)

Yes.

Donald Trump (14:08)

Well, it couldn't have been very effective because the attack was very effective, I can tell you that. I don't know anything about it. You're telling me about it for the first time.

Ben Shapiro (14:18)

So Trump denies knowledge, and of course, he probably had no knowledge of this because it was literally everybody else in the administration who was on this particular chat. The Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was asked about this and he tore into the Atlantic as well.

Pete Hegseth (14:31)

So you're talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so called journalist who's made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again to include the, I don't know, the hoaxes of Russia, Russia, Russia or the fine people on both sides hoax or suckers and losers.

Ben Shapiro (14:53)

Hope so.

Pete Hegseth (14:53)

This is the guy that pedals in garbage.

Ben Shapiro (14:58)

Okay, so again, you know, Hegseth attacking the Atlantic. I'm all on board with it. I think the Atlantic's editor, particularly Jeffrey Goldberg specifically is, is not a good representative of the journalistic institution. He was basically a stenographer for Barack Obama. But it was confirmed that the Signal chat was involving all these players and it is real. So that raises a couple of questions. One is illegal. So there are people today who are attempting to claim that this was somehow violative of criminal law, that this is a breach of official records acts, because Signal chats have an auto delete function that you can activate. As I mentioned when we went through the story, the use of terms, for example, in the piece, such as high side suggests that there was an entire other thread that was going on inside these sort of classified government rooms that was preserved. So there's that. Two, the President of the United States has the signal ability to simply declassify whatever he wants. So the idea that this is sort of a violation of law, I think is overstated. Is it a, is it a scandal? Sure, it's a scandal. When there's a screw up this big, if you accidentally include a journalist in a high ranking discussion about precisely where you're bombing, that is a major problem. Of course it is a breach of security. I am not willing to hear that from people on the Democratic side of the aisle who are perfectly fine with the Hillary Clinton email stuff. I'm not. And this is, this is one of the lines that the left is taking about all of this today, which is, you know, you guys, you fussed all about Hillary Clinton and her emails and keeping those on her own private server. So number one, we should recognize that what Hillary Clinton did was very bad. And this right here is also quite bad. Inviting a journalist into a group chat, obviously that involves high ranking discussions of national security matters that are, that are classified. That is a giant boo boo. That is a huge boo boo. It is a mistake. And again, as much as I despise Jeffrey Goldberg as a human being, I think that Jeffrey Goldberg actually did the responsible thing in not printing, for example, operational details or blowing the operation beforehand, which he certainly could have done. With all of that said, the reason that everyone is so casual about the use of classified material these days, the reason all this is happening is because of the original sin of James Comey not prosecuting Hillary Clinton over her emails. That is the reality that set up an entire permission structure for people to mishandle climate classified materials. Unless apparently you're a Republican. That is the way this works. If Hillary, if Hillary Clinton uses classified materials and she puts them on a private server, which James Comey of the FBI openly acknowledged was likely accessed by foreign sources, and then there's no prosecution that attends, then how can that rule apply to anybody else? This is why it was so ridiculous when they tried to go after Trump for the classified documents mishandling at Mar a Lago at the same exact time they, Joe Biden had a bunch of classified documents in his garage. Like this issue is largely played out in the sense that while something can be a giant screw up, nobody takes it as a criminal level screw up at this point. That that was killed dead by the operation to let Hillary Clinton off the hook back in 2015, 2016 for her email scandal. And so when, when the left says can, we've now heard the end of but her emails, the reality is, but her emails was the inciting event for an entire string of mishandling of classified materials on both sides of the aisle. Then there are the Democrats who are saying this could have cost lives. It really could have cost lives. So, I mean, if it had not included Jeffrey Goldberg, sure. But that is also a hypothetical that did not happen in reality. Again, a giant screw up is not quite the same thing as an intentional move to endanger human life on the American side of the aisle. Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense, was on CNN going off about all of this. And again, this is, this is exaggeration.

Leon Panetta (18:48)

To have had somebody from the Atlantic on that chain, without question, was a serious mistake. And I hope the White House takes this seriously, because the last thing you want to do when you're talking about war plans is to have a serious leak like this that could undermine the war plans, but also jeopardize lives. So I hope they take this seriously.

Ben Shapiro (19:18)

Now, again, I agree that it should be taken seriously. The idea this was like jeopardizing massive amounts of life because Jeffrey Goldberg was included, that's an exaggeration. It's also worth noting that many of the same people who are very upset with this particular situation would have been perfectly happy if the War plans had been leaked by an insider at the Trump administration to the front page of the New York Times. That sort of stuff happened all the time in the first Trump administration. Democrats are going on offense. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday. This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York called Hexath, quote, the most unqualified person to ever lead the Pentagon in American history. Now, do we think that any of this is going to pay off in a major way? One of the things that is fascinating is not the Democratic attacks on Republicans, on Waltz, on Rubio, on Hegseth, on any of the rest of this. The part that's really fascinating is the mobilization on one side of the Republican aisle against Waltz in particular, because there are really two issues that are of note with regards to this leak. One is the leak itself, which obviously is deeply noteworthy, and the administration should make sure, obviously, nothing like this ever happens again. And then there is the second issue, which is what was actually said in the leak. And one of the things that I'm noticing is that partisans of J.D. vance are coming out saying that the real story here is the leak, and partisans of Mike Walz are coming out and saying that the real story here is what was said in the chat. And the answer is both. Both of these things are actual, real stories, and neither should be obscured. Politico is reporting that Waltz could theoretically be on the chopping block, that President Trump is upset because he doesn't like bad headlines. That, of course, makes sense. The president has a right to be upset. A senior administration official told Politico on Monday afternoon. They're involved in multiple text threads with other administration staffers on what to do with Waltz following that bombshell report. One official said, quote, half of them saying he's never going to survive or he shouldn't survive. It was reckless not to check who's on the thread. It was reckless to be having that conversation on Signal. You can't have recklessness as the national security adviser. Now, let's be fair about this. If you're saying it was reckless to include Jeffrey Goldberg, obviously true. If the idea is that it was reckless to have the conversation on Signal. Half of the conversations on planet Earth about national security are being had on Signal because it is encrypted. That is specifically the reason why. That's why I downloaded Signal. So why when I have sensitive conversations, those happen on Signal. And if you're talking about recklessness. To be involved now, you have to fire the entire team because literally everyone on the team was on that signal. Chat. Well, get to the rest of this story momentarily. First, the IRS is ramping up its enforcement efforts in 2025. With April 15 approaching, time is now running out. If you're facing back taxes or unfiled returns, delaying action only compounds the problem. Every day you wait makes your tax situation more difficult to resolve. Do not let another tax deadline pass you by. While taking immediate action is crucial, attempting to deal with the IRS alone can be a costly mistake. This is where Tax Network USA's expertise becomes invaluable. What sets them apart? Well, unlike other tax resolution firms, Tax Tax Network USA maintains privileged access to the IRS through their preferred direct channels. 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Prageru.com DW so one issue obviously is Walt and what are the consequences for the screw up. But the other issue, and this is the one that again, I'm seeing a lot of misdirection by people who are, who are fans of the vice president, away from the thing that J.D. vance actually was saying in the chat, which to me is another fascinating aspect of this. Right. You now have a window into the sort of open foreign policy debates that are happening inside the Trump administration. So you have the president, he says, listen, we are going to reopen Freedom of Trade and Freedom of the Seas. We're going to strike the Houthis. We're not going to be cowards like the Biden administration was about the Houthis. And then a consequential discussion ensues in which part of the administration says that means we need to go punch them in the mouth. And Vice President Vance takes the position we should not punch the Houthis in the mouth and then puts forward what is a pretty milquetoast delay tactic. Because what Vance says in there is an open disagreement with President Trump. An open disagreement with President Trump. Right. Quote. I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. Well, actually, it isn't striking. The Houthis is not inconsistent with messaging on Europe. By the way, the argument that 3% of US trades runs through the Suez, but 40% of European trade does. And thus it doesn't matter if for the United States, if trade moves through the Suez Canal. That's incredibly silly because trade is intertwined. If you raise the price of goods massively in Europe, that is going to raise the price of goods in the United States. Because we trade with Europe, that is a thing that we do. So to me, what that bespeaks is an entirely different geopolitical strategy that Vice President Vance is suggesting here that than what the Trump administration as a whole has been promoting. When you look past the actual leak issue to the actual content here, Walt, Hegseth, Miller are all reflecting the priorities of the president of the United States. And Vice President Vance, not so much when he says, well, this is really about cramming it down on the Europeans. Why don't the Europeans do it? He knows full well that the Europeans are not capable of taking on the Houthis. He knows that full well. And he also understands how global trade works. What that really suggests is that the vice president has a very different view of foreign policy, a view that he expressed pretty clearly before he was vice president, when he said he didn't care whether Russia took Ukraine, for example. That is certainly a view. That is a view that bespeaks a foreign policy of spheres of influence, essentially, that Russia should have its own sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, stretching all the way down into the Middle East. That the United States should essentially remove itself from the world, which may or may not mean a big broader sphere of influence for the Chinese. Vice President Vance, again, he has a very different foreign policy than the Trump foreign policy. That is just a reality. And you can see it in these messages when he says there's a strong argument for delaying this a month doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, et cetera. The reality is the chance of a serious oil price spike from hitting the Houthis actually was incredibly low because the Saudis don't like the Houthis either. And what is it going to shut down traffic in the Red Sea? The traffic's already shut down in the Red Sea. None of that makes any sense. So I think that the vice president, when he says that this is really just about bailing out Europe. It's bad to bail out Europe. The United States has an interest in freedom of the seas. Our shipping does go through the Suez Canal. Global shipping goes through the Suez Canal. We trade with all of the countries that have shipping going through the Suez Canal, beyond which the United States does have an interest in backing our Saudi and Israeli allies in striking the Houthis, who have already been responsible, by the way, for the death of Americans. So when the vice president says the sort of stuff that openly conflicts with what the President of the United States is saying, that is another story. So there are two sort of dueling narratives, and it'll be interesting to see how it shakes down inside the administration. As the Wall Street Journal points out, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz was a voice for US Leadership and for carrying out the president's policy. Vice President J.D. vance was a voice for U.S. retreat even when Mr. Trump directed otherwise. And again, it'll be interesting that there are a lot of competing voices inside the Trump administration. It'll be fascinating to see which voices end up taking the four and what President Trump actually does. What should be the consequences for this sort of breach of security? I think this all blows over within 48 hours. Frankly, I think that it's a, it's a serious mistake. I think it's a problem. I think unfortunately, leaks happen all the time. A kind of self goal and own goal like this, where you create the leak is obviously a massive problem. I'm sure Mike Walsh will be called on the carpet by the President of the United States, as will other members of the administration who apparently never checked to see who else was in chat before they started having these high level discussions. To me, the much more consequential matter is not this. The much more consequential matter is what does the foreign policy of the Trump administration look like and who gets to shape it? Because that is an ongoing battle inside the Trump administration pretty much every day on every issue ranging from what we do in Ukraine to what happens in the Middle East. And that to me is a fascinating discussion that's gonna continue on into the future no matter what happens with this particular issue. Alrighty now, as you know, we've been calling for the pardon of Derek Chauvin. We have an ongoing series here, the Case for Derek Chauvin. It is time for part three of that case. We're going to examine the autopsy report of George Floyd. Just last week, in an interview with David Weigel of Semafor, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, while campaigning across state lines in Wisconsin for a Supreme Court candidate, decided to call those of us advocating for justice in the Derek Chauvin case racist. Governor Wallace's response is exactly what we've come to expect from the left. When confronted with evidence, they simply yell racism. And hope nobody notices the complete absence of substantive rebuttal. The facts are clear and well documented. Let's address why walls is legal confusion. This is the same governor who apparently doesn't realize Minnesota inmates like Chauvin typically serve just two thirds of their sentences under his state's own laws. Much like he was caught unaware that the state pension fund he oversees holds Tesla stock while he publicly celebrated the company's stock decline. The irony of Tim Wall's claiming that Chauvin's pardon would undermine faith in the system while simultaneously defending a prosecution marred by coerced medical testimony, politically motivated prosecutorial takeovers, his city and the entire country burning during deliberation and careers threatened for those who dared question the predetermined narrative is apparently lost on him. If we're serious about justice, we should care more about whether the conviction was based on actual evidence than mob rule. But that would require intellectual honesty rather than just cheap political point scoring or willful ignorance. Governor Walls should leave the serious discussions about justice to the adults in the room. He should probably return to his true calling as an inflatable waving tube band outside a Chevron gas station. If you would like to discuss this issue further, he's always welcome on the show. Now onto the evidence. In the aftermath of George Floyd's death, there were two separate autopsies conducted. The official one performed by Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office conducted by Dr. Andrew Baker, and a second hired autopsy commissioned by the Floyd family performed by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Alicia Wilson. These two autopsies reached notably different conclusions and the distinctions between them are absolutely critical for understanding the miscarriage of justice in Chauvin's case. Let's begin with the official autopsy performed by Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker on May 26, 2020, the day after Floyd's death. Baker had been the county's chief medical examiner since 2004. He's a board certified forensic pathologist. His findings were released in a 20 page report on June 1, 2020. The official autopsy listed the cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest, complicating law enforcement subdual restraint and neck compression. The manner of death was classified as homicide. Now this is really important. In medical examiner terminology, homicide simply means death at the hands of another person. It is not a legal determination of murder, which would include various additional elements depending on the degree. But here's where things get really interesting. The autopsy report explicitly states this is a direct quote no life threatening injuries identified. Let me repeat that. No life threatening injuries identified. The report documented various minor injuries including cutaneous injuries to the forehead, face, upper lips, shoulders, hands, elbows and legs and noted mucosal injuries to the lips and pattern contusions of the wrist consisted with handcuffs. But the report further clarifies that there were no facial, oral, mucosal or conjunctival padechia, which are the small spots of bleeding in the eyes that would typically be present in a case of asphyxiation. The report also found no injuries of anterior muscles of neck or laryngeal structures, meaning no damage to the throat, hyoid bone, trachea or voice box. Notably, the report did not find any damage to Floyd's neck or cervical spine. Dr. Baker wrote that Floyd's neck was palpably stable and free of hemorrhage. There was not even visible bruising on Floyd's neck. In other words, despite the popular narrative that Chauvin choked Floyd's death the actual autopsy found zero evidence of damage to Floyd's airway or throat structures. This critical fact has been almost entirely ignored in public discussion of the case. What the autopsy did find, however, was substantial evidence of severe pre existing heart disease. The report describes arteriosclerotic heart disease, multifocal severe and hypertensive heart disease with cardiomegaly. Which means Floyd had an enlarged heart riddled with plaque and blocked arteries. The normal weight of a human heart varies based on factors like age, sex and body size, but the typical average for men is between 280 and 340 grams. Floyd's heart weighed 540 grams. That is significantly above the normal range. His coronary arteries were 90% blocked. Two other arteries were 75% narrowed, an extremely dangerous condition that put him at high risk for sudden cardiac death. Dr. Baker explained that when someone with heart disease is physically restrained, those events are going to cause stress hormones to pour out into your body and ask your heart to beat faster. Ask your body for more oxygen. Floyd's enlarged heart needed more oxygen than a normal heart and was therefore limited in its ability to provide that oxygen under stress. The most explosive part of the autopsy and the part that has been most aggressively downplayed by the media is the toxicology report. The official autopsy found multiple drugs in Floyd's system at the time of his death. Fentanyl at 11 nanograms per milliliter nor fentanyl at 5.6 nanograms per milliliter, a form of fentanyl that had already been partially metabolized by Floyd's system. 4 ANPP at 0.65 nanograms per milliliter. Another fentanyl related compound, methamphetamine, at 19 nanograms per milliliter. Various cannabis compounds like THC. Let's focus on the fentanyl levels for a moment. 11 nanograms per milliliter. Dr. Baker disclosed on his witness statement for the trial that, quote, if Floyd were found dead at home alone and no other apparent causes, this could be acceptable to call an OD overdose. Baker also noted that deaths have been certified as fentanyl overdoses with levels as low as 3 nanograms per milliliter. Floyd's level was nearly four times that amount. Also central to the report is the shocking condition of George Floyd's swollen lungs, which weighed two to three times their normal weight due to fluid accumulation caused by the fentanyl toxicity. According to CDC guidelines, fentanyl routinely triggers pulmonary edema, significantly reducing respiratory function and and leading to hypoxia Baker testified that Floyd's lungs contained serous fluid which is consistent with drug induced pulmonary failure, not physical trauma. Floyd's potentially lethal level of fentanyl in his system along with methamphetamine, created an extremely dangerous combination that can cause respiratory depression, cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death. In stark contrast to the official findings, the autopsy commissioned by the Floyd family reached very different conclusions. This examination was performed by Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City Chief Medical examiner and and Dr. Alicia Wilson, a pathologist from the University of Michigan. We should pause here to talk about Dr. Michael Bodden, the so called celebrity pathologist who performed the independent autopsy for the Floyd family. Biden has made an entire career out of contradicting official autopsy findings in politically charged cases. It's essentially his brand at this point. Let's look at his track record. In 1978, he served as chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassination's Forensic pathology panel investigating JFK's assassination, where he contradicted key aspects of the original Warren Commission findings. He was involved in reviewing evidence in the MLK Jr. Assassination. He testified for the defense in the O.J. simpson trial, disagreeing with the prosecution's timeline. In the Michael Brown case, he claimed shots were fired from further away than the official autopsy indicated. And the cherry on top. Dr. Michael Baden was also hired by the Epstein family to conclude that Jeffrey Epstein did not die by suicide, but homicidal strangulation. Baden has literally been fired twice from medical examiner positions. One as Chief Medical examiner of New York City after complaints about sloppy record keeping, poor judgment and lack of cooperation, and then again from running Suffolk County's medical Examiner's office. New York magazine skewered Baden for his disconnect between his fame, which he loved to discuss, and his accomplishments, which paled in comparison to his fame. Chasing Dr. Baden and Dr. Wilson determined that Floyd died from asphyxia due to neck and back compression. They claimed that pressure on Floyd's neck impaired blood flow to the brain while weight on his back impeded his ability to breathe. Most controversially, they stated that Floyd had no underlying medical problems that caused or contributed to his death. They came to that conclusion without access to the toxicology reports, tissue samples, Floyd's medical records or the body cam footage. So when their findings completely contradicted the official autopsy, should we really be surprised? Moreover, Dr. Baden's report ignores the heart disease documented in the official Hennepin county autopsy. Dr. Baden went so far as to say, quote, I wish I had the same coronary arteries that Mr. Floyd had that we saw at the autopsy. That is an astonishing claim given that the official autopsy found Floyd's coronary arteries 90% blocked and two others 75% narrowed, including excited delirium syndrome, recognized by the American College of Emergencies physicians in a 2009 report, is characterized by a combination of delirium, agitation, and hyper adrenergic autonomic dysfunction, also known as the flight or fight response, which typically occurs in the context of drug use or serious mental illness. During Chauvin's trial, defense attorney Robert Paul questioned Dr. Baker extensively about his experience with excited delirium. Baker acknowledged he had listed this condition as a cause of death on some death certificates during his career, but he didn't include it in his report on Floyd. Floyd exhibited several signs consistent with excited delirium during his encounter with police agitation, paranoia, strength that required multiple officers to restrain him, sweating and statements indicating perceptual disturbances. Combined with the known presence of methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system, these behaviors raised serious questions about whether excited delirium played a role in his death. In the months following Floyd's death, one of the Minneapolis Police Department's grand gestures indicating their commitment to police reform included the removal of excited delirium from its training documents altogether. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that the term excited delirium was crossed out in Minneapolis Police Department training PowerPoint slides replaced with severe agitation with confusion and in parentheses, delirium, a clear political revision of a medical condition that had been recognized for decades. Another finding from the autopsy that has received almost no attention is that Floyd tested positive for COVID 19. A postmortem nasal swab confirmed Floyd had COVID 19 at the time of his death. Floyd had previously tested positive on April 3, 2020, approximately seven weeks before his death. While the autopsy notes that this most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent positivity from previous infection, the potential impact of COVID 19 on Floyd's cardiac and respiratory function, especially given severe underlying heart disease, can't be dismissed. It's also important to note the Department of Justice had the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's official autopsy results reviewed by the Office of the Armed Forces Medical examiner, who agreed with Dr. Baker's official findings. However, they added that the police's subdual and restraint had elements of positional and mechanical asphyxiation. This additional comment introduces yet another potential mechanism of death, positional asphyxia. In other words, the position of the body prevents adequate breathing. The concept of positional asphyxia is complex and controversial in forensic medicine. It's typically diagnosed by excluding other causes of death rather than by identifying specific physical findings. In Floyd's case, given his severe heart disease, drug intoxication and the stress of the encounter, attributing his death primarily to positional asphyxia requires making assumptions that are not supported by the physical evidence. Let's go back to those fentanyl findings, which deserve more detailed examination. Fentanyl is an extremely potent synthetic opioid estimated to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It is a central nervous system depressant that can cause respiratory depression, hypoxia and death. The concentration of fentanyl in Floyd's blood was 11 nanograms per milliliter. Studies on fentanyl related deaths have found that postmortem blood concentrations can range widely. Levels above 3 nanograms per milliliter are potentially lethal. Dr. Baker's comment to federal investigators that Floyd's fentanyl level could constitute an overdose, quote, if you are found dead at home alone and no other apparent causes is extremely significant. While Baker qualified this by saying, quote, I am not saying this killed him, the statement acknowledges that the fentanyl concentration in Floyd's blood was, in isolation, potentially lethal. The combination of fentanyl with methamphetamine creates what's known as a speedball effect, the stimulant methamphetamine, masking some of the depressant effects of the opioid fentanyl until the stimulant begins to wear off. At that point, the respiratory depression from the opioid can suddenly become overwhelming. This dangerous combination increases the risk of cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death. Given all these medical factors, let's consider the legal standard that should have been applied in Chauvin's trial. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt. For a conviction on second degree murder, the prosecution needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauvin's actions were a malicious causal factor in Floyd's death. As Coleman Hughes has pointed out in his analysis of this case, there were two different theories of what caused Floyd's death, the positional asphyxia theory and the adrenaline surge theory. As a juror, if you have two reasonable explanations for cause of death, one of which implicates the defendant and one of which does not, you are supposed to acquit. It is impossible to discuss this case without acknowledging the enormous political pressure surrounding it. The death of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests and riots. Politicians including President Biden and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry made public statements suggesting Chauvin's guilt. Before the trial even began, Dr. Baker testified that he and his staff received hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls after Floyd's death. This intense pressure creates a context in which maintaining scientific objectivity can certainly become challenging. I was recently sent an American Spectator article by Jack Cashel that reveals how former D.C. chief medical examiner Roger Mitchell, a politically connected activist and former D.C. deputy mayor, influenced the medical findings in the Floyd case. According to a memorandum of the Minnesota Attorney General's office, in November 2020, Mitchell appears to have pressured Dr. Andrew Baker to alter his initial diagnosis. A document so significant it should have immediately resulted in a new trial for Chauvin and the release of the other officers. The facts are straightforward. Baker's initial autopsy was conducted May 26, 2020. His subsequent draft autopsy report found, quote, no physical evidence suggesting that Mr. Floyd died of asphyxiation and no medical indications of asphyxia or strangulation. In an unrelated Hennepin county deposition, Dr. Baker confided to Hennepin prosecutor Amy Sweezy, quote, what happens when the actual evidence doesn't match up with the public narrative that everyone's already decided on? This is the kind of case that ends careers. Then Roger Mitchell enters the picture. According to the memorandum, Mitchell called Baker twice, ultimately threatening to publish a Washington Post op ed critical of Baker's findings, telling him, quote, you don't want to be the medical examiner who tells everyone they didn't see what they saw. Mitchell concluded with a chilling ultimatum. Quote, you don't want to be the smartest person in the room and be wrong. By the time Floyd's official autopsy report was released less than a week later, on June 1, 2020, Dr. Baker had now added neck compression to his diagnosis of effectively transforming four police officers into murderers with the stroke of a pen. Worse yet, the Hennepin county Prosecutors met with Dr. Baker to review his draft autopsy report without detectives or special agents present, violating protocol. And after being assigned to Chauvin's case by governor Tim Walls one day prior, Minnesota AG Keith Ellison utilized the revised autopsy report to bring an additional second degree murder charge against Chauvin. All of these revelations, despite qualifying as Brady material, were buried at trial and were never properly disclosed to Chauvin's defense. This is yet another reason why a presidential pardon and a new trial for Derek Chauvin is warranted. On the state level, Chauvin was convicted in an atmosphere of intense political pressure with limited ability to present the full medical context of Floyd's death. The complex medical reality documented in the autopsy report was simplified and distorted to fit a predetermined narrative. Justice requires we consider all the evidence, not just the parts that support a particular political agenda. The detailed autopsy findings provide significant reasons to determine the that Derek Chauvin did not receive a fair trial and his conviction for murder was not supported by the medical evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. In our next episode, we'll examine the political and social context surrounding Chauvin's trial, including the $27 million settlement with Floyd's family announced during jury selection, the statements by public officials prejudging the case, and the threats of further unrest that created an atmosphere in which a fair trial was impossible. Before we wrap up today's episode, let me remind you to visit pardonderrek.com and sign our petition asking President Trump to pardon Derek Chauvin for his federal convictions. We'll also put up a website to donate to Derek Chauvin's legal defense fund. In the description, this is about ensuring that justice is applied fairly and consistently without being swayed by political pressure or mob mentality. Okay? Meanwhile, the economic news continues to be sort of mixed. There's apparently an elevated chance of recession. Some of that is being driven by tariff fears. President Trump continues to push forward with his tariff agenda, but there are some signs that maybe he's going to walk some of that back. According to the Wall Street Journal, President Trump said he might soften reciprocal tariffs he plans to impose on U.S. trading partners next month and that some nations might be completely exempt. He said what I may give a lot of countries breaks. He said reciprocal tariffs could stop short of his pledge to equalize U.S. duties with rates other nations charged is I'm embarrassed to charge them what they have charged. US Markets then rallied on expectations that Trump is going to dial all of this back. That came hours after President Trump said the United States would impose a 25% tariff on any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela. Now, again, that is driven by his concerns over illegal immigration and by the fact that Venezuela is run by a communist dictator.

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Ben Shapiro (44:55)

On Monday the Treasury Department extended Chevron's license to operate in Venezuela through late May. However, President Trump is describing his move as a secondary tariff on Venezuela over the flow of migrants to the United States, including Trinidad. As I've said before, I have faith that President Trump has a good handle on the headlines and he doesn't want a recession. And so that means that he might try a policy. And if the policy does not work the way he wants it to, he may back off of the policy. At the same time, President Trump is touting the benefits of tariffs here. He was yesterday saying that $4 trillion in investment is going to come back thanks to tariffs.

Donald Trump (45:30)

First of all, many companies are now moving into the United States. They're coming back. Some of them left us from many years ago, decades ago, and they're all seems they're all coming back. We have probably identified maybe $4 trillion worth of companies moving back or going to move back. Many of them have announced it's going to be tremendous jobs, high paying jobs, too.

Ben Shapiro (45:55)

So again, if the basic idea here is that high paying jobs will come back thanks to the tariffs, the reason high paying jobs are coming back to the United States is actually because of the deregulatory environment that is being pushed by the Trump administration. Far bigger than the tariffs is the stuff that's happening under the hood, the sort of deregulation that's happening at, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency. Lee Zeldin, head of the EPA, he says the EPA has already canceled over $22 billion worth of contracts. And listen, that's great. Cutting the waste, fraud and abuse is huge. Cutting the regulatory infrastructure that prevents people from building and innovating is the biggest thing that the Trump administration is doing here with Secretary Zeldin.

Leon Panetta (46:31)

EPA has now canceled over $22 billion worth of contracts. $2 billion going to this NGO that Stacey Abrams was tied to. They received only $100 in 2023, and then the Biden administration gave them $2 billion. The director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund saw his former employer get $5 billion. So $20 billion went to just eight NGOs, and they're all pass throughs.

Ben Shapiro (47:00)

Okay, so again, the cuts are great. It's the regulatory cuts that are going to make a really, really big difference here. And you can see the beast is crying, right? It's scared. You can see the fear in its eyes, the sort of governmental overweening relationship with various public sector unions. For example, yesterday, the head of the National Education Association, President, Becky Pringle, she was complaining that the Department of Education is going to be wildly downgraded, possibly dismantled by Congress. Again, the bureaucracy, the bureaucratic state, the administrative state that has a corrupt relationship with all of these public sector unions and public sector employees. That is the great beast that does need to be brought down to size. Here's the NEA president lamenting all of this.

Christine (47:45)

And then of course we have seen them saying that they are going to actually dismantle it. Now we know that that is something that only, only Congress do because can do so. We know that this administration is overstepping its authority and that is what our suit is about, that that authority rests in Congress.

Ben Shapiro (48:09)

So yeah, again, this sort of last gasp attempt to save themselves, I do not think that it is going to work. And because of that regulatory infrastructure that is, that is being undercut because of the subsidization schemes the Biden administration signed into law that are now going to be undercut. All that makes for a much more sanguine business environment. If you're wondering why the stock market continues to sort of hang around despite the tariffs, the answer is most business people have more faith that Trump is not gonna do the dumb thing than they did under Joe Biden and certainly they would have under Kamala Harris. Yesterday, President Trump got to tout an investment by Hyundai, which is reshoring a factory in the United States.

Donald Trump (48:46)

Today we're delighted to report that Hyundai is announcing a major $5.8 billion investment in American manufacturing. In particular, Hyundai will be building a brand new steel plant in Louisiana which will produce more than 2.7 million metric tons of steel a year, creating more than 1400 jobs for American steelworkers. And then there'll be major expansion after that. This will be Hyundai's first ever steel mill in the United States. One of the largest companies in the world by the way, supplying steel for its auto parts and auto plants in Alabama and Georgia, which will soon produce more than 1 million American made cars every single year.

Ben Shapiro (49:28)

Meanwhile, the presidency of the United States continues to charge forward on illegal immigration as well. The unified message from the administration is having an effect because we have the lowest levels of illegal immigration that we have had in recorded American history. Tom Homan, who again straight from central casting borders are, he says we're just going to keep doing these deportations, we're.

Tom Homan (49:47)

Going to keep arresting TDA members, we're going to keep arresting Ms. 13 members, we'll keep arresting public safety threats all this nation. Now when it comes to alien Enemies act, you know, if we're going to remove them through that act. We're going to have to wait for litigation. We'll simply detain them, but we're going to take them off the streets. And anybody can remove to Title eight. We're removed to Title eight, which is the order of an immigration judge, but we'll obey the court's order. But I think doj, I think eventually will win that order. Then it's game on. But until then, we're going to keep doing what we're doing and taking these public safety threats, especially TDA and Ms. Thirteen members, off the street.

Ben Shapiro (50:20)

So again, they're going to continue charging for it on all this. Christine, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, she is openly saying do not come here illegally. If you're trying to get in, do not do it.

Christine (50:30)

So we are in several other countries around the world with a message right now that's saying if you are thinking about coming to America illegally and coming here, don't do it. You are not welcome. We have a legal process to becoming a United States state citizen and there are consequences if you come here illegally. And America has changed because we're putting Americans first.

Ben Shapiro (50:53)

Yeah. All this is, in fact, having a massive impact. The successes of the Trump administration continue to stack up. All righty, guys. Coming up, Democrats continue to root for the failure of Tesla. We'll see how that works out for them. First, your reminder. We have tons of great stuff that's still on today's show. We're going to talk about that. We are going to talk about Bernie Sanders and aoc. We're going to take a couple questions in the mailbag to get all of that sort of stuff. You have to join Daily Wire. Plus, if you're not a member, become member use code Shapiro. Check out for two months free on all annual plans. Click that link in the description and join us.