← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Noem-zilla: Diva behavior and infidelity rumors cap disastrous week for Trump's DHS secretary
00:41:32
Jen Psaki rounds up a remarkable list of failures and bad news suffered by Donald Trump's secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, and shares highlights of eye-popping new reporting from the Wall Street Journal about how Noem has led her department into chaos with tyrannical behavior, wasted money, rumors of infidelity, and bizarre drama over a lost blanket that resulted in the firing and re-hiring of a Coast Guard pilot.
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- [00:01]
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Jennifer Palmieri
Sxm When I was sitting here on Tuesday night, I kind of thought there was no possible way a Trump Cabinet secretary could have a worse week than Howard Lutnick. I mean, no possible way, because this is what went down at the hearing he was at that day.
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Congressman Eric Swalwell
Did you in fact, make the visit.
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JP Cooney
To Jeffrey Epstein's private island?
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Commercial Announcer
I did have lunch with him as.
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Congressman Eric Swalwell
I was on a boat going across.
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Jennifer Palmieri
On a family vacation. I mean, wholly awkward Batman. I really could not imagine how it could possibly be topped. And then the next day, during hearing about the Epstein files, Pam Bondi, the Attorney general, basically said, I see your Epstein island visit, but have you heard about the Dow? None of them. Ask Merrick Garland over the last four years, what one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump. The Dow. The Dow right now is over. The dow is over $50,000. I don't know why you're laughing. I can't watch that clip enough. She almost couldn't get it out. It was so ludicrous. So you see that? That was Wednesday. Honestly, how could a member of Donald Trump's cabinet possibly embarrass themselves more than Pam Bondi did at that hearing? But then late last night, the Wall Street Journal hit send on what might just be the craziest story about a Trump Cabinet member we have seen since he got back to the White House and Boy, is there a lot of competition for that. Now here's the headline. A pilot fired over Kristi Noem's missing blanket. And, and the constant chaos inside dhs. That's a real headline in the Wall Street Journal. And yes, the headline is wild, of course, but does not even begin to do this story justice. And I'm going to get into all of the insane details in just a moment. But even before we all saw that story, Kristi Noem's Department of Homeland Security was having, well, you could call it a hell of a week. I mean, this week we saw mass chaos and confusion after officials shut down airspace over El Paso because Border Patrol agents fired a laser they borrowed from the Department of Defense at what turned out to be a Valentine's Day balloon. And they were planning to shut down the airspace for about 10 days, by the way, over that. Now, we have seen two ISIS agents put on leave after they appear to have lied about an officer involved shooting in Minneapolis. Lies that may well have been parroted by DHS in their official account of that shooting. We've also seen the release of Horizon horrifying body cam footage from the Border Patrol agents who shot Chicago schoolteacher Marian Martinez. Footage that, surprise, surprise, you can see it right there. Also contradicts the official account about how that shooting took place. We've seen a Trump appointed federal judge excoriate DHS over their treatment of immigrants in a Minneapolis ICE detention center. We've learned that DHS improperly obtained the private tax data of thousands of of American taxpayers while hunting for undocumented immigrants. We've learned that a 21 year old with a proclivity for posting white nationalist themed content has apparently been running DHS's social media accounts. We've learned that DHS is being sued by a racetrack in Idaho which alleges that parents and children were zip tied at gunpoint during an immigration raid. And we're now watching Congress barrel toward a partial government shutdown at midnight Tonight on over DHS's refusal to change its tactics in the wake of its cruel and out of control Minneapolis operation. All of that, everything I just showed you and I just walked through is just from this week, this week. And all of that came before we got this blockbuster, deeply sourced new reporting from the Wall Street Journal about the chaos inside Kristi Noem's dhs. Now, some of what is reported in this story are things viewers of the show already know but bear repeating. Like the fact that Noam, quote, has donned flak jackets on ICE raids posed toting a large gun and recorded messages urging immigrants to self deport, stood before a group of imprisoned men with shaved heads packed into tight rows in a notorious El Salvadorian prison. And she's done it all with an eye to her style, of course, with TV ready hair and makeup, as one does, I suppose, when you're standing there as she is in front of a prison in El Salvador. Now, there are also some things in this article we didn't know but have long suspected, like about Noem's unusually close relationship with DHS advisor and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. The Wall Street Journal reports, quote, lewandowski and Noem, who are both married, have publicly denied the reports of an affair, but people said they do little to hide their relationship in inside the department. Now, what struck me about this as well as you read the story, is this is not a single source story. There are a lot of sources in this story. A lot of people talked to the Journal for this story. Anyway. That aside, officials say their relationship has even made the highly moral Donald Trump uncomfortable. That's obviously not a serious way to describe Donald Trump, but he's uncomfortable by it is the point. A DHS spokesman responded to the Wall Street Journal saying the department doesn't waste time with salacious, baseless gossip, which doesn't sound like a no, that it didn't happen to me or that it's not going on, I guess to me. But who knows? So that alone is pretty newsworthy in a kind of makes your skin crawl kind of way. But what really makes this news story such a bombshell piece of reporting is some of the truly wild things we are just learning for the very first time. For instance, during one official trip, people familiar with the incident say, quote, noem had to switch planes after a maintenance issue was discovered, but her blanket wasn't moved to the second plane. Corey Lewandowski then fired a U.S. coast Guard pilot after Noem's blanket was left behind. Okay, the story continues. It gets even better. The Coast Guard pilot was told to take a commercial flight home when they reached their destination, but they eventually reinstated the pilot because no one else was available to fly them home. What a story. Now, surprise, surprise. A DHS spokeswoman declined to address that particular episode when asked about it by the Journal. But let's just pause and put a finer point on that. Kristi Noem and her let's just call him companion, Corey Lewandowski tried to fire a Coast Guard pilot just because the Secretary of Homeland Security left her blankie on the plane Keep in mind, this is the same Homeland Security secretary overseeing packed ICE detention centers like the one you see on your screen right there, where detainees are sleeping like sardines under aluminum foil blankets, according to lawmakers, where children are kept. But Kristi Noem apparently can't make it one flight without something to keep her feet warm during the in flight movie. Poor Kristi Noemi. Then there's the incredible saga over Corey Lewandowski's attempt to play policeman. This might be one of my favorite details. As far as we know, these two incidents are unrelated. Who knows? But according to the Wall Street Journal, Lewandowski made it known to top ICE officials that he wanted to be issued a law enforcement badge and a federally issued gun, despite the fact, of course, that he was not a law enforcement official and he has not undergone any. Any law enforcement training that we know of whatsoever. Now, Lewandowski tried asking the ISIS legal center to write him a justification for being issued a badge and a gun. And when a top ICE lawyer declined to sign off on the whole thing, I wonder why he was placed on administrative leave. Lewandowski then eventually persuaded other lawyers to sign off on his gun toting ambitions. Feeling like a big man. Corey Lewandowski, I guess. And this is my favorite part. The ICE director's auto pen was used to sign off on the paperwork. Now, of course, DHS denies that all of this happened and claimed that the ICE lawyer was put on administrative leave for other reasons. Okay. But Ms. Now has confirmed a large part of that story tonight. Also reporting that the ICE lawyer was actually escorted from the building after refusing to sign off on Lewandowski's request for a gun, according to two current and former officials. The whole incident is especially wild when you consider that this is the same department that even claimed carrying a gun lawfully was enough to justify killing Alex Preddy. Remember that detail. And this story is about more than just Kristi and Corey's childish behavior and their companionship. It's also about their reckless spending on the taxpayer's dime. Because the Journal matched earlier reporting from ProPublica, which found that Kristi Noem spent over $200 million of taxpayer money on ads that featured her telling immigrants to leave the country. Money that ProPublica reports was funneled to an ad firm tied to Kristi Noem. It's like they think people won't notice here. People notice. Now, the Wall Street Journal also reports that Noem and Lewandowski have been using a luxury 737 Max jet with a private cabin in the back for their travel, a plane that DHS is in the process of acquiring for approximately $70 million. You can just keep adding all of this up on a little notebook if you would like. The plane is paid for with money from the Big Ugly Bill, and it's supposed to be used for high profile deportations, but charter planes are primarily being used for deportation. So this private plane has become kind of more of a job perk for Nome. Her staff have even taken to calling it the big beautiful jet as she jets around in it herself in her various costumes. Maybe they're on the plane, who knows? A DHS spokeswoman told the Journal that the plane was used for both deportations and cabinet level travel. But I would just note here that no detail on what exactly that breakdown is has been provided. It's not just the apparent grift that makes this story so eye popping, although it does make it eye popping. It's also about Noem's wild mismanagement of the agency she runs. Noem has forced all DHS contracts over $100,000 to require her personal sign off, supposedly to rein in spending. But the policy has actually done the opposite. According to the Journal, one contract for bulk steel sat on her desk for so long, by the time she actually approved it, the price of steel had gone up by more than $100 million. But maybe the most illuminating part of the entire report is really what it tells us about how much Kristi Noem sees herself as being in competition with other Trump officials. Because, according to the Journal, Noem routinely berated staff if she saw border czar Tom Homan on TV and kept track of both of their appearances to make sure she was on TV more than he was on tv. What a good way to spend your time. That explains a lot about Kristi Noem, though, doesn't it? I mean, it explains why now that she appears to be drowning in a sea of scandal that seems never ending, she's still trying to put herself in the limelight. I mean, just today she held a press conference in Arizona where she decided to try really, really hard to take up the mantle on one of Donald Trump's favorite issues, election conspiracies. Now, it's very clear that someone is trying to build up her profile while worming her way back into Trump's good graces. But it's also clear that it is working the way it was intended. The thing is, Christina was is she's really, really bad at her job. It's very clear. And it's becoming hard to ignore even over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In one very telling part of the Wall Street Journal's reporting, Corey Lewandowski messaged Trump's pollster with a request they needed. He wanted them to cut an ad to help Noem. The pollster ignore. And the pollster ignored the entry and the ask, basically. So while Corey Leandoski thought this would be a launching pad for 2028, the question really is, will she even have her job through 2026? I'm kind of doubtful, but you never know. Joining me now is Congressman Eric Swalwell. He's a member of the House Homeland Security Committee. He's also now a candidate for governor of California. Okay, I am sure you read this story. I just did my best to summarize that crazy story. But what stood out to you?
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Congressman Eric Swalwell
Well, this is why they're not being funded right now. Nobody wants to pay for this. But what really jumps off the page of the story and your lead in there is that these guys, these ICE agents, they're dragging women by their hair through the streets, chasing people through the fields, in the farms where they work. They've shot a nurse named Pretty and a mom named Good. And the only person in the world who has been held accountable by the Department of Homeland Security is the pilot who somehow forgot to move Krissy Noem's blankie. I mean, that's bananas. And you would at least expect that maybe you would have a slap on the wrist or like a thumbs down on their socials, or the ICE officers would not be paid for maybe the day that they publicly executed these two individuals. No, there's been no accountability except to punitively go after a pilot. It's sick. And that's why they're not being funded right now.
- [14:41]
Jennifer Palmieri
That pilot's got some storytelling. I am certain of it. There are so many ways to look at this, and sometimes I never want to get in the head of Donald Trump. Neither do you or the Trump administration. But why do you think he is keeping Kristi Noem around at this point?
- [14:59]
Congressman Eric Swalwell
Well, he also is in a position where the only thing that matches his political decline is his physical decline. And that's quite scary because that means people like Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, Tom Homan and others are really in charge. And that's why we see an immigrant community right now that is subjected to community terror. Now, I will say the Achilles heel, and this is what I want your viewers to, like, really key in on the Achilles heel for Donald Trump, is that he does not like Being unpopular. Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, they can tolerate being unpopular. Donald Trump cannot stand when people go to the streets, when there's wall to wall coverage against him. And that's when he sees it, he can change the policy. So that's why we have to be as loud as possible. We need rock solid governors standing up to him across the country, but rise up in the streets and then beat him at the ballot box. And we can see the best changes until we get out of this nightmare with a new president.
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Jennifer Palmieri
One of the challenges right now, and I think for everybody watching too, is you sort of hear things projected from the administration, but then it's like trying to keep yourself abreast of what's actually happening on the ground. And Tom Homan's announcement yesterday, it did sound like a retreat in Minnesota. Let's certainly hope it is. But you spend a lot of time thinking as a member of the committee, what is actually happening with ICE around the country. I mean, there's been tons of reporting about them buying up detention facilities, about them buying more office space, about going into additional cities. What should people watching right now understand, even as they are pulling out of Minnesota? And let's hope that happens about what's still really happening around the country.
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Congressman Eric Swalwell
Yeah. So people want accountability and they still see ICE in our neighborhoods. We saw this in Santa Clara just last weekend at the super bowl with ice, you know, unnecessarily coming to into the community around the super bowl. We have the World cup, eight games in the Bay Area, eight games in Los Angeles. And there's a fear that ICE is going to suppress the local economy with their presence. I was talking last week at a town hall that I had in San Jose and a woman who works at a grocery store told me she asked. She said, when I go to the parking lot at night when my shift ends and somebody rolls up in a van and they're wearing a mask and tell me to get in, are they ICE or are they a bad guy? And people can't tell right now and they want accountability. And so I'm very happy to see that Senate Democrats and House Democrats and even some Senate Republicans are saying, we're not going to give these guys a penny until the public executions stop, the masks come off, the identification comes out, and these guys are finally held accountable to that point.
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Jennifer Palmieri
I mean, the deadline is technically in, I guess just under three hours. There's not going to be a deal before then. What happens now for people watching? Because now it's still pushing for these reforms, but ICE is still funded because of the money and the big ugly bill. So what should people expect and what do the negotiations look like from here?
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Congressman Eric Swalwell
Well, Democrats should not validate or co sign on anything that they're doing. And if they're going to fund it anyway from money that they had in the past, they can do that. What we have to telegraph is that when we are in the majority, when we have the power of the purse and that's not too far away, and in fact, that could be in two weeks, the margins are so thin in Congress and some of them are threatening to quit right now. But when we're in the majority, we will have a lot more leverage to have the masks come off, to have body cameras on every agent, to get rid of roving patrols, to strip out the qualified immunity that makes them think they're invincible. And as long as voters know that's what we're going to do, when we're in charge, they'll be with us. And then if people go to the streets, we go to the courts and where we have leverage in the House and the Senate, we don't vote for the funding. We can hold this together, get through it, and then win the midterms and cut our time in hell by half.
- [18:50]
Jennifer Palmieri
This is going to continue to be a thing people are focused on. Of course, we'll keep talking about it. Congressman Eric Swalwell, thank you as always for joining me.
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Congressman Eric Swalwell
My pleasure. Thanks, Jen.
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Jennifer Palmieri
Okay. Up next, Don Lemon pleads not guilty to charges brought by the Trump Justice Department after leaving court today. He said the process is the punishment. That really stuck with me. And I think every single Trump critic who's been targeted in this way would probably agree with that. Trump JP Cooney was Jack Smith's top deputy before being fired by Donald Trump. Glenn Kirchner is a former federal prosecutor. They are former colleagues, too. Something I learned today and they join me here at the table when we come back.
- [19:28]
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- [20:11]
Hi.
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Glenn Kirschner
Welcome in.
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- [21:08]
Jennifer Palmieri
So, this week, as most weeks, Donald Trump's absolute obsession with using the Department of Justice to go after his enemies was on full display. But the latest effort blew up in spectacular fashion after a grand jury refused to indict six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video reminding service members that they were obligated to refuse illegal orders. And look, as we continue to cover Donald Trump's revenge campaign, it's important to remember that not a single one of these has actually worked. I mean, one by one, they have all failed, oftentimes in extremely embarrassing ways. And with that in mind, today we watched independent journalist and vocal Trump critic Don Lemon plead not guilty to civil rights charges following a protest at a Minnesota church last month. Lemon says that he was there observing and conducting interviews as a journalist. And lucky for us, the entire thing was caught on tape. So here's one part of the indictment where it says, quote unquote, lemon approached the pastor and largely surrounded him and physically obstructed his freedom of movement, while Lemon peppered him with questions to promote the operation's message. That's what I just showed you on the screen is literally what they're talking about. Just to give you a sense, okay, it's all on camera because he was livestreaming. And here's another part of the indictment. Lemon posted himself at the main door of the church, where he confronted some congregants and physically obstructed them as they tried to exit the church building to challenge them with facts about U.S. immigration policy. That is apparently what they're describing in that last video that we just showed you there. There's obviously a noticeable gap here between What Trump DOJ claims happened and what we can see with our own eyes, which is unfortunately quite a theme right now going on to see Minnesota. But as Don Lemon pointed out today, that is kind of beside the point.
- [22:56]
JP Cooney
People are finally realizing what this administration is all about.
- [23:01]
Jennifer Palmieri
The process is the punishment. There we go. That stuck with me. I think many people would agree. JP Cooney is a former federal prosecutor who was deputy to special counsel Jack Smith before he was fired by Donald Trump. And he is now jumping into the political ring as a Democratic candidate for Congress in Virginia. Glenn Kirschner is a former federal prosecutor and host of the Justice Matters podcast. Expertise could not be more relevant than the expertise these two have right now. Thank you both for being here. Let me start with you, Glenn. It really stuck. Struck me what Don said, which is the process is the punishment. And I've heard versions of this from others I've spoken to who have been targeted. It feels like the prosecution and success in the legal sense is less the point than public embarrassment than people spending money. But what do you think? What do you make of that?
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JP Cooney
I agree with Don that the process is the punishment. But the good news is Donald Trump can threaten to prosecute people all he wants, right?
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Glenn Kirschner
How?
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JP Cooney
We've been hearing for 10 years that he was gonna lock up Hillary Clinton, lock her up, never did charge her. It took him 10 years to convince folks at the Department of Justice, his current leadership, who have some real ethics deficits, to go in and start vindictively indicting people. And what do we see? You know, case after case after case is being dismissed. It's falling apart against James Comey, against Letitia James, the six members of Congress who the grand jury said, are you kidding? They committed no crime. I'm inferring what the grand juror said here and refused to indict them. What does that do? It exposes Donald Trump as the paper tiger he is. He can threaten prosecutions all day long, but the courts are holding strong, and he cannot successfully follow through. I feel for all the people who have to hire lawyers, who have to probably endure sleepless nights, have to defend themselves in court, but it's exposing Donald Trump as weak, not strong. So, yes, the process is the punishment, but at the end of the day, Donald Trump is losing this battle.
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Jennifer Palmieri
Okay, I wanna talk about your campaign, but you're here and you have so much legal expertise. So I just have one more question about this for you today. Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort filed a joint motion to obtain the grand jury transcript. It Seems like they're inferring something improper may have happened. We're all learning more about grand jury processes. You all knew a lot about them, but for most people, we're all to become experts. How feasible is it to obtain those. What are they kind of looking for as they try to acquire that information?
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Glenn Kirschner
Well, in this circumstance, I think it is very feasible. And the reason it's feasible is because this Justice Department has lost all credibility with the court system and with the American people. When I was a prosecutor, we called it the presumption of regularity before the grand jury. Because the grand jury proceedings are secret, to protect the identity of witnesses, to protect the integrity investigations, is extraordinarily hard for even a criminal defendant to what's called pierce that and obtain the underlying information from those proceedings. But when that presumption is interfered with by something that appears to be abusive, like a lie or some sort of fraud upon the grand jury or the system itself, then judges can order the government to turn over what's called the grand jury minutes or the. Under the information underlying those proceedings. And here throughout all of the prosecutions, the ones that Glenn mentioned, the ones that this administration has brought upon for political reasons, it gives courts a real foothold to pierce those proceedings and find out what is going on behind those closed doors.
- [26:36]
Jennifer Palmieri
That's really interesting. Now I learned to learn more. It's like a law class. Glenn on the phone. So one of the things that has been raised by Don Lemon's lawyer is they've held onto his phone for a long time, and they kind of have some questions about what else they may be accessing, or that's what they seem to be inferring there. Holding onto a phone this long, is it normal or reason to be worried about that?
- [26:59]
JP Cooney
Well, I assume if the rule of law is being applied at all, that they obtained a search warrant for his phone, they seized it, they're probably running a forensic search on it. If they're doing any of this without a search warrant, that's going to be another motion that Don Lemon's lawyers are going to be able to bring. But I really think that the primary motion that he's gonna bring is that this was First Amendment protected, you know, the right of the press. For anybody to believe that Don Lemon would have livestreamed his own crimes. And you see him doing what, interviewing the parishioners? How is this impacting you? Right. If he were there as one of the protesters, he probably would not have been interviewing both sides. And he said on his own livestream I'm not with the group. I'm covering the protest. I do not see this case making it to a jury trial. I think it's probably gonna be dismissed in the motions.
- [27:56]
Jennifer Palmieri
Okay, J.P. you, you got, you investigated the president. You were fired by the president. You know, that's all part of your background. How has that been a factor in you deciding you want to jump into the political ring?
- [28:09]
Glenn Kirschner
Well, it is the factor, along with all the things that we've been talking about here today. Never before has a president of the United States posed a graver threat to values that we all share. Talking about things like democracy, the rule of law, the promise that if you work hard and you play by the rules, that you can secure a more bright future for your family. And right alongside of that, we have a US Congress controlled by Republicans now that are rubber stamping this president's abuse of authority and his lawlessness. When I looked at that and thought about my 18 years at the Justice Department independently and with integrity, carrying out investigations and prosecutions, I felt like I really needed to bring my experience to bear on these grave threats to these important values. And I have to tell you, Jen, I've just been so, just fired up by the enthusiasm for that message we had. In just the first day of that message, we raised more than $200,000 and had more than 2,200 people give contributions to this campaign. They went to, you know, cooneyforcongress.com and they joined us. They made contributions. And I'm hoping that other people are going to do the same.
- [29:25]
Jennifer Palmieri
You're in the political realm now. Fundraising is a part of that. JP Cooney, Glenn Kirchner, thank you so much both for being here.
- [29:32]
Glenn Kirschner
Thank you very much.
- [29:33]
Jennifer Palmieri
Okay, up next, new signs of accountability really all over the world for revelations out of the Epstein files. But here at home, the Trump cabinet secretary who just admitted to traveling to Epstein's island, traveled with Donald Trump today on Air Force One and was front row at his event in North Carolina today. You can't make it up sometimes. My next guest is doing everything he can to close that accountability gap. We're going to talk about things he's proposed. All of that's coming up next.
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- [31:29]
Jennifer Palmieri
A fraction of of the price. Sign up today@odoo.com that's o d o o.com. After what feels like an eternity of wondering if anyone would be held accountable, we are finally starting to see some people face some consequences for their affiliations with Jeffrey Epstein. And these people aren't accused of some of the more heinous allegations surrounding Epstein. But in so many circles right now, any affiliation at all is simply too toxic to stomach. This is Sultan Ahmed bin Suleiman. He is an incredibly powerful Emirati businessman whose name was improperly redacted in the Justice Department's release of the files. But then on Monday, after members of Congress were finally allowed to access what the Justice Department claimed were the full unredacted Epstein files, bin Suleiman was named publicly on the House floor. So that was Monday. Today, bin Suleiman resigned. His company replaced him amid mounting scrutiny of his ties to Epstein. And yesterday we saw the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs leave the firm amid scrutiny of her ties to Epstein, ties which she now says she regrets. Yesterday we also saw the ex prime minister of Norway criminally charged with literal corruption charges related to his ties to Epstein. And that all comes as just last week we saw the chairman of the major big law firm, Paul Weiss, stepped down from that role in the wake of new revelations of his ties to Epstein, ties which he now says he regrets I bet. And we saw the British police literally search the home of the former British ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, over accusations he leaked government information to his friend Epstein. So my point is we're seeing plenty of proof that accountability can happen here. It is possible, right, in a lot of cases. Meanwhile this week, and I just mentioned this earlier, but it's worth repeating, Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Letnick testified to Congress that he, along with his family, did in fact have lunch with Epstein on Epstein's private island, years after he had claimed he had cut off all contact with Epstein. But despite being caught in that huge suspicious lie, Lednik seems to be facing, well, no consequences at all at this point. I mean, today he was flying around the country with Trump on Air Force One like nothing had happened. Given where we are now, with some people finally facing accountability and others notably not, and a ton of the Epstein saga still shrouded in mystery or hidden by redactions or both, the big question for me now is how does the investigation move forward from here? What more can we learn? Who can we learn it from? And today we got what could be an answer on that front today, Democratic House oversight members Robert Garcia and Suha Subramaniam wrote a letter asking the former British ambassador to the US Who I just mentioned, of course, Peter Mandelson, to come to the US and tell them what he knows. And joining me now is Congressman Suha Subra Millennium, one of the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, who sent that letter to Peter Mandelson today. This is such an interesting step. It's great to see you, first of all.
- [34:30]
Congresswoman Suha Subramaniam
Thank you.
- [34:30]
Jennifer Palmieri
It's such an interesting step because I think as I just outlined this question of kind of where can we gather more information is so front center for people like yourself. So for, for Peter Mendelsohn, what are you hoping to learn from him? What do you want to ask him about?
- [34:44]
Congresswoman Suha Subramaniam
I mean, he was a self professed good buddy and best friend of Jeffrey Epstein. That's what he wrote in the birthday book, that they were good pals, the best pals. And then, you know, we have a picture of him in his underwear next to a girl. We also have wire transfers up to $75,000 and more, more to his business partner as well from Jeffrey Epstein. So you've got financial ties, you've got pictures of young women. He clearly knew Jeffrey Epstein very well over many years and he was named the U.S. ambassador from the U.K. i mean, I wonder if Trump even knew about his associate with Jeffrey Epstein because there's so many people in Trump's orbit now that are coming up as being associated with Jeffrey Epstein. Howard Lutnick now, for instance, he nominated Alex Acosta as his labor secretary, the guy who gave Jeffrey Epstein a sweetheart deal. So it's everywhere, and you're seeing accountability everywhere else but the Trump administration. And it's infuriating. And so we're going to keep pushing it.
- [35:37]
Jennifer Palmieri
Is infuriated. I hear it in your voice, how infuriating you are, how infuriated you are. And I think so many people watching feel the same way. And there's so many questions about what happened at parties, what happened, who knew what, who paid for what. So this is one of the people who we know is affiliated. Do you have a list of other people? How big is the list of other people that you all would like to call and request they testify?
- [35:59]
Congresswoman Suha Subramaniam
Yeah, well, we have some good people this month. Les Wexner, over and over again, he bankrolled the whole Epstein operation, was Epstein's main client for a long time. He's next week. And then we also have the executors of the estate that are coming up. But there are more and more people. Every time we get more documents, even with all the stuff that they've tried to hide at the doj, we get more and more names that we want to talk to, whether it's Peter Mandelson. I still want to talk to the former Prince Andrew as well, because he clearly had a lot of information. He was clearly involved in some way. And the more documents we get, the more people we can talk to. But, you know, it's harder with a UK citizen. It's easier with US citizens. And I certainly want to hear from Howard Lutnick more about what he knew as well.
- [36:39]
Jennifer Palmieri
I mean, good Lord, we all do. Whatever you think of King Charles, too, he's supporting an investigation into his own brother. So that's quite.
- [36:46]
Congresswoman Suha Subramaniam
Look at that. Even family's holding each other accountable.
- [36:48]
Jennifer Palmieri
Right, Exactly. So let me ask you. I mean, there have been so many ups and downs of bipartisanship, but not bipartisanship on this whole effort. I mean, the vote obviously on the Transparency act was an example of bipartisanship.
- [37:01]
Glenn Kirschner
Right.
- [37:01]
Jennifer Palmieri
Or universal support for it, I suppose. But in this request, I mean, you asked for Mandelson to testify to your committee right now, but it's not a subpoena. And that's because Democrats are not in control. So people understand kind of out there. But Republicans have supported requesting more information and getting people to testify in some cases. Do you think you'll get support from Republicans? Will there be enough on the committee to kind of subpoena if necessary?
- [37:28]
Congresswoman Suha Subramaniam
You know, there's been enough Republicans supporting us all along. Sometimes we drag them with us. A House oversight Democrats. Where the accountability stops is when we get to Trump administration officials. That's where they draw the line. It seems they don't want to have Trump administration officials come to the oversight committee as much. And the closest we got is Alex Acosta himself, who later on we found documents contradicting some of the things he told us. But we're going to continue pushing. We don't want this to be partisan. They clearly made it partisan when it comes to protecting the Trump administration. But the Trump administration is continuing this cover up. And so we have to be very pointed about this and we have to talk to everyone.
- [38:04]
Jennifer Palmieri
Congressman, this level of Energy at 9:43 on a Friday night is what people need out there. So thank you for being here and thank you for continuing to push. It's great to see you.
- [38:13]
Congresswoman Suha Subramaniam
Thank you again.
- [38:14]
Jennifer Palmieri
Okay, first it was Tulsi Gabbard in Georgia and today, and I've talked about her quite a bit tonight because there was a lot of fodder. It was Kristi Noem in Arizona. And what's clear is that if you were a member of Donald Trump's cabinet right now, sowing doubt in elections seems to be part of your job description, or at least how to set Please, Daddy, who knows? Steven Richer was in charge of elections in Arizona's largest county the last time Donald Trump tried to screw around with elections there. And he has a lot of thoughts and he joins me next. At this point, it's hard to keep track of all the ways in which Trump is trying to subvert the midterm elections. We are doing it here. We will continue to do it here. But the latest came in the form of this social media post in which Trump claimed there will be voter ID for the midterm elections, whether approved by Congress or not. That is of course, unconstitutional, but he is nonetheless trying. Because Trump knows more than anyone that if Republicans lose their majorities in Congress come November, the bulk of his power will be gone and his administration will be more challenged and more subpoenas will be issued and more people will be investigated for good reason. This also might explain why DHS Secretary Christino made a very last minute appearance in the battleground state of Arizona today, calling a mysterious press conference on election security in Maricopa county, where there have been many claims of baseless voter fraud. Now, according to a reporter who covered the press conference, as word of the event began to spread locally, supervisors in Maricopa county called an emergency closed door meeting to receive legal advice about their authority and responsibilities regarding election administration. But it turns out Noem didn't really have much of anything to really announce. She seemed to be just there to waste taxpayer dollars and send a clear message to her boss that she was willing to say what he wanted and to do what was necessary to, to try to hold onto her job. Joining me now is Stephen Richer. He is the former Maricopa County Recorder and has a lot of experience with how elections are run in Arizona. Thank you for being here. You have so much expertise and so many people are trying to understand what the heck is happening right now. First, I just want to get your take on Kristi Noem appearing in Maricopa County. I mean, as part of the press conference. She also said Arizona has, quote, been an absolute disaster on elections, that your leaders have failed you dramatically by not having systems. To be clear, there is no proof of mass voting fraud and all the things that are being thrown out there. But given your prior role in helping run elections in Maricopa county, what did you think this trip was all about?
- [40:57]
Stephen Richer
Well, if there's two states that President Trump has been fixated with since the 2020 election, it's Georgia and Arizona. So it wasn't terribly surprising that somebody from the Trump administration would come to Arizona and would insinuate or make allegations of widespread fraud. And so when it was announced yesterday that Secretary Noem was going to be here in the Phoenix area, I think speculation ran rampant. Some people were thinking this was going to be Fulton County 2.0. Some people were thinking that they were going to try and seize tabulation equipment, but really it turned out to be something of a dud. It turned out to be something of just an infomercial for the SAVE Act. And I hope she enjoyed the weather here because otherwise, like I said, it seems like a waste of a flight.
- [41:42]
Jennifer Palmieri
Good weather in Arizona. That is true. I should note, for people, it is. And you can reiterate this, of course, if you want. I mean, it's very hard to intervene and really, really mess with elections federally because they're run by states. But it seems like they're doing everything possible to try to do that right now. What are you worried about, most worried about regarding these threats or efforts we've seen to date to try to interfere with the elections this November?
- [42:10]
Stephen Richer
Well, for the past five years, we've worried primarily about the confidence, the American confidence in election administration, because Donald Trump and many of his allies have not stopped lying about election administration since really, he began in politics in 2016, but certainly since the 2020 election. And so prior to two weeks ago, I would have said it would have been in the aftermath of the 2026 midterm elections that they would have tried to do something. They would have tried to say that those people who were elected weren't really elected because we had problems, X, Y and Z, all of which were fake. But Fulton county changed everything. It showed that we need to have more imagination. It showed that this administration is willing to go to lengths that many of us would have thought unimaginable previously.
- [42:58]
Jennifer Palmieri
So when you think about. Obviously, none of us can exactly predict what's next. To your point, we know there's certain states that have been focal points, Arizona's one Trump has named, Pennsylvania out loud. There certainly could be others. But as we kind of look ahead to what's possible and what we should be prepared for, where does your mind go on where they might try to expand this to next or how they might try to expand it?
- [43:23]
Stephen Richer
Yeah, I don't know. They're very creative. But I think that what needs to be done is states and counties need to be very aware of what their legal rights are, where the federal government's rights stop, and they need to have good relationships with their local council. Because if you look at something like what happened in Fulton county, the sooner that the attorneys in Fulton county could have moved, then maybe something could have been done, or you should just be aware of what can be done.
- [43:53]
Commercial Announcer
Or.
- [43:54]
Stephen Richer
Or now they're filing a Rule 41 motion to try and get those ballot boxes back. But I think that the authority of the federal government in election administration is going to be tested like never before. And clearly, even today, with his remarks regarding voter id, the president is undeterred by Congress, is undeterred by states rights, and is sometimes undeterred by the United States Constitution.
- [44:23]
Jennifer Palmieri
We only, unfortunately have about 30 seconds left, but we've seen a real reduction in people being willing or able to kind of participate in volunteering for elections. What do you tell people out there who are fearful or worried or not sure they should do it as they have in the past?
- [44:39]
Stephen Richer
There's never been a worse time to be involved, but there's never been a more important time to be involved. So if you're somebody who values being part of history, if you're somebody who values being part in the continuation of American democracy, then you know what it's needed. And so please consider getting out there and if nothing else, consider being a touchstone for truth. Consider investigating a fact on social media and just telling your friends. Let's take a pause, let's take a breath and let's investigate here because there might be an explanation for what might seem salacious on the Internet.
- [45:16]
Jennifer Palmieri
A touchstone for truth is a really good advice. Words to live by. Thank you. It's a perfect place to end. Steven Richard, thank you so much for being here tonight. Okay, we have to sneak in a very quick break. We'll be right back. That does it for me tonight.
- [45:36]
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