Who is the biggest alleged grifter in the Trump administration?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Briefing with Jen Psaki Episode: Who is the biggest alleged grifter in the Trump administration? Date: March 20, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode, hosted by Rachel Maddow on behalf of Jen Psaki, delves into two major, intertwined themes: the fallout from Trump’s ongoing war with Iran and several explosive reports of alleged corruption and self-enrichment among Trump administration figures—including Jared Kushner, Corey Lewandowski, and Don Jr. The episode features in-depth discussion, notable exchanges, and interviews with Senator Jon Ossoff and Congressman Robert Garcia, both of whom are engaged in congressional oversight of the administration. The tone throughout is urgent, critical, and often incredulous as Maddow and guests dissect the administration’s conduct and the repercussions across economics, national security, and public trust.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Afghanistan Iran War: Chaos, Gaslighting, and Missing Objectives

• Media Narrative vs. Reality
  • Maddow opens by breaking down the Trump administration's denial and obfuscation regarding the war’s success, the lack of clear objectives, and economic fallout ([01:00]–[05:23]).
  • Trump and staff repeatedly claim the war is nearly won and that the economic impact isn’t “that bad,” despite clear evidence to the contrary ([02:04], [08:03]).
• Escalations and Consequences
  • Israeli strikes, Iranian retaliation, and US coordination (or denial thereof) have triggered global oil shocks ([02:35]–[04:29]).
  • Reporting surfaces about increasing troop deployments and ballooning war costs, with Pete Hegseth attacking the media for “mischaracterizing” the conflict ([05:01], [06:55]).
  • Senator Tim Kaine recounts the administration’s stonewalling of public war oversight:

    “I have decided that we will not have public hearings because I do not believe the administration's decision makers should be subject to Public questioning by senators.” ([09:52])

2. Economic and Popular Backlash

• Pain at the Pump and in Daily Life
  • Maddow highlights skyrocketing gas prices, a pause in job growth, and global market instability ([02:35]–[12:58]).
  • Fishermen and other Trump supporters in impacted industries express regret and anger:

    “Just please think about the people, man, what are we really doing there besides raising our prices?” – Florida fisherman ([12:23])

• Polling
  • Americans disapprove of the war by a 22-point margin (Reuters/Ipsos), and even Trump’s base is losing faith ([12:58]).

3. Legality and Accountability

• Congressional Pushback
  • Senator Jon Ossoff details Senate resistance to a $200 billion war funding request, bipartisan doubts, and concerns about the war’s open-ended objectives ([15:12]–[17:14]).
  • Confusion and inconsistency regarding oil and gas sanctions, particularly any moves to ease sanctions on Iran or Russia, further muddy administration strategy ([16:39]–[18:22]).
  • Ossoff exposes the “Dear Leader problem” within intelligence—where officials twist themselves to never contradict Trump:

    "Because in this administration it is unacceptable ever to contradict the President's words. And because the President is a pathological liar, our intelligence officials twist themselves into knots.... This corrupts the process of intelligence analysis and that can lead to huge policy errors that put the American people at risk." ([20:05])

4. Widespread Corruption: The New “Biggest Grifter” Contenders

• Corey Lewandowski
  • Allegedly sought bribes from major DHS contractors, especially private prison groups, in exchange for contracts while officially an unpaid special government employee ([27:00]–[34:38]).
  • NBC report alleges pay-to-play, with internal DHS concern about Lewandowski’s and Kristi Noem’s roles and relationships.
• Donald Trump Jr.
  • Don Jr.'s VC firm invests in a rare-earth startup; three months later, the startup receives a massive government contract, and its valuation explodes. Parties deny connections, but timing raises alarms ([28:00]).
• Jared Kushner
  • Amid ongoing conflict, Kushner is reported to be soliciting billions in investments from Middle East countries for his private firm, while simultaneously negotiating Middle East policy as Trump envoy.
  • Congressman Robert Garcia, leading a new investigation, says:

    “What Jared Kushner is doing clearly stands against ethics principles, laws of separation of powers, and the private sector... we have to vigorously investigate Kushner.” ([33:16])

5. Political Implications and Public Sentiment

• Elections and Republican Worries
  • GOP insiders fear loss of the Senate due to war backlash ([36:47]).
  • Down-ballot races are feeling the squeeze, with gas prices, agriculture woes, and military family impacts shaping campaign trails ([24:19]).
• Military Families and Morale
  • Ossoff criticizes Trump for exploiting images of “flag-draped coffins” for fundraising, calling the administration’s attitude toward the military “callous and disgraceful” ([25:48]).

6. Energy Crisis Assessment with Amos Hochstein

• Unprecedented Global Energy Crisis
  • The current war is depicted as the worst energy crisis the world has ever seen, with oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and supply chains all under threat ([39:58]–[40:55]).
• Confusion and Policy Failures
  • Hochstein:

    “They're coming up with a new plan every day. The bottom line is you’ve got to get out of this conflict because the Strait of Hormuz has to open.” ([41:25])

  • Even immediate war cessation won’t end the economic pain:

    “Even if tomorrow they announce that we're ending this war... diesel is over $5 so it will take some time even if they end it today. But it doesn't look like they're going to end it tomorrow.” ([43:25])

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Trump’s Narrative:

  "It's not a quagmire because I'm telling you it's not a quagmire... There's not defensive at all." – Rachel Maddow ([05:23])

• On Grift:

  “This is corruption. This is the most corrupt administration.” – Rep. Robert Garcia on Jared Kushner ([33:16])

• On Impacted Americans:

  “Just please think about the people, man, what are we really doing there besides raising our prices?” – Florida fisherman ([12:23])

• On Lack of Oversight:

  "I have decided that we will not have public hearings because I do not believe the administration's decision makers should be subject to Public questioning by senators." – Senator Tim Kaine quoting Senate Foreign Relations Chair ([09:52])

• On Military Disrespect:

  “It’s the most callous and disgraceful disregard for the sacrifice that these service members have made. It gives the impression that the president and his team really do just view those who wear the uniform as pawns.” – Sen. Jon Ossoff ([25:48])

• On Energy Security:

  "We've had a lot of energy crises since OPEC in the 1970s... yet this is the worst energy crisis the world has ever seen." – Amos Hochstein ([39:58])

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Important Timestamps

• 01:00 – Start of substantive discussion; recap of Iran war and Trump administration’s messaging
• 04:29 – Trump’s shifting account of Israeli attack and US culpability
• 05:01 – Pete Hegseth attacks media coverage
• 08:03 – Trump claims total military victory; reality check follows
• 12:05–12:58 – Interviews with disaffected Trump-supporting fishermen
• 13:29 – Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony on the war’s legality and her role as DNI
• 15:12 – Sen. Jon Ossoff interview: war objectives, cost, and authority critiques
• 20:05 – Ossoff on “Dear Leader problem” in intelligence community
• 24:19 – Economic pain as political wedge in Georgia race
• 25:48 – Ossoff slams Trump’s disrespect toward military sacrifices
• 27:00 – Maddow introduces major new “grift” stories: Lewandowski, Don Jr., Kushner
• 33:16 – Rep. Garcia details the Congressional investigation into Kushner
• 39:58 – Maddow and Hochstein: depth of global energy crisis and possible paths forward
• 43:25 – Hochstein explains why even peace won’t bring immediate relief

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a dense, urgent, and critical exploration of two crises—war and corruption—in the Trump administration. Voices from the political, economic, and national security arenas highlight a government under siege by its own lack of transparency and rampant self-dealing. Maddow and her guests alternately dissect, mock, and lament both the administration’s inability to manage the war’s fallout and the sheer scale of alleged personal grift by those in power. Frequent, grounded references to polling, economic indicators, insider accounts, and ongoing congressional investigations make for a detailed, accessible, and damning account for listeners wanting an unvarnished overview of current events.

Transcript

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[Rachel Maddow]

We've got a ton to get to tonight. As I mentioned. Senator Jon Ossoff, who had quite a moment just yesterday, grilling Tulsi Gabbard for answers on Trump's war in Iran. He's gonna join me here at the table in a moment. And there is a lot to talk about because it's now been almost three weeks since Trump launched his war of choice in Iran. Almost three weeks. There's still no clear objective, still no end in sight, still no clear explanation of why Trump started this war in the very first place. But Trump and his cabinet do seem to have finally coalesced, at least for the moment, around a strategy for this war and how they communicate publicly. And that strategy seems to be this. Just wake up every single day and gaslight the American people, tell them everything is going great. Fake it till you make it of sorts. Bully and threaten if necessary. But no matter what, no matter what tactics you use to get there, just keep gaslighting away. I mean, just listen to the way Donald Trump described the economic impact of his disastrous war earlier today.

[Donald Trump]

Everything was going great. The economy was great, oil prices were very low. And I saw what was happening in Iran and I said, I hate to make this excursion, but we're going to have to do it. And I actually thought the numbers would be worse. I thought that it would go up more than it did. So I wanted to put out that fire. And I said, you know, if I do that, oil prices will go up. The economy will go down a little bit. I thought it would be worse. Much worse, actually. I thought there was a chance it could be much worse. It's not bad.

[Rachel Maddow]

Okay, when he says it's not bad, is he talking about the fact that yesterday we learned that there have been effectively zero net jobs created in the past private sector over the past six months? Zero. And that's before he got us into this mess talking about that. Or does he consider the stock market sinking lower and lower each week as oil prices skyrocket not that bad? Or it could be that he doesn't think that gas prices reaching their highest level in four years is that bad. I mean, who knows? But, I mean, those spikes in oil prices were only exacerbated by an Israeli attack yesterday on the world's biggest gas reserve, which just happens to be partially controlled by. By Iran. Iran then responded by striking energy infrastructure in nearby Gulf states, sending the whole market into panic. Which might be why Donald Trump was so quick to try to distance himself from that latest escalation. I mean, last night, Trump accused Israel of violently lashing out, saying that, quote, the United States knew nothing about this particular attack, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen. No idea. But once again, Trump was just gaslighting the American people because, as the New York Times reports, the US did know about the attack before it happened. And that's according to three Israeli officials who all say that the strike was actually coordinated with the Trump administration in advance. So after being called out by his own allies in this war, Trump tried to rewrite history yet again.

[Amos Hochstein]

You talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu about

[Rachel Maddow]

attacking the oil and gas fields?

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, I did. I did. I told him, don't do that. And he won't do that. We didn't discuss, you know, we do, we're independent, but get along great. It's coordinated, but on occasion he'll do something and if I don't like it, and so we're not doing that anymore.

[Rachel Maddow]

Okay, so now he did know about the strikes, but he was against them. And they were coordinated with Israel, but also totally independent. So despite being caught in yet another lie about this war, it's clear that Trump thinks he can say whatever he wants, that he can paint a rosy picture of everything happening and no one is allowed to question. I mean, just listen to the way his war mongering minion, Pete Hegseth, lashed out at the press today on this very subject.

[Pete Hegseth]

The media here, not all of it, but much of it, wants you to think just 19 days into this conflict that we're somehow spinning toward an endless abyss or a forever war or a quagmire. Nothing could be further from the truth.

[Rachel Maddow]

This isn't a quagmire because I'm telling you it's not a quagmire. It's not an endless war because I'm also telling you it's not an endless war. There's not defensive at all. Ptexith really wants you to believe that this is still just a short term little military excursion, as they like to say. But again, reality just keeps getting in the way of the Trump administration's preferred narrative or preferred talking points. I mean, just yesterday, Reuters reported that the Trump administration is weighing the deployment of thousands more troops to the region, sending ground forces to Iran's Kharg island, and deploying US Troops to Iran's shoreline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Pete Hexseth owns apartment is reportedly seeking $200 billion of new war funding. That's a billion with a B. All for a war that Trump claims we already won. That, Pete Hegseth claims is totally not a forever war and definitely not a quagmire. Now, on top of that, the chief of Staff for the Israeli Defense Forces reportedly said that this war isn't even halfway over yet. So as much as Hexath insists that this is a short term, limited war with clearly defined objectives, and it appears to be the exact opposite, there are no clearly defined objectives. And a $200 billion request, plus thousands more troops to the region, does not scream limited war. In fact, when HECSETH was asked about when this war might end, well, here's what he said. How close would you say we are towards achieving the President's objectives?

[Interviewer/Host]

And what is the end game of

[Rachel Maddow]

the operation without divulging any sensitive battle plans?

[Pete Hegseth]

Well, we wouldn't want to set a definitive time frame on that. But as we've said, we're on. So we're looking at those metrics very closely, relaying that to the President and the national security team, but feel confident that as again, we're more stand in means we're over the top, even further in, and we have even more of an exact sense of what we're striking and why, and even more dynamically, and it will be at the President's choosing ultimately, where we say, hey, we've achieved what we need to on behalf of the American people to ensure our security. So no time set on that, but we're very much on track.

[Rachel Maddow]

That was a lot of words without offering any clear objectives or even a remote sense of a timeline. But trust me, according to Pete Hegseth, we're on track. And actually he doesn't even know what that track looks like because only Trump can decide when it's over. So there's that. We're pretty pleased. Don't call it a quagmire. Definitely don't call it a quagmire. Meanwhile, Trump himself continues to suggest that this whole thing is, is pretty much wrapped up anyway.

[Donald Trump]

It's going to be over with pretty soon. We've obliterated their navy. We've obliterated their just about everything there is to obliterate, including leadership. Their navy's gone. Their air force is gone. Their anti aircraft equipment is gone. We're flying wherever we want, Pete. We have no nobody even shooting at us.

[Rachel Maddow]

According to Trump, we're flying wherever we want. Nobody's even shooting at us. Well, you will not be shocked to learn that was likely another lie, because just hours before Trump made those comments, CNN reported that a US F35 fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing after being struck by what is believed to be Iranian fire. And that's according to two people familiar with the matter. But Trump says nobody's even shooting at us. Look, it's obvious that this war is not going the way that Trump and his administration wanted to. Every day we get more evidence and more tacit admissions that they are losing control. I mean, the oil situation alone is so out of control that Trump has already lifted sanctions on Russian oil even as we get more and more reports that Russia is helping Iran target U.S. assets. And today, Trump's treasury secretary said they are even considering lifting sanctions on, wait for it, Iran ending sanctions on Iranian oil to keep prices, in their view, from skyrocketing further while we are at war with Iran. So to recap there, in just the past week, we've gone from no mercy for Iran to actually easing up on Iran in an attempt to clean up the mess Trump is making of the global economy. Things have gotten so bad that Republican loyalists in Congress are now actively trying to prevent administration officials from being questioned about the war in a public hearing. Here's how Senator Tim Kaine describes it.

[Senator Tim Kaine]

In a classified hearing, Chris asked the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch the following. When are we going to have a public hearing about this war? When Senator Risch said the following. I have decided that we will not have public hearings because I do not believe the administration's decision makers should be subject to Public questioning by senators.

[Rachel Maddow]

That's exactly what any administration waging any kind of war overseas should be subject to, answering questions in front of the public, to the Senate. But the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee does not want Trump's advisors to be questioned about this war. They are afraid of scrutiny. And they have good reason to be, because even Fox News has started to ask some very valid questions about Trump's strategy and preparation for this war.

[Fox News Correspondent]

Why are we having, it seems like, to be a continuing nagging problem with the Strait of Hormuz. Have any NATO members told you that they're going to help? Because so far, France, Germany, UK have been adamant that this is not their problem. The fact that Iran is going to strike other countries in the region, we spent a lot on this. Why didn't they anticipate this and inform the president of those facts? Why has this taken so long?

[Interviewee (Fisherman)]

Well, I would look at it the exact opposite, which is, how has this happened so fast?

[Rachel Maddow]

Would you look at it that way, Stephen? It's quite a gutsy talking point there. Look, the Trump administration can gaslight all they want about how this war is going, but they're not fooling anybody. They're not fooling Democrats in Congress, they're not fooling the press, even Fox News, and they're definitely not fooling the American people. A new Reuters Ipsos poll out today finds Americans disapprove of Trump's war in Iran by 22 points. Another poll from the Economist in YouGov finds a majority of Americans oppose the war, while just 33% of Americans support it. And many of Trump's own supporters are angry. MSNO's Alex Tabitt did some great reporting. He spoke to several Florida fishermen who had voted for Trump in the past, asking them what this all means for their bottom line.

[Pete Hegseth]

I'm really scratching my head because I voted Republican and most of us in the fishing industry did, and we're not seeing the positives come out of it, why we voted that way.

[Rachel Maddow]

What would your message be to President

[Pete Hegseth]

Trump right now about this war?

[Interviewee (Fisherman)]

Think about the people. Think about the people, the working class, people like us. It's not just the fishermen, the truck drivers, the delivery, the shipping companies. It's got to have a major, major effect on everybody, just you and I. You driving to and from work. My wife said she paid almost over $4 for regular gas. That's unheard of. I mean, at the cost of living. And then you add that on top. It's, it's terrible. Just please think about the People, man, what are we really doing there besides raising our prices?

[Rachel Maddow]

That's a guy who voted for Trump. Trump's war is growing less and less popular by the day. Even Trump's own supporters are not buying his spin. As you just saw. We've already seen the first MAGA diehard resign from the Trump administration over this war. And today Tulsi Gabber testified again, this time in the House where she faced questions over that now ex employees assessment. And even she seemed kind of reluctant in the moment to back all the aspects of Trump's war.

[Congressman Robert Garcia]

Director Gabbard, do you still believe that

[Rachel Maddow]

strikes against Iran that don't have congressional authorization constitute an illegal and unconstitutional act of war?

[Tulsi Gabbard]

Congressman, thank you for the question. The cost of war weighs very heavily upon me and my colleagues here. My, my own personal and political views. As I mentioned earlier, I was asked and required by Congress and by the President in this role as the Director of National Intelligence to check those views at the door.

[Rachel Maddow]

She's not just a woman on the street, she's the Director of National Intelligence. Does she think Trump's war is illegal and unconstitutional? She won't say because she checks her personal views at the door. Now, as cowardly as it is to dodge a question about the legality of war by citing your work life balance of sorts, I've gotta say that was hardly a ringing endorsement for Trump's war from his top intelligence official today. But let's face it, ringing endorsements are kind of hard to come by right now. Joining me now is Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia. He's a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He had quite a moment grilling Tulsi Gabbard yesterday, and I want to get to that, cuz I think it was so telling. But I just want to start by asking you about some news we've been learning over the last day or so about Iran and Defense Secretary Pete Hexseth. I played a little bit of this today. Blame the media for purposely wanting people to think that we are spinning toward a forever war, as if anybody questioning that is seeing things that are out of touch with reality. How worried are you about where this war is right now?

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

Well, anytime a president launches the country into war without clear objectives, without a stated plan for the aftermath of the armed conflict, without any evidence of an imminent threat to our national security, without the consent of Congress, those are precisely the conditions that can lead to the kind of open ended commitment and mission creep that result in conflict where there's escalation and escalation and escalation. And before you know it, you're in much deeper than you ever planned. And we have to bear in mind that U.S. service members are being killed in action. U.S. service members are being grievously wounded in combat. And this administration has an obligation to the men and women in the armed forces to level with the American people about their objectives, their plan and the reason they chose to launch this war.

[Rachel Maddow]

Now they're also, the Department of Defense, as you well know, is asking for 200 billion, billion with a B dollars in order to fight this war. Where do you come down on that?

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

I don't know if you saw Senator Lisa Murkowski's comments today, but I suspect that a request for an open ended blank check for indefinite combat operations with no strings attached will fail even to attract Republican support in the United States Senate.

[Rachel Maddow]

You think it will fail?

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

I think that there's going to be difficulty even mustering support on the other side of the aisle for that kind of open ended commitment.

[Rachel Maddow]

One of the other pieces, and I just mentioned this news today that is hard to wrap your head around, is Secretary Bessant kind of mused about easing, lifting, easing and lifting potentially oil sanctions on Iran. Now, the objective, of course, would be to put more oil back in the market. Whether that would work or not, given the Strait of Hormuz is still closed, is sort of a different question. But these sanctions have been in place for a very long time in order to deter their action. Did you see that? What did you make of that? Speculation or musing, I guess I should call it?

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

Yeah. It is one of the ironies of this situation that the high price of oil, on the fact that Iranian shipments of crude or shipments of crude that they approve are the only ones transiting the Strait has increased oil revenues to Iran and of course also to Russia. This is a huge boon for Vladimir Putin's treasury and therefore his war effort. The high oil price and the shortages of natural gas in Asia and now increasingly impacting Europe mean that Russian oil and gas revenues are higher than they've been in years.

[Rachel Maddow]

They're winning. In some ways, they're winning. As this is going on, one of the things that has struck me is that and Pete Hexseth, he acknowledged this. He said, we have objectives. Those objectives are clear. We have allies pursuing objectives as well. Essentially. I heard Israel has different objectives which they've acknowledged than the United States has. Now, they haven't outlined what our objectives are from here, but they seem different from Israel. Does that concern you? As this Continues. And as the Israelis have said, we're not even halfway done with the war from their perspective.

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

Well, I think we saw today from the President a fairly unconvincing attempt to try to de escalate and after the strike on that gas field because of the concern that more and more unrestricted warfare that destroys the infrastructure responsible for producing oil and gas in the region could have not just a short term economic effect, but a long term economic effect. And the other piece that's been so difficult and so painful to see is that after years and years of this President trashing our allies, we learned today that the Danish government was preparing military options to defeat a potential American invasion of Greenland just months ago. The President has treated our allies like they don't matter. Then demanded that they come to his aid. And when they understandably were reluctant to do so, he then said, oh well, we don't need you anyway. We, we are doing long term damage to the alliance structure upon which we and the free world depend for our

[Rachel Maddow]

security and those allies matter. You had quite, I mentioned this and we played it yesterday and talked about it yesterday, but you had quite an exchange with Tulsi Gabbard yesterday. And what I appreciated about it is that you kept pressing her on the same question until you got some answer, an answer from her and just to remind people. And we played it yesterday, but she basically said it's not the intelligence community's respons to determine what is and is not an imminent threat. That is up to the President based on a volume of information that he receives. You pressed her for a reason. I thought it was quite telling what she said. What was telling about it to you?

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

Look, I would encourage folks to go online and search for the full exchange of my questions to Director Gabbard because they should concern every American. This is what I describe as their Dear Leader problem. You know, she is bound by law and I cited the law in those questions to come and provide intelligence information to the Congress, quote, independent of political considerations. But because in this administration it is unacceptable ever to contradict the President's words. And because the President is a pathological liar, our intelligence officials twist themselves into knots to try to, on the one hand, avoid committing perjury before Congress and on the other hand, avoid ever contradicting this White House when their role is to provide the people's elected representatives in Congress with unvarnished, objective, unbiased intelligence information. This corrupts the process of intelligence analysis and that can lead to huge policy errors that put the American people at risk.

[Rachel Maddow]

I mean, having sat in White Houses during those briefings, what is normal is to brace yourself in the White House for what they may say. It is not to please the president. It is to provide accurate information to the country and to members of Congress who hold them to account. We have to take a very quick break. You've agreed to stick around. Thank you for that. You are running for reelection and I don't know if you've seen this, but I just wanted to play for you. Michelle Tafoya, who is running for Senate in Minnesota, she had a little bit of advice for the American people on what they should do in this moment as their gas prices are going up. So we'll play it. We'll talk about it when we come back from a break. Maybe you'd take one less trip to Starbucks and so that gas goes a little further. Until this thing is over and these gas prices come back down again. Let's just try to be patriots about this. I'm guessing that's not your message on the trail. We're taking a quick break. We'll be right back with Senator Ossoff.

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[Charlie Cox]

Hi everyone, I'm Charlie Cox. Join us on Disney as we talk with the cast and crew of Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again.

[Congressman Robert Garcia]

What haven't you gotten to do as

[Rachel Maddow]

D Daredevil being the Avengers, Charlie and

[Donald Trump]

Vincent came to play.

[Rachel Maddow]

I get emotional when I think about it. One of the great finales of any episode we've ever done.

[Donald Trump]

We are gonna play truth or Daredevil. What?

[Rachel Maddow]

Oh, boy.

[Congressman Robert Garcia]

Fantastic.

[Donald Trump]

You guys go hard, man.

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[Rachel Maddow]

We are back with Senator Jon Ossoff. I played that clip of Michelle defoia, obviously not running in Georgia, she's running up in the Midwest. But it made me think about kind of how this is playing in Senate races and House races across the country. You are in one of the most targeted races in the country, if not the most. How is every aspect of the war, the impact on the military and military families, gas prices? How is that coming up as an issue as you talk to people in

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

Georgia, You've got the immediate economic pain, right? People are obviously already seeing it at the pump. I'm also increasingly hearing serious concern bordering on panic from people in the agricultural community.

[Rachel Maddow]

Fertilizer.

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

Fertilizer. Diesel. But yes, a third of the international trade in fertilizer goes through the Strait of Hormuz. And we're approaching the planting season. And this is going to have a huge impact on American agriculture and agriculture worldwide. It could impact the global crop that's available to feed the planet. It could have a huge impact on food prices for the rest of the year. And I think folks are underestimating the potential long term economic costs this could impose on us.

[Rachel Maddow]

One of the stories I woke up this morning watching and wondering about was the story of kind of drones going over the homes of unidentified drones or drones we didn't know enough about, of some cabinet officials. And it just made me think about the attacks we saw last week, the one on the synagogue in Michigan and of course ODU in Virginia. You sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee. I think a lot of people out there, and I'm wondering if you get asked about this, worry about retaliatory attacks, worry about the safety of our homeland for a variety of reasons because we've seen them happen and also because of the unpreparedness of this administration. What do you tell them and what do you think about that concern? People have?

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

Look, the threat level is elevated right now. There's no doubt about that. And I do hear people expressing that concern. I also hear them expressing concern about the cavalier attitude toward all of this that we see from the White House. I mentioned in the hearing yesterday the president is sending out fundraising emails to his supporters featuring photos of American service members in flag draped coffins returning to their families after being killed in action. It's the most callous and disgraceful disregard for the sacrifice that these service members have made. It gives the impression that the president and his team really do just view those who wear the uniform as pawns. It's completely disrespectful and completely unacceptable. And in Georgia, we're a military state. We are proud to host some of the most important defense installations in the country. We are proud of those who serve and those who have served. And that kind of disrespect for the military does not go over well in Georgia.

[Rachel Maddow]

Senator John Ostoff, great talking to you. Thanks for being here.

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

Thank you so much.

[Rachel Maddow]

Coming up, our friend May Rachel Maddow wondered this week why a story involving Jared Kushner is not more of a show stopping scandal in our country right now. I think we should all wonder this. Well, it appears Congressman Robert Garcia agrees because today he launched an investigation into what Jared Kushner is up to. And he joins me to talk about it next. So today we got some brand new entries into the competition for biggest alleged grift of the Trump administration. And I guess I should say biggest grift so far. There's time to go, people. Time to go. But truly, today we learned about multiple alleged grifts that could be some of the biggest grifts in American history. Let's just start with Corey Lewandowski, and you may know him as Trump's former campaign manager or as Kristi Noem's alleged secret boyfriend, an allegation they both deny. But officially, Corey Lewandowski's title in the federal government is special government employee. Basically, he had been a de facto chief of staff to Kristi Noem at dhs, and the role was supposedly unpaid. But today, NBC News reported that Lewandowski was, at the very least, trying to use that position to enrich himself. Here's the headline. Some DHS contractors told White House officials they were asked to pay Corey Lewandowski. Now, the big allegation in this piece is about the private prison company Geo Group. It is one of the biggest private prison companies in the country and is a key part of ICE's system of detention centers all across the country. A senior DHS official and three people familiar with the discussion told NBC News that after Trump was elected, during the transition, Lewandowski told the founder of Geo Group that he wanted to, quote, be paid in exchange for protecting and growing Geo Group's DHS contracts. Protecting and growing is doing a lot of work there. Now, those sources said that the founder of GeoGroup declined that offer. Then, months later, Trump was sworn in. Kristi Noem was made Secretary of Homeland Security, and Lewandowski got his, quote, unquote, unpaid special government employee gig. So Lewandowski and the founder of Geo Group had another conversation. Now, two industry sources familiar with the matter told NBC News that in that conversation, the founder of Geo Group offered to put Lewandowski on retainer, basically a recurring consulting fee. But those sources say that wasn't enough for Lewandowski because he wanted to be compensated based on the company's new or renewed contracts with dhs. So basically, as a government employee, employee, he allegedly wanted to make money for giving government business to this company. Now, the founder of GeoGroup declined that deal. And then in the months that followed, the length of two of Geo Group's federal contracts shrank and their detention centers sat idle, even while DHS is spending billions building massive new detention centers all around the country, sometimes giving contracts to very inexperienced companies. Now, I should mention that Lewandowski's spokesperson called it absolutely false that Lewandowski even demand that he ever demanded payment from Geo Group. And DHS's General Counsel's office told NBC News that Lewandowski is in compliance with all required ethics, financial disclosure, reporting and training requirements. Okay, but. Oh, boy. I mean, that is a hell of a story. And that is just one of the stories. Just one about major alleged grift we got today. The other is about President Trump's adult son, John Jr. Last year, Don Jr. S venture capital firm invested in a startup focused on Rare earth magnet production. Three months after that investment, the startups landed a $620 million government contract. How lucky for them, isn't it? Now, while the Rare Earth magnet startup was only valued at about $200 million when Don Jr's firm invested in it today, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the startup is now valued at nearly $2 billion. I should note that all the parties involved told Bloomberg that there was no connection between the Trump administration's decision to back the company and the investment by John Jr's firm. The startup CEO says he has never communicated with Don Jr. In any way. Don Jr. S venture capital firm says it had zero involvement in the government contract. And a spokesperson for Don Jr. Says that he doesn't interface with the federal government on behalf of any company that he invests in or advises. Guess it's just some really, really coincidental good luck, I guess. Now, we got these two new stories today, but amazingly, they don't even come close to the scale of the biggest alleged corruption story we got this week. A scandal that is all the more concerning now that the United States is at war with Iran, because on Friday, the New York Times reported that Jared Kushner is still soliciting funds from countries in the Middle east while actively negotiating on America's behalf as Trump's Middle east envoy. No conflict of interest there, is there? I mean, there's an obvious one. Five people with knowledge of the talks told the New York Times that Kushner had spoken to potential investors about raising another $5 billion for his investment firm. Two people briefed on the discussions told the Times that Kushner's firm has already met with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and that other sovereign wealth funds from countries like the UAE and Qatar are also expected to be asked for more. Now, the chief legal officer for Kushner's investment fund told the Times that the firm does not intend to take any additional capital while Jared is volunteering for the government. And a spokesperson for the White House said the Kushner only acts in the best interest of the American people, however they define that. I don't know about you, but I would like someone to double check all of that. And thankfully, Democrats in Congress are on the case. One of the Democrats leading that charge, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, joins me now. Okay. One of our amazing producers, Sam, put that all together. We may have missed some things. There were so many details, but UN Sen. Wyden sent two letters today. One demanding answers from Kushner's investment firm about what they have been doing. The other demanding answers from the White House about what exactly Jared has been doing on behalf of. Of the US Government. Give us the specifics of what information you are looking for, what you want from them.

[Congressman Robert Garcia]

Sure. And let me first give some more information. I mean, let's first remember that when Jared Kushner was involved in the first Trump administration, just a few months after leaving the White House and Trump won, he actually goes on just months later and gets $2 billion from the Saudis for this same investment fund. And we had questions then. We've continued to ask questions of how Kushner was then able to go and get other additional support from other countries. And now we have this new information that he is going around to countries across the Middle east and getting billions of dollars again for this investment fund, while essentially being the lead envoy on Middle east issues for the Trump White House. This is corruption. This is the most corrupt administration. And what Jared Kushner is doing clearly stands against ethics principles, laws of separation of powers, and the private sector. And what we have to do at this moment, both on the Senate side and the House side, is vigorously investigate Kushner, the companies that he's involved with, the investment firm itself, and ask our friends and allies what the hell is going on. Why are the Saudis pumping billions of dollars into essentially Kushner's investment firm while he's putting Middle east policy together for Trump?

[Rachel Maddow]

It all is a coincidence according to them, which if you believe I have a bridge to sell you in Alaska or somewhere. Let me ask you also about Corey Lewandowski because I just went through some highlights of this eye popping NBC story that just came out today. You have your hands full investig investigating a lot of people and all sorts of things, but there is a lot of interest in these DHS contracts in his role too. What can you do to get to the bottom of that? Is that something you and your colleagues are going to investigate?

[Congressman Robert Garcia]

We're actually making pretty good progress. So over the last few months we have already been looking at DHS and Lewandowski. We've had folks approach us, we've had interviews and conversations with folks that have all been concerned that essentially Lewandowski has set up a pay to play scheme at DHS where folks are essentially going through him to get big government contracts and then he is somehow benefiting from those contracts. And reporting that's come out here in the last couple of days, particularly reporting through NBC, has made it very clear that our suspicions, all the evidence is pointing in the same direction, that Lewandowski, who apparently has a, and has had a special relationship with, of course with Secretary Noem, is somehow benefiting financially, directly by putting together these deals, these contracts as a special government employee. And so we have questions not just for Lewandowski, not just for dhs, but we're going to those companies directly. And the companies know that they cannot hide from the Oversight Committee forever. They're going to have to answer our questions. And we're continuing to hear, by the way, from even voices inside the administration that are actually seeing and they believe witnessing corruption directly from Lewandowski and Noam. So we're going to get to the bottom of this. It's a big part of our investigation and I'm glad that folks are beginning to talk to us on this issue.

[Rachel Maddow]

That's a juicy one. I hope you'll come back and talk to us about that too. Congressman Robert Garcia, thank you as always. We have to take a quick break, but first I want you to listen to what my next guest just said. About Trump's war with Iran.

[Amos Hochstein]

I know that a number of Republican senators have told the White House, I've spoken to two Republican senators, told me this directly. They said, look, you know, if this continues, forget the House, we're going to lose the Senate.

[Rachel Maddow]

Almost. Huxing served in top energy roles for Barack Obama and for Joe Biden. He understands the absolute mess Trump has created probably better than almost anyone, and he joins me next.

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[Congressman Robert Garcia]

Why have I asked my electrician I

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster? I was so moved by how carefully

[Congressman Robert Garcia]

he buried my electrical wires, I knew

[Senator Jon Ossoff]

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[Rachel Maddow]

One thing about Donald Trump's war of choice in Iran that I have not been able to get out of my head is when last week, Trump posted online, the United States is the largest oil producer in the world by far. So when oil prices go up, we we make a lot of money. Who exactly is the we there? Certainly not you. It's not the majority of people. A gallon of gas, on average, as I'm sure you've noticed, hit $3.88 today, roughly a dollar more than what it was before the war began. Just a few weeks ago, in at least eight states, the average is already over $4. And every day Trump's war against Iran drags on, events unfold that send global energy prices soaring higher, like today when Iran attacked a facility in Qatar that supplies one fifth of the world's natural gas. So now the question is, how do we get out of this mess? Can we get out of this mess? I think we all hope so. I literally have the perfect person to ask. I have sat in so many briefings with him. He is the person who knows more about this than almost anybody in the world. He's one of the world's leading experts on the issue. He served as Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security during the Biden administration. He also served in the Obama administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Diplomacy. And Amos Hochstein joins me now. Okay, you have been through so many of these crises. They're all a little bit different. But how do you assess what's going on right now in comparison to what a lot of people watching right now may have lived through at the early stage of Russia invading Ukraine or other moments of global oil markets being thrown off in the last few decades?

[Amos Hochstein]

Well, we've had a lot of energy crises since OPEC had the in the 1970s. Remember gas lines in the United States. And yet this is the worst energy crisis the world has ever seen.

[Rachel Maddow]

Ever, ever.

[Amos Hochstein]

Because back in the day, the Gulf was the Arab states and the Gulf were the main supplies of oil. But today this is not just about oil. As you just said, LNG. 20% of the world's LNG comes from Qatar. Yeah, 20% of the oil. And then you have to add to that diesel and jet fuel and fuel for ships and fertilizer, nitrogen, silly things that we don't think about like helium gas, which you need for semiconductors. So the tech industry, all that comes from that same region in ways that it didn't before. There are some alternative routes, but nowhere nearly enough to be able to cover this crisis.

[Rachel Maddow]

There have been a lot of things tried, including tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The IEA added more into the markets. None of them exactly worked. Is the only way to fix this, I guess for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened, which is more of a military action than anything else, or negotiation, I suppose.

[Amos Hochstein]

So look, the best thing to do is to prepare in advance. So they lost that.

[Rachel Maddow]

Which they didn't do, which they did not. But at this point, at this point,

[Amos Hochstein]

what you want, they're throwing a lot of different things at it. So that's also confusing the oil markets. When you hear that there's a problem and the person responsible for the problem says to you on Monday I'm going to do an insurance scheme from the government. And on Tuesday they say, well, we're not going to do that, cuz that's not going to work. So we're going to do the spr. But no, no, we're not going to do that. We're going to unsanction Russian oil or we'll unsanction Iranian oil for all of them. You start thinking they don't have a plan because they're coming up with a new plan every day. The bottom line is you got to get out of this conflict because the Strait of Hormuz has to open. And so now they're debating, do we do this by force or do we end the war? These are catastrophic kind of decisions, because look what happened today. They make a decision together with Israel to attack a gas field, an Iranian gas field, and they retaliate by attacking the LNG and Qatar. What if they do that to a production field in Saudi Arabia or in UAE? We're not at 110. And not only that, we can't bring those prices down.

[Rachel Maddow]

Well, what if they do that? You know the answer to this. But the rest of the.

[Amos Hochstein]

They do that, prices surge. But most importantly, if they do it successfully, then two things happen. One, six million barrels that are diverted away from the Strait of Hormuz. That goes away and our prices soar. Gasoline, diesel, jet fuel. Everything else soars. And when the war ends, much longer to bring it back.

[Rachel Maddow]

So let's just say that tomorrow, for political reasons would be my guess. We played the clip of you saying, a couple Republicans have said, told you that if this continues, they could lose the Senate. Let's say tomorrow, Trump decides, okay, we're done, we're gonna end this war. How long will it take for, I guess, the Strait to potentially reopen? That's a harder question. But for the global oil markets to sort of resettle and for people out there watching who are paying much more money at the gas tank to see them come down, what's kind of the broad scope of potential timeline?

[Amos Hochstein]

So we're already at a. There's a certain rate of increases that's already baked in. So even if everything changes, we're at 388, I think you said at the beginning of the show, we're probably going to be at $4 by the end of the weekend, regardless. Even if tomorrow they announce that we're ending this war. Because there's something that just the process. If they end it tomorrow, LNG won't come back probably for two months, and the oil will start coming back. But remember, you got to send all the tankers over there to pick it up. You got to get your production going. Many countries in the Gulf have shut in all their production offshore for fear of drones that they can't protect. So this will take a while. It's not Just the gasoline though. The diesel is what lubricates our entire economy. We are not a farm to table economy. Our food comes to us because we're a farm to truck to table. Everything we eat comes off a truck and diesel is what drives that. Diesel is over $5 so it will take some time even if they end it today. But it doesn't look like they're going to end it tomorrow. Which means this could last a lot longer.

[Rachel Maddow]

I hope you will come back and talk more with us. I had so many questions for you. Few people know more than you do. Thank you so much for being here. That does it for me tonight. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday, Friday at 9pm Eastern on Ms. Now. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok.

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