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- [00:00]
Announcer
Foreign.
- [00:07]
Jim Acosta
Acosta show. It's another day that ends in Y and the District of crypto corruption. That's right here, Washington, D.C. a million Trump supporters, that's the latest reporting in the New York Times, lost money on Donald Trump's Meme coin while he walked away with hundreds of millions of dollars. I will discuss with former Obama White House ethics czar and democracy warrior, our friend Norm Eisen. But first, a word from our spons. Have you ever had your data stolen? I have, and it is no picnic. Incogni can stop that from happening. Prevent your data from getting exposed by checking out Incogni. They delete your exposed personal data from the Web, the same data that scammers are buying every day to target victims. The less they can see about you, the safer you are. Try Incogni today and get 55% off your annual subscription with the code. Jim. 55. All right, now let's bring in our friend and democracy warrior, Norm Eisen, the great Norm Eisenh. He's got a new op ed out in Ms. Now today about Trump shattering the norms, no pun intended, of presidents avoiding.
- [01:15]
Norm Eisen
He'll never shatter this. Norm. Jim, I thought I'd slide that one
- [01:21]
Jim Acosta
past you, but no luck. Good to see you, Norm.
- [01:24]
Norm Eisen
Always a pleasure to be with you, Jim. And indeed, the latest corruption scandal in a series that we've been very pleased to litigate at the Democracy Defenders Fund. Democracy Defenders Action. And first it was the corruption of the $1.8 billion slush fund that he tried to grab. Then he tried to take the whole Kennedy center for himself. Jim. The Epstein files, hiding files that we know would be embarrassing to Trump. And now this $2 billion, more than $2 billion profiting off the presidency, including making over 600 million on his Trump meme coin. While investors lost their shirts, 95% decline in value. They lost almost $4 billion, according to the New York Times.
- [02:28]
Jim Acosta
It's nuts. And you have this op ed in Ms. Now with other former ethics lawyers, and you guys write this. Trump has shattered the principle that presidents are expected to divest conflicting assets, use blind trust, or hold broadly diversified funds to avoid the conflict of interest problem that can come with the presidency. And you talk about how Trump has shattered that principle. You say his most recent financial disclosure reveals an extraordinary 2.2 billion in G gains, as you mentioned, during his first year in office. The sheer scale of the sums, 1.4 billion in cryptocurrency alone, is unparalleled. The issue is not simply how much money Trump has made or that he made it at all. It's that he made that money coming from industries that his administration regulates, foreign relationships, his administration, overseas markets that can rise or fall based on the policies, enforcement decisions, diplomatic relationships and public signals of the office he holds. Norm, I described it this way the other day.
- [03:22]
Tommy Christopher
He.
- [03:23]
Jim Acosta
He is milking every cow in sight.
- [03:27]
Norm Eisen
Jim. It's like when the Scots went to Boston and drank all the beer for the World Cup. There's no milk left in any of the cows he's milked. Every cow used to be considered a sacred cow that no president could do this. And that op ed you point to is written with the Republican Ethics council for George W. Bush, myself, Obama. Clinton's ethics council is the third co author. This is not a partisan issue. Jimmy Carter had to put his peanut farm in a blind trust.
- [04:09]
Tommy Christopher
Right.
- [04:12]
Norm Eisen
George Bush had to roll his assets off Obama. I wouldn't even let him refinance his modest family home at the time of the Great Recession because he was regulating the banks. Trump is regulating, or as the case may be failing to regulate crypto. He and his family and his cronies in and outside of government are making fortunes in that and other industries where he has conflicts of interest. It's not just these domestic questions like the $600 million profits with the Trump meme coin, Jim, it's foreign. Trump is taking secretly money into that hits his, ultimately hits his pocketbook. The money is coming into Trump family associated businesses from foreign governments. Look at the United Arab Emirates, right? 500 million dollar investment to the Trump family Associated World Liberty Financial. And then shortly after that, the Emirates get highly controlled computer chips they've been jonesing for. And then you get the Iran war. They're knee neck deep in this misbegotten Iran misadventure. I mean, the conflicts at home and abroad are up the wazoo.
- [05:47]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And he's just saying what would normally be the quiet part out loud. I mean, he's flashing a green, a bright green light to anybody who wants to play fast and loose with, you know, any kind of laws that, that may be out there to protect investors and protect the consumers out there. And he was saying, he was at this event earlier today, a photo opportunity where he said to the crypto community, you're lucky that I'm president of the United States. He literally said this. We should play this and talk about on the other side. If we have it ready, I think that we might have it.
- [06:19]
Unknown Guest
But he has no idea what crypto is. He had no idea. He didn't Have a clue. But they were very violently against it. They were putting people in jail. What they were doing to the crypto was horrible. It's amazing it survived that onslaught. It was a weaponization of government. So when I went very much for it, and I must have gotten, I think I got 100% of the vote, but what happened is, I think it was 100 million people. That's a big industry, and that means some pretty good things. But what happened is Biden then after he was getting killed, he was down so much, all of a sudden they became pro crypto. And their head of the SEC was horrible. Unlike Paul, who's really good. I mean, he's the best man for the job. Everybody wanted him, but it's coming. He was horrible. What he was doing to the. They were putting people in jail. You know that better than anybody. Good people, great, prestigious people. They were putting them in jail. And I said, you got to be kidding. And they were trying to destroy the industry. Okay, ready? So now I'm killing Biden. I'm winning by so much. And all of a sudden he becomes totally pro crypto. They dropped all investigations of everybody. They allowed people to come out of jail. And every time I see a crypto guy that. Where they dropped an investigation, I said, you're lucky I'm president. Because they, you know, I don't know if, you know, the Biden administration became
- [07:49]
Jim Acosta
totally, I mean, that's it right there. No, he says you're. If they dropped your investig litigation, you're lucky on president.
- [07:54]
Norm Eisen
He and, and this is not a hypothetical, Jim. They gave. They're in again. Trump associated entities are in business with Binance, the biggest. One of the biggest crypto companies. And lo and behold, the former head of Binance, the co founder of the company, gets a pardon from Trump. He was served in jail. Contrary to what Trump said, he has a guilty conscience, Jim. Contrary to what he said, that was not a pardon by Biden. Biden prosecuted him for legal violations, and Trump pardons him. Meanwhile, the Trump associated entities are doing enormous business with Binance. It's a scandal. Now, Binance and Trump and I write about this in the op ed. They deny wrongdoing. But when Trump talks, Jim, it bears such a loose association to reality. Basically, you should assume you're much safer to assume the opposite is true than to take the statements at face value. It is a colossal corruption scandal. And what's happened is Donald Trump's approval ratings have been driven down to Nixonian lows. When Nixon was at the depths of his corruption scandals. That's basically where Trump is. Why? $1.8 billion slush fund for former insurrectionists and future violations.
- [09:43]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [09:44]
Norm Eisen
He was taking that out of our pockets. We at Democracy Defenders Fund in action go to court. We stop that Kennedy Center. He tried to take the whole Kennedy center, put his name on a memorial to a slain president. It's even worse than the $1.8 billion. We went to court and we stopped that. The Epstein files, my Democracy Defenders colleague, also brilliant independent journalists litigating. We also have multiple Epstein files cases. We are fighting on another corruption scandal, the Epstein files. And Jim, it just goes on and on and on. And this, the thousands of stock trades, what the hell is that about? When he's president, he claims, oh, somebody else is doing it. Excuse me if I'd like a few more details. This $2.2 billion, this $600 million gain on his meme coin, the $500 million from the Emiratis. Give me a break.
- [10:50]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, I know. And, and to me, I mean, my sense of it is, is that this is a scandal that could, and it's hard to even fathom this be worse than the Epstein files. I think this is the scandal of this summer, this cryptocurrency scandal, because it's something that people can, I mean, they may not be able to relate to, you know, owning crypto and that sort of thing, but they can, they can relate to a hustler pulling a fast one. And that is what Donald Trump has done here. When they see that, they see these eye popping figures, 500, $600 billion, and you see a million investors who have lost big time. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, doesn't take, you know, Jim Cramer to figure out exactly what's going on with Donald Trump. And you know, you mentioned the Epstein files. That's the other. I know that's another thing that you've been working on. Todd Blanche apparently wants more time to publish more of the Epstein files. He says he put this in a court filing late last week. This got sort of overwhelmed by a lot of other news. I can't believe that they're still asking for more time. The law has said they have to produce this information.
- [11:59]
Norm Eisen
Well, Jim, we at Democracy Defenders have filed from 100, over 100 judges, Democratic judges, Republican judges, former judges, filed with us a bar complaint against Todd Blanche, asking the ethics authorities to investigate whether he's fit to be a lawyer. And you can expect to hear a lot about this at, in his congressional testimony, including because of his mishandling of the Epstein files. We have litigation going. My Democracy defenders colleague, our independent media colleague, Jim, the wonderful Katie Fang, that order that she got, there's now been a supplemental order. She's fighting to get the Epstein files released. The only case under the Epstein File Transparency act. And it's a major scandal. And eventually it's like snowflakes, Jim. You know, in the beginning the snowflakes are like, oh, it's not sticking. Well, guess what? These issues are sticking because Trump is at these Nixonian lows. And I will say there's one other major story legally separate and, but it's important to talk about and that's the reflecting pool where there are also very serious. And that too has generated an enormous amount of public attention because, you know, people can grasp onto these tangible matters.
- [13:41]
Jim Acosta
That's exactly right. And what is the latest with David Hearn? Because, you know, this is, this was another one of those crazy things that, that popped up just before the July 4th holiday where Jeanine Pirro comes out there and says they're charging him and so on, you know, and nobody buys this, that he did any kind of damage to the reflecting pool. Todd Burgum, the Interior Secretary, was on the Sunday talk shows trying to explain away Trump's wacky comment that somebody put a 350foot slit in the reflecting pool when nobody believes that that occurred. There's no evidence that that occurred. And apparently Bergam was saying, oh, it's a bunch of slits or something. I mean, they're tying themselves into pretzels, Norm, and trying to make a case out of something where there's no case.
- [14:25]
Norm Eisen
Jim, here's what I have to say about it. We're very proud to represent Olympic athlete canoeist Davey Hearn. Three Olympics, represented his country in eight world championships. He's innocent and there's no excuse for prosecuting him. It's outrageous. Every American should be concerned about it. If Davey can get prosecuted, any of us are at risk. The administration is scapegoating Davey, trying to blame others for their own failures. Fortunately, Jim, these matters are adjudicated based on the evidence in our courts of law, not based on concocted narratives in political theater. So we're looking forward to litigating the case and we are confident in our case.
- [15:39]
Jim Acosta
Right. And we should note this is all flowing out of the same Justice Department that is being run by Todd Blanche, somebody who is essentially acting as Donald Trump's defense lawyer while being the acting Attorney general. And I know your, your group, Democracy Defenders Fund Norm you guys have filed an incredibly comprehensive bar complaint regarding Todd Blanche, noting a serious. A pattern of serious ethical misconduct. Before you go, can you weigh in on that?
- [16:10]
Norm Eisen
Yeah, I. It goes to our insistence that no one is above the law. All, especially not lawyers. We're bound by the rules of professional conduct, even tougher rules for prosecutors because of the awesome power they enjoy. And here we have these former judges, over 100 of them of both parties, coming together because, Jim, it's such a shocking break at doj. It with Blanche's handling of the Epstein files. The other issues that we detail in that complaint, such a shocking break with the tradition of DoJ, irrespective of party attempting to follow the law and the rules when Nixon did, was exposed. Nixon, in Nixon's case, Attorney General John Mitchell and others. My friend, I'm proud to call him a friend. He made it right. He became a whistleblower. John Dean, Nixon's White House counsel, the lawyers facilitated that wrongdoing. When it all came out, all the scandals, not just Watergate, Nixon reached historical lows. And the same has happened with Trump as his corruption has come out. The American people care about this. They've elected Trump to drain the swamp and to protect what's in their pockets, not to line his own pocket. Todd Blanche, with the corruption scandal of the Epstein files and much more, has facilitated that wrongdoing. Shocking. Transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's co conspirator, right, in the sex crimes, to a country club prison. No, that's against the law. So we've called out the issues, some of the issues, the most serious ones, relating to Mr. Blanche representing those bipartisan group of judges, and we expect that that'll be a significant aspect of his nomination hearings that are coming up. He should not be. He's not qualified to continue to serve, and he should not be the Attorney General.
- [18:45]
Jim Acosta
Well, Norm, I don't know what we would do without you. And I know your group was also pressing Trump and his people for answers on why they were dumping debris over in the golf course in Washington, D.C. over at East Potomac Park. I mean, it just. I don't.
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Tommy Christopher
Where do you.
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Jim Acosta
Where do you find the energy and the time? Are you sleeping enough? Are you getting enough food and caffeine? Is.
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Tommy Christopher
How do you do it?
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Jim Acosta
How the heck do you do it?
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Unknown Guest
Well.
- [19:12]
Norm Eisen
Well, Jim, I do get four hours a night of sleep, whether I need it or not. And as you can see, I'm in good spirits. I'm rested, I'm feeling energetic, and, you know, the work is an inspiration. We have over 300 legal cases and matters at Democracy Defenders Fund and Democracy Defenders Action. And Jim, it's not just the courts. It's also the court of public opinion.
- [19:47]
Jim Acosta
And that's right.
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Norm Eisen
We have our communications work so important, if a legal tree falls in the forest, people need to know about it. We work with the mobilizers across the country. Peaceful, lawful marchers. Resistance. And Jim, I'm inspired by you. Jim is a close friend of mine. You did the right thing, Jim.
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Unknown Guest
Thank you.
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Norm Eisen
So admired what you did to strike out in independent media and the example you've set. And Jim and I talk all the time and friends, we have big plans ahead.
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Jim Acosta
We do.
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Norm Eisen
We do. We are going to. That keeps me on my toes. It keeps me going, Jim.
- [20:29]
Jim Acosta
I know, and I'm so glad you are on your toes. You keep all of us on our toes. I, you know, I figure you're busy with 10 other things and you'll still have time to text me and say, jim, we got to work on this independent media thing some more. And it keeps us all going, building, building, building.
- [20:42]
Norm Eisen
And we've got some very exciting stuff coming down the pike. Jim and I. Yeah. And our independent media colleagues. Stay tuned, friends.
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Jim Acosta
They stay tuned, indeed. All right. Great to see you, Norm. Thank you so much. Keep fighting the good fight. Really appreciate it.
- [20:57]
Norm Eisen
Thanks, Jim.
- [20:58]
Jim Acosta
Good to see you.
- [20:59]
Norm Eisen
And my love to your bride.
- [21:02]
Jim Acosta
Thank you. Well, and. And my love to all of yours. We'll keep on keeping on. Thank you so much.
- [21:08]
Norm Eisen
How many brides?
- [21:09]
Jim Acosta
I don't know. I. I think you have one. But I meant all of your.
- [21:13]
Norm Eisen
Seven for seven brothers. All my family. We accept.
- [21:17]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [21:17]
Norm Eisen
Great to see you.
- [21:18]
Jim Acosta
You, Norm. Thank you. Appreciate it. And. All the bells and whistles. Whistles and swishes and swooshes and all that stuff.
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Tommy Christopher
Great.
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Jim Acosta
Norm, eyes in there. Thank you. Really appreciate. There is some breaking news that we should bring to everybody. Let's first, though, let's bring in our friend Tommy Christopher. Tommy is joining us, I think. And is he. Is he available? There is Tommy right there. Tommy, great to see you, man. Tommy, can you hear me? Oh, do we have Tommy? I don't hear Tommy. Hang on. We might have to bring Tommy back in in just a second. That's okay. We'll get Tommy in there in just a second.
- [22:05]
Announcer
We will.
- [22:05]
Jim Acosta
We do have some breaking news to report and just came across several different news outlets in the last several minutes. Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner says he is taking some time to reflect on the best path forward for his campaign to unseat Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins of Maine. Obviously, he was elected the Democratic nominee in that race. He is now on the verge potentially of, of making a very big decision on whether or not he's going to stay in that race. There's some new reporting that has just come in over the last several minutes. I was going to bring in my friend Tommy Christopher to talk about it and introduce him and, and talk about it. But let me just tell you what the latest is. This is coming from cnbc. Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner said he's taking time to reflect on his campaign's best path forward after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021. Platner in his campaign, denied the accusations in a Politico article. This came out earlier today. Politico came out with this exclusive that she accused Platner of sexual assault. Platner has denied this, but he did post a video on X just a short time ago saying he is taking time to reflect on, on the best path forward. Platner says, quote, I want to directly address the troubling, serious and false allegations against me. He says any accusation of non consensual behavior is categorically false. This movement, we have built the largest volunteer base in the history of Maine politics. Hundreds of thousands of grassroots donors, supporters across the ideological spectrum. We were united in a love of Maine, a belief that our politics must change, and a focus on defeating Susan Collins. But now it, now it appears that Graham Platner is thinking about whether or not he's just going to drop out of the Senate race altogether. Let's, I think my very new colleague, Tommy Christopher is standing by. There's Tommy right there. Tommy, can you hear me now? I hear you, but I, I mean, you hear me, but I do not hear you. I do not hear Tommy. All right, well, we'll work out. We'll work this out. Work out the kinks on this. Yeah, drop out and then drop back. And we intended to talk about a bunch of other stuff, including Trump meddling and the FIFA World cup, lots of other stuff. But this latest breaking news has just come in and of course, we want to be very careful that we're, you know, not, as the old legend, my old, a colleague and the legendary broadcaster Dan Rather used to say, better to be last and right than first and wrong. But there's a, a bunch of stories that have just popped in the last hour or so, in particular one from Politico, and that Politico story starts by saying a woman who dated Maine U.S. senate candidate Graham Platner says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections. This is an allegation Platner denies. That is the story coming out of Politico right now that is causing this very big scandal right now in Democratic politics, rattling this campaign of Graham Platner, who appeared to be potentially on the path to defeating Susan Collins and pushing her out of the Senate come this fall. He was elected the Democratic candidate in that Senate race a few weeks ago. I think we have the video. Do we want to listen to that? Play that while we try to get Tommy ready?
- [25:51]
Announcer
You have shown that a different kind of politics, one that puts the interests of people over corporations, is not just possible, but is inevitable. This movement, we have built the largest volunteer base in the history of Maine politics. The hundreds of thousands of grassroots donors and the supporters across the ideological spectrum. We were united in a love of Maine, a belief that our politics must change, and a focus on defeating Susan Collins. So regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins. Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals. Today, on June 9, 154,058 manors, the most in primary history, voted to reject a broken politics beholden to Washington and the donor class. They voted for hope, for change, to take back our economy, to take back our power, and to take back our Senate seat. Throughout it all, you never turned your back on me, and I.
- [27:10]
Jim Acosta
Okay, Turn my back. So that's Graham Platner right there announcing that he is taking some time to think about how he wants to proceed with his campaign. Now let's see if we can bring in our new new member of the team. Tommy. Tommy. Christopher. Tommy, can you hear me?
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Tommy Christopher
All right.
- [27:25]
Jim Acosta
Hey, I can't hear you.
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Tommy Christopher
What the hell?
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Jim Acosta
Okay, man. Oh, man. Can't hear me.
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Tommy Christopher
Can you hear me?
- [27:33]
Jim Acosta
I can hear you, but you cannot hear me. Can you?
- [27:36]
Tommy Christopher
Let me put my earbuds in. God damn it.
- [27:38]
Jim Acosta
That's. Okay. Well, this is what live streaming is all about, folks. Sometimes you get the guy that you want at the moment when you need them, but you don't have it. Let's do this. If. If we can't get Tommy in there, we'll just end the show and be done for the day. But obviously this is going to be a very big problem for the Democrats if they can't get their act together in this race. I will say that I was just looking at the New York Times on this story just a few moments ago, and what the New York Times is saying right now is that it was not immediately clear whether Mr. Platter intended to continue his campaign against Senator Susan Collins. But this is a very important. But the Democratic party has until July 13th to replace him on the ticket if he withdraws. According to Maine state law, Both parties see Maine as key to the battle for control of the Senate. That potentially opens the window to bringing in the governor of Maine, Janet Mills, back in, potentially as the candidate in that race. She would also put up a good fight against Susan Collins. But the progressives, obviously, in the Democratic Party up in Maine, they were more excited about having Graham Platner as their candidate. Obviously did not know all of the details of what Platner was being accused of. And so now this is obviously going to be an issue that they're going to have to think through between now and July 13, and Graham Platner is going to have to decide whether or not he can stay in this race. There has been a drip, drip, drip, obviously, as it relates to Grand Platter over the last several weeks. This has caused a schism in some circles in the Democratic Party. It's. It's caused some progressives in the party to accuse the establishment and the Democrats among the Democrats to say, you know, this is what the establishment always does. And of course, the establishment has said, this is what happens when you have unvetted candidates. Let's try Tommy one more time. Tommy, can you hear me now?
- [29:43]
Tommy Christopher
Yes, I can. Can you hear me now?
- [29:44]
Jim Acosta
I can hear you now.
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Tommy Christopher
Holy crown.
- [29:47]
Jim Acosta
Turn the camera sideways so we can do this properly.
- [29:51]
Tommy Christopher
There we go.
- [29:51]
Jim Acosta
And then there you go. Okay, I'm just gonna hold it now. You're doing great. You're doing great. So obviously we'll have to work on getting a good camera set up there for you.
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Tommy Christopher
Seriously.
- [30:03]
Jim Acosta
No, no, no. But I'm glad you came on today. We just had the great Norm Eisen on. And Tommy. Tommy's gonna be a new member of our team as senior content director of the Jim Acosta Show. We're going to be developing a new newsletter here on the show that's going to be coming out, we think, every day, we hope every day. And then we're going to be doing a morning news update in the mornings for everybody. Because I, you know, Tommy, I hear all the time, I'd love to hear something in the morning and not just in the afternoon.
- [30:29]
Unknown Guest
That's right.
- [30:30]
Jim Acosta
But welcome aboard, man. I'm. First of all, I'm glad we got the shot going, but I'm glad we have you on the team.
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Announcer
Yeah.
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Tommy Christopher
Wow. I'll tell you, that was some Boomer stuff right there. I'm good to be. I'm happy to be here. And, you know, I, I did catch the end of your Norm Eisen spot and that big scoop about Norm's wives. That's crazy.
- [30:47]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
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Tommy Christopher
He's a wild man.
- [30:51]
Jim Acosta
This is one of those things that happens on a Monday. My brain is still not fully activated for the, you know, I rested a little too much over the weekend. Maybe he's out in the sun and may heat a little too much. I meant to say to all of you, to you and yours.
- [31:03]
Tommy Christopher
Right, Norm?
- [31:04]
Jim Acosta
And, and that sounded a lot like he has multiple wives, which he does not. Norm has one wonderful wife.
- [31:10]
Tommy Christopher
All right.
- [31:11]
Jim Acosta
But, Tommy, one of the things that we should talk about is this Graham Platner situation. Are you seeing this?
- [31:17]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah, I mean, I just saw it. You know, I've, I've, you know, I've been sort of unplugged because I've been. I was moving this weekend, but yeah, that's, that's, that's pretty big. That's earth shattering stuff. And I don't know, you know, you and I haven't had a chance to talk about this Grand Platinum thing very much. I don't really even know your. Your take on it, but, I mean,
- [31:38]
Jim Acosta
he was, he was obviously a mystery. Not people didn't know who he was all that much. And. But you've got a ton of candidates like that all around the country and all these different races and the progressive base of the Democratic Party, they've been embracing new faces, new blood. And obviously when that happens, you're going to have some candidates in there who have issues. And I don't know what you think about this, but it's. It sounds as that he's saying that he's taking some time to think about whether he's going to continue his campaign. You know, I've covered politics a long time to know nine times out of 10, that means they're not going to be sticking around. True.
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Tommy Christopher
But then, you know, the what's normal isn't normal anymore. So who knows, you know?
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Announcer
Right.
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Tommy Christopher
Yeah. That's a weird announcement he made there. I think maybe it's a. Maybe he's trying to do like a, you know, a finger in the air, you know, and see which way. Right. Like, you know, it was like, you know, you remember after the debate President Biden had. It wasn't immediately clear that he was going to get forced out. And I think that Platner is probably waiting to see, is it. Is it that kind of a groundswell or is it something he can survive? Because, you know, and here's, you know, maybe he's waiting also to see if there. Is there another shoe? Are there receipts? You know, because if he's saying the. The accusations are false, you know, we've got people running and winning on accusations that are probably true, that we know to be very credible of much worse things. And so that's not, you know, I can't see them saying, oh, well, this is going to disqualify me if it's a false accusation. So maybe. Maybe he's waiting, and maybe it isn't false, and he's waiting to see if. If there's more evidence to come out or something.
- [33:23]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, I don't know either, honestly. And in these situations, that's how I. I always say you got to let these things develop, and let's see how this plays out. Obviously, a very serious allegation is being made. He is saying that allegation is not true. But for him to go as far as to say he's thinking about what to do about his campaign, that tends to. That tends to lead me to believe that this campaign is in serious trouble right now, because you're going to have staffers who are not going to want to stick around. You're going to have donors who are skittish. And if the. And as I was reading the New York Times, if they have until July 13th, I think what I just read is. That's right, July 13th, to replace him on the ticket, then they have time to replace him on the ticket, and maybe Janet Mills then becomes the candidate.
- [34:08]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah. Which I don't know how, you know, I think. I think Mills wasn't doing so great against Platinum or I don't know how she was doing against Collins, but I don't know, man. Yeah, I. I think that, you know, I. Again, I. I wish that we'd had a chance to talk about this because, you know, I've. I've always been sort of, you know, bewildered about the Platner thing. You know, I mean, this is a guy who has, you know, a lot of the stuff that he's been accused of or stuff that you know, he admitted to and see, said he was sorry and like, you know, things are different now with Trump, you know, but on the other hand, we do want to be a cut above. I don't know, you know, it's like, it's also so very important to take over to retake the Senate. And so, you know, we'll see how
- [35:00]
Jim Acosta
this plays out for sure.
- [35:01]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah.
- [35:01]
Jim Acosta
Hey, but the other thing we should talk about is not to make too hard of a left turn here, but Donald Trump involving himself in the FIFA scandal, that is the red card that went to the star US Soccer player. Team USA is gonna be playing later tonight. And I'm sure I'm gonna say his name wrong. F. Baligan. He was given a red card the other, other day in that match where it looked like he was, you know, I, I, it looked like he just collided with the other player, but the ref said, no, no, this was, you know, this was him, you know, trying to hurt the other opponent or something, another player or something like that. So they gave him a red card, which knocked him out of tonight's game with Belgium. And then all of a sudden, earlier today, FIFA announces, oh, no, no. They've decided he's, he can play. And Trump says, oh, by the way, I got involved in this. It's kind of crazy.
- [35:51]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah. You know, it's like he can't help it. You know, he, like, if he'd have just kept his mouth shut.
- [35:57]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [35:58]
Tommy Christopher
Or if, you know, because, look, it got reported out. Definitely people leaked it because he wanted credit for it, you know.
- [36:04]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [36:05]
Tommy Christopher
And, and, yeah, now, I, I, I mean, I think the gist of this is that it's going to taint whatever if the US Wins, that this is going to taint the victory. Just like, you know, I mean, Trump is the king of taint, really, you know.
- [36:20]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. So, no, there's no question about it. And, you know, I guess he was saying earlier today, I was going to play this sound with Norm, but I'll play with you because we can talk about this as well. Trump was saying, well, if Team USA loses, we'll just say it was rigged. I think we still have this sound.
- [36:38]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah, I wanted to hear that because
- [36:39]
Jim Acosta
like I said, let's play this one here. If we have that, guys, my guys are listening. Maybe I'll just play. It
- [36:51]
Unknown Guest
happened. You have to let them use their best players, and the game tonight's going to be amazing, and we're going to have a full team, and Belgium is going to have a full team, and you Know what? If they beat us, then they can be really proud the other way. If they beat us, we'll say it was. I say it was rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020. But I won't get into that, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much.
- [37:17]
Tommy Christopher
So, yeah, either he's admitting that he's going to claim. He's either saying he's going to claim it was rigged, or he's admitting that he was full of before when he claimed it was rigged.
- [37:30]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [37:30]
Tommy Christopher
Which, I mean, I think that's the. That's amazing. I haven't seen that. I hadn't seen that clip. I've been unplugged for moving. But, yeah, okay, this is the, like that. I know that we live in the era of Trump and we say this all the time, but, like, that should be leading every broadcast. Like, here he is, like, nakedly admitting, oh, yeah, I've been, like, full of shit about this the entire time. The entire time. Like, you're a bunch of jerks. And, yeah, like, it's crazy, you know, I mean, remember the dumb. Like, remember Obama wore a tan suit? And I, I mean, I think Biden said that the health care for all was a big deal and like, those were huge deals. And then Trump just, like, just every day he, like, confesses to something horrible and it's nothing.
- [38:15]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, I mean, that's the thing is, I think as he. As the cognitive decline gets worse and worse. He has no sensor.
- [38:23]
Unknown Guest
What was.
- [38:24]
Jim Acosta
What little sensor he had is completely gone now. It's been obliterated. And now he will just say out loud what pops into his head, even if that means admitting this entire time he's been full of. About election fraud. I mean, he says right there, well, if they lose, we'll just say it was rigged like I do at the 2020 election. I mean, that's literally. That is exactly what he just said there. It's totally crazy. But. And that leads me to the other thing that hasn't been going well for him, which is this entire DEBACLE with the Fourth of July down here in D.C. you know, it's. It goes back to that old expression, everything he touches dies or turns to or something.
- [39:02]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah. Who is it that says that? But, yeah, Rick Wilson. And you know, I didn't stay up for this for the speech, but, yeah, like, I do. I was there. I was on. I was working for the. For the rest of the day. And first of all, the weather was insane. That scene in the mall when they were evacuating people if you saw some of the crazy videos from that.
- [39:26]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [39:27]
Tommy Christopher
And that. What the hell was that fireworks show, man? It was like a game of mystical, man. Yeah, it was crazy. I was like, like, if I would have been there, I mean. Whoa.
- [39:37]
Jim Acosta
You know, and then I, I'm in D.C. the next day. There was the smoke everywhere. I mean, it was, it was disgusting. But I saw, you know, first of all, I've been to D.C. fireworks shows a million times over the years. I knew this one was going to be big. And, and yeah, that's impressive and it might have been cool to see, but I did not want to go down there and subject my loved ones to being in the middle of Armageddon and chaos if this thing were to go sideways. And that's. It looks like that's what. They didn't put the fireworks on until almost July 5th. It was almost midnight when they started. And I mean, I don't. Why does he have to give a 40 minute speech at 11 o' clock at night? What part of him makes it like, necessary for him to do that? It's just deranged.
- [40:21]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah. And, and you know, plus, like just the, the, like the tiny crowds and the, you know, the, with the reflecting pool and, you know, then he was at the golf course with a sniper and. Did you see that?
- [40:39]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, it was weird. It was really weird. Yeah. Apparently Norm Eisen wants to get to the bottom of why he was touring the golf course the other day. And this is the golf course where they dumped all this stuff from the east wing of the White. It's been a show in D.C. tommy, it's good that you're in a different state, but I'm glad we're doing them. I'm glad we're doing the newsletter that's coming later this week. The new morning updates will be coming soon. We're working on all this stuff. We're firing on all cylinders. And can we say what's happening tomorrow?
- [41:07]
Tommy Christopher
I was just, I was just going to ask you if we, if we
- [41:09]
Jim Acosta
could say if we should. Can we say it? I don't know.
- [41:11]
Tommy Christopher
I think we should. Yeah.
- [41:12]
Jim Acosta
Let's say it.
- [41:13]
Tommy Christopher
We do. We have a very special guest tomorrow. The potentially next President of the United States. And my, my potential running mate, Hunter Biden is going to be Hunter Biden. Jim and I.
- [41:28]
Jim Acosta
That's gonna be great.
- [41:29]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah. For some good conversation. This guy has exploded on social media.
- [41:34]
Jim Acosta
Totally exploded. Yeah.
- [41:36]
Tommy Christopher
And I don't know how we're gonna cram like he's, he's such a Great interview that. I don't know how we're gonna. Because, you know, he wants to do an hour. We did three and a half hours last time I talked to him and, and I could have, I could have done three and a half more. He's really terrific interview and I can't wait to hear what he has to say.
- [41:51]
Jim Acosta
He's very generous with his time. I remember when you did that the last time and it just did gangbusters and everybody was curious and. But even since then, he's become even more candid about his life, what he's been going through and people can't get enough of it. No.
- [42:06]
Tommy Christopher
And you know. Yeah, I really want to ask him about his engagement on Twitter because he's been talking with a lot of MAGA people and, and he seems to be like converting them, at least converting them to being open minded about him and his point of view and, you know. Yeah, he's got that sort of quality that like we were saying earlier that his dad has that he's got. You know, Joe Walsh is always talking about how Democrats don't talk like normal people and they really need to. And Joe Biden was good at that and, and Hunter Biden is really great at that too. And you know, I can't wait to talk to on that. Right.
- [42:41]
Jim Acosta
No, it's so true because people would say that Beau Biden was the heir apparent, that he was going to be the one. If there was going to be a politician coming in the next wave of Biden's, it was going to be Bo Biden. But I will say Hunter Biden seems like a chip off the old block and that he has natural political talents. It seems to me. Obviously, you know, he's lived a, he's lived a very colorful life.
- [43:02]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah.
- [43:02]
Jim Acosta
But I think that that makes him so relatable to people. I think people, they, they like that about him, you know.
- [43:08]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah, yeah. No, I know. It's, it's, it's really quite something to watch people try to attack him and it's just like, you know. Yeah. I mean, you know, I know, I'm joking. He, you know, I'm joking a little bit about 2028, but I mean, I think the guy, you know, stranger things have happened.
- [43:26]
Jim Acosta
You know, stranger things have happened.
- [43:27]
Tommy Christopher
I'll tell you what, if, if nothing else, you know, he is such a great messenger. He, he's really great at articulating the, the, the things that make me believe in Democrats and me want to be a Democrat. He's like nobody else that I know. Maybe Pete Buttigieg, but he's a lot more plain spoken than. Than Pete.
- [43:48]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. No, it's so true. And, and I just love the way that he's just letting it rip these days. And he's also calling out the Trumps. I mean, I remember being out on the campaign trail with Donald Trump just going after Hunter Biden and saying, where's Hunter? And accusing him of all this diff. All this crazy stuff. And then Hunter Biden has been pointing out, like, look at the Trump family with the crypto. Like, you know, anything that he, you know, his paintings, selling his paintings pales in comparison.
- [44:16]
Tommy Christopher
Right, right.
- [44:17]
Jim Acosta
To the crypto.
- [44:17]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah. You know, I can't wait to, you know, because he did a really great thread about that and I can't wait to ask him about that tomorrow also.
- [44:23]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, well, check it out. It's gonna be live on substack tomorrow. We're going to get it out on other platforms as well. We don't want to miss it time yet. It's going to be tomorrow, we think in the 2:00 clock range. Something like that.
- [44:34]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah, something like 2:00pm you know, that's, that, that's the general idea.
- [44:39]
Jim Acosta
Check your local listings. We'll get, we'll get everybody. The.
- [44:42]
Tommy Christopher
Jim and I'll be here too, and
- [44:43]
Jim Acosta
we'll, you know, and then hopefully we'll bring them in. But, you know, sometimes these things are not an exact science. But Tommy, I'm glad we got you connected. Glad you're on the team and we're gonna get this thing, we're gonna get this party started, man.
- [44:57]
Tommy Christopher
Really great to be here, man. All right.
- [44:59]
Jim Acosta
We gotta come up with a name for the newsletter too.
- [45:01]
Tommy Christopher
Yes. Well, if anybody has ideas, put them in the comments.
- [45:04]
Jim Acosta
Put them in the comments. We need a name for the newsletter. The ones I keep coming up with are kind of boring, but, you know, we'll think of something. We'll think of something.
- [45:12]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah. We need a name for the newsletter and a name for the update.
- [45:15]
Jim Acosta
I was, we were thinking morning jam, like Jim Acosta memo or something.
- [45:19]
Tommy Christopher
Yeah, I like that one.
- [45:19]
Jim Acosta
You were telling me to put my name in it. And I don't like.
- [45:22]
Tommy Christopher
I think on everything. No, I think it's a must. I think your name is a must.
- [45:26]
Jim Acosta
All right. All right, Tommy. Thanks, my friend. We'll see you tomorrow. Appreciate it.
- [45:30]
Tommy Christopher
See you tomorrow. Yes, sir.
- [45:31]
Jim Acosta
Talk to you sooner. Okay, thanks. And you know, so we're really glad that Tommy's joining the team. This is terrific. It's going to be Great. And you know, I just, I'm, I'm very excited that this is happening and so tune in tomorrow. We're, we're hoping to have Hunter Biden. My other producer, Sam, is saying acosta in the a.m. something like that. And I was thinking like acosta memo. AM or morning Jam, Morning, Jim Acosta memo. But I just think it's cheesy when I put my name in it.
- [46:03]
Announcer
I don't know.
- [46:03]
Jim Acosta
I know I, it's what my show is called every day. But even that was something I was talked into doing because I just think it should be something else. But it's fine. We'll think of something. It'll be great. But yes, Hunter Biden, we think, we hope, we pray that this will all work out. Technically, all of the bells and whistles will work, all the tubes and pipes and all of those things of the Internet will work and that this will all happen tomorrow afternoon Eastern time. We think around 2 o' clock Eastern Time. Live on substack. The Acostan Report. The Acostan Report. I don't know. Subscriber suggest. Did they mean to put the N on the end? The accosted. The Accosted report. That's not my name, but we could, I guess I could change my name if that's the Acostan. Like we're Acostan people. Is that what it is? Maybe that's what it is. We'll think of something. My producer Sam's been sending other suggestions. We'll, we'll think, we'll, we'll put the, our best minds together, just like they did with the Great American State Fair. It'll be a similar process. We'll put the great greatest minds together on the team and we'll come up with the name of it at the very end of all of this. But in the meantime, I want to thank Norm Eisen for coming on today, thank Tommy Christopher, newest member of our team. Want to thank everybody who hung in there during all the technical glitches. Of course, loyal subscribers understand that comes with the territory sometimes in this world of streaming and substack and Streamyard and all the other things. But thanks to everybody for being a subscriber. And the paid subscribers are going to benefit from some of the stuff that we're going to be rolling out. So if you're a paid subscriber, you're going to be benefiting mightily as the Memo, the newsletter comes out. I kind of like the Acosta Memo because it's the a.m. but I don't know, we'll come up with something. And these interviews, some of these premium interviews that are going to be coming your way. So if you're a paid subscriber, they're going to be some dividends coming your way. And all of that not quite Trump crypto dividends, but, you know, benefits. We'll say as as these days come up and as we roll this out further, but really appreciate everybody for tuning in, supporting the program day in and day out. Your support matters. When you like, you share, you subscribe. It all makes all of this possible. So really appreciate all the support that you guys give us each and every day. But in the meantime, still reporting from Washington, Aja Costa
- [48:28]
Norm Eisen
SA.