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- [00:01]
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- [00:30]
Ben Miceli
Paranoia is engulfing the White House right now. Donald Trump can't stop the leaks Pete Hegseth can't stop the leaks like the leaks that took place on Easter Sunday where we learned that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has no business being the Secretary of Defense because he has no leadership experience and he was a Fox News host before becoming the Secretary of Defense. In any event, that he was involved in more classified communications using the Signal text message app, similar to what we learned about several weeks ago. There's a whole other text message thread, this time involving Pete Hegseth and his wife, his brother and his lawyer, where they were also talking about FA18 strikes against the Houthis, similar to that other text message thread where they included the editor in Chief from the Atlantic. Yep, there were four separate sources. Lots of people want to leak information on you there. Pete Hegseth, who told the New York Times what went down, a blockbuster story on Easter. Here's what the New York Times reported. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15, and a private Signal Group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat. Some of those people said that the information Mr. Hegseth shared on Signal Chat included the fights, the flight schedules for the FA18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen, essentially the same attack plans that he shared on a separate signal chat the same day that mistakenly included the editor of the Atlantic. Oh, Pete Hegseth. That doesn't sound too good. But also, Pete Hegseth has been firing all of his core staff recently. His chief of staff, senior advisor, Deputy Chief of staff, the Deputy secretaries, Chief of staff, they were all fired on Friday. Why? Because Hegseth is paranoid. He thinks everybody's leaking, but you fired those people and the leaks keep on happening. Hegseth, what in the world is going on here? Tom Cotton, maga, Republican Senator, wrote the following on Sunday it seems like the leak investigation at the Pentagon needs to continue to find these latest leakers. Secretary Hegseth is busy Implementing Trump's America first agenda while these leakers are trying to undermine them both. Shameful. This is what the MAGA Republicans are focusing on. That's what's actually shameful, that they're worried about the leakers versus our classified information being sent out to the Secretary of Defense, wife, brother and personal lawyer. As our editor in chief Ron Philip Koski correctly points out, what is shameful is that your take is to hunt down more Trump appointees and hires who dare to tell the truth about the debacle happening at the Pentagon because of Hegseth rather than taking a principal stand against that shit show. But sadly, that would require courage and you don't have courage. As CNN reported, following a series of leaks about military planning for the Panama Canal and the Middle east and Musk's visit to the Pentagon, Hexith is beginning to lash out. And he grew suspicious that senior military officials as well as some of his closest advisors were leaking information to undermine him. These are his people. These are Trump people. These are their appointees. Let's be clear. Although they'll probably say these are radical leftist deep staters that goes on to say at one point Hexith even demanded the FBI probe into the leaks, which some of his aides advised against. Sources said. So more leakers. There was already an active inspector general investigation focusing on Hegseth and bring the FBI might only invite more scrutiny, those aides advised. Should also be noted that his own spokesperson who quit last week, John Elliott. John Elliott just wrote an op ed for Politico and here's what it's called. Former top Pentagon spokesperson details the month from hell inside the agency the total chaos at the Department of Defense is becoming a major distraction. Rights John Elliott and Elliot again, who was Hexif spokesperson says he expects there to be major, major bombshells that are going to be dropping this week in addition to what we are reporting right here. One of the things I want to point out about Hexith is that this was always his M.O. right here, which is to blame leakers and say it's everybody's fault. Even during the confirmation hearing of Pete Hegseth when there was all of this information that accused him of sexual assault, that accused him of being drunk on the gy job, that accused him of going to strip clubs and doing all of these just, you know, unprofessional things, remember what he said? Leakers, leakers, leakers. Here, play this clip.
- [05:25]
Mark Kelly
Mr. Hex said, I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job. We must acknowledge the. Concerning public reports against you. A variety of sources, including your own writings, implicate you with disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist and sexist remarks about men and women in uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other troubling issues. I have reviewed many of these allegations and find them extremely alarming. Indeed. The totality of your own writings and alleged conduct would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the secretary of Defense.
- [06:11]
Ben Miceli
Yeah, so that was always his MO and by the way, if you go back to what Hegseth had previously said when he was a Fox host about others, when he was saying, if you are leaking, you should be held to the highest standards. When he would spread conspiracies about people. But here's what he would say about leaking when he would talk about Hillary Clinton and others. Here, play this clip.
- [06:32]
Pete Hegseth
Pete Hegseth, what do you think?
- [06:33]
Jamie Raskin
Well, she's got two problems here.
- [06:35]
Ben Miceli
Two words.
- [06:35]
Jamie Raskin
Top secret. Before it was servers, it was classified. It was sort of this amorphous idea that maybe it was wrong. Everyone knows what top secret means. I've got. I've had a top secret clearance. It's big red flashing letters, top secret. You know, when you're looking at something that's top secret or dealing with it, in this case, the public will resonate with that. Hey, if you're hiding that on a private server, that's a very real problem. Likely criminal charges.
- [06:58]
Ben Miceli
And the other. I mean, could there. So it's obvious we all know what was going on here. Democratic Congress member Jamie Raskin was on the Midas Touch network on Sunday. He was with our own Anthony Davis on the weekend show. And here's what Jamie Raskin had to say. Let's play this clip.
- [07:14]
Jim Himes
And Speaker Johnson's chief of staff got into his car and drove at 38 miles per hour and plowed into the back of a police vehicle and staggered out. And the police found him and he was determined to have been drunk. And that was when I realized that they've replaced DEI Hires with DUI hires. And you see that with Secretary Hegseth and a lot of other people who can, who can actually be promoted to the highest levels of this government with the most irresponsible personal behavior. But they all happen to be white guys, so they pass the test of not being dei.
- [07:52]
Ben Miceli
Here's the thing. The Democratic senators during the confirmation hearings were calling this behavior out about Heg in advance. Like, here was mark Kelly in 47 seconds just completely demolishes Hegseth and makes it clear that Hegseth should be nowhere near any leadership position at all in the Secretary of Defense. Play this clip.
- [08:15]
Pete Hegseth
You say you've had personal issues in your past, yet when asked about those very issues, you blame an anonymous smear campaign, even when many of these claims are not anonymous. Which is it? Have you overcome personal issues, or are you the target of a smear campaign? It can't be both. It's clear to me that you're not being honest with us or the American people because you know the truth would disqualify you from getting the job. And just as concerning as each of these specific disqualifying accusations are, what concerns me just as much is the idea of having a Secretary of Defense who is not transparent. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
- [09:01]
Ben Miceli
I yield back my this episode of.
- [09:03]
Midas Touch Host
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- [09:31]
Ben Miceli
Done.
- [09:31]
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- [10:15]
Ben Miceli
Democratic Senator Gary Peters during Hegseth's confirmation hearing where again, Hegseth was talking about how he wants to go after DEI and that's gonna be his main priority. And Senator Peter said, you know, it's interesting that you talk about going after dei. You seem to be the least qualified individual to ever come close to the Pentagon, yet alone to be the leader of it. Here, play this clip.
- [10:41]
Mark Kelly
We've written publicly that DI policy is a distraction and have military personnel walking on eggshells. Do you believe that emails like that, that are essentially threatening both serving officer and a spouse and claiming that they'll lose their pension will have a distraction and detract from the lethality?
- [11:04]
Jamie Raskin
Senator, you mentioned the 40s and 50s, and you're precisely right. The military was a forerunner in courageous racial integration in ways no other institutions were willing to do. I served with men and women of all backgrounds because of the courage of people. Decades incredibly important. However, the DEI policies of today are not the same as what happened back then. They're dividing troops inside formations, causing commanders to walk on eggshells, not putting meritocracy first. That's the indictment that's made by those serving right now.
- [11:38]
Mark Kelly
Excuse me.
- [11:39]
Jamie Raskin
And why we're having this conversation.
- [11:41]
Mark Kelly
All of your public comments don't talk about meritocracy. They talk about liberal Democratic efforts that are destroying the military, that those people are our enemies. That's not meritocracy. That's a political view. And your goal, as I see emerging, is to politicize the military in favor of your particular positions, which you've outlined extensively, which would be the worst blow to the professionalism of the United States military.
- [12:13]
Ben Miceli
Now, previously, when Donald Trump was asked about Signal Gate, remember, Donald Trump just said, I don't want to talk about it. We're done. Don't ask me questions like that ever again. This is what Trump said a few weeks back when reporters, you know, were trying to follow up on that story. This is the behavior of people who are unprofessional, who just shut down rather than address actual controversies and. And serious problems. Avoidance here at. Play this clip. When did that happen? On Pete Hegseth in this IG investigation. Do you want to weigh in on that? What? What is it? There's an IG investigation into the Secretary of Defense's use of the Signal app. Oh, is that. You're bringing that up again? Don't bring that up again. Your editors, probably, but that's such a wasted story. So what else? Chinese farmland. Now, as we previously reported, reported the Pentagon's acting inspector General is already involved in an investigation into Pete Hegseth's use of the signal messaging app to disclose the timing and other details of the US Fighter jets, airstrikes against the. Against the Houthis in Yemen. The mission of the probe is to determine the extent of these types of communications. So I think one of the things we could probably expect this week, I don't think this is that bold of a prediction. They're gonna try to go after that inspector general, right? They're gonna. I bet you they're gonna try to accuse the inspector general and all the people that he fired, and they'll probably accuse the former spokesperson of being the sources or facilitating this information to the New York Times, and they'll probably accuse all those people of that. You know, again, when I think about how unqualified Hegseth is, you know, I think about Hegseth's appearance in front of NATO also back in February. And here's what he said. Remember, he said this play.
- [14:05]
Jamie Raskin
Well, like President Eisenhower, this administration believes in alliances, deeply believes in alliances. But make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker. Thank you. And we're glad to take some questions.
- [14:26]
Ben Miceli
Remember, he said, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker. I remember we kept him, like drinking the glass, too, and it just looked really bizarre as well. You know, I had the opportunity to interview recently Democratic Congressmember Jim Himes, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee. And I asked him about Pete Hegseth statements or Pete Hegseth's post in the first signal chat. And here's what the Again, ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, Democratic Congressmember Jim Himes. Here's what he had to say.
- [15:03]
H
The oversight task is enormous. And then let me say this, too. I know what was happening here. You know, you just have to read Pete Hegseth's typed in text about F18s launching accompanied by MQ9s. Weather good. You know, Centcom says go. This is Pete Hegseth playing soldier, right? It's just the testosterone upwelling he gets when he gets to type MQ9 en route is his life right now. You know, he's a guy who is, you know, not even closely qualified to the position he has. And so when he gets to get on a signal, chat with his buddies and say, where a go? Centcom says all in F18. It just makes him feel really, really good. Sadly, of course, it puts our people at risk.
- [15:43]
Ben Miceli
And so, folks, we'll keep you posted as we learn more here, but clearly this is going to become a developing story. And one of the things I think we're going to see more of are these types of leaks. You're going to see the attacks on the leaks versus the attacks on the conduct. But the Trump this is what happens in authoritarian regimes that go after its people. And one of the things that we've always said that these authoritarian regimes do first is they attack their own people first. Right. Oftentimes. And so now their own people are in self preservation mode. They're leaking information. So I look forward to what John Elliott's talking about. More bombshells this week. I'm sure there's probably going to be much more communications that we're going to learn about. Probably more people are going to be fired. You know, John Elliott says it's utter madness, total chaos in the Department of Defense right now. And again, these are Trump people who are out there saying it. So we'll keep you posted every step of the way. Hit subscribe Help us get to 5 million subscribers. New Midas merch drop. Check out the latest pro democracy sticker packs, T shirts, hats, sweatshirts and more, all@store.midas touch.com.