Brett Meiselas (5:16)

Doing great. It's good to be here, everybody. And I guess I should take this time to wish everybody out there a happy holidays, a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate. I think this is going to be our last episode of the live Midas Touch podcast until those holidays begin. So wanted to send my best to everybody in the community there. I want to thank you all for this incredible year. Thank you for supporting us, for sharing this content, for getting the word out there we could not do it all without you. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Jordy Meiselas (5:51)

Jordy. Excited for today's show, brothers? And look, one thing, when we'll get into it with Matt Gaetz, you guys know the expression, like, show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are. Our friends here are the Midas mighty, right? Donald Trump's friends seem to be Matt Gaetz seemed to be Jeffrey Epstein. Apparently they were best friends. I think there's a theme that we're seeing here with who Donald Trump sort of aligns himself with, but we'll get into that. How you doing?

Ben Meiselas (6:14)

You don't even have to do association. I mean, Donald Trump was found liable for sexual assault. Donald Trump is on audio bragging about grabbing women by their genitals. And he says when you're rich, they just let you do it. Donald Trump is on audio bragging about how he would use his beauty pageants to inspect women naked without their consent. At the beauty pageants, he would just go in and show up and start looking at them naked and sizing them up. Can we please have morals here in the United States of America? That should not be a political proposition. That should be a human proposition. And when we talk about Matt Gaetz, I think we need to situate that conversation with people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and others who rail against secret cabals of pedophiles and sex trafficking and all of these things. But they're always the first ones to either be aligned with people engaged in conduct, complicit in the COVID up or even worse. And so where are they right now, huh? Where's Maga, Mike and Jim Jordan and all these people who said that this report should be covered up? There's a predator on the loose, folks. And that's something the American people deserve to know, especially when that predator was being paid with taxpayer dollars. Let's get into the news, folks. So Donald Trump threatening Panama and Greenland, and over the weekend, he previously was making posts about Canada, oh, Canada, and he posted himself in Switzerland, but made it look like Canada as he bragged about wanting to make Canada the 51st state. Nothing like going after your or one of your closest allies right away. I mean, how pathetic can you be? I mean, now you have Canadian members of Parliament, everybody from on one side of the spectrum, the new Democratic Party to the other side of the spectrum, their Conservative Party. And then you have in the middle of it, Justin Trudeau, the prime minister, all kind of now angling for how are they going to push back against Donald Trump? And who's going to be tougher to push back. I had Charlie Angus, a member of Parliament, on the Midas Touch network before the weekend. Let me give you the highlight quickly of what Angus had to say. And this is a sentiment that we're not just seeing in Canada, but throughout the world, especially when it comes to our allies. Let's play it.

Brett Meiselas (8:56)

But the message that I'm hearing from people across Canada is they're not afraid of you because they know you're a convicted felon. They know that all the people that you bringing in to run your, Your, your, your organization right now, and I call it an organization rather than a government, are all grifters and thieves and thugs. We got to look after our own interests right now. We will work with your country. We will work with our great neighbors. But, Donald, don't push us around.

Ben Meiselas (9:23)

Now, what Donald Trump said about Panama. Donald Trump goes, the Panama Canal is considered a vital national asset for the United States due to its critical role. A secure Panama Canal is crucial for U.S. commerce. It's considered a wonder of the world. And then he goes on to say that if there's not preferential treatment for the United States, that he says that he's going to just take it back. He says, first off, it was a lease. It's never actually owned by the United States, and take it back. What are you going to do, conquer it? Are you going to seize it? Are you aware what happened the last time that there were troops sent to Panama? Do we want to talk about the history there? Maybe we do talk about the history for a second, because what Trump was saying was one of his concerns was China's influence over Panama Canal, the investment that's been made by China. Do you know when China established diplomatic ties with Panama? Hmm. 6-13-27 is when Panama said they were no longer.

Brett Meiselas (10:31)

2017.

Ben Meiselas (10:32)

2017. Sorry, June 13, 2017, when Panama said it was no longer siding with Taiwan, but it was going to side with Beijing. Do we know who was in power then in the United States? Donald Trump. And when President Xi made his first diplomatic visit to Panama, restoring those relations and all of the investment that Donald Trump is now complaining about, who was in power in 2018 when that was taking place and who let that happen when he was too busy making tweets in all caps and golfing or whatever? Oh, that would be Donald Trump as well. So the president of Panama responded to Trump's threats and said, every square meter of the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue belonging to Panama, to which Donald Trump responded like a. Like a villain, like a super villain. We'll see about that. What do you mean, we'll see about that? What kind of threat? Who, who deals with world leaders on social media like this? And you can say, oh, but this is a troll. And he's distracting from Project 2025 and all of the other things. That's his true agenda. Yeah, that's true. I mean, he is declaring war, essentially here on the United States. But this type of reckless rhetoric divides our allies. It brings them closer to adversaries and trade adversaries like China. And the behavior is also very weak. Like when we talk about the continuing resolution that passed, you know, Truff Trump, he huffs and he puffs and he says, I'm going to blow your house down. But he's often exposed as a paper tiger, right? He said, shut it down. But then the Republicans were like, all right, that's Trump. That's. That's Grandpa Trump being all, you know, you know, whatever, like, we're going to do what we're going to do. And then Trump doesn't do anything, and then he moves on to the next one. That's not to say Donald Trump doesn't have the ability to cause incredible harm, but as I've always said, compare and contrast the big stick policy that exists under Teddy Roosevelt and which was American foreign policy with President Biden and which is speak soft and carry a big stick. And contrast that, though, to Donald Trump, which I refer to as the micro stick, the teeny, tiny small stick policy. Be obnoxious, but you're not able to actually back it up because you're a paper tiger. You're afraid, you're a coward. You got people like Elon Musk pulling your strings. Donald Trump then posts the following as well. An American flag in the center of the Panama Canal. I mean, again, it's just offensive. It's. It's just deranged behavior. By the way, I should mention Donald Trump's history with Panama. Trump had a. Had his name on a skyscraper there that he didn't own, but they were the management company but plastered their name on a skyscraper in Panama City. But then the Panamanian courts ruled that Donald Trump did not have the rights to occupy it as a squatter. When the real owner said, can you get out of here, please? We don't want you here, Trump's management company said, nope, we ain't leaving. There was actually a physical altercation between Trump's management team and the real owners of Trump's Ocean Club in Panama City. But Trump was kicked out. One of the hotel investors then accused Trump of engaging in tax fraud violations in Panama, which Donald Trump denied. But that was Donald Trump's ordeal, getting kicked out of Panama. So he brings those personal grudges back. And that's one of the reasons why I believe, in my opinion, he's targeting that also. Donald Trump goes after Greenland Once again, Greenland is a territory that's part of the Kingdom of Denmark. In Trump's announcement of the Ambassador to Denmark, Donald Trump says the United States of America feels that ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity. Again, interfering with the sovereignty of, of a country like Greenland, a peaceful country. Donald Trump back in 2019 posted, I promise not to do this to Greenland with a Trump Tower in Greenland kind of mocking the country. Greenland's prime minister says Greenland is not up for sale. Get away. Just so you see Greenland on the map, just for some of our audience who may not know where Greenland is kind of geopolitically, you can see it on the map right there. And one of the things I should note about Greenland, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, although Greenland kind of, you know, exists, you know, kind of independently, but it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Denmark is part of NATO. It joined NATO in the late 1940s. And one of the reasons it joined this alliance that was started and spearheaded by America after World War II was because Adolf Hitler invaded Denmark in 1940, and there was an occupation of Denmark where the resistance in Denmark was fierce and historic. And they look back on that occupation by Hitler as being something that should never be repeated in the history of Denmark. And, you know, one of the things with, with the occupation, I think is worth noting, and you can kind of see for yourself or form your own opinions about the similarities here. The people of Germany, even, like the big Hitler supporters, really had no desire to take over Denmark, but Hitler was kind of personally obsessed with it. And so Hitler kind of took a Sharpie and you know who uses Sharpies, right? He took a Sharpie and then he changed the language on the map in front of him. Die Nord speitz Jutlands, which refers to the peninsula of Denmark and replaced it with a German abbreviation and basically put the German flag on it and then made there be an occupation of a neutral country during World War II. And so I give you that history and the historical perspective of all of these countries that when Donald Trump makes posts with the American flag in other sovereign countries and does things like this, he's playing a reckless game with nations that have histories of trauma. And by doing that, there is broader implications here. That's reckless. That makes him look like the authoritarians of the past. And ultimately, the beneficiaries of this are people or countries like Russia and Putin. And really President Xi, who, you know, uses Chinese propaganda to then be like, look, we've got the Belt and Road New Silk Road situation. We want to invest in you. We just want to help you out. Look at what they're doing. We want to do what's best for you. You know, and even though it's propaganda, that's able to serve in stark contrast to whatever the hell Donald Trump is doing. So I wanted to give you the historical perspective as well, but see that all of these world leaders are now pushing back and calling Donald Trump out. Brett and Jordy, what you think about that?

Brett Meiselas (18:22)

Yeah, well, I don't think it's ever a good thing to have some of the first actions of an incoming president be to piss off a whole bunch of your allies and to destabilize the entire world before he even gets into office. And these were things like the Greenland thing that had come out his previous presidency, and people were like, oh, that sounds nuts. Now he's just at a stage where he's just, well, tweeting it out to the public and making his intentions clear. And the thing is, at some point, people, these countries are going to have to respond with more than just words. If Donald Trump's words go beyond just trolling, if Donald Trump's trolling goes to actual efforts to actually do these things. And there have been numerous reports out now that Donald Trump has expressed a desire to invade Mexico, that. That his adv advisors are sincerely speaking about not just do we want to invade Mexico, but, quote, how much of Mexico do we want to invade? When we hear stories like that, when we hear what he's saying about Canada, about Greenland, about Panama, I mean, it should cause concern for everybody in the entire world. And it also just completely destroys these alliances that have been built over decades and decades and decades. And I think, you know, as we finish up the term of President Biden, you know, the one thing that struck me especially so during your interview with President Biden, Ben, was how President Biden's face lit up at the mention of NATO and our global alliances and how much of an issue, how that was a top importance to him. Like, you could tell that that is one of those issues to him that means everything to him. And that's why he worked so especially hard to do things during his presidency like not only protect NATO's interests, but actually expand NATO. You know, that was something you guys spoke about. And now we're seeing Donald Trump in and Donald Trump is trying to do away with these post war alliances which have allowed for a relative stability and no more world wars, at least in those years after the fact. It has made America stronger. It has made the free world stronger. And that's what you see. Donald Trump and Elon Musk and all these folks, the axis of authoritarians, who, like we said, are not just in the United States, but have this network around the world, world. It's all a part of their mission. And that's what they are doing right now. And so, you know, that's why I so appreciate also having somebody like a Charlie Angus over in Canada who is speaking truth to power in this moment and seeing these foreign leaders who are making clear that we're not just going to roll over for you, okay? Like, we're not just going to sit here and take these threats. We are going to respond forcefully and we're going to come on your shows, we're going to come on the biggest shows in the United States and we're going to make our message clear. And I think that's, you know, I think that's pretty apparent now. And it's good to see. By the way, if you haven't seen Ben's interview with President Biden, it is the, if you go to our YouTube channel, it is the top video on the page. Make sure you check it out. I think it's also a great interview to share with your friends and your family over the holidays to introduce them to Midas Touch and to show them what President Biden is actually like, you know, in a conversational setting. 30 unedited minutes, I think. 30 minutes. Yeah. Great. It's good stuff. But, but I digress.

Jordy Meiselas (21:41)

No, but let me just. That's a great point. Please, over the holidays, when you're with your family, when you're with your friends, show them that interview. If they're not familiar with the Midas Touch network, and I don't know how they wouldn't be, but hey, always find folks who maybe haven't heard of us. Please, sincerely show them that interview that Ben did with President Biden. Because it is, it is excellent. Brett, I want to go and I want to talk about what you and Ben were just relaying about these world leaders standing up to Trump. Look, I don't think it needs to be said, but I will always root for America, right. I will always root for this country to succeed, the people of this country to prosper. Goes without saying what I'm seeing Trump, round two from these foreign leaders is this ability to stand up to Donald Trump. Is this ability to say, hey, you know what, if you're going to send me a mean tweet, we're going to respond right back to you. Now, that has to then be followed up with real and genuine action. But for example, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexican president, fabulous job standing up to Donald Trump after Donald Trump decided to go after her. Charlie Angus, another wonderful job standing up to Donald Trump. What I am seeing here from these foreign leaders is that this time around, they're not going to be pushed around so easily. And I hope that continues and I hope to see them really stand behind their words when Trump continues because we all know he's going to, to push them further and further. So we'll see what happens there. But it is, you know, it's a welcome sight to see the Claudia Sheinbaums, the Charlie Angus's really stand up to Donald Trump.

Ben Meiselas (23:14)

You know, look, even if you don't follow through with these threats of interfering with the sovereignty of these countries, right? Which would be the best result, right? You don't do it. This is all just him acting like an idiotic baby. You know, just think about the message, though, that still sends not just to your allies, but to your adversaries, right? Like it shows how weak you actually are that you're willing to make the most, the worst possible threat to another nation, right? A threat against sovereignty which should be exercised so judiciously in the most kind of defensive posture. We're going to conquer you. Who talks about that in 2024? People like Putin. But when Putin says it, he does it, right? Like when Putin uses that language, he then does it. When Donald Trump uses that language, oh, I'm gonna go golfing now. Oh, you know, I just do jokes. You joke about invading countries so you just look weak and pathetic. That's the whole concept that I, when I say he's a micro stick or he's got a micro stick, it's act loud and obnoxious, but then you don't back it up and you just look like a weak, pathetic coward. And powerful leaders like the Claudia Scheinbaums and, you know, and others, you know, look at you like, all right, that's just Donald, you know, just send him a nasty letter back, you know, and we'll, we'll deal with this clown and your adversaries look at you like you're weak and absolutely pathetic. So I wanted to make that point as well. Guys, I want to talk about this continuing resolution as well, briefly, as we were spending a lot of time covering it last week to keep the government from shutting down. This was supposed to be a bipartisan effort. This is all stemming from the fact that Republicans never passed a budget, which is what they're supposed to do in the House of Representatives, is what Democrats do. They pass a budget. So instead of just having a budget where money gets spent, we go up against a shot clock that's like now self imposed deadlines, because we keep on just extending the shot clock right before the government's about to shut down. The Republicans inevitably need the help of Democrats to keep the government working, or else we're in cataclysmic kind of depression mode. And then we've had this cycle now over and over again, right? Over the past few years that Republicans have been in charge of the House. So there was supposed to be the bill that was going to be passed, but then Elon Musk starts making all of these posts with samurai swords and says, kill the bill. This bill is criminal. It's horrible. That was when Donald Trump was, like, golfing. I think Donald Trump was at Mar a Lago signing Maga hats at that time. And when Donald Trump got wind of, like, what was happening, Trump had to, like, chime in. So Trump was like, all right, eliminate the debt ceiling. Even though why would you tie the debt ceiling to this continuing resolution? You need to shut the government down right now. Let's blame it on Biden. Trump was literally posting that. Let's blame a government shutdown on Biden. It's his fault if we don't eliminate the debt ceiling. Or. Or let's extend the debt ceiling extension deadline to 2029. Oh, okay, 2027. How about 2027? Trump's like, having a dialogue with himself in social media posts. And then they tried to introduce a continuing resolution that extended the budget ceiling deadline to 2027. And Trump's like, success. We did it. But then that was voted down. And then they ended up just passing a continuing resolution that looked a whole lot like the one that was going to be there earlier in the week with I think, two or three notable exceptions. I think, number one, they removed language or they removed legislation that would have dealt with AI sex shaming. So that got removed. Like, who would be against that? But they took that out. That would have protected, like, teenagers and adults who are becoming the victims of like, AI sex shaming images against their consent. And then they also removed about $100 million in pediatric cancer funding. The Democrats managed to save 63 or $65 million of pediatric cancer research, but Republicans still managed to gut over, like, $125 million of that. It was supposed to be $190 million that was going to be dedicated to it, but that was removed from the continuing resolution. So then Democrats had to basically rejuvenate standalone bills that had existed in the House before, which only had it at $63 million. And then that was then passed in the Senate.

Brett Meiselas (28:15)

And could I elaborate on that for just a second? Because I think it really says a lot about this Congress, and it's an issue that was a little confusing. And it's something that the Republicans tried to weaponize to spread their disinformation, something that you saw Elon Musk trying to spread, something that you saw a lot of these folks trying to spread. So when the Republicans removed the pediatric cancer funding from the bill, it was then discovered later on, you know, after it was revealed that they took this money out, that there was the standalone bill in the Senate. And so what the Republicans were trying to claim was that, look, this was actually passed from the House, but Senator Chuck Schumer just been sitting on it all this time. He refused to pass it. It was a much lower number, like Ben said, much less funding. But they go, look, Schumer's the one. So it's actually the Democrats fault that this bill has never been passed. And now they're trying to blame the Republicans. So I said, you know, that's interesting. Let me research it. Let me look into it. Right? And so you do your research, you do your deep dive, you look into this bill. And as it turns out, the reason why it was just sitting in the Senate is because Republican Senator Rand Paul refused to allow it to actually go to a vote. That's why it was actually not voted upon. And so Republicans were trying to say, look, the Senate has it. Chuck Schumer's not doing anything about it. But that actually could not have been farther from the truth. It was Rand Paul blocking this funding from being voted upon at every turn. And finally, when there was enough pressure from the Democrats during this whole debacle over this funding bill, finally they were able to get Rand Paul to agree to let this go through. He finally was able to step aside, and the bill was ultimately passed. And so that's good. But I think it also shows you this. This is how the reason why I want to bring this up. It's because Republicans are able to weaponize their own obstruction in really devious ways. And this is the perfect example right here. And one of the ways is they try to say, oh, look at the Democrats. They're adding all this bloat to these bills. Don't you hate this? Omnibus bills that have all of these and one, why can't we just vote on every line item individually? First off, if you did that, I think you'd be voting on one bill for the next four years before you got through everything. A, But B, the reason why these bills often get so bulky is because things that should just be unanimous, things that everyone theoretically agrees on, like pediatric cancer funding, end up getting held up by folks like Rand Paul when they are presented in that way that they say, okay, let's do it piecemeal, let's pass just this specific piece of legislation. Then they do, and then Rand Paul holds it up. Then all of a sudden, this bill that has been a bipartisan effort, I think, going back to the Obama years, that provides important, a lot of money and for important pediatric cancer research, all of a sudden, this bill is now iced out. It's thrown into contention, and it's not seeing the light of day. And so what do you have to do at that point? Well, you have this opportunity to put it in this bigger bill, right? This, this government funding bill to actually get it passed, and then you have the Republicans complain about it and stir up all this resentment. Look at these big bills. Look at all this pork. Yada, yada, yada. But there's a reason for everything. And I think it's important that we trace the way that these Republicans obstruct universally beloved policies, and then the way they use that obstruction in order to further their own interests and to blame the government and say that nothing works and say that everything's overloaded with all that stuff, but it's all a concerted effort.

Ben Meiselas (31:49)

Then they say Democrats are appeasing China. Look at what the Democrats are doing. Meanwhile, in this bipartisan bill, there were restrictions on US Technology companies from making certain investments in China that could result in our technology leaking to China. That could result in China kind of appropriating some of our trade secrets. So you would think that on a bipartisan basis, we want to be tough on China. You would say, okay, these restrictions seem to make sense, but it turns out that in the final continuing resolution that was passed, those restrictions were removed by the Republican Party. And who are the types of people that would benefit from that type of thing. Billionaires doing business with China. The types of billionaires who are in Trump's cabinet. So let me just get this straight. This whole charade this week was about reducing pediatric cancer care and lessening restrictions on oligarchs in America from doing business in China. But you see how I just said it right there? That's a message that should just be said bluntly, directly. And this is kind of Democrats, like, kind of a messaging layup for you at this point. So, like, can you just say it over and over and over again loudly, with conviction, because it's actually happening. Heck, the Republicans talk about dog eating and cat eating and, oh, my God, could you believe everybody that there is a transgender woman volleyball player at, of all places, San Jose State? I know how much you all care about San Jose State volleyball. Could we get outraged about that, please? But when Democrats have the easiest layup issue, when none of those things should outrage anybody, frankly, and if it should, it should not be on your top million things to outrage you. The billionaire oligarchs are actually not eating your cats and dogs, but they're eating your 401k and your bank account. They're eating your lunch money. They're coming for you. They're eating your lunch right in front of you. So wake up, people. I did a hot take. Everybody should watch it. Earlier in the day, and it was that the main Alabama digital newspaper was saying, wait a minute, you know, maybe these policies, because we're a state that relies so heavily on government funding, maybe Trump's policies are going to actually hurt our people in Alabama. So 66% of people in Alabama voted against the programs that help them survive. So let's just get stronger with the messaging and call this out. And I want to.

Brett Meiselas (34:41)

I want to say this, too. I want to say this debt ceiling fight, if there is one silver lining from it, is that I think it's the first moment since the election where you sort of saw Democrats get their mojo back a little bit. You actually saw them coming to fight. You saw them actually feel like they had a purpose and that they had something to say. And so that's good. Now we need to. They need to keep that going, and they need to center that message, as Ben said, because if you notice, everything the Republicans do, they somehow weave it all. It always comes back to what? It always comes back to migrants. Right? Every time. It's always illegal immigration. Migrants. They somehow could make any issue about that. Right. Or. Or they'll take it to, like, a transgender issue or something, right? That's their strategy and they stick to it. And they're actually is quite good at doing that. Democrats need to take a similar approach, not by villainizing communities but by saying that by bringing everything back to billionaires, to oligarchy, to the rich, screwing the average American and calling out the in that way. Because that is a very clear message, right? That is a very clear message that these oligarchs, that these billionaires are stealing from the people. It's something everybody in this country feels. It's a bipartisan thing and it's something that needs to be hammered over and over and over again. And it is so telling that Mr. Department of Government Efficiency over here ended up all of a sudden loving the bill that didn't do anything to actually lower spending, but he loved it because it took away the restrictions on Chinese investments in China. That tells you everything about the entire scam right there. It's total, it's a total head fake. And that's why, that's why if, if this were, if there were a department coming, a Department of Efficiency or whatever, and it was very serious people who have a good track record of being honest, you'd be like, this could be a good thing, right? This could be a good thing for America. You know, let's, let's use a, let's use a, you know, a scalpel. Let's actually figure out where there's waste and fraud and let's actually get this thing cooking, right? But you already are seeing the ulterior motives of somebody like Elon Musk. And by the way, it goes without saying, Elon Musk, a person who himself has received billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars from the federal government in order to become a billionaire himself and make his companies profitable.

Ben Meiselas (37:09)

So only one ad break today, everybody. So you know, we gotta, gotta pay those bills with those pro democracy sponsors who support our content. So support our sponsors. But when we come back, we're going to talk about the Gates report and much, much more. Let's take our one and only break of the show.

Jordy Meiselas (37:33)

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Jordy Meiselas (42:38)

Shout out to our pro democracy sponsors. Like we said, that's our only ad break for today show. So please use the links, use our codes. They're in the description of the YouTube and the audio. Let them know we sent you. I'm going to a really quick funny story so if you're. If you've watched a lot of the Minus Touch podcast episodes you'll notice something here is that Ben used to do the prize picks reads, but now I do the prize picks reads. That's because Ben, when he was giving out his picks, they weren't doing so hot. Sticks to the legal case analysis and politics. And I got to say, little funny thing here. I recorded that one yesterday before the games. My brakes crushed like those were. I was like on fire. And I know big football season's coming up right now with all this sports mania right here. So hey, look, if you're into all that stuff, prize picks is the place.

Ben Meiselas (43:21)

To be for sure.

Jordy Meiselas (43:22)

Benji, sorry to throw the shade, but.

Ben Meiselas (43:23)

I thought let's, let's talk about this Matt Gates report. And I did a whole hot take today where I went through the 42 page report. It was put out by the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee is a bipartisan committee made up of a handful of Democrats and a handful of Republicans. Ultimately, if the Ethics Committee is deadlocked, they can't make a decision. But they changed their prior decision not to release the reports about Matt Gaetz ultimately to release it. And look, I think it was based on the feud between Kevin McCarthy who still has sway in the Ethics Committee Even though Kevin McCarthy is no longer the speaker or a member of Congress. But a lot of his disciples are leaders in that committee. And it was his dispute with Matt Gaetz because Gates tried to or and was successful in getting Kevin McCarthy removed. And McCarthy vowed basically his life mission was to get this report out. But I think we before talking about the report and its findings that Gates engaged in statutory statutory rape with the 17 year old illicit drug use, all of the text messages that were in this report which are just quite frankly utterly disgusting. I think it's worth reflecting on MAGA Republicans who covered this up because outside of the Ethics Committee, Democrats called for the report to be released. All Democrats were united in that. But the MAGA Republicans in the House other than the small Ethics Committee group, blocked it from happening. MAGA Mike Johnson, who's the speaker of the House, the top position in the House, Jim Jordan, who's not a licensed lawyer, never passed the bar exam, never took the bar exam as far as I know, but leads the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee. He followed up with his cover up of sex assault at the Ohio State University when he was a, a wrestling coach or wrestling in the wrestling department there by saying this report should not be released. So I just want to remind you of what the MAGA Republicans position was at their leadership level. First, let me show you MAGA Mike Johnson's view. Let's play it. I'm going to request, I'm going to strongly request issue because that is not.

Brett Meiselas (45:49)

The way to do things in the House.

Ben Meiselas (45:50)

And I think that would be a terrible question. So there you have that right there. And just so for those audio listeners who maybe couldn't hear what he said, he said, I'm going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee do not release this report and make it public. Why would you not want the report to be made public when someone who is in a position of public trust is a predator? You're evangelical Christians. Your whole thing was this issue. So when it actually happens and it's not rooted in some deranged, you know, unhinged cabal view of it, but it's real in front of your face, then it's like, oh, we gotta, we gotta make sure we cover that up. Here is Jim Jordan. Here's what Jim Jordan had to say. Let's play.

Brett Meiselas (46:37)

And Congressman Jordan, do you have any sense about what will happen with that House ethics report that was supposed to come out Friday? Remember, Gates had been accused of things and no prosecution had been continued. It had been dropped. But Dick Durbin's trying to get his hands on that report, obviously to leak it out to hurt President Trump. What is your sense on that? Well, it's my understanding that is not.

Ben Meiselas (47:02)

Supposed to go public.

Brett Meiselas (47:03)

So if it's not supposed to, under the rules, it shouldn't go public.

Ben Meiselas (47:07)

And what I know about that, Matt.

Brett Meiselas (47:08)

Gibbs is one of the best members we had on our committee in my time in Congress, which has been a while, I don't know. There are very few people who have the cross examination skills he does. And I want someone in the Justice.

Ben Meiselas (47:19)

Department who's not going to say moms.

Brett Meiselas (47:21)

And dads at school boards meeting needs to be investigated. I want someone at the Justice Department who's going to say it's wrong for the FBI to do a memorandum and say that pro life Catholics are extremists. I want someone at the Justice Department who can tell us who planted the pipe bombs on January 6, who leaked the Dobbs opinion, who put cocaine at the White House instead of all the other stuff they seem to be focused on.

Ben Meiselas (47:41)

I could tell you who put the cocaine and the parties. Matt Gaetz. That was one of the findings that were made. You're speaking about school boards. You realize that the woman who the or the girl may be very clear about my language. The girl who Matt Gates was who had sex with in the statutory rape Finding she was a junior in high school. Jim Jordan she was a junior in high school. And the findings of the report were that she was under the influence of drugs. She, you know, she believed that there was sex in a Republican lobbyist's home in front of the guests who were there with a junior in high school. And that on that same evening, Gates had sex with her multiple times and multiple other people who he paid for sex with. That was one of the findings in, in a room filled with people, okay, that's who you want to be the Attorney general. By the way, this past weekend, Donald Trump gave a speech. He knew this report was going to come out. We all knew it was going to come out. And Trump's out there saying Gates is a great guy. I'm looking forward to what Gates is going to do in the future. At some point. At some point is, is what the depths of depravity are such that this is just who the Republican Party is. This should not be a political issue. Why is this even Old Republic? This is just horrific conduct. Why can't we all look at this and agree this is disgusting. And by the way, if you've been watching my legal takes, I covered that. There have actually been multiple Republicans who won serious political offices in states like Michigan and Indiana who are felons and they elected felons. They elected the people who were convicted of crimes. The person in Indiana pled guilty to sexually assaulting his own daughter and the Republicans in Indiana elected the guy. He brought his daughter to Vegas and sexually assaulted his daughter and said what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And they elected him to a Republican commissionership position. While that was happening, they said, yeah, that's our guy. A guy with serious drug felony charges in Michigan. Republican. They elected him. He's serving his term as a commissioner from federal penitentiary. When do we say enough is enough? Look at these findings. Let's just take a look at the findings, Brett and Jordy from this report. In sum, the ethics Committee found substantial evidence of the following. From at least 2017 to 2020, Representative Gates regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with Him. In 2017, Representative Gates engaged in sexual activity with a 17 year old girl. During the period 2017 to 2019, Gates used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and Ecstasy. On multiple occasions, Gates accepted gifts including transportation and lodging in connection with the 2018 trip to Bahamas in excess of permissible amounts. In 2018, Gates arranged for his chief of staff to assist a woman who he paid for sex. I'll just read what it says, but in whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. department of State she was a constituent. Representative Gates knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the committee's investigation of his conduct. Representative Gates has acted in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the House. Pull up the text message where they were finding one of these girls to have sex with. And here are the messages between them. And this girl, a 20 year old female, is one of the individuals who they paid $400 to have sex with. And, and Gates is taking cell. We have the photos sending himself to the girl and showing what he looks like because he quotes, work hards and plays harder.

Brett Meiselas (52:00)

By the way, this is from Joel Greenberg. Ben and Joel Greenberg. As you know, people who have followed this saga know Joel Greenberg is Matt Gaetz's really good friend in Florida who is currently serving, I believe an 11 year prison sentence for sex trafficking and to this very issue. So these texts that we are pulling up right here come from Joel Greenberg who is currently in prison and he is talking about his scheme with Matt Gaetz.

Ben Meiselas (52:31)

Then there's the other text message from one of the sex workers who didn't fully get paid by Matt Gaetz here. And I think she's texting Greenberg as well that he didn't. She never got paid. That, that, that Gates didn't pay her what was owed. Matt never paid me. How much did he pay you? What the f. He gave me 400.

Brett Meiselas (52:52)

This with another one of the girls.

Ben Meiselas (52:53)

Oh yeah, there two girls. It's two of the sex workers talking to Matt never paid me. How much did he pay you? What the f. He gave me 400g. Hopefully he remembers. I don't want to have to ask. Don't ask. Just say it to him on Friday. Okay. Like while you're giving him a bj, a blowjob, ask before you have sex with him for sure. Okay. And those are two of the sex workers who Gates was paying for sex. That's what they were saying. And at this time, Gates was a holding public office. He was at the White House. He was hanging out with Trump. He's one of. And by the way, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who's, you know, who's out there talking about all of these cabals and Hunter Biden this and Hunter Biden that. She's like Matt Gaetz's closest ally, by the way. Remember when Walter Masterson, when he was with the Midas touch. And we still do some stuff with Walter, but This was a Midas touch mission right here. That's why. And everybody may remember this. This is where people discovered Marjorie Taylor Greene's toes for the first time.

Brett Meiselas (54:01)

Iconic.

Ben Meiselas (54:03)

But just this shows you how close that. Because they were on speaking tours, they. They're like best friends. They're like as close as could be. Here, watch this. Oh, my God, I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I mean, this. Oh, everyone thinks you're crazy. I don't think you're crazy. People think you're a pedophile. I don't think you're a pedophile at all. I don't think he's a pedophile at all. The charts against him are totally false. They're totally false. Oh, my God. Thank you. That just goes to show you, though, and Walter, Walter's always been great, but Walter's brilliant.

Brett Meiselas (54:32)

Walter's A plus. And speaking of school board meetings, you know, one of the things that Walter does also often is he. He'll speak at these school board meetings, like, in character and do like the greatest satirical, you know, moments you've ever seen. He has a YouTube channel, by the way, that's grown too. You could check him out. And Walter's great. He's on all the social. He also, he makes fun of the date right Stuff guy on. On TikTok and stuff. Walter is absolutely fantastic. But, you know, you go, go and going back to the school board stuff, that's another thing. How you see how Republicans also we. These lies in order to protect criminals. And so you, Jim Jordan over there, who has all the allegations against him himself, and then he tries to deflect from Matt Gates, and now we're finding out all the horrific things in this report. He tries to deflect and by saying Matt Gates is not going to be like one of these attorney generals who goes after people at school board meetings. I'm not just that lie after lie after lie after lie. Because if you actually were to look at those stories and not the Fox News versions of those stories or the Jim Jordan version of those stories, what actually happened was that there were people at the school board meetings during COVID and the school boards who were being threatened. They were death threats. People, you know, could have nearly died. People could have died as a result of violent people who were upset with mask policies, COVID policies and the like, and they were threatening the lives of school board members. So at a certain point, I believe there was like the National School Board association, they went to the FBI and they said, here are A list of credible threats, credible death threats against people who are at our school boards. And the FBI investigated because they were credible death threats. And so you have Jim Jordan actually defending these people who were threatening the lives of just innocent members of school boards because they disagreed with how they were handling COVID 19 or they disagreed with, you know, the masking policies and all that stuff. And that's how they weave these fake narratives. I also want to remind you too, because he's apparently the actual president and not Donald Trump. What Elon Musk said about Matt Gaetz after Matt Gates was nominated, this was Elon Musk's exact comments. He says, he said, Matt Gaetz has three critical assets that are needed for the AG role. A big brain, a spine of steel, and an ax to grind. He is the Judge Dredd America needs to clean up a corrupt system and put powerful bad actors in prison. As we always say, every accusation is always a confession when it comes to these people.

Jordy Meiselas (57:08)

When you read those text messages too, Brett, and you're going through the Gates report specifically, it can just not be understated. This was Donald Trump's pick, Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General of the United States of America. This is the guy. And you know what? Cuz far too often I've hear, you know, people say, well, you know, just let Trump do his thing at this point. Let, let, let, let him, you know, if he's gonna nominate him. Why, why should we push back? Why should we, you know, ask for reports to be released and investigations to be released under this, when there are credible accusations as heinous as what's coming out in this Gates report? It is your civic duty to make as much noise as possible, if not for anyone but the victims here, because what we're seeing from this report is truly, truly horrific. And had you just, you know, laid over and just said, okay, let Trump do it, Gates would have been confirmed. Like, I want to be clear, but Gates would, he would have gotten confirmed. History, too often is written by the winners. Whether we like it or not, Donald Trump won this election. Now I'm asking you, how much of history are you going to let Donald Trump write? Are you just going to bend over and just let him, you know, pick whomever, or are we going to demand accountability for these people that he's nominating for these very serious roles? So shout out to the Midas mighty and every pro democracy warrior out there that demanded that this ethical ethics report be released. Because what we're finding out is damning. And he was inches Inches away from being the next ag scary.

Ben Meiselas (58:42)

And Brett, you've talked about these Republican narratives and how they are able to kind of set the framework for how corporate media covers things. And too often Democrats fall into the trap of those narratives as well. Think about this. MAGA Republicans making the biggest story. Hunter Biden's laptop from hell. Right? And what was in the laptop? Ultimately, it was consensual sex. Some consensual sex with sex worker. But guess what? Hunter Biden was a private citizen. Okay? He was not a Congress member and he was not someone who was being selected for the attorney General position. He was on a private board. He was living a private life. And there's no statutory rape as well. It was consensual sex with adults as a private citizen. And for years, even to this day, MAGA Republicans like, look, it's his penis. Take a look. And it's like, okay, I don't want to look at it. Why? Well, stop showing me that. I don't want to see that. That look, what you do in your private sex life as consensual adults in consenting situations, it's just, I don't care. I, I, I'm not talking about the Gates report because I care about drama and salaciousness. No. He was a member of Congress who was taking gifts, who was entrusted with a public position of the highest order. He was going to be made the Attorney General, the top law enforce officer. And there are credible findings now justified by substantial evidence that he had sex with a junior high, with a, with a high schooler who was a junior in high school, at parties in front of people, at statutory rape, that he was obstructing justice, that he was engaged in illicit drug use and he's been entrusted with the highest position, the top law. That's why you care about it. It. But the Republicans. Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden's a private citizen who is a, who is a user of drugs, who, by the way, one final distinction, took accountability for his actions. Hunter said, I was at my lowest point. My brother Beau died of cancer. I lost. He lost his mom and his sister growing up. He hit rock bottom. He said, I take full responsibility for what I've done and who I am. I am sorry, I'm sober. I'm moving forward. When you think about the people you're going to spend Christmas with, I'm sure there's someone in your family or you who suffered from substance abuse or a drug issues or currently are suffering, it's a serious issue, right? Here in the United States of America that we all need to deal with, that we all need to grapple with at holidays or at Christmas. I hope that you have that there are people in your family who are supportive and love people and who help people through situations. The way President Biden dealt with Hunter Biden and for Republicans to mock substance abuse or drug abuse is to me one of the most heinous things about the Hunter Biden ordeal. But they've shamed him for things that he did not as a, not as a public citizen in his private life and tried to tie that to President Biden. If you don't see the difference, then I don't know what to tell you there. I just want to touch upon this. I don't really want to even go through all of these Trump clips from the weekend, which I'm not. I was never going to play the audio and video anyway. But it's just Trump making crap up. He goes, there's a 25% increase in childhood cancer right now. I mean, there isn't. And if you cared so much about childhood cancer, which may have increased by about 0.6%, which by the way, is serious, then why were you taking out pediatric cancer research at the nih? Why was that the Republican priority? So spare me with your bogus BS lies right there. You know, he does the thing Hannibal Lecter they don't like about. Just a bumbling idiot. Oh, 2020. It was stolen from me. The 2020 election was stolen, too. Just shut up. Just be quiet. Just. And that's how I think we have to deal with him in these clips. Not even show him. Just be like, shut up, you idiot, you dumbo. You look so stupid. I'm not even going to show your clip. You're so stupid, it poisons the minds to just go over how stupid you are. Because I'll tell you what the American people care about right now. On day one, I'm gonna fix all of these. They're gonna fix this on day one. I'm gonna fix that on day one. Well, guess what? Now you're out there saying, I can't deal with prices. What are you talking about? That's hard. That's very hard. I can't deal with that. I have nothing to do with the fact that the mortgage rate is up. Really? Because the mortgage rate was going down until you started tweeting out and doing all this stupid stuff that now the markets view all of your policies as causing harm in the future. So, yes, the 30 year mortgage rate now is Soaring, Pat last week to 7.512%. And it's hovering right around that 7% because of you. That's why it's doing that. The housing shortage. You're doing nothing to address that. Nothing to fix the housing shortage at all. In fact, you've appointed the same types of private equity people who have scooped up the supply of housing. And you've created a cabinet made of people worth almost a trillion dollars. If you want to include Elon in that, the real president who's pulling your strings. But you're talking about 300, 500 billion, close to a trillion dollars in people's net worth on your cabinet. Seriously, right there. And you think the people don't get it? Meanwhile, what's President Biden posting during the season of reflection? I'm filled with gratitude for the service members and veterans I've met along the way here at the White House and across America. It's been the honor of my life to lead you, serve you, care for you and defend you. How about this? 235 federal judges confirmed the Biden Harris administration built a federal judiciary that reflects the promise of America. 60% of the federal judges confirmed are people of color as well, reflecting diversity and some of the most qualified people. President Biden's also posting about the Infrastructure act and Inflation Reduction act, which has led to the revitalization of airports and bridges and key infrastructure across the country. He's posting ban assault weapons and he's also talking about finalizing a rule to cap overdraft fees to as low as $5. It's one of the things that I reflect on my interview with President Biden that he looked to do bottom up, middle out economics and what I saw in that interview and go and watch it, please, over the holidays, over Christmas, share that interview with as many people as possible.

Brett Meiselas (65:43)

By the way, the link to it is in the description to this podcast. So you can just.

Ben Meiselas (65:46)

I saw the portrait of, I hope not the last great statesman in American history. I hope that that is what we look back on and say that's what a statesman is or a states person. That is how you're supposed to lead humbly for the American people, speaking softly but actually backing up with real action. I think it was telling. How do you want to be remembered? How do you want to be remembered? Remember what President Biden said, That I kept my word, that all of the things I said I was going to do, I did. I did those things that I kept my word. I never exaggerated, I never lied. I just did what I was supposed to do. And I worked every day for the American people. So make sure you read that. That's all I got to say. And I want to remind everybody, too, if you can. Patreon.com Midas To Touch P A T R E O N.com Midas Touch make sure you subscribe to patreon.com it helps grow this independent media platform. It really does. After Christmas, we'll come up with a time where we'll meet. You can ask me and Brett and Jordy about our day at the White House in the Roosevelt Room, how it came about. We'll give you all the exclusives to ask us there. But by becoming a member of patreon.com Midas Touch it goes a long way to help build this independent media platform. We have zero investors. We're not controlled by billionaires. Zero oligarchs here. This is people powered. It's very, very unique. People like, well, maybe you should get investors. Maybe that's the problem. People powered. Patreon.com Midas Touch and another way to support us also is you go to midasplus.com and there is the substack@midasplus.com run by our editor in chief, Ron Philipkowski. And check that out as well. Some great articles there. That's my piece and I wanted to say happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. We love you, Midas. Mighty. We're so grateful for you. Brett, I'll turn it to you.

Brett Meiselas (67:48)

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah. Thank you all for always being with us. I wanted to share this just because it was, it was super cool. But we found out there's this organization, this, this tracking organization called podscribe, and they track podcast views and downloads and things like that. And so they release their latest report that combines all the audio, all the audio listens from podcasts. They combine that with all the video views of podcasts. So, like this very podcast you're watching right now, it's here, it's on Apple podcasts, it's on Spotify, right? They combine all of that. And they said, what are the most popular podcasts in the United States? And it was a really cool thing to see because. And the only reason I bring it up is not to brag at all, but everybody is saying we need to get, you know, a network out there, a voice is out there that are able to rival Joe Rogan. And you all know that a few weeks ago, we learned through another data organization that our video reach itself was actually, had actually surpassed Joe Rogan in October and was tied for number one with Disney in in the United States. Well, now we're learning with audio combined as well because, you know, Joe Rogan obviously has a vast audio audience. The Midas Touch podcast ranks number two in the country. Joe Rogan number one with video and audio combined. Midas Touch podcast number two. So I want to thank you for that. That is super cool. And a lot of our other shows too are on this list, like Legal F is what, number eight or number nine, which is absolutely fantastic. Just great to see that the message is getting there. You know, that we're all competitive here and we want this message to reach as many people as possible. So let's have help. You know, keep growing this thing right? Go subscribe to it's free to subscribe to the Midas Touch podcast on audio podcasts. Go on Apple Podcasts if you haven't added it there, go on Spotify. If you haven't added it there, leave five star reviews. That all really helps. But it's our goal in the next year to ensure that these messages are the messages that are dominating the conversation. We could only do that with you. So thank you so much. Happy holidays. I really hope you have a fantastic time. And don't worry, we'll be here throughout the entire week, so we ain't going anywhere. Jordy.

Jordy Meiselas (70:02)

Shout out to the Midas mighty.

Brett Meiselas (70:07)

Standing.

Jordy Meiselas (70:08)

Strong.

Brett Meiselas (70:12)

Against the fascists we sing our song.

Jordy Meiselas (70:22)

Hey Midas mighty Love this report. Continue the conversation by following us on Instagram itistouch to keep up with the most important news of the day. What are you waiting for? Follow us now.

Ben Meiselas (70:38)

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Ben Meiselas (70:46)

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