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Aaron Maté
Close your eyes, exhale, feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today.
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts
Aaron Maté
in time for this class.
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts.
Aaron Maté
Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe. Oh sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order.
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
Oh sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.
Senator Cory Booker
1-800-contacts.
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Aaron Maté
we have major updates today regarding everything from Epstein, Todd Blanche, Jay Clayton, the intelligence community planning for a military invasion of Cuba that would require thousands of United States troops groups. JD Van Much more. I spent the afternoon watching the confirmation hearing of Todd Blanch, then watching the confirmation hearing of Jay Clayton to be the Director of National Intelligence. I then spoke with Epstein survivors and spoke with a Senator, Senator Cory Booker who was inside the room with Todd Blanch, questioned Todd Blanche. Senator Booker tells me that he believes Todd Blanch committed perjury, committed a criminal act, lied under oath today and well, accountability must be had. Everything you need to know in a succinct update this afternoon. As always, make sure to like Comment Share I am working around the clock to get you updates in real time. Some of you have remarked that I look exhausted. Well, I am. But this is too important. So if you can subscribe to my substack, Keep me caffeinated. Keep this work going. Support my work. Click the link below. Let's break down what you missed today. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take key moments from each of the hearings and show them to you because I think it's important that folks know what happens. And then obviously my interview with Senator Booker is at the End of this, where we talk about how Todd Blanche committed perjury under the witness stand and how he believes Blanche's nomination could potentially be in trouble. There could be one, two, potentially three Republicans who band together and vote against Todd Blanch's confirmation. But I want to start with the most important question, which is whether Todd Blanche was going to meet with the Epstein survivors. Here's what he had to say. Mr. Attorney General, you going to be with the Epstein survivors while you're here, sir? Mr. Blanche, any interest in meeting with the Epstein survivors? Down the hall, Anything at once. As you can see, he hasn't answered the question inside the room. He tried to say that he is legally barred from meeting Epstein survivors. Cory Booker tells me that. That they perjured. Lie under oath under the penalty of perjury. He committed a crime today when testifying in front of the United States Senate. Well, when we talk about perjury, Todd Blanche wants to investigate Jack Smith for perjury.
Todd Blanche Critic
Question, but I'm glad the answer is yes. I want to start with Jack Smith and the latest revelations of his illegalities, which seem to have no end. I mean, listen, I've had my text messages. Did have my text messages by him scooped up red. Who knows what he did with them. I've had my cell phone monitored. He tracked my incoming calls, my outgoing calls. He tracked my metadata. He tracked my location. I mean, Lord knows what else. The part that really offends me, though, is that he didn't just do it to me and members of Congress. He did it to ordinary Americans. I've had Missourians come to me and say, I had FBI agents show up at my door, knock on my door and say, were you in Washington, D.C. in January of 2021? These are people who did nothing wrong. They weren't even here. They come to me and they said, what is going on? What am I going to do? I can't afford an attorney. What really gets me at the end of the day is he lies about it. I mean, he has lied and lied about it, and I want to just make good that claim. Here is a record. I'm going to read it to you. A record of Jack Smith's responses under oath. Now, to members of Congress, he is asked question as it relates to members and their staffs and senators. It's just the toll records. As far as you remember, Smith, that is my recollection. Question, did the records that you requested include the content of text messages? Smith answer, no. Now, maybe there's some nuance I'm missing.
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Todd Blanche Critic
But it sounds a lot to me like this guy didn't tell the truth. Have you thought about investigating this guy for perjury?
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
The end.
Senator Cory Booker
We take testimony in front of this body very seriously.
Todd Blanche Critic
Yes. Good.
Aaron Maté
He's investigating Jack Smith for perjury. Well, committing perjury himself today. Cory Booker tells me now, when we talk about Epstein Today, Vice President J.D. vance admitted, you know what? I'm guilty. I'm guilty of mishandling the Epstein files.
J.D. Vance
People want to say we mishandled the Epstein release. Guilty. We did mishandle, especially the communications of it.
Aaron Maté
What do you think should have been done?
J.D. Vance
I think that we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning. And like, obviously it takes a little time to review the stuff, to find the stuff, to redact things where you have victims and so forth, but we should have just done it as quickly as possible.
Aaron Maté
But some of the stuff that was
Senator Cory Booker
redacted, some of the names that were redacted weren't victims.
J.D. Vance
So, yeah, I've looked into this and my understanding of this, having looked at a lot of this, but not all of it, is that it is sometimes hard to draw a distinction between victim and co conspirator. And like, let me highlight this in a very sort of obvious way. Ro Khanna, who's been one of the most. One of the loudest voices on the Epstein fight. Well, he became very loud on the Epstein files the minute Donald Trump became president. Didn't seem to care about it during the Biden administration. He actually brought one of the Epstein victims, I think, to the State of the Union last year, or maybe it was the year before last. Well, like that victim. And I'm not accusing. I'm not saying she wasn't a victim. I don't know anything about her particular case. She was also listed as a co conspirator in some of these documents. Right. So there's an idea that some of the people who were engaged in the sex trafficking were also, you know, facilitating it as well.
Aaron Maté
So they were incentivized to get more girls.
J.D. Vance
Yeah. But
Aaron Maté
guilty. Guilty of mishandling the Epstein files. Survivor Annie Farmer released a statement today following Todd Blanche's hearing saying Blanche has failed survivors at every turn. He is overseeing an investigation that has repeatedly re traumatized survivors and has sought to bury the case even as questions remain unanswered about Epstein and Maxwell's network of enablers and supporters. My sister Maria was the first survivor to contact the FBI in 1996 about her abuse and trafficking at the hands of Epstein and Maxwell. And she continues to be ignored to this day. The Senate must not reward this record of failure, deception and disregard for survivors. We urge the Senate not to confirm him now. Blanche's confirmation hearing wasn't the only one happening today. Jay Clayton for Director of National Intelligence had a moment that I think the world needs to see.
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
Yes.
Jay Clayton Questioner
Who won the 2020 election?
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
You know, I'm not. I'm not going to do this with you.
Jay Clayton Questioner
This is a job interview. We have established that you have an obligation, honest and forthright with the committee. Yes. You do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee.
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
Yes.
Jay Clayton Questioner
Who won the 2020 election?
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
Like I said, I'm not. I'm not going to get into that with you.
Jay Clayton Questioner
But you do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee.
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
Is anything that I just said not honest or forthright?
Jay Clayton Questioner
Yes. You're not being honest or forthright. Who won the tournament?
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
I think I've asked the question. We can keep doing this.
Jay Clayton Questioner
Well, we're gonna keep doing it because you're not being honest and forthright.
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
I'm not gonna engage in the theater.
Jay Clayton Questioner
It's a simple question, Mr. Clayton, and I've answered. Who won the 2020 presidential election?
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
I've answered it.
Jay Clayton Questioner
You're here asking for the support senators to lead America's intelligence community. We've established that you have an obligation to be honest and forthright with this committee and with the American public. But you refuse to answer a simple matter of fact about the 2020 election. Is that right?
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
No, that's not right.
Jay Clayton Questioner
Then answer the question. Who won the 2020 election?
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
I have answered.
Jay Clayton Questioner
Answer it. What is your answer?
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
I've given you my answer.
Jay Clayton Questioner
What is your answer? You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election, but you asked to lead America's intelligence community. Isn't it humiliating to be unable to answer this question? To have to indulge the president's delusions?
Aaron Maté
When we talk about the intelligence community. Well, it's preparing for a possible invasion of Cuba. Military planners have in recent weeks examined a range of options for possible action against the island, including an army led air assault Involving thousands of US soldiers to be carried out by the 101st Airborne Division, the only unit trained for such a task. Maybe that's why Pete Hecseth is demanding soldiers potentially get testosterone treatment.
1-800-Contacts Spokesperson
Now the Department of War. We have the most elite warriors on the face of the earth. Every single day, you are pushed to your absolute physical and mental limits to master the profession of arms. We demand your all and you give it. But while we invest heavily in our weapon systems, platforms and gear, our most decisive tactical advantage will always be the individual warfighter. We have a sacred duty to maintain that advantage, which is why we must constantly look for new ways to optimize your performance, your resilience and your long term health. And to meet that commitment today I'm authorizing a new screening program for test for our service members.
Aaron Maté
Every service member over the age of 30 will now have to be tested for testosterone deficiency and may get TRT treatment as a result. I spoke with Senator Cory Booker about his questioning of Todd Blanche. He confirms that Todd Blanche committed a crime today under oath, lying. And he says that it's not a given that he's going to be confirmed. Here's my interview with Cory Booker. Like Comment Share subscribe to my substack link below to support See you soon. Excited to be here with Senator Cory Booker, who just got out of his hearing for the confirmation of Todd Blanche to be the Attorney General. Now, Senator Booker, I want to ask you straight up, is there any chance Blanche isn't confirmed?
Senator Cory Booker
Look, I believe history shows that the underdog or the outside chance sometimes comes and is made real. But clearly the only way it stops right now is if Senator Cornyn or Senator Tillis or Senator Cassidy come together and decide to say no. But I don't have confidence that's going to happen. But I'm hoping that we can put as much pressure as possible and not give up on this until the final vote's cast.
Aaron Maté
Now I want to ask you about a key moment in the hearing where Todd Blanche refused to essentially sit down and meet with Epstein survivors saying that it would be against the law for him to do so. Do you have a response to that?
Senator Cory Booker
That is a fundamental lie. He was under oath when he said it. A first year law student knows he can meet with them. All they have to do is give their permission. They don't even have to have counsel there if they waive that right. So it was a fundamental lie and a dodge and he was trying to obscure. The truth is that he met for over two days with Ghislaine Maxwell and he wasn't willing to meet at all with the actual people that were victimized were survivors of the sexual assaults when they were juveniles. It is absurd to me. In fact, during my questioning, I think one of the more insulting things he said to the conscience of decent Americans is that he was more concerned with Gazelle Maxwell's safety and security than he was with all of the women whose personal details he re traumatized by releasing them to the public and making them subject to targeting and hate from Americans, including images of them, which is just, to me, unconscionable.
Aaron Maté
Now, I spoke with many survivors leading up to the hearing. They all confirmed Todd Blanche refused to sit down with them. Wouldn't sit down, not even with them, by the way. He wouldn't sit down with their lawyers either. So that's what they have told me. You were in the room. There were 10 survivors back there. You saw him walk in and out. Did he look at the survivors? Did he give any notion that they mattered?
Senator Cory Booker
I literally saw no deference to them, no expressions of sympathy, no apologies for violating the law and releasing their personal details. And that, to me is just a sign that his role when it comes to the Epstein files, his behavior, confirms this. His role is to protect the president and other powerful people because they did redact the names of powerful people when they released that they had no regard for the. For the survivors. And that. That to me, summarizes how much this man is a danger to that office.
Aaron Maté
So what I'm hearing is, are you going to vote for his confirmation?
Senator Cory Booker
Absolutely not. I probably won't vote no. I'll probably yell hell no when it comes to be the time.
Aaron Maté
And what is the timeline for that final vote? When should we expect it?
Senator Cory Booker
They're going to try to jam it through as far as possible. We have some procedural things that we'll do to slow it down, but I imagine it's going to be next week.
Aaron Maté
Based on what you understand the current functions of the Department of Justice. To me, based on from what I. The people I speak to, it's really been decimated. You have lawyers fleeing the doj, experienced lawyers who have been there for a long time. They have trouble hiring new lawyers. What's the current state, state of play within the Justice Department as you understand it?
Senator Cory Booker
It's in shambles. Think about this, think about an institution like that losing 16,000 people who, many of them just conscientious objectors and said, I cannot work under these conditions and being ordered to do these things. Many of them were targeted by him because they simply did their sin as having been a part of the investigations into the criminal activities of this president and the president's associates, including those people who beat police officers on January 6. So we have seen the biggest exodus from the Department of Justice career people, years, decades of experience, who are working on issues that are about the public safety. They've dismantled key, key offices because they didn't fit with the president's political narrative, including those offices that are organized to try to protect our elections from foreign interference. And so the morale there for those who are left is. Is gone. And the people that I've talked to and my team has talked to who've left there or once worked there, it's just really tragic that what they're doing and how they're conducting themselves.
Aaron Maté
Well, I want to ask you if there is someone watching this still at the Justice Department and is thinking, should I stay and provide some sort of ethical experience here at the doj, or should I resign in protest of what I'm seeing, What advice would you give
Senator Cory Booker
them to follow your conscience? You do have to balance equities. Maybe they're in an area where they're. They're below the radar screen in terms of the purges that they're doing, or in an area where they're not being asked to do unethical things, and they think, hey, I could conscientiously object and leave and protest, or I could stay here and do what is an important mission. I really have gotten to know a lot of people in the DOJ over years, and there are a lot of very good people. I think there are a lot of folks, As I said, 16,000 have left for one reason or other. Many of them are conscientious objectors. But I also know from talking to people that there are still people in there that have very finite roles that want to stay there, want to preserve institutional memory and weather out this storm of Donald Trump. And now, Todd Blanche, what can be
Aaron Maté
done if he is confirmed, to hold him and the Justice Department in check, let's say next year, if you all somehow retake the majority?
Senator Cory Booker
I think at that point, we have to pull back the curtain that's shielding a lot of agencies from scrutiny, transparency, and accountability. And one of the best ways to deal with corruption is a sunlight. And so one of the things we have to do is be ready to get what we need to be able to show patterns of corruption, prevent it, have accountability, have ethics laws and rules enforced and more. Congress is going to have a very busy agenda. If we should take back of the House and the Senate, if we should not take back of the House and the Senate, then I think the corruption we're aware of in the Trump administration is just the tip of a larger mammoth iceberg under the water being obscured right now because Republicans refuse to hold true hearings of oversight and accountability.
Aaron Maté
Now, you mentioned at the beginning of this that you believe Todd Blanche committed perjury when lying today during his confirmation hearing. Do you believe that, say, Democratic president and a new attorney general should criminally investigate Blanche for perjury?
Senator Cory Booker
Well, I'm going to say this because I don't want to ever make such investigations partisan. I think that whoever is future attorney generals, they should apply the law. No one is above the law. And they should investigate charges that whether I'm saying things or not, I believe that we are living in a country right now where highest powerful people and wealthy people are not being held to the same standards as people that might happen to be adversaries of the President of the United States. I want us to make sure that when we put people positions in the future that they do their jobs. I'm going to say something that might be controversial for your show. Should we take back the House and the Senate? Yes, we need to hold the executive accountable. Yes, we, we need to demand transparency and accountability. Yes, we need to provide checks and balances. But I'm also frustrated with the Democratic Party because I don't think that we're using power like we should. I'm frustrated with the Democratic Party because too many people are defining us by what we're against and not what we're for. If we kick back the House and Senate, what I'm going to be fighting to try to get our party to do is to pass legislation that helps Americans that are hurting. Yes, hold Donald Trump accountable fully, full stop. But we should be putting bill after bill on his desk and daring him to vote against the interests of people. That will help them with housing, that'll help him to help Americans lower their costs, that will help Americans with health care. We should be a party that's defined mostly by the service we render, the big things we do for Americans and the pain points in our populace.
Aaron Maté
Now, Senator Todd Blanche's votes coming up quickly. You mentioned three Republican senators, Cassidy, Cornyn and Tillis. Now, a lot of my viewers often ask if they want to oppose it, let their constituent, let their representatives know how they're feeling about a nominee. They don't know what to do. Everyone tells them to just call these offices and then they call them and they get an intern at the desk who just kind of says, we'll take down your message and move on. What's your recommendation to someone who said, and this is coming from you as a senator who receives those phone calls. What's your recommendation to a constituent who doesn't want Blanche confirmed? What should they do?
Senator Cory Booker
My office pays attention to the calls that come in. And we track it. We track the issues that people are saying. We look at that data. So I tell people it doesn't matter. Most offices do the same call. Let your voice be heard, but also think about other actions you can take besides calling your senator. And by the way, I mentioned three There's Susan Collins. You should add to that list. If you're in Maine, you should add to that list Murkowski in Alaska, Sullivan in Alaska. There's a lot of Republican senators. Don't give up on any Republican senators, but take more actions than those participating in protests. Taking to the streets is a valuable thing, supporting those organizations that are standing up to the Justice Department. That's why even with my I'm a United States senator, I take a lot of official actions, but I also support people that are protecting immigrant rights. I support people that are protecting reproductive rights. So there's a lot of ways in this time when we are in a moral moment in America for you to take action and not be silent.
Aaron Maté
Sudner, thanks so much for the time.
Senator Cory Booker
Thank you, Aaron. I appreciate you having me.
Aaron Maté
Hey folks, thanks so much for watching. Feel free to add this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you watch for the latest breaking news and daily hits throughout the day. Make sure to follow subscribe. See you soon for more.
Episode: Blanche Accused of Perjury?!
Host: Aaron Parnas
Date: July 15, 2026
This episode of The Parnas Perspective unpacks a whirlwind day in Washington, focused on two explosive confirmation hearings: Todd Blanche for Attorney General and Jay Clayton for Director of National Intelligence. Host Aaron Parnas brings real-time breakdowns, key audio excerpts, and a headline-making interview with Senator Cory Booker, who accuses Blanche of committing perjury during his Senate testimony—specifically regarding Epstein investigations and survivor outreach. The episode explores deep intra-party and institutional turmoil, direct survivor responses, and the precarious status of Blanche’s confirmation.
On Blanche’s Conduct:
“He was more concerned with Ghislaine Maxwell’s safety and security than he was with all of the women whose personal details he re-traumatized...”
— Sen. Cory Booker [12:42]
On Survivor Exclusion:
“Wouldn’t sit down, not even with them, by the way. He wouldn't sit down with their lawyers either.”
— Aaron Parnas [13:10]
On What Constitutes Perjury:
“That is a fundamental lie. He was under oath when he said it.”
— Sen. Cory Booker [12:03]
On DOJ Exodus:
“I cannot work under these conditions… many were targeted by him because they simply did their sin as having been a part of the investigations.”
— Sen. Cory Booker [14:56]
The episode is brisk, forthright, urgent, and deeply partisan, blending legal scrutiny with direct advocacy. Parnas’s tone is caffeine-driven and unfiltered, matched by Booker’s candid, sometimes exasperated, style. Both infuse the legal and political developments with an activist edge that encourages both vigilance and engagement from the audience.
Aaron Parnas’s episode provides a fast-paced, whistle-stop tour through an unprecedented day on Capitol Hill. With exclusive reactions from Senator Booker and Epstein survivors, the episode spotlights bombshell allegations of perjury, DOJ dysfunction, and the critical stakes around Blanche’s nomination. Both the analysis and direct commentary offer a rare, high-stakes lens on the intersection of MeToo reckoning, justice system crisis, and party politics heading into consequential Senate votes.