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Transcript22 lines

[00:00]
A
Epstein, Epstein, Epstein. That is the one thing Fox News and Donald Trump don't want to talk about. So much so that they're throwing guests off of air for mentioning the fact that Donald Trump is a, quote, pedophile protector and that the Epstein files still have not been released to the American public. It comes as Republicans are embracing the fact that to them, Dr. Fauci was worse than Jeffrey Epstein, had more victims than Jeffrey Epstein. And, well, Todd Blanche's nomination hangs in the balance. He claims all of these Epstein files have been redacted. Well, I can prove to you that they have not been properly redacted because under the redactions, which I will tell you what's underneath some of these while it shows that they're redacting the names of co conspirators and other individuals not of victims. So busy day right now, as always, we're on the road to a million subscribers. Hit that subscribe button if you can, like comment, share, get the word out. We keep talking about Epstein when no one else wants us to. And I will never stop until the survivors get justice and accountability. And, and I also talked to Adrian Fontes, the secretary of state from Arizona who's running for reelection against an election denier. Arizona, as you may know, is set to be ground zero for election denialism claims again in 2026 and potentially in 2028. You're not going to want to miss that conversation in this video. But I do want to talk about how no one in Fox News, no one in Trump world, they don't want to talk about Jeffrey Epstein. They're terrified. Over the past several hours, a man by the name of Oliver Larkin, who's running for Congress in Florida, went on Fox News and he was asked about rape and rapists. And Larkin tried to bring up the fact that, you know, if you want to talk about rape and rapists, you got to talk about the president himself.
[01:40]
B
Is the number that is fine with you? Is there, is there a benchmark? Is it fine how many children can be raped? And it's fine if you're in relation to the immigration community. If we're going to talk about children being raped, then we need to hold this pedophile president, Donald Trump, accountable and all those that have been implicated by the Epstein sales that the Department of Justice is still not leaking and they've sent AIPAC after Thomas Massie for having the temerity to hold accountable to pedophiles that are in control of our government.
[02:11]
A
Thank you.
[02:11]
B
We appreciate your time very much.
[02:13]
A
They quickly ran all of our Larkin off the show. Thank you, thank you. We appreciate your time very much. Because Larkin is speaking the truth. He's trying to make clear the Epstein files have not been released. The public has not seen the truth. And despite all of that, Fox News is saying, well, we don't want to talk about it. Well, I'm going to talk about it here on the partner's perspective. If Fox News doesn't want to talk about it, we're going to beat Fox News. Oh, and by the way, if you hear that cooing, that is my four month old daughter who's working with me today. But I want to talk about more about where Republicans are in all this Epstein stuff because now Megyn Kelly has come out saying that Dr. Fauci is, quote, worse than Jeffrey Epstein. Fauci hurt a lot more people than Epstein did, she says a lot more. Amazingly, her guest Victor Davis Hansen agreed repeatedly declaring millions, millions, millions, millions came after Hansen discussed the so called Fauci files. They're talking about the Fauci files but not the Epstein files. And when we talk about the Epstein files, the Department of Justice has still not released all of the files. Now Todd Blanche claims the reason why these redactions were made and all of them haven't been released is because they're protecting victims. But I can prove to you that's not the case. This file Right here is EFTA 00628112. It talks about a relation, 14 to 15 year old girls, quote, I am a sexual pervert because I say now they are now of reproductive age. Folks, the redacted here is not a victim. It's Alan Dershowitz. Alan Dershowitz is the redacted name and email in this image. Go to the next one. This is an indictment, a draft indictment with redactions made. Alleged co conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein's EFTA 00194840. You want to know who those people that are redacted are? Sarah Kellen, Nadia Marova, Leslie Grof, Adriana Ross. These are not victims. These are alleged co conspirators. These are alleged co conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein's. But that's not all. There's another one right here. Jeffrey Epstein to a redacted one. Hope to see you. Where are you? Are you okay? All of these, these redactions are being made. These redactions are not. These redactions are not of victims but of just other people. And well, this is about Sultan Bin Soyan so Sultan Bin Soyem, right here. And so there's nothing more that the Trump administration wants than to you, than for you to stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein. I will never. It's why I'm still on this beat. As always, hit that subscribe button, help us get to a million subscribers. And here's my conversation with Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. Excited to be joined again by Adrian Fontes, the Secretary of State for Arizona. Now, I gotta jump right in because we haven't spoken since all of the craziness with Trump's address the nation efforts to undermine what's happening in Arizona and also what happened in the primary elections with your Republican opponent now being an election denier. So give us the latest. What is the status right now of your race and of elections in Arizona?
[05:15]
C
Well, the elections in Arizona have been running great, and that's because folks like me and a lot of the other folks at the county and other local levels, we're just doing our jobs. And that's pretty plain to see with the three elections that we had our presidential the primary and then the general in 24, and then our primary that just happened. We run good elections in Arizona without any incident, without any issues. And that's what happens when you put people who are competent in charge. However, our friends over on the other side of the aisle have nominated someone who wants to kill, you know, vote by mail in Arizona. But he's not just an extremist when it comes to denialism, as you said, having been an alum of Sidney Powell's Kraken lawyer crew back in 2021 and so forth. But he wants to legalize weapons of war, and that includes hand grenades and pipe bombs for civilian use. He's a guy who said that Sandra Day o' Connor was a mediocre jurist at best and should have never been on the Supreme Court. He's voted against penalties for stolen valor, which really upsets a Marine Corps veteran like me. The guy's wholly and completely out of touch. And it's not surprising that Turning Point usa, which is the party I'm running against, nominated him to be their secretary of state candidate.
[06:27]
A
What I'm worried about and what a lot of people are worried about in Arizona is that election night comes around in November and you all don't release your results right away. Once polls close, sometimes takes an hour, Right? And in that hour, Trump says it's rigged. We're going to go in, we're going to try to interfere with the ballot counting. We're going to go to Maricopa County. We're going to make Arizona kind of the epicenter of election denialism once again. Do you have a plan in place if that were to happen?
[06:55]
C
Well, we do in the state. Law in Arizona is pretty clear. Polls close at 7pm local time and the polling results have to be released, but not until 8pm is what the statute says. We can't actually release them ahead of time. But the big problem with all of this stuff about results and stuff is that on election night, nobody ever really knows what the actual results are. And that's because what you see on election night are network predictions. They're not actual results. And I think that's important not just for your audience, Aaron, to know, but for everybody to know. It's kind of a strawman argument when you have dark red states or dark blue states where you get these results that are actually predictions and then you don't actually get the real results till later. And in a battleground state like Arizona, where every margin is so tight, particularly in these big statewide races like the one I'm running at in November, you're not going to know right away if it's tight. So our goal is to get the support that we need, particularly for my race, run the table, get as much support as possible so that when those predictions get made, they stick and we can move forward into the next four years of good, solid elections. Which is why this race is so important, because the Secretary of race who wins in 26 runs the 2028 presidential race and the US Senate race that we're going to have on the ticket here in Arizona.
[08:15]
A
Well, that's what I want to ask also about the 2028 and what and what your steps are you're taking and your office is taking to ensure that not just 2026 runs smoothly, but that 2028 also runs smoothly from any interference from the federal government. Because there is real concern that Trump is no longer on the ballot. But one of Vance's, for example, or Rubio, and Trump really wants to get them elected and he'll do anything to make that happen. What are we doing to make sure that the 2028 election will be running your watch?
[08:42]
C
Yeah, that's a smart question, Aaron, because it tells me that, you know, that elections administrators don't just work every couple of years. We work 24, 7, 365 all the time. And we are already looking towards 2028. In fact, the other day I was talking to the state election director that I appointed, who's a Republican by the way. And we were talking about how we were going to do certain parts of building the ballot for that presidential preference election that is going to come in early spring of 2028. We're perpetual planners. We make sure that things are in place because the election calendar never moves. Unlike so many other spaces where you can fudge a meeting here, you can do a little there, you can kind of flex your dates, we don't have that luxury and we've got to get it exactly right every single time. So, yeah, we've not only been planning for 2026 election day and what comes beyond Election Day, including the dates for the canvas and all of these other potential challenges, but also into 2028. What are our tabletops going to start looking like? What are the resources going to look like? How are we going to move people around in the office? Because my office doesn't just do elections. We do a lot of business support stuff, filings, things of this nature. And we have the library archives and public records. And so at election time, it's all hands on decks into elections. So we've got to make sure those folks know where they're going to be to support that function. It really is something that we have to be ready for. And we are already planning for a lot of this stuff, including some of the things that might have been considered wild fantasies in the past. But this is the world we live in now and we're ready for it.
[10:14]
A
I want to ask you also about legal challenges. Are you prepared to work with Attorney General Mays and the Justice Department in Arizona to potentially combat any legal challenges coming from the Trump Justice Department in November and ultimately later on as well?
[10:29]
C
Yeah. So our Attorney General, Chris Mays, she's also on the ballot this November. She is a, she is a bulldog. And she has sued the Trump administration, I think well over 40 times now, almost 50 times. And we've won a ton of these. And she's been right there next to us. She and her team work in hand in glove with my team and we make sure that we're doing what is best for Arizona's voters. At the end of the day, that's the focus. It's not a political thing because none of this is really political. It's about making sure elections run well for voters. And since 80, 85% of our voters in Arizona vote by mail, we want to protect and preserve that. Since I don't know anyone in Arizona who wants their personal information in the hands of the Trump administration, we've moved to protect that and we're doing everything that we can together as a team. And that's why this is such a critical relationship and it's really important. And look, you know, she was born in Prescott, Arizona, the territorial capital. I'm from Nogales down on the border. We're both kids of Arizona. We both went to Arizona State and we've, we've known of each other or know each other for a long time. So you got a solid team here in Arizona. We'd like to stick around for another four years to make sure that not only 2028 presidential goes well, but remember in 2030 we've got a United States census coming up. And in Arizona we got undercounted pretty severely in 2020 because the wrong people were in power. So this is a massive, massively important election right here in 2026 for the future of the Grand Canyon State.
[12:00]
A
Are you at all concerned about the USPS mail and ballot rule that they're floating around and that's kind of been on a lot of folks mind where they may not send mail in ballots to your state if you don't comply with all of their directives essentially by sending voter rolls and information to the government.
[12:16]
C
Yeah. First, I'm so happy that your co anchor is chiming in there. I love the sound of I've Got Kids myself and we chatted about that a minute ago. I'm not super concerned about the United States Postal Service. I think the courts are going to put the kibosh on that. But also listen, a lot of people don't know the United States Postal Service has a universal delivery mandate. I can't remember what the official name is, but once a piece of mail gets into their hands, they are mandated by law to move it through their system and get it where it needs to go. And because so many of our voters vote by mail, we're going to lean on that. But the other thing that we've done is super important. And like in so many other mail mail mail vote by Mail states, Arizona has a ballot tracking system. So if you're an Arizona voter, you can go to Arizona vote and we'll send you automatically generated a series of text or emails when your ballot is being prepared, when it gets mailed to you so you can know it's coming and when it returns to the election office so that you know it got delivered. Now this is a check and a balance on the postal service that we offer here in Arizona for our voters who are voting by mail. So it's an opt in system. More details at Arizona Vote now, if
[13:23]
A
people want to support your campaign, you're reelect. What should they do?
[13:26]
C
Well, they should go to electfontes.com again, that's electfontes.com and pitch in. It's a really, really important moment, particularly at the end of the month here for our reporting. That's going to happen early next month. And I'm super excited about the support we've received. You know, four years ago we were running against the quintessential election denier with his cowboy hat and his goofy mustache. We put him to the side. This one is even more dangerous, folks. And I think here, and here's why. He's an attorney. He understands how the legal systems work and he understands how to manipulate the systems, although he's not great at it. In fact, he's already been sanctioned by the state Supreme Court and disciplined by the state bar. He was put on an 18 month probationary period and made to take ethics classes because he lied to the courts. This is the guy that the Turning Point Party has put up against us with their Turning Point money. I'm not running against a Republican. I'm running against a candidate who is sponsored and supported by an outside political group. You guys know who Turning Point is. We got to fight against him. And so please, please, Please go to elect fontes.com and pitch in. That's the easiest way folks can help out. Otherwise we're going to have a lot of other opportunities available on that same website.
[14:42]
A
Adrian, thanks so much for the time. I appreciate it.
[14:44]
C
Appreciate you, Aaron. Have a great day.
[14:46]
A
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.
[14:59]
D
I'm Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of know and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like I can't stop. I'm addicted.
[15:25]
C
Start your free trial at Shopify.
[15:27]
B
Com.

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: The Parnas Perspective

Episode: Republicans Terrified of Epstein, I Have the Truth!
Host: Aaron Parnas
Guest: Adrian Fontes (Arizona Secretary of State)
Date: July 31, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Aaron Parnas returns to the contentious subject of Jeffrey Epstein and the apparent reluctance of Fox News, Donald Trump, and Republican circles to discuss the release of Epstein-related files or their implications. Aaron argues that the suppression of these files points to a broader culture of protectionism within high-profile conservative networks. The episode then pivots to a timely conversation with Adrian Fontes, Arizona Secretary of State, where election integrity, denialism, and the future of Arizona's electoral system are discussed, especially in the context of recent and upcoming elections.

Main Discussion Points

1. Republicans and Media Fear of the Epstein Files

[00:00–05:14]

Fox News Avoidance:
Aaron details recent events where Fox News abruptly ended interviews (notably with congressional candidate Oliver Larkin) when guests raised Epstein and Donald Trump’s alleged connections.
Suppression of Information:
Aaron accuses the network and MAGA world of being "terrified" of Epstein allegations and actively suppressing discussions, underscoring how both establishment media and GOP figures avoid substantive conversations about the case.
Redactions and Accountability:
Aaron asserts that the redactions in the Epstein files are not to protect victims—as claimed by figures like Todd Blanche—but to hide names of alleged co-conspirators and well-known establishment figures.
Example documents and specific redacted names are discussed, such as Alan Dershowitz and alleged co-conspirators Sarah Kellen, Nadia Marova, Leslie Grof, and Adriana Ross.

Notable Quotes:

Aaron Parnas [00:10]:
“Epstein, Epstein, Epstein. That is the one thing Fox News and Donald Trump don't want to talk about. So much so that they're throwing guests off of air for mentioning the fact that Donald Trump is a, quote, pedophile protector…”
Oliver Larkin (Congressional Candidate, via Fox) [01:43]:
"If we're going to talk about children being raped, then we need to hold this pedophile president, Donald Trump, accountable and all those that have been implicated by the Epstein files that the Department of Justice is still not leaking..."
Aaron Parnas [02:13]:
“They quickly ran Oliver Larkin off the show…Because Larkin is speaking the truth.”
Aaron Parnas [04:03]:
“These redactions are not of victims but of just other people. And well, this is about Sultan Bin Soyan so Sultan Bin Soyem right here. And so there's nothing more that the Trump administration wants than to…stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein. I will never.”

2. Fox News and MAGA World Distractions

[03:15–04:30]

Misdirection Tactics:
Discussion focuses on how MAGA media pivots to attacking figures like Dr. Fauci—framing him as “worse than Epstein”—to deflect from the ongoing Epstein scandal.
Megan Kelly’s Comparison:
Megyn Kelly’s alleged commentary is highlighted as a deliberate downplaying of Epstein’s crimes in favor of attacking other political targets.

3. Interview with Adrian Fontes: Arizona Elections & Election Denialism

[05:14–14:43]

Arizona’s Election Security and 2026/2028 Outlook

Election Administration Successes:
Fontes outlines Arizona’s strong record in election administration, crediting competent local officials and bipartisan cooperation.
GOP Opponent Extremism:
The GOP challenger is painted as an extremist, previously linked to "Kraken" lawsuits, advocating for legalizing “weapons of war” for civilians, attacking vote-by-mail, disparaging Sandra Day O’Connor, and having disciplinary history with the Arizona State Bar.
- Quote, Adrian Fontes [05:58]:
  “[My opponent] wants to legalize weapons of war…and said that Sandra Day O’Connor was a mediocre jurist at best and should have never been on the Supreme Court.”

Concerns Over Election Night and Denialism

Vote Tabulation Delays:
Fontes explains Arizona's statutory obligations regarding vote reporting, emphasizing that early reported results are never official or comprehensive.
Planning for 2026 and Beyond:
Detailing proactive strategies to ensure election integrity in 2026 and looking forward to 2028, Fontes shares insight into year-round election planning and resilience against interference.
- Quote, Adrian Fontes [08:44]:
  "We are already looking towards 2028. In fact, the other day I was talking to the state election director that I appointed, who’s a Republican by the way...We’re perpetual planners.”

Legal Infrastructure and Voter Protections

Collaborating with AG Kris Mayes:
Close working relationship with the Arizona Attorney General is highlighted, positioning Arizona as prepared for legal challenges from federal authorities.
- Quote, Adrian Fontes [10:29]:
  "Chris Mayes…has sued the Trump administration, I think well over 40 times now, almost 50 times. And we've won a ton of these.”
Undercounting and Census Risks:
Fontes stresses the impact of the 2026 and subsequent 2030 elections on fair representation in the census, referencing how Arizona was undercounted in 2020 due to “the wrong people in power.”

USPS Concerns and Ballot Tracking

Mail-in Voting Security:
Discusses confidence in USPS mandate for mail delivery and Arizona’s robust ballot tracking system, providing voters with transparency on the status of their mail-in ballots.
- Quote, Adrian Fontes [12:53]:
  “Arizona has a ballot tracking system…you can know when it’s being prepared, when it’s mailed, and when it returns. This is a check and a balance on the postal service…”

Supporting the Campaign

Fundraising Appeal:
Fontes encourages listeners to visit his campaign website, electfontes.com, noting the importance of financial support against a well-funded turning point-backed opponent.
- Quote, Adrian Fontes [14:07]:
  "This is the guy [opponent]…sanctioned by the state Supreme Court and disciplined by the bar...Please go to electfontes.com and pitch in. That’s the easiest way folks can help out.”

Memorable Moments and Tone

Aaron’s Steadfastness:
Aaron maintains an assertive, sometimes confrontational tone ("I will never stop until the survivors get justice and accountability") and positions The Parnas Perspective as an independent voice unafraid of topics others avoid.
Personal Touch:
A lighter side is briefly revealed when Aaron’s infant daughter is heard vocalizing in the background [02:45], adding warmth to an otherwise hard-hitting episode.
Fontes’ Pragmatism:
Throughout, Fontes answers with a characteristic mix of detail, legal insight, and plainspoken urgency.

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:00–05:14 | Epstein Files Suppression and Media Silence
01:39–02:11 | Oliver Larkin’s Fox News Ejection
04:03–05:14 | What Is Actually Redacted in the Epstein Files
05:14–14:43 | Adrian Fontes Interview: Election Integrity, Denialism, and Future Planning
12:16–13:23 | USPS Ballot Rule/Fears and Ballot Tracking
14:07–14:41 | Fontes’ Fundraising and Opponent Critique

Conclusion

This episode underscores Aaron’s commitment to reporting stories and truths that mainstream media and political stakeholders may be avoiding, particularly concerning Jeffrey Epstein and associated cover-ups. The detailed, practical discussion with Adrian Fontes adeptly transitions the episode from national scandal to the stakes in frontline democratic administration, providing actionable insights and a clear call to civic engagement.

Loading summary

Transcript22 lines

[00:00]
A
Epstein, Epstein, Epstein. That is the one thing Fox News and Donald Trump don't want to talk about. So much so that they're throwing guests off of air for mentioning the fact that Donald Trump is a, quote, pedophile protector and that the Epstein files still have not been released to the American public. It comes as Republicans are embracing the fact that to them, Dr. Fauci was worse than Jeffrey Epstein, had more victims than Jeffrey Epstein. And, well, Todd Blanche's nomination hangs in the balance. He claims all of these Epstein files have been redacted. Well, I can prove to you that they have not been properly redacted because under the redactions, which I will tell you what's underneath some of these while it shows that they're redacting the names of co conspirators and other individuals not of victims. So busy day right now, as always, we're on the road to a million subscribers. Hit that subscribe button if you can, like comment, share, get the word out. We keep talking about Epstein when no one else wants us to. And I will never stop until the survivors get justice and accountability. And, and I also talked to Adrian Fontes, the secretary of state from Arizona who's running for reelection against an election denier. Arizona, as you may know, is set to be ground zero for election denialism claims again in 2026 and potentially in 2028. You're not going to want to miss that conversation in this video. But I do want to talk about how no one in Fox News, no one in Trump world, they don't want to talk about Jeffrey Epstein. They're terrified. Over the past several hours, a man by the name of Oliver Larkin, who's running for Congress in Florida, went on Fox News and he was asked about rape and rapists. And Larkin tried to bring up the fact that, you know, if you want to talk about rape and rapists, you got to talk about the president himself.
[01:40]
B
Is the number that is fine with you? Is there, is there a benchmark? Is it fine how many children can be raped? And it's fine if you're in relation to the immigration community. If we're going to talk about children being raped, then we need to hold this pedophile president, Donald Trump, accountable and all those that have been implicated by the Epstein sales that the Department of Justice is still not leaking and they've sent AIPAC after Thomas Massie for having the temerity to hold accountable to pedophiles that are in control of our government.
[02:11]
A
Thank you.
[02:11]
B
We appreciate your time very much.
[02:13]
A
They quickly ran all of our Larkin off the show. Thank you, thank you. We appreciate your time very much. Because Larkin is speaking the truth. He's trying to make clear the Epstein files have not been released. The public has not seen the truth. And despite all of that, Fox News is saying, well, we don't want to talk about it. Well, I'm going to talk about it here on the partner's perspective. If Fox News doesn't want to talk about it, we're going to beat Fox News. Oh, and by the way, if you hear that cooing, that is my four month old daughter who's working with me today. But I want to talk about more about where Republicans are in all this Epstein stuff because now Megyn Kelly has come out saying that Dr. Fauci is, quote, worse than Jeffrey Epstein. Fauci hurt a lot more people than Epstein did, she says a lot more. Amazingly, her guest Victor Davis Hansen agreed repeatedly declaring millions, millions, millions, millions came after Hansen discussed the so called Fauci files. They're talking about the Fauci files but not the Epstein files. And when we talk about the Epstein files, the Department of Justice has still not released all of the files. Now Todd Blanche claims the reason why these redactions were made and all of them haven't been released is because they're protecting victims. But I can prove to you that's not the case. This file Right here is EFTA 00628112. It talks about a relation, 14 to 15 year old girls, quote, I am a sexual pervert because I say now they are now of reproductive age. Folks, the redacted here is not a victim. It's Alan Dershowitz. Alan Dershowitz is the redacted name and email in this image. Go to the next one. This is an indictment, a draft indictment with redactions made. Alleged co conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein's EFTA 00194840. You want to know who those people that are redacted are? Sarah Kellen, Nadia Marova, Leslie Grof, Adriana Ross. These are not victims. These are alleged co conspirators. These are alleged co conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein's. But that's not all. There's another one right here. Jeffrey Epstein to a redacted one. Hope to see you. Where are you? Are you okay? All of these, these redactions are being made. These redactions are not. These redactions are not of victims but of just other people. And well, this is about Sultan Bin Soyan so Sultan Bin Soyem, right here. And so there's nothing more that the Trump administration wants than to you, than for you to stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein. I will never. It's why I'm still on this beat. As always, hit that subscribe button, help us get to a million subscribers. And here's my conversation with Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. Excited to be joined again by Adrian Fontes, the Secretary of State for Arizona. Now, I gotta jump right in because we haven't spoken since all of the craziness with Trump's address the nation efforts to undermine what's happening in Arizona and also what happened in the primary elections with your Republican opponent now being an election denier. So give us the latest. What is the status right now of your race and of elections in Arizona?
[05:15]
C
Well, the elections in Arizona have been running great, and that's because folks like me and a lot of the other folks at the county and other local levels, we're just doing our jobs. And that's pretty plain to see with the three elections that we had our presidential the primary and then the general in 24, and then our primary that just happened. We run good elections in Arizona without any incident, without any issues. And that's what happens when you put people who are competent in charge. However, our friends over on the other side of the aisle have nominated someone who wants to kill, you know, vote by mail in Arizona. But he's not just an extremist when it comes to denialism, as you said, having been an alum of Sidney Powell's Kraken lawyer crew back in 2021 and so forth. But he wants to legalize weapons of war, and that includes hand grenades and pipe bombs for civilian use. He's a guy who said that Sandra Day o' Connor was a mediocre jurist at best and should have never been on the Supreme Court. He's voted against penalties for stolen valor, which really upsets a Marine Corps veteran like me. The guy's wholly and completely out of touch. And it's not surprising that Turning Point usa, which is the party I'm running against, nominated him to be their secretary of state candidate.
[06:27]
A
What I'm worried about and what a lot of people are worried about in Arizona is that election night comes around in November and you all don't release your results right away. Once polls close, sometimes takes an hour, Right? And in that hour, Trump says it's rigged. We're going to go in, we're going to try to interfere with the ballot counting. We're going to go to Maricopa County. We're going to make Arizona kind of the epicenter of election denialism once again. Do you have a plan in place if that were to happen?
[06:55]
C
Well, we do in the state. Law in Arizona is pretty clear. Polls close at 7pm local time and the polling results have to be released, but not until 8pm is what the statute says. We can't actually release them ahead of time. But the big problem with all of this stuff about results and stuff is that on election night, nobody ever really knows what the actual results are. And that's because what you see on election night are network predictions. They're not actual results. And I think that's important not just for your audience, Aaron, to know, but for everybody to know. It's kind of a strawman argument when you have dark red states or dark blue states where you get these results that are actually predictions and then you don't actually get the real results till later. And in a battleground state like Arizona, where every margin is so tight, particularly in these big statewide races like the one I'm running at in November, you're not going to know right away if it's tight. So our goal is to get the support that we need, particularly for my race, run the table, get as much support as possible so that when those predictions get made, they stick and we can move forward into the next four years of good, solid elections. Which is why this race is so important, because the Secretary of race who wins in 26 runs the 2028 presidential race and the US Senate race that we're going to have on the ticket here in Arizona.
[08:15]
A
Well, that's what I want to ask also about the 2028 and what and what your steps are you're taking and your office is taking to ensure that not just 2026 runs smoothly, but that 2028 also runs smoothly from any interference from the federal government. Because there is real concern that Trump is no longer on the ballot. But one of Vance's, for example, or Rubio, and Trump really wants to get them elected and he'll do anything to make that happen. What are we doing to make sure that the 2028 election will be running your watch?
[08:42]
C
Yeah, that's a smart question, Aaron, because it tells me that, you know, that elections administrators don't just work every couple of years. We work 24, 7, 365 all the time. And we are already looking towards 2028. In fact, the other day I was talking to the state election director that I appointed, who's a Republican by the way. And we were talking about how we were going to do certain parts of building the ballot for that presidential preference election that is going to come in early spring of 2028. We're perpetual planners. We make sure that things are in place because the election calendar never moves. Unlike so many other spaces where you can fudge a meeting here, you can do a little there, you can kind of flex your dates, we don't have that luxury and we've got to get it exactly right every single time. So, yeah, we've not only been planning for 2026 election day and what comes beyond Election Day, including the dates for the canvas and all of these other potential challenges, but also into 2028. What are our tabletops going to start looking like? What are the resources going to look like? How are we going to move people around in the office? Because my office doesn't just do elections. We do a lot of business support stuff, filings, things of this nature. And we have the library archives and public records. And so at election time, it's all hands on decks into elections. So we've got to make sure those folks know where they're going to be to support that function. It really is something that we have to be ready for. And we are already planning for a lot of this stuff, including some of the things that might have been considered wild fantasies in the past. But this is the world we live in now and we're ready for it.
[10:14]
A
I want to ask you also about legal challenges. Are you prepared to work with Attorney General Mays and the Justice Department in Arizona to potentially combat any legal challenges coming from the Trump Justice Department in November and ultimately later on as well?
[10:29]
C
Yeah. So our Attorney General, Chris Mays, she's also on the ballot this November. She is a, she is a bulldog. And she has sued the Trump administration, I think well over 40 times now, almost 50 times. And we've won a ton of these. And she's been right there next to us. She and her team work in hand in glove with my team and we make sure that we're doing what is best for Arizona's voters. At the end of the day, that's the focus. It's not a political thing because none of this is really political. It's about making sure elections run well for voters. And since 80, 85% of our voters in Arizona vote by mail, we want to protect and preserve that. Since I don't know anyone in Arizona who wants their personal information in the hands of the Trump administration, we've moved to protect that and we're doing everything that we can together as a team. And that's why this is such a critical relationship and it's really important. And look, you know, she was born in Prescott, Arizona, the territorial capital. I'm from Nogales down on the border. We're both kids of Arizona. We both went to Arizona State and we've, we've known of each other or know each other for a long time. So you got a solid team here in Arizona. We'd like to stick around for another four years to make sure that not only 2028 presidential goes well, but remember in 2030 we've got a United States census coming up. And in Arizona we got undercounted pretty severely in 2020 because the wrong people were in power. So this is a massive, massively important election right here in 2026 for the future of the Grand Canyon State.
[12:00]
A
Are you at all concerned about the USPS mail and ballot rule that they're floating around and that's kind of been on a lot of folks mind where they may not send mail in ballots to your state if you don't comply with all of their directives essentially by sending voter rolls and information to the government.
[12:16]
C
Yeah. First, I'm so happy that your co anchor is chiming in there. I love the sound of I've Got Kids myself and we chatted about that a minute ago. I'm not super concerned about the United States Postal Service. I think the courts are going to put the kibosh on that. But also listen, a lot of people don't know the United States Postal Service has a universal delivery mandate. I can't remember what the official name is, but once a piece of mail gets into their hands, they are mandated by law to move it through their system and get it where it needs to go. And because so many of our voters vote by mail, we're going to lean on that. But the other thing that we've done is super important. And like in so many other mail mail mail vote by Mail states, Arizona has a ballot tracking system. So if you're an Arizona voter, you can go to Arizona vote and we'll send you automatically generated a series of text or emails when your ballot is being prepared, when it gets mailed to you so you can know it's coming and when it returns to the election office so that you know it got delivered. Now this is a check and a balance on the postal service that we offer here in Arizona for our voters who are voting by mail. So it's an opt in system. More details at Arizona Vote now, if
[13:23]
A
people want to support your campaign, you're reelect. What should they do?
[13:26]
C
Well, they should go to electfontes.com again, that's electfontes.com and pitch in. It's a really, really important moment, particularly at the end of the month here for our reporting. That's going to happen early next month. And I'm super excited about the support we've received. You know, four years ago we were running against the quintessential election denier with his cowboy hat and his goofy mustache. We put him to the side. This one is even more dangerous, folks. And I think here, and here's why. He's an attorney. He understands how the legal systems work and he understands how to manipulate the systems, although he's not great at it. In fact, he's already been sanctioned by the state Supreme Court and disciplined by the state bar. He was put on an 18 month probationary period and made to take ethics classes because he lied to the courts. This is the guy that the Turning Point Party has put up against us with their Turning Point money. I'm not running against a Republican. I'm running against a candidate who is sponsored and supported by an outside political group. You guys know who Turning Point is. We got to fight against him. And so please, please, Please go to elect fontes.com and pitch in. That's the easiest way folks can help out. Otherwise we're going to have a lot of other opportunities available on that same website.
[14:42]
A
Adrian, thanks so much for the time. I appreciate it.
[14:44]
C
Appreciate you, Aaron. Have a great day.
[14:46]
A
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.
[14:59]
D
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[15:25]
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[15:27]
B
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