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Welcome back to Unbiased, your favorite source of unbiased news and legal analysis. Welcome back to Unbiased Politics. Today is Monday, February 9th. Let's talk about some news. I do have a shorter episode for you today, but that's okay because I do feel like the episodes lately have been very, very substantive and content heavy. So this is kind of just going to be a little more chill. I mean, we still have some, some bigger stories to talk about, but the news cycle is definitely a little bit slower today. We'll start today's episode off with some news from Thursday. So President Trump's Truth Social account shared a video that has caused a lot of controversy. It was a 62 second documentary style clip about alleged fraud in the 2020 election, specifically alleged tampering with the voting machines in some battleground states. Now at the very end of this video, a one second clip pops up on the screen that shows the faces of former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama on the bodies of apes. And a one second snippet to the intro of the song the Lion Sleeps Tonight is playing over the clip at the same time and then the video ends. So it's unclear how that one second clip made it into the post, but it was very clearly not part of the the original election fraud video. Right? Like the, the original election fraud video was almost like a clip from from a documentary of sorts. And then this other clip that showed the Obamas was an AI generated video of sorts. And we actually know this because the frames of the Obamas originated from a separate video that had previously been circulated by a conservative meme maker. In fact, I've watched the full video of of the animal the animal video too, because based on the text overlay on that one second clip that shows in the election video, you can see the source of the animal video and the animal video is this 55 second AI generated video that shows the faces of multiple Democratic political figures and talking heads on the bodies of various animals. But President Trump's head is on the body of a lion and the song the Lion Sleeps Tonight is playing playing over this video. The first seven seconds of that video shows the faces of former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama attached to the bodies of apes. And that is the same sort of clip that made it into this election fraud video. Other figures that were depicted in the animal video include Hillary Clinton as a warthog, Hakeem Jeffries as a meerkat AOC and Gavin Newsom as donkeys. JP Pritzker is in there as an elephant, Adam Schiff is in there as a giraffe. You have Chuck Schumer as a zebra, Zo Run Momdani as a hyena, Joe Biden's in there as an orangutan, Kamala Harris as a turtle, Whoopi Goldberg as a hippo, and then there's a couple of others as well. So just to be clear and just so we're all on the same page with this, a snippet of that 55 second AI generated animal video ended up at the end of this 2020 election fraud documentary style clip that was shared to Trump's Truth Social account. And I do have of course both videos linked for you in the sources section of this episode if you're interested in watching them because that way you will get the the the full picture here. But to take it back to the story at hand, I wanted to explain the video first. The post stayed on Trump's True Social account through the night on Thursday night and it was taken down the following day after bipartisan backlash. So there were obviously a bunch of Democratic lawmakers that came out or came and spoke out about the post. There were also a handful of Republican lawmakers. So Republican Senator Tim Scott wrote on X quote, praying it was fake because it's the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House. The President should remove it, end quote. Republican Senator Roger Wicker also posted to X saying quote, this is totally unacceptable. The President should take it down and apologize, end quote. Republican Senator Pete Ricketts wrote on X quote, even if this was a Lion King meme, a reasonable person sees the racist context to this. The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake, remove this and apologize, end quote. Republican Representative Mike Lawler wrote on X quote, the President's post is wrong and incredibly offensive, whether intentional or a mistake, and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered, end quote. And then finally Republican Representative Nick Lalotta wrote on X quote, the President has made tremendous inroads in the black community and I can't imagine that sharing a one minute video, the last second of which was unrelated and pretty racist, wasn't sloppy. Sloppy screen recording by staff deleting the post would help right this wrong, end quote. So some White House officials were asked about the video. One of the senior officials said, quote, a White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down, end quote. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt originally said, quote, this is from an Internet meme video depicting President Trump as the king of the jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public, end quote. Later, Levitt said in an interview on Fox News that Trump, quote, spoke with lawmakers today. Out of respect for them, including Senator Tim Scott, the post was removed. But leave it to the leftist media, of course, to talk about this all day. He did take the post down, and again, this is merely a distraction for the fake news media, end quote. As for the president himself, he originally addressed the controversy on Friday while he was speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. He told them that he had not watched the entire video before it was posted. He said, quote, I looked at it, I saw it and I just looked at the first part. It was about voter fraud. In some place, Georgia, there's a lot of voter fraud, 2020 voter fraud. And I didn't see the whole thing. I guess during the end of it, the. There was some kind of picture that people don't like. I wouldn't like it either, but I didn't see it. I looked at the first part and it was really about voter fraud in the machines, how crooked it is, how disgusting it is. Then I gave it to the people. Generally, they look at the whole thing, but I guess somebody didn't. They posted it and we took it down. But that was a voter fraud that nobody talks about. They don't like to talk about that post. We took it down as soon as we found out about it. I didn't see the whole thing, end quote. A reporter then asked him, a number of Republicans are calling on you to apologize for that post. Is that something you're going to do? He replied, quote, no, I didn't make a mistake. I mean, you give. I look at a lot of things. I look at a lot of thousands of things, and I looked at the beginning of it, it was fine. They had that one post. And I guess it was a takeoff, by the way, a lot of people covered. If you look at where it came from, a lot of, I guess it was a takeoff of the Lion King, and certainly it was a strong post in terms of voter fraud. Nobody knew that that was at the end. If they would have looked, they would have seen it and probably would have had the sense to take it down. But that was a takeoff of the Lion King and a lot of people covered in a lot of different positions. But I spoke to Tim Scott. He was great. Tim is a great guy. He understood that 100%, end quote. Then a few minutes later, a reporter circled back to the issue and asked Trump, quote, at the very least, do you condemn the racist parts of the video, end quote. Trump replied, of course I do. Now, despite the White House's remarks and President Trump's remarks about the Post, people obviously have their opinions on both sides of this, right? Some people are saying the post was a mistake and it wasn't intentional. Others are saying it was intentional and it was racist. So again, if you want the full picture and, and you want to form your own opinion on the situation and you want to see the videos, I do have both videos linked for you in the Sources section of this episode, which is, which you can always find by clicking the Sources link in the episode Show Notes. And what I mean when I say both videos is the video that was originally posted to Trump's Truth Social account as well as that full AI generated animal video that it seems like, you know, that's where the clip of the Obamas originally came from. It's just not clear how it ended up in Trump's post to Truth Social. So both of those videos are linked in the sources section of this episode. Moving on to some other Trump adjacent news that many of you have asked about. About a week or so ago, I reported in a Quick Hitters segment that President Trump had filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department and IRS for $10 billion. But a lot of you have questions about the origins of the lawsuit and who would be on the on the hook for paying any potential damages should President Trump win the lawsuit or settle the lawsuit. So let's talk about this. This is a suit that was actually filed by President Trump, his sons, Donald Trump Jr. And Eric Trump, and then the Trump Organization. And this was actually filed by Trump in his personal capacity, by the way. So it wasn't. He didn't file this as President Trump, he filed this as Donald Trump. But the lawsuit alleges that the federal government failed to protect their confidential tax return information and, and allowed it to be unlawfully disclosed to the press. The complaint relies primarily on International revenue code section 6103, which generally prohibits the disclosure of tax return information by IRS employees and imposes this duty on the government to safeguard tax return information. So the plaintiffs, Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization argue that this alleged failure to safeguard their tax return information and Allow. This leak of their tax return information caused them severe reputational harm, financial losses, public embarrassment, and adverse political consequences. Now, more specifically, this lawsuit arises from a tax leak tax return leak in 2019 and 2020, carried out by a man named Charles Edward Littlejohn. Littlejohn previously worked as an IRS contractor and had lawful access to IRS systems. But he ended up exceeding that authority by downloading and distributing confidential tax return information and giving it to outlets like the New York Times and ProPublica. Both of those outlets later published investigative reports on Trump's tax history and tax strategies based on this leaked information. Now, Little John was ultimately charged with unauthorized disclosure of tax return information. He pled guilty in 2023, and he was sentenced to five years in federal prison in 2024. As part of his plea, he also admitted to stealing tax records of thousands of other wealthy people, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. So this was a tax data leak that happened in 2019 and 2020. However, rather than suing Little John himself in his personal capacity, the Trumps and Trump Organization are suing the IRS and Treasury Department, alleging that they failed to take the necessary steps to prevent their former employee from improperly disclosing their tax returns. And the complaint argues that the IRS and Treasury Department failed to implement sufficient technical, administrative, or monitoring controls to protect sensitive taxpayer information, despite their obligations to do so under the law. And they further argued that the agency's failure is what enabled this leak and that the resulting media coverage caused lasting damage to their personal reputations, their businesses, as well as Trump's political standing. As I mentioned earlier, the lawsuit is seeking, and I should say his political standing. So remember, this is 2019 and 2020. The election that Trump lost was obviously in 2020. So he's. He's tying these two things together, saying that his political standing was negatively affected. He lost that election in part because of this. This leak and the subsequent reports by ProPublica and the New York Times. So, as I mentioned earlier, the lawsuit is seeking at least $10 billion in damages. However, it's worth noting, at the same time, this is not the first lawsuit that Trump has filed for $10 billion. Right. He sued the BBC last year. Defamation over edits to a clip of his speech on January 6, 2021. That was also for $10 billion. He sued the Wall Street Journal after it reported on a birthday note that he allegedly wrote Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. That was also for $10 billion. He sued JP Morgan Chase and its CEO. Though that lawsuit seeks 5 billion not 10 billion. And then in October of last year, he sued the New York times in and three of its reporters for 15 billion, accusing them of publishing defamatory statements while covering his 2024 campaign. So this is yet another lawsuit in the, you know, tens of billions. Now, if the lawsuit results in court order damages or a settlement, the money would be paid with taxpayer dollars. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen actually just said while testifying before the Senate last week that, that any payments stemming from this lawsuit would come from the Treasury's general account. And he clarified in a follow up question that the Treasury's general account means taxpayer dollars. When Trump was asked by a reporter on Air Force One whether it's fair to ask the American people to pay for his lawsuit, Trump said, quote, well, anything I win, I'm going to give 100, give 100% to charity. The reporter then followed up and said, but that still takes it from the American people. And Trump replied, quote, no, no, because they give money away to charity. They give $40 billion a year to charity, our government, end quote. Now, something the court will have to sort out here is whether this case can proceed while Trump is in office. Right, because there is a bit of a conflict of interest here. Trump is suing in his personal capacity, and the DOJ is the defendant in this case. So what that means is, is that the DOJ is responsible for either defending the case or reaching a settlement with Trump. So although attorneys general are expected to operate with some level of independence, a court could see the dynamic as a conflict that warrants pausing the case until Trump leaves office. The other issue present in this case is the statute of limitations. So under federal law, lawsuits against the government for improper tax disclosure have to be initiated with within two years of what's called the date of discovery by the plaintiff. And while Trump received official notice of the leak from the IRS in 2024, leaked reports of his tax returns were public as early as 2020. So that's another thing the court will have to sort out. Did the statute of limitations start running when the public found out about the leaks, or did it start running when, when Trump received that official notice from the federal agency? So there are still some things to work out here. This case is very much in the early stages. We'll have to wait for the court to rule on some of these more specific issues. Let's take a quick break here. And when we come back, we'll talk about these bio labs found in Vegas and California, as well as some new documents that are shedding light On Epstein's jail cell the night that he died. For most of you, February is the time of year when you are just over the cold weather. The holidays are long gone, January now gone. And you're just craving warmer weather. And as much as I wish I could help you, I can't. But what I can do is help you make the last couple of months of cold weather just a little bit cozier with Cozy Earth. And actually, I'll tell you something crazy. So I don't, I don't live in a cold state like most of you do. I live in Florida. But the other day it got down to 34 degrees. It was. It was 34 degrees and felt like 25. We haven't had anything like that in six, 16 years. Okay, but my point is that when I woke up that morning in my Cozy Earth bedding and my Cozy Earth pajamas, I can promise you one thing, I was much warmer and cozier than most of the people in the state of Florida. Okay? So although I may not be able to relate to the everyday cold weather grind, I can attest to the fact that Cozy Earth will in fact keep you warm and cozy. So whether you go with their lightweight yet cozy pajama set, their super soft bedding, or their richly plush classic cuddle blanket, you could be just a little cozier in these last few colder months. Share a little extra love this February and wrap yourself or someone you care about in comfort that truly feels special. Head to cozyearth.com and use my code UNBIASED for up to 20% off. And if you get a post purchase survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth right here. Celebrate everyday love with comfort that makes the little moments count. We recently had a friend in town visiting for the college football national championship game and they were the first ones to sleep in my new article furniture pullout couch. And I am so relieved to report that they loved it. So I got the Landry 84 and a half inch sofa bed for my guest room and it is so nice. The shape of it, it's just so structured. It feels. Feels nice. The color, the material, everything about it is just really high quality and it's so comfortable. If you've never heard of article before, they carry contemporary mid century modern and modern furniture and they make it really easy to spice up the style in your house because number one, all of their pieces pair really well with basically any other article product so it's really easy to curate. And two, as if curating with article wasn't easy enough, they also offer pre designed bundles so you can buy a chair and a side table together or a dining room table. And the and the dining chairs that match, they really make it easy to make your house look beautiful. Article is offering my listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit article.comunbiased and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. That's article.comunbiased for $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. You know what nobody tells you about weeknight dinner? It never goes away and it does not care that you have a million other things going on every single day around 6pm without fail. There it is again. You have a laundry list of things to do. But weeknight dinner? I'm sorry, it just doesn't care. It is always going to be there and that's why HelloFresh is so great. Now I won't lie, HelloFresh isn't going to make you a better cook, okay? But it will give you your nights back. And that's something I think most of us can appreciate. Because I'm not the world's best cook, I will never claim to be. But when I get that box of ingredients delivered straight to my door and inside that box is pre portioned ingredients and the recipe cards for recipes that I personally picked out, I do feel like a 30% better cook. And I get my nights back. I made this home style chicken and biscuit pot pie one one of the nights that it was just such a long day of work and it was so quick and easy to make and my husband loved it. Which in my eyes like what more could I ask for? My husband loved it and it was a great meal. So all this to say I recommend using HelloFresh. Go to HelloFresh.comUnbiased10FM to get 10 free meals plus a free Zwilling knife a $144.99 value on your third box. That's HelloFresh.com/Unbiased10FM as in Unbiased 10 free meals offer valid while supplies last free meals applied as discount on first box. New subscribers only varies by plan. HelloFresh.comUnbiased10FM if you've never heard me talk about quints before, I'm sure you've heard someone talk about quints because it is all the rage right now and for good reason. Quint is all about elevated essentials that feel effortless and I love it because they their pieces are designed for layering and mixing so Each piece can be worn over and over again without looking like you're wearing the same exact outfit over and over again. The thing with Quint is that what they have is wardrobe staples, right? Things like 100% organic cotton T shirts and sweaters, premium denim that has a stretchiness to it, cotton cashmere blends everything you need for a wardrobe that'll actually stand the test of time. And the prices, you cannot beat the prices. So some of the pieces that I have been loving as we head into the spring months are the stretch cotton jersey fitted T shirt and the cotton cashmere ribbed tank. And then for men, I love the look of the organic cotton peak polo and the 100% European linen drawstring beach shorts. Refresh your wardrobe with quince. Go to quince.comunbiased for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. 10 now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N c e.comunbiased to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quint.comunbiased welcome back. Let's talk about these biolabs that have been making headlines. So earlier this month, law enforcement discovered what they believe was an illegal biolab operating inside of a home in Las Vegas. They received a tip about unusual activity at the property. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, along with SWAT teams and HAZMAT units and the FBI went ahead and executed a search warrant at this property. And in the garage they found multiple refrigerators and freezers containing vials and containers of unknown liquids. They also found a centrifuge. They also found other equipment that suggest lab work. Authorities ended up seizing more than a thousand samples and items of interest and sent them to the National Bio Forensic Analysis center for testing to determine whether they contain biological agents or hazardous substances. As of last week, local and federal investigators were still trying to figure out what exactly those substances were that were found. So they don't have any definitive answers there. However, officials have since confirmed that this Vegas investigation is connected to an earlier illegal biolab case that was found in Reedley, California. So Las Vegas Metro Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a press conference, quote, as our investigation progressed, we determined that the home was owned by the same individual connected to a prior illegal biolab investigation in Reedley, California, that occurred in 2023, end quote. And that individual was David He, a Chinese national. He was arrested in October 2023 and charged with manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices as well as making false statements to The FBI in connection with unapproved test kits for things like Covid pregnancy and HIV. Searches of that Readley facility uncovered thousands of vials of potential pathogens like HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, Covid and Ebola. And. And in August 2024, a federal grand jury actually returned a superseding indictment which added conspiracy and wire fraud charges to his original indictment. And he is currently in federal custody while he awaits trial. But officials are now saying that he also owned this home in Vegas where the most recent biolab was found earlier this month. The property manager of the home is 55 year old Orey Solomon. He has since been arrested federal firearm charges because his temporary work visa status prohibits gun possession. He is originally from Israel and he is here on. On a temporary work visa. Investigators say that during the recent raid of the Vegas property, they found French and Israeli passports in Solomon's name, as well as multiple firearms. According to documents, after Solomon's arrest, he called a family member from jail and, and asked whether there were any guns left, which then seemingly prompted a second search of the property where officers found, quote, numerous firearms, ammunition and firearm accessories. So as of now, Solomon is not facing any federal charges connected to this biolab because as I mentioned, investigators are still trying to determine what the substances are. But he is facing that federal firearms charge as well as a state charge that involves the disposal of hazardous, hazardous waste. Meanwhile, in the wake of the Vegas discovery, officials went and conducted another search at that Readley facility in California. Though it's unclear whether investigators found anything. The city manager of Readley, her name is Nicole Ziba. She has since spoken to news outlets and expressed her frustrations with all of this because she says that she worked with federal officials during a congressional hearing in 2023. And the report that came out of that investigation found that the CDC refused to test any of the samples found at the facility. And the FBI closed its investigation early on the basis that it found no weapons of mass destruction on the property. So Ziba is basically saying she's frustrated because she was raising red flags about loopholes in national security for biologics back in 2023 when the Readley facility was first found, and even knew back then that the defendant had ties to Las Vegas. But nothing was ever really done. And now we're here. So in. In the wake of all of this, some federal leaders are asking Congress to reintroduce a bill called the Preventing Illegal Laboratories and Protecting Public health Act of 2025. It's a bill that they say would strengthen federal oversight of pathogens and high containment laboratories to protect national security. So that's where things stand as of now. But the investigation into these biolabs is still ongoing. Okay, let's switch gears a little bit to these new documents detailing surveillance footage from the night of Epstein's death. Now, as we've talked about over the last couple of weeks, because there were so many Epstein pages released at once, more than 3 million. Right. We were bound to get more storylines as people continue to review them. And the latest storyline is that these newly released DOJ documents show that the investigators who reviewed the surveillance footage from the night of Epstein's death noticed and documented an orange colored shape, an orange figure moving up a staircase toward the area of Epstein's cell the night of his death. And the reason this is notable is, is because previously government officials have said that the footage clearly shows that no one entered the area where Epstein was housed. Specifically, former Attorney General William Barr said back in 2019 that he agreed with the conclusion of the medical examiner that Epstein had died by suicide because he personally reviewed the footage and clearly saw no one in the vicinity of Epstein's cell. That claim was more recently repeated, but by FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who said on Fox News in May, quote, there's video clear as day. He's the only person in there and the only person coming out, end quote. But now we know through these newly released documents that government officials were aware that someone was seen walking towards the area of Epstein's cell on the night of his death around 10:40pm now, something I want to be clear about is that the DOJ released the footage from Epstein's jail back in July of last year. So we've known about this figure in the orange jumpsuit since then. What's new are these internal reports that show government officials knew about the figure, despite telling the public that. That the video footage clearly shows no one in the vicinity of Epstein's cell the night of his death. The internal reports also show that the FBI and Inspector General came to see slightly different possible conclusions about who this figure might be. So the FBI's analysis that we now have access to says, quote, a flash of orange looks to be going up the L tier stairs. Could possibly be an inmate escorted up to that tier, end quote. The Inspector General's analysis says, quote, a flash of orange can be seen going up the stairs of L upper tier inmates are currently on lockdown in. It is possible someone is carrying inmate linen or bedding up the stairs, end quote. And the reason this is important is because as we know from the reports, Epstein was found hanging using bedding or linen. Then two minutes later, the Inspector General writes in that same analysis, quote, person walks back into camera view from L tier laundry area and special housing unit exit area, which is where Epstein was, Special housing unit, and goes behind special housing unit officer's desk, end quote. The final report from the Inspector General though, which is what the public originally saw up until this point, simply just says, quote, at approximately 10:39pm an unidentified corrections officer appeared to walk up the L tier stairway and then reappear, reappeared within view of the camera at 10:41pm end quote. So basically, these new documents are raising more questions about what really happened near Epstein's tear the night that he died. Official reviews made no mention of this figure in orange. And later statements by government officials said no one entered Epstein's tear that night, which we now know could be false based on these new documents. And by the way, the, the video footage of the staircase leading to Epstein's cell tear was the only camera known to have been recording that night. And it was at an angle that didn't totally show the entrance. It's very grainy, it's very blurry. There's not a clear view of the entrance to Epstein's Tier. So we don't, we don't, we don't have all the answers. We still don't have all the answers despite, you know, 3 million plus pages of, of documents being released. And if anything, we just have more questions really. But if you do want to learn more about the night of Epstein's death and the inconsistencies that exist that have kind of fueled these, these theories that potentially, you know, someone in the jail was involved. I did include a new CBS article in the sources for this episode that does a pretty good job of laying out exactly why there are still so many questions surrounding his death. And it kind of dives into the testimonies that have given by the officers that were working that night and yeah, just generally the inconsistencies. So if you do want to read that again, that is a CBS News article linked in the sources section of this episode, which as I mentioned earlier, you can find by clicking the sources link in the show notes. Okay, let's do some quick hitters. Ghislaine Maxwell sat for a virtual congressional deposition today where she pleaded the fifth and declined to answer lawmakers questions per her attorney's instruction. However, Maxwell's attorney did say, quote, he if this committee and the American public truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened. There is a straightforward path. Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly. If granted clemency by President Trump, only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters. For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing. Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation. End quote. And in some Epstein adjacent news, members of Congress are now being allowed to review the unredacted Epstein files. The unredacted files will not be released to the public, at least not as of now, but lawmakers can start reviewing them as of this morning. Per the agreement that lawmakers have with the DOJ, lawmakers can view all 3 million plus documents at DOJ headquarters, but they cannot make electronic copies and they have to provide at least 24 hours notice to access them on site. Congressional staffers cannot assist the lawmakers with the review and the Preliminary Numbers from the super bowl halftime show and competing Turning Point halftime Show are in While official viewership numbers have not been released. Like I said, we have some preliminary data. Apple Music reported that the super bowl halftime show was the most watched in super bowl history. And and we know from last year that Kendrick Lamar's halftime show drew 133.5 million views. So presumably the viewership for Bad Bunny's performance was above that. Meanwhile, the All American halftime Show, which is what Turning Point put on, drew 6.1 million concurrent viewers on Turning Point's YouTube channel at its peak. But it is worth noting too that Turning Point's halftime show also streamed on a handful of cable news shows and those numbers are not yet in. And then one other super bowl related story I wanted to mention. There were some posts going around on social media saying that Bad Bunny gave his Grammy Award to Liam Ramos during the halftime show performance. And Liam Ramos is of course the five year old boy that we've been talking about that was detained with his father by ICE last month. But that is not the case. Bad Bunny Did Not Give his Grammy to Liam Ramos. Liam Ramos was not at the Super Bowl. Bad Bunny gave the gave his Grammy to a child actor named Lincoln Fox who was, you know, involved in the halftime show. So just in case you believed a post that you saw online like I did, I saw that post. I believed it and then I found out later that it was not true. I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page with that. Okay, let's finish this episode with some critical thinking. We will go back to the story about Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization suing the IRS and Treasury Department. So my first question for you is this. What are your thoughts on a sitting president being allowed to pursue personal civil lawsuits against the federal government while in office? Should that be allowed? Should these lawsuits be paused until after the president leaves office? And whatever your answer is, why is that your answer? Make sure you provide some sort of justification. And then the second question is, assuming that sitting presidents can sue the federal government while in office, do you think that there should be limits or rules on what happens with the money damages if the president wins and why or why not? And then just for fun, try to come up with at least one limit or one rule that could hypothetically be placed on a money damages award for a sitting president. That is what I have for you today. Thank you so much for being here. As always, have a fantastic next few days and I will talk to you again on Thursday.
C
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Host: Jordan Berman
Main Themes:
In this episode, Jordan Berman provides a clear, fact-focused recap of several major news stories dominating the early February 2026 news cycle. Berman dives into the controversy surrounding a video posted by President Trump’s Truth Social account, the details and legal complexities of Trump’s new $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury, new developments revealed by DOJ documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case, and a sweeping update on illegal biolab investigations in Las Vegas and California. The episode includes notable quotes from lawmakers and officials and concludes with “critical thinking” questions to encourage listener engagement.
[00:15–14:07]
From Republican Lawmakers:
"Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it."
[02:08]
"This is totally unacceptable. The President should take it down and apologize."
[02:38]
"...a reasonable person sees the racist context... The White House should do what anyone does when they make a mistake, remove this and apologize."
[03:05]
"The President’s post is wrong and incredibly offensive, whether intentional or a mistake, and should be deleted immediately with an apology offered."
[03:31]
"...I can’t imagine that sharing a one minute video, the last second of which was unrelated and pretty racist, wasn’t sloppy... Deleting the post would help right this wrong."
[03:55]
From the White House:
"A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down."
[04:20]
"This is from an Internet meme video... Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public."
[04:38]
"Trump spoke with lawmakers today... the post was removed. But leave it to the leftist media... to talk about this all day... This is merely a distraction for the fake news media."
[05:08]
"I looked at it, I saw it and I just looked at the first part. It was about voter fraud... I didn’t see the whole thing. I guess during the end of it, there was some kind of picture... I wouldn’t like it either, but I didn’t see it."
[05:38]
"No, I didn’t make a mistake... If they would have looked, they would have seen it and probably would have had the sense to take it down. But that was a takeoff of the Lion King..."
[07:20]
"Of course I do."
[09:12]
[14:07–24:00]
"Any payments stemming from this lawsuit would come from the Treasury’s general account... meaning taxpayer dollars."
[21:32]
"Well, anything I win, I’m going to give 100% to charity."
[22:10] "They give $40 billion a year to charity, our government."
[22:32]
[24:45–29:46]
"...the home was owned by the same individual connected to a prior illegal biolab investigation in Reedley, California..."
[26:22]
"I was raising red flags... about loopholes in national security for biologics back in 2023... and nothing was ever really done."
[28:42]
[29:46–34:09]
"A flash of orange looks to be going up the L tier stairs. Could possibly be an inmate escorted up to that tier."
[31:15]
"A flash of orange can be seen going up the stairs... it is possible someone is carrying inmate linen or bedding up the stairs."
[31:30]
"We still don’t have all the answers despite, you know, 3 million plus pages of, of documents being released. And if anything, we just have more questions really."
[33:52]
[34:09–36:27]
Ghislaine Maxwell:
Sat for a Congressional deposition, pleaded the Fifth; attorney promised Maxwell would fully testify if granted Trump clemency, asserting both Trump and Clinton were innocent of wrongdoing.
Epstein Files:
Congress members can now review unredacted Epstein files, but the public cannot; access must be in-person at DOJ headquarters.
Super Bowl Halftime Show:
[36:10]