FLASHPOINT: Republicans pull BOMBSHELL election stunt in Texas

This is what just happened at a public. meeting in Tarant County, Texas, as. Republicans voted 3 to2 along party. lines to shut down 92 polling locations. just ahead of midterms. As you might. expect, didn't go well for the GOP. >> I want to reiterate what the nice lady. before me said. You're fired. Mr. Tim. O'Hare, Matt Krauss, I guess maybe. you're safe. Uh, Manny Ramirez, wherever. he is, you guys are out. What? What. could possibly be so important, Mr.

O'Hare? Can you listen to me, please? Hello. >> Yeah. >> Hello. Can you look at my my eyes, please? >> I can hear every word you're saying. >> I want you to look in the eyes. I want. you to look me in the eyes. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Yeah. Look down because I'm going. to down is what you're going in. November. >> So, keep looking where you're going. >> Okay. Cuz this is what we're doing after. this from now until November. whether. you cut these places or not. We're going. and we're knocking on doors and we're. bringing people out and we're telling. them where the voter locations are and.

we're helping them get there and nothing. you can do can stop us from removing you. in November. So come November, you. better find yourself a new job. And to. Manny Ramirez who is not here, maybe you. can hear me in the restroom. Vote for. Nidia in November. >> So here's the breakdown. Tarant County, the third largest county in Texas, home. to Fort Worth, and one of the most. important swing counties in the entire. state, is going from 316 polling. locations, that's based on the 2022. midterms, down to just 224 this. November. That's nearly a third of the.

county's voting infrastructure, gone. right before an election that. Republicans know is going to be brutal. for them nationally. Now, as I. mentioned, the vote split exactly down. party lines. County Judge Tim O'Hare and. Commissioners Matt Krauss and Manny. Ramirez, all three Republicans, voted. yes to eliminate a third of these uh. voting locations. Democratic. Commissioners Alisa Simmons and Rodrik. Miles Jr. voted no. And Simmons, who. happens to be running against O'Hare for. county judge, said it best in the room.

Quote, "It's not about cost. This is. about power. This is very political. This is campaigning from the deis.". Which by the way is a pretty remarkable. thing for a sitting commissioner to say. directly to the people voting on that. measure that you're not administering an. election. You are rigging one directly. from your own seat on the deis. Now the. official justification here is that this. is about saving money and efficiency. pointing to low turnout in low. propensity locations. And sure in a. vacuum a county could make a boring. technical case about resource allocation.

but that's not what's happening here. And I think that the timeline makes that. obvious. Consider the fact that this did. not come out of nowhere. This comes. directly on the heels of Tarant County's. 2025 redistricting fight, which already. drew weeks of controversy and. accusations of gerrymandering from. residents, civil rights advocates, and. local leaders who wanted the whole. process halted. So, this is chapter 2 of. that same story. First, you redraw the. maps to lock in your advantage, which. they've already accomplished. then you.

make it physically harder for the wrong. voters to actually cast a ballot, which. they're accomplishing right now. So, what do I mean by the wrong voters? Well, take a look at who specifically. loses access here. One of the sites on. the chopping block is the University of. Texas at Arlington polling location. That's a campus that has spent years. actively building youth civic. engagement, which shocker tends to skew. Democratic. Reverend Ryan Price and. multiple community members specifically. flagged that these cuts would. disproportionately hit communities of.

color across the county. In other words, this isn't some neutral formula just. spitting out random closures. It is. Republicans doing what they've been. doing for years, which is to suppress. the vote with surgical precision against. communities that do not historically. vote for them. And I want to be clear. about the scale of public opposition. here because Republicans are trying to. frame this as some quiet technical. adjustment that nobody really cares. about. That's not at all what the. situation is. Over 140 people signed up. to speak against this. Hundreds of.

protesters stood outside the courthouse. for more than 3 hours in nearly 100. degree heat. Public comment ran for over. two hours and law enforcement had to. physically escort somebody out of the. room. This was not some, you know, sleepy bureaucratic vote that nobody was. watching. Tarant County residents showed. up in force, loudly, angrily, and were. completely ignored anyway because the. outcome was decided before a single. person even spoke. Here's another. example of what the residents actually. had to say. >> I'd like to know, why is there so much.

resistance to making it easy for. eligible Americans to vote? As. Americans, we should be concerned about. our neighbors rights to vote as much as. our own. Pro-democracy leaders want. everyone who is eligible to vote. They. are willing to do the work to convince. voters to pick them instead of trying to. pick their voters. Guaranteeing the. right to vote is about democracy, not. politics. The only people who should be. in office understand and honor that. Voting is a right, not a privilege.

Making citizens jump through hoops to. vote is the kind of cowardice engaged in. by people who don't think they can earn. our votes. So today, judge. commissioners, you have the privilege to. try to earn our vote. Keep polls open. and available to all residents. Lastly, people wouldn't work so hard to. interfere with your right to vote if it. didn't matter. So, >> and it doesn't stop there. After the. initial vote, Democratic commissioners. tried to bring back a proposal to.

reinstate 37 of the cut polling. locations. The Republican majority voted. it down twice, the same 3 to2 party line. split. So, this isn't a case of, "Oh, well, maybe they'll w they'll walk it. back once they hear from the public.". They heard from the public extensively. and then doubled down twice when given. the opportunity to fix it. And then, of. course, when they saw things weren't. going their way, this is the stunt they. decided to pull. You people are removed. for speaking out. People are treated. like a disruption instead of the reason. this government exists. You keep telling.

us not to California, my Texas, while in. reality, you keep Russia, my Texas. You. three boys from the GOP. >> Hang on. That That's it. Uh, we're going. to clear the entire chambers now. Uh, you'll get your 10 seconds left. I I. told you how it was going to go. So, we. are in recess until the chambers are. cleared. >> Okay, >> take that one. Remove him from the. building. Remove him.

>> Remove. But here's the thing that really gives. the game away. This vote came just one. day after Trump publicly vowed to end. mail and voting nationally. And this is. despite the fact that the president of. the United States does not have the. authority to dictate how individual. states or counties run their own. elections. Article one of the. Constitution puts that power in the. hands of the states and Congress. Period. But when you connect the dots, Trump attacking mail and voting. nationally, Texas Republicans.

simultaneously stripping in-person. polling access at the county level, you. start to see the actual strategy flesh. out here. It's not just one tactic. It. is a two-prong squeeze. Make it harder. to vote by mail and make it harder to. vote in person and hope that somewhere. in that gap, enough of your opposition. just doesn't show up. And that's really. the tell. If you actually believe that. you could win the argument on the. merits, on the economy, on health care, on any of the issues that actually. matter in people's lives, you wouldn't.

need to spend your political capital on. shutting down polling places at colleges. and community centers. You would just. make your case and let voters decide. The fact that Republicans in Tarant. County chose this fight instead tells. you that they've already done the math. and they know that they lose if. everybody gets an equal shot to show up. You're watching the No Lie podcast. Next. up are my interviews with Congressman. Robert Garcia and Congressman Roana. No. Lie is brought to you by Simply Safe. So. security is of course a big issue for me. considering politics isn't as safe as it.

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That's 60% off at simplysafe.com/btc. Plus, when you order, write in our show. name in the how did you hear about us. survey to let them know that I sent you. Don't forget, there's no safe like. Simply Safe. We have an explosive new. whistleblower report today from someone. inside the US Postal Service outlining. the ways in which Donald Trump and the. USPS leadership were uh still moving. forward with their efforts to create. this system where only certain voters. would be able to cast ballots. Uh so, right now I'm joined by the ranking.

member of the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia. Congressman, can you. explain what the oversight committee is. doing right now in light of of this new. development? >> Right. So, just um last night we. actually our team met with um the. whistleblower and we're those. conversations are ongoing. Uh we of. course have this report that was just. released today. Um it was sent out um uh. worked on through both the Senate side, our partners there as well as us on the. oversight committee. So the.

whistleblower and the whistleblowers. representatives are talking to both. committees right now just to give us all. the information. There is more to come I. will to say uh on this topic and I think. there more that that the whistleblower. and others will likely um bring out. which is really concerning and I think. what for us the most important thing was. immediately to ensure that the. whistleblower got is has protection and. the information is out to the public. That is right now the most important. because this is an issue that will.

likely be heard whether at the Supreme. Court most likely but still going to be. heard. I mean right now there's a stay. but the Supreme Court hearing this is I. think highly likely. So getting the. information out to the public having. folks talk about it. It being reported. on right now is the most important. piece. >> Are you able to preview anything else. that's about to be released at the hands. of the whistleblower? I I I I I can't I. can't say anything beyond what has been. already been released. But what released. what's been released is really serious. I mean, we're talking about essentially.

um the Donald Trump and the. administration um creating a system. within USPS to kind of pick and choose. uh on on voteby mail ballots and trying. to possibly slow down vote by mail, certainly cause havoc in the vote by. mail process. uh removing ballots uh. from being counted. And this is. incredibly. extreme stuff and things that Donald. Trump has been wanting to do from day. one. We've been saying he wants to rig. the 2026 midterm. We we're aware of. this. This is they could impact 2028 as.

well. And so we have to push hard. And. now that there is somebody within the. USP USPS and quite frankly it is a um as. we've described it uh a an official. within USPS that we believe is very. credible and um and more more to come. but we have to ensure the courts are. aware of trying what Donald Trump is. trying to do within USPS right now. Is. there a way to bring the postmaster.

general and or other USPS leadership. that was responsible for this in front. of Congress to testify about what had. taken place? And kind of um a follow-up. to that, would that that I I presume. that would require buyin from James. Comr. Do you do you know one way or the. other whether he would be a willing. participant in that? >> Yeah, we're not we're not aware that um. there there will be some actions in in. the next few days that's going to. hopefully get us more information. Um. but we're I think James Krummer has been. unwilling really to do any sort of real.

oversight um within the Congress and. that's not something that we're. expecting. Um but but certainly we are. and continue to push Johnson comr. Republican leadership to actually do the. right thing. I mean vote by mail is. happening not just in in states uh where. Democrats typically do better but also. in states where Republicans do well. They're they're used widely by rural. voters by Republican vote. I mean, the. president himself votes by mail and did. so in this last primary election in. Florida. And so, the fact that Donald. Trump now is putting in place things.

he's verbalized, right? He has tried to. stop um uh votes from happening, he's. made calls to election officials in. states. He of course denies that he. actually lost the election to Joe Biden. These are all concerning actions. And. now we know there is an actual real. system in place which by the way per. court order there should have should. have been no execution of his executive. orders. Right. But the fact that has. been moving forward against those those. court cases uh we believe first and.

foremost strengthens our argument in the. courts. >> and ideally hopefully puts this to bed. once and for all. Donald Trump should. not be allowed to move forward with this. with this system. And. >> and you're exactly right there there are. two issues at play here. One is the fact. that he went forward with this despite. initial injunctions. I think the first. one was handed down on August 27th. Uh. then Judge Tawwani issued the temporary. restraining order. Still, this whole. process moved forward despite all of. that. And by the way, I should also add. despite the fact that the DOJ is 0 for. 23 right now in court cases where.

they're trying to get the voter roles. sent to the federal government. So, I. don't know how he can look at this and. see a mandate when he has quite. literally never won a single case on. this issue. And the other one is the. system itself. Um that that seems almost. designed to fail. But on the first. point, you just alluded to this. Can you. can you speak on what you expect the. judge uh will do given the fact that her. order here was outright flouted uh by. Trump and the USPS? >> Well, look, I think that um I think it's.

very I think it's very clear. I think. that uh the judge in this case, but also. other other uh judges and other court. officials that are are reviewing more. broadly um these actions by and the. executive order, the actions by the. president. There there's no question. that this is a a complete disregard of. the opinion and the order. There's also. no question that if this gets to the. Supreme Court, this will be a huge part. of the argument on on certainly the. argument that's going to be made to to.

not implement not allow Trump to give. him the ability to actually implement. all these all these actions. Look, we. should be very clear. Donald Trump wants. to disrupt the elections of 2026. He's. been ordered by by by a court to not. move forward on his plans to kind of re. to kind of redo how he wants to do vote. by mail uh in his own warp vision of. what he thinks should happen in in an. election. And yet he continues to put in. place a system at USPS to dra to. drastically alter the way ballots can be.

counted uh and the way ballots are are. actually reviewed. I mean, in some. cases, we're finding out from the. whistleblower that if there was a. concern with a ballot that uh USPS. officials would have the ability to then. throw out that entire batch of ballots. even though there were likely no issues. with all the other ballots that were. being reviewed. And so, this is. basically the president's attempt to. pick and choose where he wants to count. ballots. And it's it's unconstitutional. It's illegal. And we're going to.

continue to push really hard on this. This is this is an incredibly important. fight right now that all Democrats. should be engaged in. >> Do you know if there's any legal. exposure being shouldered by USPS. officials who decided to move forward. with this process despite the TTRO or. the federal injunction? >> I think that there is going to be an. incredible amount of exposure for anyone. that is involved in this and um you can. rest assured that certainly in in a. majority we are going to dig into this. and understand who gave what order. But. between now and the election and by the.

time we get we, you know, we're able to. have our own hearings, we've got to stop. this program that Trump's trying to. implement at USPS. That's the most. important thing. >> In terms of the Purcell doctrine, this. idea that you can't make changes too. close to an election, otherwise you. would cause chaos. You know, that that's. that's a doctrine that's been exploited. by Republicans in the past. And so they. will sloww walk cases where Democrats. are challenging unconstitutional maps. and they'll they'll only uh uh get a. result or a decision or ruling too close.

to an election. So that a judge will. finally say, "Okay, we've made our. decision. You're right. These maps are. unconstitutional. They're illegal. gerrymanders, whatever they may be, but. it's too close to the election. The. Purcell doctrine kicks in. So we'll have. to look at it in the next term." And in. effect, they they basically get to steal. a couple of seats every election cycle. because they rely on this. Um, do you. anticipate that the Supreme Court will. still find PCEL um, uh, an important. doctrine in all of this now that it's. something that could be used to curb.

Donald Trump's willingness or desire to, uh, to, um, you know, block Democrats. from being able to to use mail and. ballots? Yeah. Uh, look, I it's hard to. I I think it's hard to predict what the. Supreme Court will do. Uh, I I I I think. your point's an important one. Um I. think and I I do think that broadly. speaking the court has more time you. know on enough occasions um si sided. with the broader view that uh the vote.

by mail system is secure and that and. that and that um voting in general. should is a is a a right and something. that needs to be preserved and the. integrity of the vote system needs to be. preserved and Donald Trump has made. attempts to go to the Supreme Court as. we know on a variety of different issues. a bunch of courts as we know on this. very issue and is not successful. So we. expect the Supreme Court to do the right. thing here but we have to raise the. alarm so that not just the Supreme Court. but but currently also the judge and.

those that are currently involved in the. state orders everyone has to know. exactly what Donald Trump is actually. trying to do and that is rig future. elections and picking and choosing what. vote by mail ballots actually will. count. >> So there's two issues that we have to. reconcile here. One is the severity of. what he's trying to do, which you just. put on full display, but the other is. that there is, you know, this in and of. itself, us talking about this is in a. way lending itself to the voter. suppression efforts that Donald Trump is.

trying to carry out because if more. people are uncertain about um about the. confidence that they can have in in the. elections, then there might be folks who. decide not to cast ballots or not to. cast ballots in certain ways. It's not. dissimilar to what happened in Georgia. when when Trump himself undermined. confidence in the elections which led to. John Oaf and Rafael Waro winning both of. their races because he had spent so much. time um basically telling his own voters. that you can't can't you can't even. bother trusting the election results. So.

why bother even voting in the first. place? And so how do you reconcile those. two things where people are going to be. worried about voting but at the same. time uh that is exactly what Trump wants. out of all of this. >> Look, I think I'm concerned about this. as well. I think the more chaos and kind. of confusion that Donald Trump causes um. it will cause some folks to rethink what. should I be voting by mail um as we know. vote by mail is in certain in sometimes. the only way certain people can vote for. a for a variety of different reasons.

whether it's overseas whether it's uh so. they might have some type of um of. disability or access issue people that. are workingclass people that are working. all day on election day so there's a lot. of barriers to to voting that still. exists in this country including efforts. they're ongoing and trying to limit the. amount of polling places on actual. election day. We're limiting the early. vote in certain states. And so those are. all real concerns. However, we have got. to ensure that when Donald Trump takes. these actions, we can't just hide,

right? We we've got to come out. We've. got to ring the alarm. I'm hopeful that. there will be uh clarity on this issue. uh long before ballots start dropping in. uh any of these states. So, the sooner. this is cleared up, I'm hopeful that in. the next few days, we're going to begin. to hear um uh some of the actions. possibly of of of a response to this. That is our intention. We want to raise. the alarm, get the information out, make. sure that that you and others are. covering this so that we're raising. attention and then hopefully the courts. will do their job.

>> Last question here. What when can we. expect some other announcement from the. House Oversight Committee or at least. the Democrats on the House Oversight. Committee as it relates to uh uh the. whistleblower? We're having ongoing. conversations um with the whistleblower. and so uh when there is more information. to to present, which we think there will. be, it'll it'll be it'll be quick. >> Awesome. Well, I'm sure we'll have you. back then. So, I appreciate you taking. the time today. Thanks for the work that. you're doing on this issue. >> Thank you. We now have a major update. here as far as the Epstein files are. concerned. This is amid continued.

obstruction by Donald Trump's DOJ. I'm. joined now by Congressman Roana. Congressman, can you explain the new. avenue that you and Thomas Massie are. taking to try and force some more. disclosure here? >> The first Epstein Transparency Act we. passed released millions of documents. It led to the arrest of dozens of people. around the world, including former. Prince Andrew and uh one of the sultans. in Dubai. It led to resignations of. dozens of people in the United States. But there are still millions of.

documents that the FBI has uh which name. names and they are totally redacted and. these should have been released under. the first Epstein act. The survivors. need them. Sometimes the survivors need. them to understand what happened to. them. Uh and they still have no access. to them and this is a violation of the. law. But our new law would give states. attorney generals the right to these. documents so they can prosecute the. people in these Epstein class and it. would give the survivors the right to.

sue uh for these documents. We now have. a discharge petition similar to what we. did for the first Epstein Act. Uh and. we're hoping to build the same coalition. to get this passed a second time. >> Okay. So, why wasn't this included in. the first round uh in the first Epstein. Files Transparency Act? And and if it. wasn't included because of political. reasons, why do you have confidence that. it could pass this time around?

>> The uh it wasn't included because it. would have been hard to get initially. Republicans to go along with a private. cause of action. uh and we wanted to. have the least path of resistance in. getting it through. Uh we also uh did. not anticipate that the justice. department would have the documents, have uh credable evidence and just not. prosecute. Uh and so that the state's. attorney general's prosecuting is.

something that was a new avenue that we. discovered along the way. Now, now when. you've had all of this media attention. on it, when public opinion is uh 9010. saying let's get the Epstein class, there is much more awareness. We passed. the first bill, there is a chance that. we could get Republicans uh on board. with this second version. But if we had. tried this initially without any. momentum, without any survivor stories, it would have been almost impossible. So.

to that end, what does the coalition. look like in terms of who you're. targeting to sign on to this second. discharge petition? >> Well, we've lost Marjorie Taylor Green. She's no longer in Congress. Nancy Mace. will, I think, sign. Lauren Boowbert is. on the fence. We have a chance with. Ralph Norman. He initially had supported. some of our work on Epstein. He didn't. sign the original discharge petition, but he's lost his uh seat in uh in in in.

South Carolina, >> right? >> Lost his seat, by the way, to somebody. who Trump endorsed. So, the fact that. Darling Graham will will be running for. the US Senate seat in South Carolina and. not Ralph Norman is is, you know, in. large part thanks to Donald Trump. himself. So, in theory, the the um. motivation that he would have, the. incentive that he would have to protect. Donald Trump would probably not be that. high. >> Exactly. And uh and then we have the. retirement caucus after November who. people Republicans are going to lose or.

would have lost their seats who may. join. Now uh I'm hopeful we can do it. If we can't do it the next Congress. certainly we would be able to pass this. and I want to uh give uh Terresa. Fernandez a shout out to she's a. Democratic representative of New Mexico. is a co-sponsor with uh Massie and me. we would pass it through the Democratic. House and then I would imagine it would. still pass in the Senate because I I. can't imagine Republican senators. wanting to filibuster uh this kind of a.

bill, but uh you know, we're hoping to. pass it before we take over. Can you talk about the the fact that. this is being done kind of in tandem uh. with the Katie Fang lawsuit because. clearly uh uh independent journalists or. journalists have have standing to bring. lawsuits. Uh that's why she's able to. move this process forward in the first. place. So can you talk about uh that. whole process playing out in in tandem. with this? >> Katy Fang's efforts were brilliant.

She's proven that her original law had. teeth. Uh basically she's sued saying. they didn't give us the documents under. the administrative uh procedures act. which says that anyone from the public. is entitled to information that Congress. says must be public. And the judge ruled. that yes Katie Fang has the right theory. and is now going through the process of. ordering justice to comply. But uh we. want to make sure that we're not just. leaving this in the hands of one judge. or the judicial process where justice.

may appeal and uh we don't know yet what. this judge's final ruling is. We want to. have other uh tools that survivors could. sue uh and also that state prosecutors. could get the information. Is there a. world where a higher court judge or even. the Supreme Court could take away Katie. Fang's standing um which would you know. kind of increase the need for. legislation like exactly what you are uh. uh pushing for here? >> There is and there's a chance that the.

lower court which granted a temporary. win to to Katie Fang when it finally. adjudicates it may not adjudicate in her. favor. there's a chance that uh courts. uh higher courts could strip away at it. take say that the justice department. could claim broad privilege. So uh I. hope Katie's efforts succeed. This is. meant to be complimentary to it. Look, you have a scandal that has gone on. decades of young girls who were raped,

abused, and trafficked, and a the rich. and powerful covered it up. And they. covered it up for multiple presidents uh. under uh multiple administrations. So, what Massie and I are trying to do is. pretty unprecedented. And it's going to. take more than just one lawsuit or one. law uh to get justice for survivors and. to take on some of the world's most. powerful people who've given money to. politicians who know presidents and. world leaders. And my view is all tools. should be on the table. And do you.

believe that all of those people are. right now uh lending their voice behind. the scenes I'm sure to the Donald Trumps. and Todd Blanches of the world which has. in turn push those people to suppress as. much of this information as is humanly. possible. >> Yes, we don't have to speculate about. this. We have two facts. Marjorie Taylor. Green who said that the president told. her that uh you're going to hurt a lot. of my friends. Don't do this. Uh so we. know that Donald Trump is aware about. about the fallout to a lot of people who.

he's close to. Uh in Marry uh. Maggie Hab Habberman's book in Jonathan. Swan's book showed that uh it was so. important that after Massie and I. introduced the first Epstein act was. there in the situation room covering the. whole thing up. Think about this. the. vice president of the United States in. the situation room planning how they. could prevent the release of the Epstein. files reacting to what Massie and I were. doing on the Hill. >> Yeah. Um in terms of the the uh proceed.

the procedures of the discharge petition. itself, can you give some insight into. how this works and how long everything. is going to take now? >> Well, we need to get to 218 signatures. We already have good momentum of getting. a lot of Democrats on. It's going to. take every Democrat to sign, which I. anticipate we will get. Uh, and then we. need to work with the Republicans. And. what I don't know is whether we're going. to get it done before we adjourn or. whether it's going to be in the lame. dot. Now, there's a rumor that Mike. Johnson is thinking of adjourning us and.

not calling us back for the entire month. of September. Can you believe this, Brian? Just when kids are going back to. school and when people are done with. their summer vacations, Mike Johnson. thinks the idea is to give Congress a. two-month holiday before the midterms. Why? because he doesn't want us voting. on this Epstein discharge petition again. before the midterms. He doesn't want us. voting on stopping the war in Iran. before the midterms. He doesn't want us. to vote on what Massie and I have now. teamed up on banning federal funding for. flock cameras before the midterms. So,

he wants us to just get out of here and. uh he wants us to take bogus votes on. condemning democratic socialists instead. of the real issues that affect the. American people. I mean, there's. precedent because he already prevented. Adelita Ghalva from getting sworn in for. months because he knew that she would be. one of the deciding votes on actually. moving this discharge petition forward. So, it's not like this would even be the. first time that Mike Johnson would. benefit from, you know, some maneuvering. behind the scenes in terms of uh when. the House is actually even in session.

But in effect, wouldn't he basically. just be saying that the work of the. House of Representatives is done for the. rest of the term because it's just that. important to make sure to protect Donald. Trump and the rest of these. co-conspirators contained within the. Epstein files uh from not allowing. anything to to see the light of day. >> Absolutely. Look, the first time he did. it, he really didn't think we would. achieve what we did. He thought he could. protect the Epstein class. He thought he. could protect Donald Trump. He was. shocked that Massie and I defied the.

odds and passed the bill and that it. passed the Senate and that it blew this. whole thing open. Now, I don't think. he's naive enough to think that uh if he. just adjourns Congress that he can make. the whole uh Epstein situation. disappear, but he has seen the same. numbers that Thomas and I have seen. No. issue, not a single issue has been a. bigger blow to Republicans, MAGA and. Trump than the Epstein issue because it. goes to the heart of what people are. upset about. This corruption, this sense.

that the governing elite get to play by. a different set of rules that they uh. could do the most heinous things and not. face consequences. And uh Johnson does. not want a reminder of that uh heading. into the midterm elections. You know, Congressman, you have been a champion on. this issue, and you've done it along. with your co-sponsor, Thomas Massie. Thomas Massie is now uh, you know, facing he's now in a lame duck uh. session because he's no longer going to. be a member of Congress. How has that uh.

uh changed the calculus, if at all, as. we move closer and closer to the end of. his last term? >> Well, it's made him even bolder. It's. made him even more creative. He. understands that his time in Congress is. slowly coming to an end. So, he's filled. with ideas. But what Thomas and I have. shown is that it's still possible to. have unconventional coalitions in. American politics. That when it comes to. stopping foreign wars, than it when it. comes to holding elites accountable,

that when it comes to opposing mass. surveillance like with flock cameras, you can actually cross the aisle and you. can actually try to get uh things done. And I've encouraged him as a someone. who's become a friend uh to continue his. public service. I believe that Thomas. Massie being in American politics uh is. good for this country despite very. serious disagreements on the second. amendment and on his views on taxes. I. just wish there were more people who. would be looking to put the country.

before party and try to think about. unconventional coalitions that can get. things done. On this last point uh I. want to make you know you had mentioned. flock cameras. This is an idea that. Donald Trump has thrown his weight. behind this whole se you know sector of. of mass surveillance. Um but not just. that also data centers. He is he's. planted his flag in the pro data centers. camp even as seven in 10 Americans. oppose local construction of data. centers and that includes 63% of. Republicans. Why do you think that.

Donald Trump recognizing the polling, recognizing uh the amount of time or. what little time we have left until. midterms continues to advocate for such. an unpopular position? >> He cares more about Silicon Valley. billionaires in my district than he does. about the Republican party. I mean the. reality is the only people who are being. enriched by these uh data centers being. shoved down the throats of communities. are the big tech companies in my. district and these tech billionaires.

That's why I've said ban them in. residential communities. Ban them on. farmland. Don't shove them down the. throats of communities. And people say, well, oh, what about our. competitiveness? Really, you have to put. a data center in a residential. community. I mean, we can talk about. whether it should be in a. de-industrialized brownfield, but the. reason that tech companies don't want to. do that is it costs more. And what Trump. is doing is not the bidding of our. competitiveness. He's doing the bidding. of these tech billionaires. What angers. me or frustrates me is you got the.

Silicon Valley congressman saying, "Pause them and don't put them in. residential communities." And you got. the president who campaigned for. forgotten Americans, who campaigned. against the coastal elites in my. district. now championing the very. elites he campaigned against. >> Yeah, perfectly put and a recurring. theme across uh virtually every issue. that he's campaigned on. We'll leave it. there. Congressman, thank you as always. for the work that you're doing. Thanks. for taking the time today. >> Thank you and congrats on the success of. your book. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. To listen to.

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