LIVE: Emergency MEIDAS ELECTION PODCAST!!!

and welcome to this very special edition. of the Midas Touch podcast. I'm Ben. Myelis. I will be joined in just a few. moments by two incredible guests. And. one of the questions I keep getting. asked from everybody in this mighty. community is how can we be sure that. these elections are going to be safe, secure, and protected? And what happens. as we're seeing already that Donald. Trump and the Trump regime when they. attack elections, when they try to pull.

all of their tricks and stunts and they. launch the DOJ and they launch all of. their resources to try to undermine free. and fair elections, what is going to. happen? You know, earlier today a close. friend of mine sent me a message and she. said, "Ben, I am very, very scared about. Tuesday." I said, "What are you scared. about? Are you scared about the results? Are you scared about what what what what. worries you? And she says, "I'm worried. that Donald Trump and this regime are.

going to try to rig it that they're not. going to allow the votes to come in. They're going to cast doubt. They're not. going to seat the members who end up. winning. I am deeply worried." I said, "Well, it's a good thing because I'm. hosting a special edition podcast today. with two people who are working behind. the scenes and in front of the scenes on. the front line to protect and preserve. our democracy, to ensure that this. election is safe, to ensure. accountability." And I want to bring. them in right now. Democratic Congress.

member Jim Heims, ranking member of the. Intelligence Committee, and we've got. Democratic Congress member Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the Judiciary. Committee. two people who I hope will. become the chairman of those respective. committees. And I have a great deal of. confidence of that. But we'll save that. for a another conversation. But I want. to start with you, Congressman Heims, about uh you know, your position on the. House Intelligence Committee, the work. that you've been doing behind the scenes. to answer the question that my close. friend asked. I'm scared about Tuesday.

I'm deeply worried. I see what Trump's. doing already. So what do you say to my. friend and to the millions of people who. watch this network and across the. country who feel worried going into. Tuesday? >> Yeah. Well, thanks Ben and that's the. question of course and you know the the. the starting point is precisely the. anxiety that your friend um articulated, right? We know that the president is not. going to accept the results of an. election that looks like it's going to. break very hard against him, right? We. know that because he never has. Um and.

uh even in the last week or so, you. know, the Brazilian election didn't go. the way he wanted to. So that of course. was rigged. The Israeli election didn't. go the way he wanted to. So that was. rigged. So we know that this is going to. happen and the only question is what is. the story that he will tell and how. organized will the effort be? And of. course, you know, Jamie Raskin and I. both lived through the efforts of of of. late 2020 when he pulled out all the. stops. He went to court. He urged Mark. Mike Pence to not certify the election. So look, we're making the assumption.

that absolutely is everything everything. is on the table and Jamie and I and our. colleague Joe Morelli and others have. really divided up the work. Uh you asked. me the question first. So, as the. ranking member of the intelligence. committee, my job is to just be all over. the possibility that of the many, many. scenarios that he may choose to use on. election day, one of them may be a. variant of the director of the CIA has. just informed me that the Iranians have. taken control over the election. apparatus in Michigan or North Carolina.

or Florida or California, whatever it. might be. Um, because of course that. would be something that would be very. much in the jurisdiction of the. intelligence committee. Um, I have spent. the last couple of months working with. our intelligence community, working with. the remnants of our ability to uh. identify such efforts to make sure that. we're ready for that. Um, and you know, Jamie can elaborate on this on the. domestic side because of course the FBI. and the Department of Justice are as. much of a threat and there's lots of. things the president could do to create. tension in the moment of of of of.

election day. But um I I I want to. finish my answer by saying um I've had. classified briefings as recently as 72. hours ago. And not only have we never. seen a successful effort on the part of. Russia or China or or any other country. to interfere with our election, that is. to alter vote totals to get into voting. um records to get into the voting roles. We're not seeing any foreign country at. this point planning or even with the. ability to do so. Now draw a distinction.

here. Of course there they are they are. doing influence operations. You know the. usual garbage on social media and bots. trying to influence the election. But as. of now uh our intelligence community is. seeing precisely zero evidence that any. of uh you know Russia or China or Iran. or North Korea have any intent or. ability to actually mess around with the. mechanics of our election. Congressman. Raskin, as the ranking member of the. House Judiciary Committee, would love to. hear your perspective, what you're.

hearing in the briefings, what you're. seeing, also the levers of. accountability that may be able to exist. kind of post this election if there are. uh steps taken to try to interfere with. the free and fair election. >> Yes, Ben, thank you for having us. And. look, there are a lot of different ways. to try to affect the outcome of an. election. So there's what Putin did in. 2016 and 2020, for example. I think of. it as polluting theformational.

atmosphere and the moral atmosphere with. propaganda, disinformation, negative ads. He also tried to engage in. some espionage and broke into the. computers of the DNC and the DC and so. on. That's that's kind of one level. The. next level would be trying to stop. people from registering to vote or. throwing them off of the rolls and we've. seen some of that too in Georgia, North. Carolina, trying to close some of the. polling places down in Texas. That's a. battle that's been going on. Another is.

actually interfering with people's. access to the polls. I mean, that would. be the classic Jim Crow strategy of. clansmen and, you know, racist sheriffs. trying to impede people's ability to get. in to vote. Um, and then there's kind of. stealing the election after it happens. Uh, which is what, you know, Donald. Trump was attempting to do uh in 2020, either like when he called Secretary of. State Brad Raffensburgger in Georgia and.

said, "Just find me 11,780. votes. That's all I want." That wasn't. Donald Trump trying to block election. fraud. That was Donald Trump trying to. commit election fraud. And then finally, what we saw, you know, at the end of the. electoral college process on January 6, 2021, when we were supposed to be just. uh memorializing the electoral college. votes that came in and suddenly they. wanted to create powers for Vice. President Pence to actually blockade. electoral college votes, reject them,

and start the process over again and so. on. and then violence. So, look, at this. point, we are bearing down on every. single aspect and we have been bearing. down on every single aspect of the. electoral process to see that we do get. a free and fair election coming through. it. Um, we see how they're starting to. throw the spaghetti on the wall with. respect to non-citizen. uh voting, which is really a non-issue. It's just infinitesimally small where it.

does occur. when it does occur, it's as. much for Trump as his opponent. Um, and. it's the states that have been smoking. it out. And I guess that's the key point. I would make, Ben, that the president of. the United States and the executive. branch of government have an extremely. limited role, if any at all, in the. administration of midterm congressional. elections. I mean, there's nothing in. the Constitution about it. The states. are the primary administrators of the. election. Congress of course has power. under article 1 section 4 to superimpose.

its own regulations on the timeplace. manner of elections but has not done. that in any way that would alter the. course of events right now. So really. the major threat to elections is Trump. and executive branch trying to do. something or Putin and other foreign. powers trying to do something. But as uh. you know chairman Tobe Heimmes uh says. um they have never succeeded in altering. actually ballot results or interfering.

in the counting of ballots or anything. like that. It's always been upstream. from that in terms of just propaganda. and disinformation in the campaign. It. doesn't mean it can't happen, but we're. on top of it. A woman in Iowa said to. me, um, can you guarantee us a free and. fair election? I said, look, if you want. to guarantee, you got to buy a toaster, but if you want a democracy, you got to. go out and fight for it. And that's what. we've learned during this horrible. period of our history. We've got to go. and fight every step along the way. But. I just want to assure people, we are.

organizing to do that. And it's not just. the Democrats at the federal and state. and county levels, but it is all these. 501c3 groups all over the country and. lawyers groups that are working on the. ground to make sure nothing unourred. happens. Congressmans, you and Senator Mark. Warner recently wrote a letter to the. big AI companies, big tech, big social. media uh companies about what they are.

doing to uh combat election. misinformation on their platforms. There's another issue though, just the. manipulations of their algorithms. I. mean, we saw with the recent No Kings. protest, there were certain allegations. that the No King social media account. was taken down. It was taken down um by. the way, which Meta then said, well, it. was just a glitch in the data centers. and you know, and there's a lot of that. when we look at the Brazilian elections, President Lula talking about a lot of. algorithmic manipulations, a lot of uh.

strange things happening with social. media the day of the election. I know. this is top of mind to a lot of our. viewers as well because they've seen. these big tech people in the White House. shouldertosh shoulder and they really. were in hiding when they'd bring Trump. this or that. You know what they were. doing. So what what's your perspective. on avoiding not just the misinformation. that could spread but also algorithmic. manipulation and other types of.

chainery. >> Correct. Correct. And of course um you. know as you outline um all of these. lords of technology whether we're. talking about you know Mark Zuckerberg. or Jeff Bezos or or Elon Musk or the. guys who are running the uh the uh. platform the frontier model companies. they've lost the benefit of the doubt. Frankly they lost the benefit of the. doubt on day one of the second Trump. administration when they all were. paraded like so many hunting trophies by. the president at his inauguration. And. since then, of course, they've been hit.

up for millions of dollars to build a. ballroom and all sorts of other things. And as you point out, it's all been. pretty cozy. Um, and so Mark Warner and. I uh really wanted to send a shot across. the bow uh that we are watching. carefully. Um, and that they need to. abide by their own commitments to. identify and to alert the government. when they see uh, you know, activity on. the part of the Russians or the North. Koreans. Um, but also again, we're just. generally watching. Um Jamie and I again. with Joe Morelli and others and lawyers.

and as he said nonprofits we've we've. we've wargamed a lot of these scenarios. and one of these scenarios and I'm. looking at you here Elon Musk because. you know he in particular has been a. massive financial player in this. election. Hundreds of millions of. dollars of his own fortune has gone into. supporting Republican candidates. And of. course he controls a major social media. platform uh X what used to be Twitter. And one of the scenarios we gamed out is. that one of these lords of uh of. technology decides in the middle of the. day to start propagating misinformation.

to and again there's a thousand. scenarios here none of which are. particularly happy to contemplate but. one of them is that Elon Musk and I. don't mean to you know say he's the one. who's going to do this but he certainly. has the power to alter those algor. algorithms or to tell a story that is. false you know to say that reports in. Michigan are that massive numbers of the. undocumented are voting in thosection. And in that moment, this is an. opportunity to manipulate um people. And. if a whole bunch of guys with guns in.

Michigan see a bunch of social media. posts that suggest falsely that, you. know, uh the undocumented are are are. voting in Detroit, the you know, what's. to stop them from jumping into trucks. armed and showing up at polling places? Now local police are overwhelmed and you. know, heaven forbid there's some sort of. violence and the local police are. overwhelmed. What do you think the. president's going to do? Well, he's. going to send in federal uh law. enforcement. So, um again, um I I I. don't want to suggest that that is. absolutely the scenario that is going to.

happen, but you can't be too suspicious. or prepared. And so, you know, we have. been in contact with um uh these many. leaders who do not have the benefit of. the doubt these days to say, you know, we're watching very closely. There are. more importantly there are lawyers who. are watching very uh closely about. whether you take any steps that are. either aggressive against uh the proper. functioning of our democracy or. negligent. Congressman Raskin relatedly. uh the people we would expect to be.

investigating malign foreign actors, manipulations, the FBI, they are. apparently according to lots of. reporting in common sense and the. attacks on the FBI that we see over and. over again. Trump was attacking the FBI. today on social media that they're. worried. Reports are showing that. they're concerned about they're going to. be pressured to take illegal action. Director Patel has refused to publicly. commit to keeping federal agents out of. polling locations. So, what are you.

hearing from FBI leadership and. personnel about what we might see next. week? What are you doing to prevent. this? And um you know, we have a lot of. law enforcement who watches this. network. I mean, I see them out and. about in the community and they're glad. that we stand up for real law and order, not the not the BS Trump saying it but. undermining it. And so, what do you say. to them? you know, as they're watching. this and they've gota make, you know, they may be ordered by Patel to do this. or that. So, how do you see that.

situation unfold? >> Let me underscore the extraordinary. nature of the situation we're in that. you started off with, Ben, because uh we. obviously have had um intensive. uh efforts to disenfranchise people, to. shut down balloting, to steal ballots, to fix elections over the course of. American history. But the difference. here is that um it has almost always. been the federal government that has. been an instrument for democracy. Saying.

for example after the civil war, no the. white supremacist. um restorationist governments cannot. drive black people away from the polls. and disenfranchise the newly freed uh. black population. It was during the. civil rights movement where I mean it. was a little ambiguous there with Jay. Edgar Hoover and some of the things. happening early, but eventually the. Department of Justice really was on the. side of voting rights against Jim Crow.

governments and George Wallace and you. know other racist uh state governments. and governors who are trying to block. people's ability to vote. What's. different about the period we're in is. that the federal government is now the. anti- voting party. And it is the state. governments or overwhelmingly the state. governments that are trying to defend. and protect the right to vote against. mischief and strategic games being. played by the president and the. executive branch. And that's why this is.

such a disconcerting and disorienting. period for us, right? Um but but here's. the good news that um when the federal. government got involved before it was. under the power of the Voting Rights Act. which has basically been destroyed and. decapitated. uh by the administration and by the. Roberts court. Um and in terms of the. normal run of show, the federal. government and the president of the. United States and the post office and.

every new agency they try to get. involved have nothing to do with it. And. so what that means is that the state. governors and the secretaries of state. and the boards of election have got to. defend the integrity of their electoral. process against malicious efforts to. interfere by the federal government. There's no power to shut down the. election. We had midterm elections in. the middle of the Civil War in the. middle of World War II. There is no.

power just to come in and seize ballots. There's no statute that permits that. And this really is uh the realm of state. governmental sovereignty to conduct the. election in order to elect the people. who are going to go to Congress. And so. we are in a bit of a new period here, but I'm confident that these state. attorney generals and secretaries of. state and boards of election are getting. ready along with us in Congress, the the. majority in the House and the Senate to.

back them up along with all of these. other notfor-profit groups that are just. standing up for the right of the people. to vote and are not getting involved in. a partisan way, but are getting involved. simply on the side of democracy itself. So, Congressman Heimmes, I just asked. Congressman Raskin about law. enforcement, FBI under the purview of. the uh judiciary committee. Let's talk. about the intelligence committee and the. intelligence community and what they may. be asked to do, what they've already. done. And so we all saw I don't even.

know what you want to call that Oval. Office address that Donald Trump gave, but he gave some public address. declassifying documents that he claimed. to prove that our adversaries interfered. with past elections. How might he use. the intelligence community to mislead. the public? What are you doing to stop. that? and the intelligence community, what's your message, you know, to them. right now because they see what's going. on and we know that they've had to.

really balance this tight rope when it's. come to deeper issues. What do you do. when Trump's cutting deals with Putin. and doing all of these things and. they've got to move very carefully as. well. So, what do you do here in the. election context? >> Yeah. Yeah. And you're right to make it. mainly about information, right? Uh, you. know, there are all kinds of scenarios. Uh Jamie was just talking about one uh. you know where federal law enforcement. the FBI is asked to do something which. is clearly illegal because as he points. out and as is obvious in our.

constitution the federal government has. no role uh in our elections even if. there is you know our questions of law. enforcement um you know CIA needless to. say CIA is the one entity in the. intelligence community that has. operational capabilities right they have. guys with guns and uh there is no. circumstances under which those people. are allowed to uh operate inside the. United States and there is no. circumstance under which the NSA or the. massive uh apparatus of surveillance. that the intelligence community has can. in any way be used over uh inside the.

United States. So that that uh with this. administration that doesn't go without. saying, which is why I say it. But. you're right to uh emphasize the. information operations if for no other. reason than uh the July speech. And. let's review what happened in that July. speech, which of course got me extremely. worried because we just, you know, why. give a speech to the nation if you're. not teeing up the possibility to on. election day say, "Hey, remember in. July," and this would be Donald Trump. saying, "Remember in July when I said.

that the Venezuelans or the Chinese did. this or that?" Well, guess what? So, um, let's go back and remember what happened. in July. The president made a whole. bunch of claims. Um and there was. actually paper there were reports or or. uh uh held up and offered up. declassified by the intelligence. community and the president completely. mischaracterized what those reports. said. He said well the Chinese have. tried to interfere with our elections. etc etc. When you actually looked at. those reports you realized that um that. that what he was saying was completely.

false. Uh and fortunately that July. speech sort of landed with a thud. because if you looked at the documents. that he was saying backed up his um. argument they didn't. And you know it's. worth my repeating what I've now said. two times here which is that we have. never seen a successful effort on the. part of any foreign country uh to. actually interfere with um the mechanics. of our election. Yes, lots of. information operations the way Jamie. describes it as sort of, you know, kicking up mud uh in the information. environment, but um we've never seen and. we continue to not see the intention or.

the capability to actually mess around. with the mechanics of the election. And. I'll just add because this is really. important. Um uh 49 of the 50 states um. uh excluding Louisiana have a paper. record of how someone has voted. So, let's imagine that something happens. that we've never seen before. And that, by the way, is very, very unlikely. because our voting machines are not. hooked up to the internet. Um, let's. just imagine that for the first time. ever, uh, a foreign power succeeds in. getting into the electronics of our.

voting. 49 of the 50 states have a paper. ballot. So, it would be very easy for. the local officials whose responsibility. it is to do this to identify that even. in the very unlikely event that it. happened. And the reason I really. somewhat adamantly say that is that. again one of the scenarios that we have. prepared for is the president midway. through election day saying I've been. informed that the Russians or that the. Iranians are trying to compromise this. election. Uh you know that would then. lead to all sorts of extraleal things.

like I've ordered the FBI to shut down. the voting machines in Michigan. uh or. I've ordered the FBI to confiscate or. ICE or DHS to confiscate those voting. machines so that we can determine how. the Iranians got into it. I mean, you. can sort of spin out these scenarios, which is why it's really important for. Americans to understand that it has. never happened. It's unlikely to happen. and if it were to happen, it would be. very easy to identify and correct. So, Congressman Raskin, I think that's a. likely scenario. Not necessarily saying.

the Iran I mean I think we should think. through can he say he's I I doubt he's. going to say the Russians hacked in. He's going to say bring me more diesel. Putin please or something like that. Um. but you know in terms of the Iranians. possibly but he's definitely going to do. something. He's definitely going to do I. mean we've seen foreign elections of. Trump's allies you know do this. I mean. during the Israeli elections Netanyahu. went on social media and he said it's. rigged. It's rigged. The Arab nations. they're rigging this. It's unfair. you. know, and he showed photos and there.

were AI images and he did this whole. thing and we see what's happening there. We saw what happened in the recent. Serbian elections. There's reporting. that Bhuch was actually seeking whether. or not to actually challenge it. He lost. so badly to the student list that he. decided against it. We see what. Bolsinaro is doing. So, we actually have. templates of Trump's crew of what. they're doing. So, he's going to do some. version where during the day, few hours. in, he's going to do videos and he's. going to say the illegal immigrants,

this is how he's going to say, I don't. like calling it like this, you know, they're out there. They're voting. We. tried to stop it. We tried to do all of. this. There's this is a big issue. This. is not fair. Elon Musk, you know, will. make that the number one trending story. I can guar this is what's going to. happen. Like, this to me is the most. basic scenario that I think is going to. happen. you know, this is what they've. done in my opinion. And then so what do. we tell people to do? We know that you. guys are working behind the scenes with. a great team of people also and lawyers. and by but like what should how do we.

process this? What do we do? How do we. tell people don't panic? It's under. control when they want to create panic. and suppress the vote. >> Well, I think you got it. I mean, panic. is obviously the the best friend of the. authoritarians. But also that general. context is so important for people to. see. gun. This is what it means for the. democratic nations and peoples and. governments of the world to defend our. system against the autocrats and the. dictators and the bullies and so on. We've come all the way in this campaign.

and we are not going to get up to the. point of victory and then say, "Oh no, we're too terrified to go to the polls.". Or, "Oh no, we're confused now. were. falling from propaganda run through. Putin or President Xi or Kim Jong-un or. any of Donald Trump's other friends. Uh. people have understand now how much the. claim about illegal alien voting is an. absolute fraud. People get that. People. also understand that structurally within. our constitutional order, it's up to the.

states to determine when there's been. when there's been voter fraud. It's not. up to the federal government to do that. You know, even if the federal government. were not itself perpetuating frauds all. over the country and doing that on a. daily basis as a matter of business in. the White House. Um, and so we need to, you know, calm people down by letting. them see this is the fight between. democracy and the autocrats. And the.

principal thing we got going for us uh. here uh and this is what Noni says in. his his book Patriot is the truth. And. we've got to keep telling the truth. You're going to be playing a critical. role. I hope uh you're you get a lot of. sleep before the election, Ben, because. we're going to need the podcasters and. the TV people and the radio people to be. able to sort out very quickly fact from. fiction and not to fall for all of the. propaganda and nonsense. But the other. point I would make is that defending the.

election means defending it not just all. the way up to the election through the. right to register and to keep the. polling places open and not to get. people um you know fraudulently thrown. off the rolls and so on. But it means. defending the election all the way until. people are actually sworn into office. Because look, Donald Trump has nothing. but a bag of tricks at this point. All. they've given the country is war, corruption, inflation, illegal tariffs, uh you know, ruinous economic policies.

So, they've got nothing to run on. So, they just reach into their bag of tricks. to see what to do. And we need people to. be more and more self-confident about. making that judgment and being able to. read what they're doing as the last gasp. of uh a declining and dying. authoritarian regime. >> Yeah. And then after this election, I. really want people to focus on what's. happening globally because the foreign. malign actor influence network. They're.

working in lock step with each other. And we often think about things in terms. of election, who's up, who's down, who's. winning, who's losing. But the real. globalist network that I talk about is a. globalist network of dictators and. authoritarians who want to destroy. elections. So while we're playing, okay, let's have a debate. Let's talk about. this and that and my issue, your issue. They're talking about wiping away. elections and creating panic and sewing. discord. One of the ways I think they. try to open the floodgates for malign.

foreign actors is to try to break the. institutions here, Congressman Heimmes, that try to stop it and detect it, that. give us our intelligence radar to be on. the lookout for it, right? So, you know, the Trump regime has, you know, ripped. apart incredible groups that do good. work like FMIC, the Foreign Malign. Influence Center within ODNI, CISA, CISA, you know, some of our top uh. counterhacking people, cyber security. has been ripped apart. I mean, I don't.

even know where this guy is. Maybe you. do. I remember Thomas Fugate III like. the intern. They put some intern, you. know, as like the main counter. intelligence guy. I remember seeing the. guy's photo. I mean, the guy looked like. whatever. I won't I won't characterize. I'm like, who's this guy? Thomas Fugate. III. So, how is that playing out over. here as they've destroyed some of the. detection mechanisms? Like, how are we. sure that you're getting even in your. briefings data when they've destroyed. data repositories, you know, because I.

think that's a major issue people want. to know. >> Yeah. No, look, you're absolutely right. about that and you're right in in at. least two ways. You know, I it was not. lost on me that um Victor Orban, you. know, the very uh epitome of what you're. describing, you know, did all he could. to slide Hungary, a NATO ally, uh into. the column of autocracies, and then he. gets whooped in a in an election, outraged over over corruption. And what. does he do? Um he actually puts up. social media congratulating BB Netanyahu.

on his win, another right-wing quasi. authoritarian leader. uh and uh you know. when Bolssonaro right-winger loses in. Brazil, what happens? Donald Trump puts. him on a plane and brings him to Miami. I mean this is very much a cabal of. like-minded authoritarians. Uh and so. you're absolutely right about that and. you know we need to worry about some of. these instincts that are rising in. Europe, in France and Germany in. particular. Um but to bring this all. back home, um you're 100% right on the. dismantlement of the tools that we have. to identify the cooperative efforts. Um,

and I mean, I'll give you one real. example. SISA, right? SISA is the. organization um that ironically was. created in the first Trump. administration um to identify the really. hard stuff, the attempts to hack uh our. networks and that kind of thing. And and. you'll remember very famously, you may. even remember Chris Krebs. He was the. director of CISA going into the 2020. election. Uh and when he had the. timmerity to say what was true, which. was that the 2020 election was.

absolutely safe and secure, the. president, President Trump fired him on. the spot. I mean, that tells you the. story that you need to be aware of. Uh. and of course, since then, in the second. Trump administration, SISA has had no. director. Roughly a third of the staff, these are the technical experts who know. about hacking and all that stuff, is no. longer there. That's true, of course, around the apparatus of these. organizations that monitor uh for. election interference. And so you you. get a real sense for how committed.

Donald Trump is to creating the. ambiguity that opens doors for him to. say what he has always said, which is. that our elections are rigged. And if I. may, let me let me just slant a little. bit away from uh your your direct. question because we haven't gotten to. this point. I think Jamie would agree. with me on this point. Um, one of the. things of course you can do and you can. do this in most states in the United. States uh to try to take off the table. some of the risk associated with. election day itself is to vote early. Here in the state of Connecticut, we've. had two weeks of early voting. Many, many people have taken advantage of.

that. uh a vote that is cast prior to. election day when God only knows what. President Trump is going to say or do is. a more secure vote uh as against that. that vote that could be in jeopardy to. the president's attempts on election day. um to uh uh to discourage people to the. polls or to create chaos at a polling. place that might um that might make it. impossible for somebody to cast their. vote. >> Congressman, we're asking how you. feeling right now. People want you know. people you're sometimes a barometer for. people's you know confidence. They.

remember you standing up to him and you. too, Congressmans. Um I just How are you. feeling right now? Any surprises? I. mean, go ahead and get the. >> truth is. >> I Ben, I'm feeling great. I I've been to. 27 states campaigning in, you know, out. there. When the reporters ask me, I say, "Look, I'm not in the prognostication. business. I'm in the mobilization. business." I'll leave the punditry to. someone else, but I will tell you, we. are mobilizing for a landslide election. a landslide in the sense that we've. opened up dozens of new US House.

districts that were never considered. competitive before to surging excellent. Democratic candidates. And I would say. like that's really the secret weapon in. this campaign. We've got some. extraordinary candidates out there. Um. Cali Bar in the first district of. Michigan's amazing. Um, you know, I'm. thinking about Blake Jenderine in the. 21st district in New York who will take. over from um Alise Stefonic. She won her. last election by 21 points and he's.

leading in the polls, but you know, I've. been campaigning with him for many. months and it's just incredible. So. there there's amazing candidates. Meanwhile, they've got the worst. possible candidates in the world because. they've got to pass all of Trump's uh, you know, moronic paranoid tests. And so. they've purged their party of anybody. with critical thinking faculties left. And like the guy that gender's running. against in New York 21 is he makes rap. music where he just repeats Donald. Trump's name over and over again. And.

you know, you've seen the kind of people. that are on the ballot for the. Republicans. It's like white. nationalists, people with serious. criminal records, uh, and on and on. So. I look, I think we things are set up for. the landslide that America deserves. We. need a landslide repudiation of all the. corruption and authoritarianism. Now. what we've got going against us, of. course, is a wall of gerrymandered. districts. There are a whole bunch of. states like you could look at North. Carolina or Georgia where we're winning.

the election statewide. We got two. brilliant US senators um from Georgia, North Carolina. We got a Democratic. governor, a Democratic attorney general. you were about to win um uh US Senate. with Roy Cooper, but the congressional. district is 10 Republicans and four. Democrats because a sixth grader can. take the computer technology and the AI. and carve up the electorate in order to. promote uh total, you know, Republican. hegemony. And that's what's happening in.

so many of the states, especially in the. southern states and in Ohio, too. I will. remark, you know, we're headed to. potentially winning the governorship and. the US Senate seat. And yet uh you get. the same kind of better than 2:1 margin. in the House delegation for the. Republicans. So we're up against that. structural factor. We're also up against. Citizens United and all of Elon Musk's. money. But having said all of that, I. look around the world and it's like the. fall of the autocrats. Whether, you. know, we're talking about Serbia or. Hungary or Brazil, um you know, all over.

the place, the Democratic forces are. winning. And I just think that's an. unstoppable force in this election. Yeah, you know, I I talk about this in. in our book, too. You know, structures. and systems are so important, and I. think pro-democracy forces have kind of. taken for granted that elections will. happen and, you know, there's good faith. debate and the other side will play by. the rules. But, as I've said, the. structures and systems have been under. attack and we have to fortify structures.

and systems generationally. And that's a. major project that we're going to need. from leaders like you. Now, Congressman. Heims, the number one issue, and it's. inextricably intertwined with the number. two, is corruption on voters minds right. now, and it's the number one issue, and. the number two is economy neck andneck. because people see these Trump oligarchs. getting so damn rich while people are. struggling with the economy. So, they're. really the same issue just recasted. different ways. So when people are.

looking at this election, when they're. looking at the issues, when they're. looking at the attacks on the election, when they're looking at these. intelligence breaches, they're thinking. about oversight and what does that look. like? You know, as Warren Buffett said, it's hard to do a deal with a bad. person. And so I'd like to believe that. you're able to do deals that help. affordability and help the American I. truly do. I root for that and you know. but you know Trump's a maniac and he. doesn't give a crap about people's lives. you know and so I I think though. accountability oversight and so I would.

be remiss if we didn't address at least. oversight from both of you priorities. heading out of this and then we'll of. course have kind of a final closing. remarks about the election but I I'm. curious the oversight agenda within the. intelligence uh committee if and when. you take over as the chair because. there's so any how do you organize them? How do you think about them? How how do. how do you conceive of that right now? >> Yeah, great great question. I tell you, I think it's going to pose a real.

challenge uh to the Democratic party. after election day. And you're. absolutely right. You know, the evil. stew of, you know, high gasoline prices, of a president saying, "I'm not taking. the country to war." and then doing. precisely that illegally without even. informing the Congress plus all of the. corruption, the $400 million jet from. Qatar, the the um crypto the the the. crypto billions. Uh th this has resulted. in precisely where we are today, which. is that the president has approval. ratings in the mid30s. Um and and by the.

way, I should just note as a side note. that that's a critical fact, a critical. asset in the context of what we know is. coming, which is that the president. saying this election is rigged. Frankly, if the president had 50% approval. ratings today and that and and the. American public, you know, backed him. 5050, I'd be much more worried than I. am. Like Jamie, I'm very optimistic. because when the president tries to run. his usual BS here, you know, twothirds. of the American public are going to just. say, "No, we know we know the game and. we're not accepting that." And public.

sentiment is really important. Um and. and it's going to be a critical asset. here. But to but to answer your specific. question, um the levels of corruption. are skyhigh. I sometimes joke with my. constituents, you know, Martin Van. Burren, eat your heart out. We've never. seen anything like this, including back. in the era of Tam Hall. And so, um, here's one political analysis, and this. will be a debate within the party. But. we need to remember a couple of things. Um, we are not going to win big on. Tuesday because all of a sudden, America. has fallen in love with the Democratic.

party. That is not true. Our numbers are. terrible. Uh, what we are doing is we're. being given, in my opinion, an audition. And we need to do two things in that. audition period, which may be two years. We'll see. Um, we need to stay laser. focused on the number one source of. anxiety and concern and rage right now, which is the cost of living for. Americans, energy. Let's end the war. Let's scale back the tariffs. Let's show. that we can actually be laser focused on. the thing that is causing them the most. pain. And at the same time to your to.

your question, given the corruption and. the hideousness of this administration, we've got to start the process of. pushing back, you know, pushing back. against that and demanding. accountability and shining a bright. light of transparency on all of the. deals that have been made so that we. begin to move the country back towards, you know, the good country that we all. we all remember. Now, the danger lies. It's an awful lot easier to raise all. kinds of hell about the corruption than. it is to stay absolutely focused on the.

affordability question. And I think one. of our challenges is going to be to do. both. Um, and to do it in the right. order. In my opinion, based on, you. know, years of pol of politics, let's. always talk about the affordability and. the cost of living first and then get to. the over the oversight and the. transparency and the corruption so that. we are never perceived as taking our eye. off the ball that will position us if we. do it right um to turn this into a. victory two years down the road. We're. going to be tempted to either believe. that, you know, America has fallen back.

in love with us or to take the easier. route. You know, I'm anticipating that. on day one there will be demands for. impeachment. We've seen that movie. before. You never take a constitutional. remedy off the table, but let's be very. careful about the politics um of how we. do what we must do, which is to demand. accountability for the hideous. corruption that has been demonstrated by. this administration. >> Congressman Raskin, we know you're also. working closely, you know, with Congress. member Garcia on the House Oversight. Committee. You've been a mentor to him.

He shared that with me. And so we know. that there's a very aggressive agenda. You know, it's almost like the word. corruption doesn't give justice to. what's happening. To me, if you have a. healthy body politique, corruption is. like a virus that you get rid of. But. when the entire body politique becomes a. corrupt mess, it just becomes this. zombified thing that almost needs to be. desified because the whole thing is a. criminal cartel. you know, I I don't. know how else to describe what you're. seeing when the DOJ seems like a mafia.

protection racket, you know, versus. actually doing the work of the DOJ. So, how do how do you see this? I mean, how. do you see what these hearings look. like, you know, in terms of even their. length, the dynamic of it, you know, how. questioning is going to happen, who's. going to call in, how do you structure, who goes first, what goes first. Um, you. know, it's it's a lot there, but how do. you think of that? Well, first let me agree with your way. of um framing it, Ben. I totally agree.

with that that corruption and. affordability or the cost of living or. the quality of life are just two sides. of the same coin. I mean, look, what's. on the ballot here is one public. philosophy, which Jim and I are fighting. for, which is the government must be an. instrument for the common good of all. the people. That's a democratic. philosophy. The other is that the. government is an instrument for the. private self-enrichment of the guy who. gets in and his family and his cabinet.

and a handful of businesses that are on. their side. Those are two radically. opposed conceptions of government which. lead to completely different economic. and social and political results for the. people. And that's why I think it's. impossible also to disentangle the fight. for honesty and integrity in government. from the fight for uh a an economic. program that is going to benefit the.

vast majority of the people rather than. just the people on the top who have. seized control of our government and are. using it for their own purposes. So. look, when we're thinking about the. investigations, the investigations must go to the. fundamental corruption and prostitution. of government agencies and offices that. are supposed to be working for the. people, but now are no longer doing. that. And they're going to be different. potential solutions to the problems that.

have been created under this corrupt. authoritarianism. So, for example, everybody knows now that government. contracts are another money-making. venture for Donald Trump and Donald. Trump Jr. and for their family. We've. got to clean that up. Some of it will. just be shining a light on it, exposing. it to the light of day, getting the. First Amendment to work through a press. that is not intimidated and cowed and. being bullied by the president. Part of. it will be through reform of government.

contracting procedures. Take another. one, the Pardons, Inc., the pay-to-play. pardons, where not only did Trump pardon. more than 1500 convicted Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, 3enters, clansmen, uh, and. other, you know, violent criminals who. attacked our police officers on January. 6th. But then he he unleashed a wave of. dozens and dozens of pardons of criminal. fraudsters, white collar criminals, embezzlers, um corrupt CEOs and so on,

who ripped off consumers, who ripped off. workers, who ripped off investors and so. on, and gave them pardons and also. forgave the restitution that they owed. to their victims and the fines they owed. to the government. We counted more than. $1.7 billion that has been forgiven. already. Well, we need to shine a light. on that. And although the president has. a lot of plenary power under the pardon. power, that doesn't apply to the people. who are paying bribes and the people.

who've now filled in in the new field of. pardon brokers, people like uh Matt. Gates, people like Roger Stone, who take. money not as lawyers, but as pardon. brokers and say, "I'll get you a pardon. from the White House, but you're going. to have to pay me, and then you're going. to have to pay uh into different. political, public, governmental or. private slush funds that have been. created. We're going to shine a light on. all of that in the hopes that we can. shut it down. But, you know, we have.

about a dozen different categories like. that. Another one close to my heart is. foreign government amaluments. Jim. mentioned the $400 million jet from. Qatar. You know, that's a fraction of. the billions of dollars that have flowed. in through these crypto rivers of. foreign government cash, the money. that's gone to the hotels, the golf. courses, and so on. That violates the. constitution which says none of us in. federal office can receive a present in. a monolument which means a payment an. office of or a title of any kind. whatever from a prince, a king or a.

foreign state without the permission of. Congress. Trump has never once come to. Congress and we've got to create a whole. system that requires and compels him to. come to Congress to seek permission for. that. And if not, it's criminal and. civil offenses for everybody all down. the line. and Congress should have to. act within 10 days on a request for a. foreign government monument. So. basically what I'm saying, Ben, is we. need to pair every corrupted system with. a legislative or administrative or.

constitutional solution. So it's not. just, you know, like political. pornography that people are watching, but it actually leads us to better. government and a better economic and. social situation for the people. >> Yeah. Seriousness. like we need to be a. serious nation with serious people. And. as I talk a lot about on the show is we. need this baseline before we talk about. what's a Democrat and what's a. Republican and this idea versus that. idea. We need to as a nation say.

baseline we're serious. We're competent. We stand for integrity. And in a. gamified media landscape and political. news cycle, who's up? Who's down? This. person said this. Oh, isn't that crazy? Isn't that crazy? So, you get this. dystopian reality TV show where people. in this country feel like non-consensual. extras in a really bad episode of The. Apprentice. Like, we we we want to stop. this. So I want to talk about this and. ask you both the same question and then. we'll do kind of a closing statement.

which is just the issue of character and. integrity and being a role model and. leadership and values and principles and. just speaking to that cuz to me we all. just look at this you know and to me. it's the least political political. campaign that's happen to to your point. Congressman and no offense to Democrats. I don't think you're getting a shining. endorsement per se you said it not me. I. think people are grossed out and. disgusted. They're really sick and.

they're like, "All right, we're going to. give you a try cuz I'm just going to. puke in my mouth every time I watch. this." And then you see him and he's. talking about men's asses as the. campaign finishes up and cognitive exams. and it's all distractions from how bad. things are, but like we got to be. serious. We're the United States of. America. Damn it. Character matters. Integrity matters. So, I'd love for you. to speak to that. Then, Congressman. Raskin, I'd love to you to speak to. that. Then just kind of a final remark. I'll go ask each individually before we. head out of what you want people to do.

or take with them before we leave. But. let's talk about character because it's. not talked about enough. >> Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm glad you raised it. because you know one of the. characteristics of uh you know this mess. that you describe is the um is is the. abolition of the concept of shame of. shamelessness as a as a sort of you know. national value. When did that happen? You know I'm not convinced that. character is destiny. Um but character. is really really important and. particularly important in uh people who.

are in a in positions of leadership. I. have been sickened um in the last two. years as you know like Jamie I'm a. product of a number of fairly elite. institutions and I have been absolutely. sickened by the extent to which the. leaders of our elite institutions in. this country um and I'm thinking of Paul. Weiss that bent the knee immediately to. the demands of the president all the. white shoe law firms who even in the. face of court order saying that it was. illegal for the president to say you're. going to give me $20 million worth of.

legal work universities who yes were. threatened but bent the knee. Um major. corporations, you know, how I've got. democratic activists without any um uh. particular power or wealth and they're. being immensely courageous standing up. to this autocracy. And so character and. an adherence to principle in our leaders. is one of the fundamental things that. our democracy relies on. Uh and um part. of character and and and I can't. emphasize this enough um is knowing that.

that as a citizen in a democracy and we. are blessed to be citizens in the. greatest democracy history has ever. seen, we have profound responsibilities. and I tell my constituents this all the. time. If you regard your role as a. citizen as somehow uh uh fulfilled by. scrolling through Twitter and getting. increasingly outraged by deciding that. the other party are a bunch of, you. know, charlatan treasonous uh uh uh evil.

people, um what you're doing is you're. sacrificing the obligation to be a. critical thinker. And citizens thinking. critically is argue that that is. arguably the underlying unit of our. democracy. So, we need all of us, all of. us to take that duty seriously, to know. that if we're scrolling through social. media and we're outraged, we are being. manipulated by somebody. It might be. Mark Zuckerberg, it might be the. Russians. But anyway, I think at the end. of the day, the key here is going to be. a restoration of the notion that as.

citizens, we have an obligation to think. critically, to to think with humility, to consider the possibility, which by. the way helps in a marriage, that you. might be wrong. Until we restore that, we're all going to be, you know, fair. game for the Mark Zuckerbergs, for the. Instagrams, the the Twitters, and quite. frankly, the manipulation of demagogues. like Donald Trump. >> Yeah, Congressman Raskin, same question. for you. I also think though also about, you know, when Trump holds these. propaganda sessions and he'll have like.

a coach of a football team who like. prides themselves and like instilling. leadership values and the coach will. stand there while Donald Trump is not. talking about the sports team or. congratulations on winning, but just. stands there as a prop with some of. those young athletes that are even up. there while Trump spews the nonsense. about, you know, and the dangerous. stuff, you know, about the election. lies or when he says, you know, we're. going to destroy the civilization of. this in Iran and then and and you have.

the coaches standing next to him and. just kind of nodding their head and I'm. like, you tell me that you're supposed. to be a leader of young people and reb. and you're just standing there and to me. this is not a period of time where. obviously you don't be complicit, but. sometimes just even standing there it. makes you complicit in this, you know, nefarious agenda. So, I just want you to. speak to that, then we'll do a kind of. final remarks. >> Oh, yeah. Let me make a few points about. the the very interesting things both of. you guys have said. Um well well one.

just on the sports angle. Um of course. there's been a tremendous corruption of. sports during this period because the. corruption that begins with the. president and the pre all the. president's men and the system then. radiates outward uh and creates. corruption in a lot of places. We've. seen horrific sex scandals, sexual. exploitation and sexual abuse scandals. in college sports on um you know both. women and men's sports teams. Like how. is that acceptable? And why is it that.

we have a presidential administration. and department of justice which never do. anything about it? They they're always I. mean like even the thing that the the. the terrible rape scandal that is just. coming out now um from Cornell, you. never hear anything from the Department. of Justice or uh the Trump. administration about it. And I think. that the Epstein network dimension of. this cannot be um you know dismissed or. trivialized because it goes right along.

with all of the other you know economic. exploitation. All right. But here's what. I wanted to say generally about the. question of character that you posed to. us, Ben. And I and I'm going to answer. it actually by way of sort of. disagreeing with both of you guys about. what you're saying about the Democratic. party. Obviously, every political party. is on trial uh when it runs for office. to get things done. That goes without. saying. But I want to say this. I think. that the Democrats that I've met all. across America in my travels over the. last year are demonstrating the most.

exceptional character. many of them in. red states, in red districts, standing. up to the corruption and the. authoritarianism. And one reason why the. Democrats are so low in the polls is. because we lost to Donald Trump in 2024. and for a long period. I don't really. hear it so much anymore. People were. saying the Democrats are not fighting. these fascists who are trying to destroy. our institutions. I think when we come. out, we win these elections. We show. people that we can make democracy work. We can defend democracy against its.

enemies, foreign and domestic. Our stock. is going to go up immediately, and it. should go up. That doesn't mean people. shouldn't hold us to account. They. should, but it's not really they. It's. we. It's us. At this point, the. Democratic Party is the party of. democracy. That's what FDR called us. He. didn't call us the Democratic Party, much less the Democrat party, which is. what uh, you know, Mike Johnson and. Donald Trump called us. He called us the. democracy. So he'd say, "Well, the. economic royalists and the bureaucrats.

say just invest in the wealthiest people. and the wealthiest corporations and some. of the wealth will dribble down on. everybody else." But the democracy says, "Invest in the great American working. middle class. We will all rise and. prosper together." That's a politics. with character. And the people who stand. with it and live up to their values are. people acting with character. So I I'm. not, you know, I don't want to run away. from the people as flawed as we are, as. imperfect as we are, like everybody. else, who are standing up for democracy.

and for human rights. But I want to then. make a final point about this, kind of. contradicting what I just said. Even. more important than being willing to. stand with your party and to make it a. party of character is to stand up for. your constitution and the country. And. we have to be constitutional patriots at. this moment. This is what the. Republicans never understood. You know, when we went when we took the second. impeachment case over to the Senate and. we were able to get seven Republican. senators to join 50 Democrats to vote to.

convict Donald Trump for inciting. violent insurrection against the union. to support his inside political coup. That was the most widespread bipartisan. vote in American history for a. presidential conviction, but still 10. votes short of the 2/3. And that's. simply because it has become such a. partisan process. We've got to rise. above our partisan loyalties to be loyal. to the Constitution and to the. Democratic experiment itself. >> Final concluding remarks, Congressman. Heimmes, how you going to how you going.

to top that, man? You just going to tap. out or you going to you're going to give. a call? What are you going to do? >> Not not at all. Jamie and I are are 100%. agreement on this, especially the final. call to the to the Constitution, which. at the end of the day is um what we. swear an oath to uh and which has been. so badly damaged um by by this. president. You know, um since time. immemorial, there has been a tension. between the executive uh and the. legislature on issues like who gets to. declare war, etc., etc. Um that tension.

is generally healthy. Um this of course. is a radically new era in which the. President Trump has simply dispensed. with the constitution as something. that's important in his thinking. And. Jaime's absolutely right um when he says. that uh unfortunately his acolytes in. the Republican party because their. existence political existence depends on. them joining him uh in his disdain for. the constitution. This is why Congress. has been flat on its back for the last. two years. It has utterly failed in its. role to act as a check and a balance on.

the power of the president. that changes. of course in this election. But um and. let me close with that point because we. we really went far a field in some. fascinating areas here. But of course. the subject here is election protection. Uh and I just want to close with a. couple of thoughts that I think are. really important. Number one, our. elections have always been accurate and. secure and Americans should trust that. at the end of the day whatever garbage, whatever noise the president chooses to. make, your vote must be counted. It will. be counted. And traditionally in this.

country, we have never had an issue in. any meaningful sense with elections. reflecting the will of the people. Number two, um part of the reason you're. hearing uh from Jamie and I is that. we've devoted a ton of time uh in the. last couple of months to preparing for. and no, as Jamie suggested to the woman. that he met, you we can't guarantee an. outcome here. We're assuming that the. president is going to pull out all the. stops. Um but we are prepared. uh we've. been wargaming and preparing and not. just the Democrats but all sorts of. lawyers around the country who the.

moment there's misbehavior will be in. court filing injunctions and temporary. restraining orders all that stuff. So, uh, again, our elections are going to at. the end of the day reflect the will of. the people as they always have, but. forewarned is forearmmed and our message. is expect to do precisely what he always. does, but we're ready and maintain your. confidence in the fundamental workings. of our democracy. Get out there and vote. and express your opinions. >> Congressman Raskin, concluding thoughts.

on election security. >> Well, election security is fundamentally. about character, too. the character to. say that in a society built on one. person, one vote, we're going to respect. other people's votes and we're we're not. going to allow Vladimir Putin or Donald. Trump or anybody else interfere with our. elections, steal away the result, change. the results or shut down the democratic. process. Like that's the that is the. commitment that you know we've made to. each other. And um so this is an. important moment. I will make a final.

pitch for the democracy both in the. sense of in constitutional terms but. also in the sense of the party of. democracy uh the democrats because we. are the party that will stand up for. everybody's right to vote even if. they're not going to vote for us. I mean. I've been to a million Democratic. meetings or Democrat meetings uh in my. life. I've never once heard somebody get. up and say, "How are we going to. suppress the vote over here? How are we. going to pass a disenfranchisement. statute?" Um that's not how we operate. We defend both our program like healthc.

care for everybody but also the. democracy itself. I've never seen any. Democrat say, "Yeah, maybe we should. mount a violent insurrection to try to. overthrow the results or get somebody to. cheat." It's not happening. So um I. think that we can say we are the party. with the program to sweep away the. corruption to build economic policies. around the needs of the vast majority of. the people and also the party that will. stand up for democracy and human rights. and freedom all over the world because. it's not just in America where they're. looking to us. It's in Ukraine for.

example where they're looking to us. And. we are going to be on the side of. Democratic allies and not on the side of. all of Donald Trump's communist autocrat. friends and dictators and bullies from. around the world. That's what we've got. uh to offer people. So vote for the. democracy. >> Congressmans, Congress member Rascin, we. appreciate you both. We look forward to. call you the chairman of your respective. committees after this midterm elections. and it will be an honor to bring you.

back on talk to you about the oversight. and committee hearings and work you're. doing when we can actually advance. things and move this country forward. We're honored that you spent this time. with us, especially right before the. midterms. We've been going for about an. hour, but people really wanted to hear. from you these important perspectives. and you made me feel a lot more. confident. I know you made the people. out there feel a lot more confident. So, we appreciate you both. Thanks for. joining us on this special edition. episode of the Midas Touch Podcast. Thank you, Van. Thank you, Ben.

Everybody, hit subscribe. Let's get to 7. million subscribers. We appreciate you. It's finally here. WTF America, the book. I wrote with my brothers, is out now. It's about how we got into this hell and. how we get out. Scan the QR code, click. the link in the description, or find it. anywhere books are sold, and order your. copy today. Here we go.