1 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: Welcome back to another episode of You Were Wrong with 2 00:00:17,839 --> 00:00:20,920 Molly Hemingway, editor and she for the Federalists and David Harsani, 3 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,760 senior writer at the Washington Examiner. Just as a reminder, 4 00:00:23,839 --> 00:00:25,800 if you'd like to email the show, please do so 5 00:00:25,879 --> 00:00:27,879 at radio at the Federalist dot com. We love to 6 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,719 hear from you, Molly. We're doing the show a little early, 7 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,320 it's Christmas. We didn't want to leave everyone hanging this week, and. 8 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,359 Speaker 2: It'll be able to be listened to by like four people. 9 00:00:38,439 --> 00:00:41,240 It's a very intimate, special Christmas. 10 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:47,039 Speaker 1: Edition, a very special episode. We'll keep it short, but 11 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:49,159 you know, we had a few things to say. 12 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,039 Speaker 2: Well, last week I talked about how there was this 13 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:54,079 story I wanted to talk about last week, but we 14 00:00:54,079 --> 00:00:58,399 were so loquacious ourselves, just like Tanji Brown Jackson, that 15 00:00:58,439 --> 00:01:03,159 we ran out of time. But it relates to this 16 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,319 Inspector General report that came out a couple of weeks ago. 17 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:12,439 And the report was ostensibly looking into how the Department 18 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:17,280 of Justice had gathered communications from two members of Congress 19 00:01:17,879 --> 00:01:24,000 and then forty three congressional staff and what protocols they 20 00:01:24,079 --> 00:01:26,719 followed and whether it was okay. So we already kind 21 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,519 of knew that there had been some of this surveillance 22 00:01:29,719 --> 00:01:33,400 of people who work for Congress or even the members themselves, 23 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,879 but this report, the report everyone kind of talked about 24 00:01:36,879 --> 00:01:40,840 that should the DOJ really be getting the communications of 25 00:01:40,879 --> 00:01:44,239 a completely separate branch of government that oversees the Department 26 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,040 of Justice? And I would say no, And that's a 27 00:01:47,079 --> 00:01:52,680 really important topic to talk about. But hidden in this 28 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,599 report were three bombshells I thought about the Department of 29 00:01:57,719 --> 00:02:01,200 Justice as it related to the Russia collusion. Hope, because 30 00:02:01,239 --> 00:02:04,719 the Russia coclusion hoax was kind of deeply involved in 31 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,759 why they were gathering communications from these members of Congress. 32 00:02:12,319 --> 00:02:14,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, bombshell one. 33 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,479 Speaker 2: Okay, well, so sorry, I'm just like, there's so much 34 00:02:17,479 --> 00:02:19,639 to say here, so I'm just just going with so 35 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,479 what It all dated to the early days of the 36 00:02:22,479 --> 00:02:25,879 Trump administration, And in the early days of the Trump administration, 37 00:02:26,199 --> 00:02:31,400 you had deep state actors leaking like sieves to compliant 38 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,159 people in the press in order to set this false 39 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,639 narrative that Donald Trump was a Russian spy who had 40 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,039 colluded with Vladimir Putin to steal the twenty sixteen election. 41 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,319 And it was so stupid, but it really was what 42 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,280 people in DC believed and or they claimed to believe, 43 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,800 and it was all fed by these crazy, crazy, crazy, 44 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:56,000 insane stories. And so more than four, but four in 45 00:02:56,039 --> 00:03:03,879 particular stories included classified information where the Attorney General asked 46 00:03:04,199 --> 00:03:08,599 investigators to look into how that classified information appeared in print, right. 47 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:13,639 Speaker 1: Right, and so which is illegal. It's illegal to leak 48 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,080 classified information to the press. 49 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:20,039 Speaker 2: Yes, And I'd say the big story here is that 50 00:03:20,039 --> 00:03:23,800 the DOJ didn't really look that hard. Okay, they the 51 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:28,280 investigation starts in twenty seventeen, and they train their eyes 52 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,680 on Congress, which is interesting because I think probably most 53 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,520 of the leaks in this story always came from even 54 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,360 high level FBI and DOJ officials, But they trained their 55 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,680 eyes on Congress. And the first bombshell, in my opinion, 56 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,159 was that there was a whistleblower on Adam Shift's committee, 57 00:03:44,879 --> 00:03:47,599 a whistleblower who was like, yeah, we're all leaking over here, 58 00:03:47,719 --> 00:03:52,039 not he himself, but everyone else. And he says this 59 00:03:52,159 --> 00:03:56,560 in twenty seventeen, and he fingers Adam Schiff and Eric Swallwell. Again, 60 00:03:56,639 --> 00:03:58,919 none of this is surprising. We all know that Adam 61 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,759 Schiff and Eric swallm Well we're leaking like sieves. They 62 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,919 were constantly going on the media. Eric Adam Schiff in particular, 63 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,560 was lying and claiming that he had access to super 64 00:04:08,599 --> 00:04:12,039 secret information that substantiated this Russia collusion hoax. 65 00:04:12,319 --> 00:04:16,319 Speaker 1: Oh wait. Eric Swawell was on the Intelligence. 66 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 2: Committee on Hipsie Yeah, until twenty twenty three when Kevin 67 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:22,199 McCarthy removed him. 68 00:04:22,959 --> 00:04:26,519 Speaker 1: Oh I remember now er Well, No, no, I'm just 69 00:04:26,519 --> 00:04:29,560 gonna say he's you know, he's not bright a but 70 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:31,839 also obviously he got he was the one who was 71 00:04:33,079 --> 00:04:35,680 got caught up in a honeypot operation right with Fang Fang, 72 00:04:36,399 --> 00:04:39,879 and seems like not the right person for this particular committee. 73 00:04:41,439 --> 00:04:45,639 Speaker 2: Well, yes, she Feng Fang was the Chinese communist operative 74 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:50,040 who lured a lot of Democrats in But he actually 75 00:04:50,079 --> 00:04:53,639 had a relationship with her, an intimate relationship, if you 76 00:04:53,720 --> 00:05:00,279 know what I mean, And I do, so. Okay, So, 77 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,879 first off, there's a Democrat staffer whistle blower, and he's 78 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:08,560 telling the FBI investigators they're leaking over here, and he 79 00:05:08,639 --> 00:05:11,600 even explains like what their motivation is and what they're 80 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,279 trying to do. And we know it's Adam Schiff and 81 00:05:15,399 --> 00:05:18,560 Eric Swalwell. Even though this report doesn't name them because 82 00:05:18,639 --> 00:05:20,720 the New York Times, which is one of the groups 83 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,120 that leakers were working with, named them in twenty twenty 84 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,519 or twenty twenty one one. Yeah, and they said that 85 00:05:28,639 --> 00:05:31,199 there were these two members of Congress, Adam Schiff and 86 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:35,279 Eric Swawell, who had their communications surveilled by doj And 87 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,759 this report says only two members of Congress were so 88 00:05:39,879 --> 00:05:43,279 had their communications intercepted. So we know that's him, and 89 00:05:43,439 --> 00:05:46,959 you know the committee. So the second thing is that 90 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:52,000 the whistleblower also fingers the staff director I think his 91 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,519 name is, or it seems like it, I should say, 92 00:05:54,519 --> 00:05:58,439 it seems like it's this person, Michael Bahar And that 93 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:00,720 person was also named by the New York Times as 94 00:06:00,759 --> 00:06:04,360 being the target of the investigation. And what's so funny 95 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:08,560 about this DOJIG report? And I hate IG reports. People 96 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:12,920 always think they are legitimate investigations. They are not. Doj 97 00:06:13,399 --> 00:06:16,920 IG in particular is run by a Barack Obama appointee, 98 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:21,040 and IG's in general usually exists to protect the institution 99 00:06:21,199 --> 00:06:24,800 that they're supposedly investigating. It's like going to your hr 100 00:06:24,879 --> 00:06:27,040 and thinking you're going to get justice, you know, like, 101 00:06:27,319 --> 00:06:30,160 instead of that, they realize you're the problem if you 102 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:31,600 complain to hr. 103 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: What was his name, Horowitz maybe his last name. I 104 00:06:35,399 --> 00:06:37,319 forget what his name was. But there was an interesting 105 00:06:37,319 --> 00:06:39,759 IG report about all the Faiza stuff that went wrong 106 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,079 and everything. I mean, they're not useless obviously, and you're 107 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:43,360 talking about one now. 108 00:06:43,319 --> 00:06:46,319 Speaker 2: Right, great example of what I'm talking about. So you 109 00:06:46,439 --> 00:06:50,439 have in the Russia collusion hoax, the worst thing to happen, 110 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,199 you know, are one of the very worst things to 111 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:57,360 happen in the government in history. And the report comes 112 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:01,600 out and it's like so dryly rich, and it's so calm, 113 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,480 and it's like okay, and so you know, the way 114 00:07:04,519 --> 00:07:08,319 that they explained that Kevin Kine Smith falsified evidence to 115 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,199 secure a warrant is like your mother putting you to 116 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,680 sleep as a baby. It's like do do You're so 117 00:07:13,759 --> 00:07:18,319 beautiful and so nicely written. And also Michael Horowitz and 118 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:20,199 it's just sort of like, well, there's not much that 119 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,560 can be done to fix the department, is sort of 120 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,920 how he writes it up. He also was the one 121 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:30,480 who falsely claimed that the predicate to start the Russia 122 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,040 collusion hoax was legitimate, you know, so he puts in it, 123 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,279 you know, it's just it's crafted in such a way 124 00:07:36,319 --> 00:07:39,959 the investigation themselves can be done either to destroy your 125 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,639 life or to be very gentle. And I think this 126 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,680 is a great example. The real story of this leak 127 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,639 investigation is that DOJ did nothing and instead the report 128 00:07:50,199 --> 00:07:53,240 very dry, very boring. You have to like read it 129 00:07:53,279 --> 00:07:58,279 six times to understand what's going on. Is that, you know, 130 00:07:58,319 --> 00:08:01,120 they just completely messed up this investation and never had 131 00:08:01,199 --> 00:08:03,639 any intention of discovering who the leakers that they were 132 00:08:03,639 --> 00:08:07,959 working with were. So he names the senior staff director 133 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:15,120 and they do nothing about it for three years, only 134 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,399 when Attorney General Bill Barr comes in and says, like, hey, 135 00:08:18,399 --> 00:08:22,160 whatever happened with that leak investigation? And they realize, like, oh, 136 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,560 we did have that whistleblower kind of name who was 137 00:08:24,639 --> 00:08:26,360 doing it. So I guess we're going to have to 138 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,160 pretend to care. And so they go back and they 139 00:08:29,199 --> 00:08:33,559 interview this guy and he had left, you know, congressional 140 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:38,600 staff years prior, and they explain that he went into 141 00:08:38,639 --> 00:08:41,440 the special room where you could review the classified material 142 00:08:41,519 --> 00:08:45,320 that was leaked, and shortly before he went into the room, 143 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,679 and shortly after he left the room, he called all 144 00:08:49,759 --> 00:08:54,080 three reporters involved in the publication of the classified information. 145 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:57,960 So they asked him about it, and he's like, no, 146 00:08:58,159 --> 00:09:02,919 I have the perfect alibi. And his alibi is that 147 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,039 sure he was talking to these people who published classified 148 00:09:06,039 --> 00:09:08,639 information that he had access to, but he talked to 149 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,799 two of them all the time. And so they look 150 00:09:12,879 --> 00:09:14,639 into it and they're like, he did talk to them 151 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:17,559 a lot. So we decided he wasn't the leaker. 152 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,919 Speaker 1: The more you talk to someone, the less likely it 153 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,159 is that you're the one providing the information. I understand, I. 154 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 2: Don't know if he was the leaker, wasn't the leaker, 155 00:09:28,759 --> 00:09:31,879 was one of four hundred and eighty leakers, But the 156 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,360 idea that that would be exonerating information is so laughable 157 00:09:35,399 --> 00:09:38,480 to me. Then the other thing is that the whistleblower 158 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:42,360 says that this guy said, you know, one way to 159 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,919 communicate with reporters is to use your spouse's phone, because 160 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,360 you know, that's harder to track. And so they say 161 00:09:50,799 --> 00:09:54,519 for that reason and also other reasons, we you know, 162 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,120 we had reasons to believe that this person was using 163 00:09:58,159 --> 00:10:01,639 his wife's phone, and so we also took we also 164 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:05,639 looked into her communications. But later we found that his 165 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:08,440 claim was without foundation, and it's like, what does that 166 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:13,639 even mean? He says he heard this guy firsthand say 167 00:10:14,039 --> 00:10:16,759 this thing, but oh they would kept on saying, oh, well, 168 00:10:16,799 --> 00:10:18,799 you know, he thought Schiff and Swallow were leaking, but 169 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:23,039 he didn't like personally witness them leak. Oh Okay, that's 170 00:10:23,159 --> 00:10:26,759 usually not you know what I mean? Like sure, but 171 00:10:26,919 --> 00:10:29,720 the way that they described this person is like blowing 172 00:10:29,759 --> 00:10:32,720 the whistle without having a foundation. It's clearly that they're 173 00:10:32,759 --> 00:10:36,080 just trying to make the guy go away for revealing 174 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,399 how the operation that they were themselves participants in, how 175 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:44,000 it worked. And that was the second Okay. 176 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,879 Speaker 1: Can I ask you a broader question now about just 177 00:10:46,919 --> 00:10:51,559 thinking back about this time, so you have Shift Swawell leaking. 178 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:56,240 Do you do you think that the reporters, obviously they're 179 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:03,000 leaking classified information in ways to make Trumpet guilty, to perpetuate, 180 00:11:03,039 --> 00:11:06,879 to propel this narrative about Russia. Do you think that 181 00:11:06,919 --> 00:11:09,320 the journals were just scredulous and they believed whatever they 182 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:10,799 were told. Do you think they were part of it? 183 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,200 Like it seems to me that maybe they were misled. 184 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:15,679 I mean, not that I want to let them off 185 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:17,919 the hook, but does this kind of make you feel 186 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,080 more of that or is it just more complicated than that. 187 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:23,679 Speaker 2: Well, you remember that story I told about how I 188 00:11:23,759 --> 00:11:26,639 realized the Russia collusion scam with a hoax because I 189 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,000 was on set at CNN when they revealed where their 190 00:11:30,039 --> 00:11:34,240 sources were coming from. And I always think about that 191 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,919 I had so much less information than they did, or 192 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:39,840 you know, it was harder for me to get that information, 193 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:42,039 but I was smart enough to know what was going on, 194 00:11:42,279 --> 00:11:47,000 And then they spent years pushing this coax. Did they 195 00:11:47,039 --> 00:11:49,120 do that because they're stupid or did they do that 196 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,480 because they are such propagandists that they were willing to 197 00:11:52,639 --> 00:11:55,120 do whatever it took to try to do a coup 198 00:11:55,120 --> 00:12:00,279 against their political opponent. I think probably the latter, with 199 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:01,960 a sprinkling of the former. 200 00:12:02,159 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: Right, I don't and I want to say I've said 201 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,759 numerous times skepticism is like the number one tool of 202 00:12:06,759 --> 00:12:09,480 being a good journalist in my view, and obviously they 203 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:14,519 had none of that. But also they obviously CNN acted 204 00:12:14,639 --> 00:12:18,039 inappropriately with their sources, knowing that things were coming from 205 00:12:18,039 --> 00:12:20,840 the same office, for instance, stuff like that, So obviously 206 00:12:20,919 --> 00:12:22,960 they were a part of it in some way. But 207 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:25,279 I just wonder how much you know what was what? 208 00:12:25,399 --> 00:12:25,840 That's all. 209 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:28,720 Speaker 2: I want to give an Adam Schiff example to this too. 210 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,480 And it also happens to deal with CNN. You might 211 00:12:31,519 --> 00:12:34,080 remember that I think it was twenty seventeen, might have 212 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,360 been twenty eighteen. I can't remember. Because this scam went 213 00:12:36,399 --> 00:12:41,960 on for so long. Someone at CNN reported that they 214 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:48,679 had multiple witnesses showing that Donald Trump Junior, the son 215 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:53,720 of Donald Trump, had gotten secret access to wiki leaks 216 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:56,360 prior to its public release. 217 00:12:56,799 --> 00:12:59,159 Speaker 1: That was Manu Raju and another reporter I forget with 218 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:00,120 the other, okay, and. 219 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 2: They had two supposedly independent sources or two sources. Then 220 00:13:05,399 --> 00:13:07,960 you had a bunch of other reporters claim that these 221 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:09,120 sources were anonymous. 222 00:13:09,159 --> 00:13:09,519 Speaker 1: Of course. 223 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,559 Speaker 2: Then you had other reporters like Kendelanian at ABC or NBC. 224 00:13:13,639 --> 00:13:17,440 I forget and NBC say that they had confirmed this leak. 225 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:22,759 They had confirmed it. And it turned out that the 226 00:13:23,519 --> 00:13:28,279 supposed early access to wiki leaks was in fact a 227 00:13:28,399 --> 00:13:32,200 random email from a random dude in California who just 228 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,399 saw the publicly available wikileak stuff and sent it to 229 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,759 a publicly available email account associated with Donald Trump Junior. 230 00:13:40,039 --> 00:13:42,519 Didn't know him. He just was like, hey, check this out, 231 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:49,120 this publicly available wikileik stuff. And the sources, supposedly independent, 232 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,320 supposedly confirmed by Kendelanian, had gotten the date on the 233 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,000 email wrong. So the whole story was that he'd gotten 234 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,240 an early secret access and it turned out it was 235 00:13:57,279 --> 00:13:59,960 like a few days after everybody else in the world knew. 236 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: Both source independent completely independent sources gave the same exact 237 00:14:04,759 --> 00:14:09,639 wrong date by somehow happenstance, I guess never. But by 238 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,440 the way Cianna never explained it. Manu Raju has a 239 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:15,120 better job today than he did then. 240 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 2: Actually he doesn't. He doesn't. 241 00:14:17,399 --> 00:14:19,799 Speaker 1: I thought he's like some kind of sea I think 242 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:21,639 he has a show in CNN. Does is anymore? 243 00:14:21,879 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 2: I don't think. I think he's literally still a hallway 244 00:14:24,399 --> 00:14:25,639 troll for CNN. 245 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, he just does. 246 00:14:27,159 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 2: Like Democrats who like, could you ask Republican members of 247 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:32,639 Congress this question? And he says, sir, yes, sir, I'll 248 00:14:32,679 --> 00:14:34,879 do exactly what you want. And I will never ask 249 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:37,240 democrats a tough question. If the gun has put to 250 00:14:37,279 --> 00:14:39,639 my head, I won't do it. I'll troll the hallways. 251 00:14:39,639 --> 00:14:41,200 That's Manu Roger when. 252 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,840 Speaker 1: He asks democrat question Democrats questions. It's like this, did 253 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,000 you hear what Donald Trump said about you? I'll holland 254 00:14:47,039 --> 00:14:49,679 omar and it wasn't how terrible was it or was evil? 255 00:14:49,799 --> 00:14:52,480 Was it terrible? Like he that's what he does. But anyway, 256 00:14:52,679 --> 00:14:56,639 he you know, if sources burn you like that, Like 257 00:14:56,679 --> 00:14:59,279 obviously access is important, but if sources burn you like that, 258 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,200 you've been used, you write about it. But he wasn't used. 259 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,440 He participated in it. So anyway, Yeah, I like that 260 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:08,600 one because it's the most embarrassing I think of all 261 00:15:08,639 --> 00:15:08,960 of them. 262 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,879 Speaker 2: Okay, I just okay, I'm going to wrap a few 263 00:15:12,879 --> 00:15:16,120 things up on this. I'm going off on tangents of tangents. 264 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:20,879 But the story was sourced basically to two people on 265 00:15:21,279 --> 00:15:25,840 Hipsy and Hipsey was always the source of leaks about 266 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,759 the russiacclusion hooks. I don't think it was just Adam 267 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,759 Schiff and just Eric Swallwell and just the staff. I 268 00:15:31,799 --> 00:15:35,399 think it was also Department of Justice and various other 269 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:40,480 Democrat operatives, but they were a key location of leaking 270 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,440 on the being burned thing. Last week we talked about 271 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:50,200 the Pro public A story where Pro Publica tried to 272 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,080 do a hip piece on Pete haig Seth and then 273 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,279 they got totally burned. They had called the admissions office 274 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,759 or whatever west Point and twice a West Point person 275 00:15:58,799 --> 00:16:01,360 said that Pete haig Seth had ever even applied there, 276 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,080 when not only had he applied, he'd been accepted. And 277 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,000 one of the critiques that real journalists had against Pro 278 00:16:09,039 --> 00:16:11,120 Publica was that when that happened, they should have written 279 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,840 up the story about how West Point was lying to 280 00:16:13,919 --> 00:16:16,720 hurt Pete Hegseth. It's like a really big thing that 281 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:19,240 was like a should have been done, And so some 282 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:23,279 people were making that point, and then other journalists other sorry, 283 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,120 I should say propagandists with other corporate media, came to 284 00:16:26,159 --> 00:16:28,799 the defense of Pro Publica, and one guy at Politico 285 00:16:28,879 --> 00:16:31,759 I think, said, if I think it was Josh Gersin, 286 00:16:32,039 --> 00:16:35,200 yes it was wrong, the guy who published the dobs leak. 287 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,519 And He's like, if I wrote about every time a 288 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:40,919 government operative lied to me, I would that would be 289 00:16:40,919 --> 00:16:43,320 half my time. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I. 290 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: Went off on that. 291 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,759 Speaker 2: I think that's. 292 00:16:47,759 --> 00:16:50,279 Speaker 1: First of all, yes, you should be writing about that, 293 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:52,519 and I'll tell you why, because then they will stop 294 00:16:52,639 --> 00:16:54,200 lying to you and you won't have to spend that 295 00:16:54,279 --> 00:16:57,120 much time writing about it. The reason they lie to 296 00:16:57,159 --> 00:17:00,240 you is because they know that they will never be 297 00:17:00,279 --> 00:17:03,120 burnt and you care about access more than anything, and 298 00:17:03,159 --> 00:17:05,599 that you will continue to take their word for stuff. 299 00:17:05,759 --> 00:17:10,200 So yes, he's that was a perfect example of why, Well, 300 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:12,279 I don't want to curse, but journalism isn't a bad. 301 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,559 Speaker 2: Place unsourcing issues. I want to explain to non journalists 302 00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:19,480 out there how that works. So generally speaking, you shouldn't 303 00:17:19,559 --> 00:17:22,440 use anonymous sources because it's very easy to say things 304 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:26,359 when there's no accountability for you getting something wrong. But 305 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,000 it is also true that for a variety of reasons, 306 00:17:30,079 --> 00:17:33,400 you may need to use an anonymous source. And I 307 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:40,279 write on topics that involve a lot of discretion, either 308 00:17:40,319 --> 00:17:44,319 because of the position that someone has or because of 309 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:48,400 national security issues, and so I'm dealing with this a lot. 310 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,000 I really try to avoid anonymous sources, but I also 311 00:17:53,799 --> 00:17:55,839 sometimes just want to talk to people and get information 312 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,680 so I can write with some authority. So when Carrie 313 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,480 Severino and I wrote the cap A book, we interviewed 314 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,119 more than one hundred people, and we did it almost 315 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:06,720 all on background, which means people could just speak freely 316 00:18:06,759 --> 00:18:09,960 to us and we wouldn't attribute what happened to a 317 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,119 particular person. It was a great way to collect information 318 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:15,440 because you talk to seven people who are in the 319 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,400 same meeting, and they all tell you how that meeting went, 320 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:24,599 and you get confirmation of what one person said, or 321 00:18:24,799 --> 00:18:26,920 you get different perspectives and you kind of get just 322 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:31,640 a fuller picture of it. Right. But when you're explaining 323 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:33,759 to people this is on the record, or this is 324 00:18:33,799 --> 00:18:37,079 on background, or this is off the record, a good 325 00:18:37,079 --> 00:18:40,039 reporter should explain what all of those terms mean with 326 00:18:40,079 --> 00:18:43,240 people who aren't familiar with how it works. And they 327 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:47,000 should also say if you lie to me, like all 328 00:18:47,039 --> 00:18:52,519 bets are off, so that people feel threatened about telling 329 00:18:52,519 --> 00:18:53,000 the truth. 330 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,759 Speaker 1: I mean, and also with politicians, and I'm sorry with 331 00:18:56,759 --> 00:19:00,000 people in government, and even when I reported locally in Denver, 332 00:19:00,599 --> 00:19:04,559 anyone in government, anyone in a power position, knows exactly 333 00:19:04,559 --> 00:19:06,640 what's going on with being off and on the record. 334 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,759 It's not I think to normal people that should all 335 00:19:09,759 --> 00:19:12,839 be explained. But just as background to this, they know, 336 00:19:13,079 --> 00:19:15,960 they know what it means, they know how to manipulate it, 337 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:18,400 you know, and all of that. But yeah, and being 338 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,599 on background, by the way, just so people aren't journalists 339 00:19:21,599 --> 00:19:23,720 know you know, like you said, but you know it 340 00:19:23,759 --> 00:19:26,480 gives you an idea from different perspectives. But you also 341 00:19:26,519 --> 00:19:29,519 needed to write a full fulsome story. You know, you 342 00:19:29,559 --> 00:19:32,160 need to understand what went on, and not everyone wants 343 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,200 to sit down and be in the newspaper or whatever. 344 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:35,440 So anyway, started interrum. 345 00:19:35,759 --> 00:19:37,519 Speaker 2: Right, and I'm able to talk to a lot more 346 00:19:37,559 --> 00:19:39,880 people because I speak on background, although I do want 347 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,079 to say sometimes people will tell me this is off 348 00:19:42,079 --> 00:19:44,799 the record, and then later they'll be like, so I 349 00:19:45,039 --> 00:19:48,319 gave you that stuff and it never came out, and like, 350 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:50,640 because you said it was off the record, and so 351 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,319 there's this DC off the record, which I think really 352 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:55,759 means I want this to get out, but I really 353 00:19:55,799 --> 00:19:59,640 want you to be careful with how you say it. 354 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,680 And it is infuriating to me because my whole reputation 355 00:20:03,799 --> 00:20:07,079 is based on my ability to hold information. So when 356 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:09,160 people tell me something's off the record, I take it 357 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:10,759 very seriously. 358 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 1: Anywayeah, because no one's going to talk to you again 359 00:20:14,039 --> 00:20:16,480 if you don't do it right right. I mean, if 360 00:20:16,519 --> 00:20:19,119 you blow someone's cover, they never no one's going to 361 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:21,079 talk to you. Even other people will be nervous to 362 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:21,359 do it. 363 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,279 Speaker 3: The Left loves saying they want the rich to pay 364 00:20:26,279 --> 00:20:28,920 their fair share, but they already do. The Watchdout on 365 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,079 Wall Street podcast with Chris Markowski. Every day Chris helps 366 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:34,759 unpack the connection between politics and the economy and how 367 00:20:34,759 --> 00:20:37,000 it affects your wallet. In two thousand and three, the 368 00:20:37,039 --> 00:20:39,680 top ten percent of earners paid fifty nine percent of 369 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,920 the entire tax bill. Today it's seventy two percent. The 370 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,720 top one percent pay over forty percent of our bill. 371 00:20:45,759 --> 00:20:47,799 Whether it's happening in DC or down on Wall Street, 372 00:20:47,839 --> 00:20:49,039 it's affecting you financially. 373 00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:49,599 Speaker 1: Be informed. 374 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,519 Speaker 3: Check out the watch dot on Wall Street podcast with 375 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,799 Chris Markowski on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 376 00:20:58,559 --> 00:21:01,279 Speaker 2: So back to the CNN store. About the Wiki leagues, 377 00:21:01,559 --> 00:21:04,519 if they were a real news organization and they had 378 00:21:04,559 --> 00:21:09,119 been utterly humiliated by how they handled it, they should 379 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:11,799 have burned their sources. They should have said this was 380 00:21:11,839 --> 00:21:14,880 Adam Schiff, or this was Adam Schiff's chief of staff, 381 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,799 or this was Adam Schiff's mother, whatever it is. They 382 00:21:17,799 --> 00:21:20,039 should have said who the people were so that you 383 00:21:20,079 --> 00:21:23,000 could judge, so that you knew that they took it seriously, 384 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:27,480 delivering news and not just attacking Trump like with CNN. 385 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:31,440 More recently, they had the whole thing with pretending that 386 00:21:31,519 --> 00:21:36,319 they were releasing a political victim in a Syrian prison 387 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,039 and it turned out to be a guy in the 388 00:21:38,079 --> 00:21:41,079 regime who'd been engaged in fraud or something like that, 389 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,079 and they didn't even apologize, and they didn't explain how 390 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:46,720 it happened that they got it. 391 00:21:46,799 --> 00:21:50,319 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the problem. I mean, everyone gets fooled journalists. 392 00:21:50,839 --> 00:21:53,559 People try to manipulate you. It happens, but like, if 393 00:21:53,599 --> 00:21:57,000 it does, you should explain yourself and light up and 394 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:58,960 then who was involved. But they never do. That Syrian 395 00:21:59,559 --> 00:22:00,680 thing was embarrassing. 396 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,640 Speaker 2: Okay, So back to the bombshells in this IG reports, 397 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,880 there was a third bombshell in there, I thought, which 398 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,880 is DOJ was supposed to be investigating leaks that were 399 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,680 designed to destroy Donald Trump's presidency, and they were clearly 400 00:22:17,759 --> 00:22:22,240 focused on Hipsey the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. 401 00:22:22,799 --> 00:22:25,920 On the one side, you had Adam Schiff, notorious for 402 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,400 being an active and major participant in the fraud, and 403 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,160 his staff. On the other side, you had Devin Nunez 404 00:22:33,279 --> 00:22:35,640 and his staff, people like Hash Pattel or you know, 405 00:22:36,079 --> 00:22:40,599 who were well known for being the only people in 406 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,680 all of America who were willing to stand up against 407 00:22:43,799 --> 00:22:46,799 all of the elite establishment to say that the Russia 408 00:22:46,799 --> 00:22:50,759 collusion hoax was a hoax. So when you're investigating who's 409 00:22:50,839 --> 00:22:54,920 leaking to left wing media outlets the Washington Post, CNN, 410 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,000 and New York Times stories and information designed to hurt 411 00:22:59,039 --> 00:23:04,640 Donald Trump and Devin Nunez, guess who the FBI. 412 00:23:04,559 --> 00:23:08,039 Speaker 1: Investigated, I'm going to say new Nez. 413 00:23:09,599 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 2: Well they I told you already. It was two members 414 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,720 of Congress, two Democrats, and then forty three. 415 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 1: Staffers of Okay, go on. 416 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:24,079 Speaker 2: Of the forty three staffers, two were nonpartisan, twenty one 417 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:30,200 were Democrat, and twenty were Republican. So, in other words, 418 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:35,279 when the leak started happening clearly from a Democrat resistance 419 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:39,480 throughout the government, our FBI used it as an excuse 420 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:45,000 to surveil the only people who were coming after them 421 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:47,279 Devin news a staff. 422 00:23:47,559 --> 00:23:52,319 Speaker 1: Oh so was Devin As' staff? Yeah, gosh, I just 423 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,920 remembering now how much pressure was on that guy, how 424 00:23:57,519 --> 00:24:01,920 every outlet went after him. Know I mentioned this before, 425 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,079 but I just remember writing like, can we just hear 426 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:05,599 him out and let's see what he has to say. 427 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:09,400 And I was just bombarded with some more anger over 428 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,200 that than almost anything I've written in years. You know, 429 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:17,039 it was just so much pressure not to talk about it. 430 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:18,920 And his memo, which turned out I think to be 431 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,400 one hundred percent accurate that it was suspicious, right, I mean, 432 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,240 we worked together and you were obviously all over that. 433 00:24:25,279 --> 00:24:27,200 But it made me and I wasn't paying that much 434 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,880 attention to this very suspicious, Like why is there so 435 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,200 much pressure from people in power, from you know, for 436 00:24:34,319 --> 00:24:37,839 you not to even read a memo from someone who's 437 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:39,799 on that committee. I mean, if you find out he's 438 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,240 lying about everything, fine, he's ruined. But let's look and 439 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,599 one last thing just on that is shift. It's not 440 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:48,839 just that he was leaking stuff, but he used his 441 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,319 position of power to intimate that he had access and 442 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:54,839 he constantly did this to all this information that would 443 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,680 blow your mind, like he is a spy for sure, 444 00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:59,640 like you know, and he turned out just to lie 445 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,279 about everything. And where is he now? He's in the Senate, right, 446 00:25:02,519 --> 00:25:03,000 I mean if. 447 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,319 Speaker 2: You remember when like I don't remember who asked him, 448 00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:06,599 but they were, like you said, you had all this 449 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,359 secret explosive information what were you talking about? And he 450 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,160 was like, I was just talking about like what we 451 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:12,000 read in the papers. 452 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:14,519 Speaker 1: Megan McCain on the View, like the only person who 453 00:25:14,559 --> 00:25:17,079 asked him anything, right, I mean, he was on CNN 454 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:20,359 every day, MSNBC all the time, No one asked him 455 00:25:20,519 --> 00:25:22,160 that question. He had to go on the View and 456 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,599 the one conservative astor asked him. 457 00:25:25,079 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 2: And you know, think about it even right now, right, so, 458 00:25:28,759 --> 00:25:32,880 George Stefanopolis and Chuck Todd and Kristin Welker, if they 459 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:38,559 have a Republican elected official on, they say, you don't 460 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,200 believe there was anything other than the most perfect election 461 00:25:41,319 --> 00:25:43,599 in history in twenty twenty, right, we won't move on 462 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,720 until you agree with my opinion on that, or they say, 463 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,000 or you know, throughout the Russia collusion hoax, Chuck Todd 464 00:25:50,039 --> 00:25:54,559 would mock people who thought it was a scam, mock them, 465 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:59,680 and all of this, you know, just hostile media coverage 466 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,680 to this day. When Adam Schiff is on, does anyone say, 467 00:26:03,039 --> 00:26:05,559 we should probably note that you lied for years about 468 00:26:05,559 --> 00:26:09,839 having secret information that Donald Trump was a Russian mastermind spy. 469 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:12,079 Now we're going to ask you about something else. No, 470 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,200 not even like a hint of a question, not even 471 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,759 a hint of pushback. They were happy to work together 472 00:26:16,799 --> 00:26:18,960 on all of this. But I want to make a 473 00:26:19,039 --> 00:26:23,000 point of clarification on the monitoring GOP staff. I don't 474 00:26:23,039 --> 00:26:27,119 really believe that congressional staff should be monitored by the 475 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,839 DOJ no matter what. But when I point out that 476 00:26:29,839 --> 00:26:32,839 they were going after as many Republicans as they were Democrats, 477 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:34,640 I don't mean by that that there might not have 478 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:39,319 been Republicans worth going after. I mean there were Senate 479 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:43,680 Republicans who were clearly pushing the Russia collusion hoax and 480 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:49,200 giving it amplification because they didn't like Donald Trump, so 481 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,759 they were willing to take part in deep state operations. 482 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,279 My point is just that those people were not on 483 00:26:55,559 --> 00:26:58,599 Devin Nunez's committee or the House Judiciary Committee. Those are 484 00:26:58,599 --> 00:27:03,279 the people that were, or they weren't Senator Chuck Grassley's staff, 485 00:27:03,519 --> 00:27:07,519 who were fighting it. So that's who our DOJ went after. 486 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,200 And you're just thinking, oh, you went after the people 487 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,480 who were exposing your corruption, and you got access to 488 00:27:13,519 --> 00:27:17,559 their information using all these authorities. Must be nice, you know. 489 00:27:17,799 --> 00:27:24,319 And the DOJ proceeded to attempt to fight any oversight 490 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:26,839 of what they were doing with the Russia collusion scam, 491 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:30,559 even as their top officials were leaking like sieves, people 492 00:27:30,599 --> 00:27:33,680 like Jim Comey and Andrew McCabe, you know, who were 493 00:27:33,759 --> 00:27:41,200 caught leaking information. They used this leak investigation as an 494 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,200 opportunity to further go after their opponents on the Hill, 495 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,799 even as they refused accountability for what they'd done in 496 00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:48,759 congressional hearings. 497 00:27:49,279 --> 00:27:52,319 Speaker 1: I mean, think about how easy it is for there's 498 00:27:52,319 --> 00:27:55,359 always leaking going on in Congress, and then the DOJ 499 00:27:55,599 --> 00:27:57,559 the FBI will say we have to look into this, 500 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,000 and then the head of the FBI says, well, let's 501 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,920 look into all these Republicans as well. Like you know, 502 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,000 there's no you know, no one can stop them. It's 503 00:28:05,039 --> 00:28:09,039 a completely politicized operation. Maybe it won't be in the future. 504 00:28:09,079 --> 00:28:10,240 We'll see, but and. 505 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,599 Speaker 2: I will just make another point here. I have written 506 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:19,240 some stories that involved explosive information that I got from people. Right, 507 00:28:21,279 --> 00:28:27,240 Not once did anyone in the Russia collusion fight leak 508 00:28:27,319 --> 00:28:31,000 anything to me, And I don't believe we have evidence 509 00:28:31,079 --> 00:28:35,359 of them ever leaking anything to a reporter. It was infuriating, 510 00:28:35,519 --> 00:28:38,559 by the way. It was hard to fight that battle 511 00:28:38,599 --> 00:28:43,839 with nobody giving you anything. But the level of integrity 512 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,680 that these people who had access to this information showed 513 00:28:46,839 --> 00:28:50,680 is just sky high relative to the constant deluge of 514 00:28:50,759 --> 00:28:54,359 leaks from Schiff and Swallwell and people like that. 515 00:28:56,359 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: It's a problem. Okay, let's talk about culture. We decided, 516 00:29:01,559 --> 00:29:05,799 I think we have very we have very short meetings, 517 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:08,680 but I think we decided that we were going to 518 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:13,119 talk about our favorite Christmas movies. Right, Okay, do you 519 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:18,599 want to start? Nope, all right, my movie? 520 00:29:18,599 --> 00:29:20,839 Speaker 2: What are your What are your favorite Christmas movies? 521 00:29:21,279 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: I don't know. Here's what I came up with. They're 522 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,960 not exactly the traditional kind of movies, but I think 523 00:29:27,079 --> 00:29:30,160 you know. The first one is Trains, Planes and Automobiles. 524 00:29:30,279 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 2: Oh isn't that a Thanksgiving movie? First? Always yes, but 525 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:40,400 I love that movie. I cry at that movie. It's 526 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:41,279 so beautiful. 527 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: Oh it really is. It's almost it's a perfect movie. 528 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,839 It's sentimental, but it also is very funny. The scene 529 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,240 where Steve Martin comes back from the rental car thing 530 00:29:53,279 --> 00:29:56,039 where he doesn't get it and curses every second word 531 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:00,200 to the woman there in the booth is one the 532 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,160 funniest scenes. And anyone who's been you know, in an 533 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:08,960 airport probably understands why so I think I think you're right, 534 00:30:09,039 --> 00:30:10,720 but I'm not sure. So I'm sure we're gonna get 535 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:12,279 a lot of mail on this to explain it, but 536 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,079 it might be enough. 537 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 2: You can definitely watch it for Christmas. I just want 538 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:21,680 to say John Hughes is so wonderful, such an I 539 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,480 know everyone loves his movies, and yet still does not 540 00:30:24,519 --> 00:30:29,559 get talked about enough as this great director and such 541 00:30:29,599 --> 00:30:34,480 an American director, and his films to me evoke the 542 00:30:34,559 --> 00:30:37,519 America of the nineteen eighties that I grew up in. 543 00:30:37,839 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: And what's crazy is he started out with a National 544 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:43,880 lampoon on a staff with PJ O'Rourke. Can you imagine 545 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:49,640 the level of talent at that place? Who I believe 546 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:53,839 they work together on Vacation the movie, and then there's Christmas. 547 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:56,400 Vacation is a Christmas movie but gone? 548 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:01,599 Speaker 2: Okay, So on the Plans Train an Automobiles thing. Did 549 00:31:01,799 --> 00:31:03,160 you were the one who told me to watch that 550 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:04,640 Steve Martin documentary? 551 00:31:05,799 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: Oh? 552 00:31:06,119 --> 00:31:09,079 Speaker 2: Yeah, it was really good. But do you remember that scene? 553 00:31:09,119 --> 00:31:11,480 I don't remember exactly what's happened, but there was a 554 00:31:11,519 --> 00:31:16,720 scene where he's remembering, Oh it was it was that 555 00:31:16,839 --> 00:31:23,680 John Candy had actually a much longer scene and that 556 00:31:24,079 --> 00:31:26,400 it had been cut down by Hughes, and he's just 557 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:29,279 talking about how beautiful and perfect the longer thing wasn't 558 00:31:29,279 --> 00:31:31,519 how he didn't quite understand why it was cut down. 559 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,160 But Steve Martin gets emotional and just it was clear 560 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:37,440 he really respected John Candy. 561 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean I recently pulled him up on Wikipedia 562 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:44,759 to see when he had passed away, and it was 563 00:31:45,319 --> 00:31:48,400 it was so he died in nineteen ninety four, and 564 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:50,680 it's just I can't believe it, you know that it 565 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:52,440 was that long ago. So I don't know if young 566 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:54,680 people realize how many you know, he was just such 567 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:56,960 a part of my childhood and growing up. He was 568 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,000 in like every second movie, and he was always funny 569 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,519 and perfect for whatever. And he really had a lot 570 00:32:01,559 --> 00:32:03,240 of range too, you know what I mean. He was 571 00:32:03,319 --> 00:32:08,160 just super funny. And you started out an SETV and 572 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:11,640 almost everyone on the SETV cast is known to people 573 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:14,319 and hilarious more and sure, Eugene Levy all you know 574 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,359 all those people. But anyway, yeah, so that's my first one. 575 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:23,519 Speaker 2: You mentioned vacation. Yeah, and my husband who's constantly reading 576 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,920 but had somehow never read Grapes of Wrath, the Steinbeck 577 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:30,400 novel that everyone has to read when they're in high school, 578 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:35,640 and that I like in part because it takes place, 579 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:37,880 you know, where they end up in California's right near 580 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:41,839 where I grew up and matched some experiences. I know. 581 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,640 People say that Steinbeck totally got a bunch of details wrong, 582 00:32:44,799 --> 00:32:47,559 but the living in the trading cars and stuff like 583 00:32:47,599 --> 00:32:52,319 that matches the experiences of people I knew growing up. Anyway, 584 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:57,000 Mark was saying that Grapes of Wrath, that vacation is 585 00:32:57,119 --> 00:33:04,200 clearly a riff on Creeps for including the grandma dying 586 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:06,480 in the vehicle and stuff. Anyway, I was like, you 587 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:07,599 should write that out. 588 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:11,039 Speaker 1: That's interesting. I don't remember Grapes of Wrath very well, 589 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:15,319 so okay, i'd have to readvisit. Why don't we trade 590 00:33:15,359 --> 00:33:15,759 off one'? 591 00:33:15,799 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 2: You go, oh, I don't really have anything, because I haven't. 592 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:19,519 I didn't think. 593 00:33:20,839 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: So this is just an episode of my favorite Christmas movies? 594 00:33:24,279 --> 00:33:26,039 Speaker 2: Did you do one more? And then I'll come up 595 00:33:26,079 --> 00:33:28,319 with something and then you and okay. 596 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 1: I watched this last week die Hard, so I want 597 00:33:37,039 --> 00:33:38,839 to say, you know, very saddened by what's going on 598 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:42,440 with Bruce Willis. You know, he's ill, but he had 599 00:33:42,519 --> 00:33:45,400 such charisma and I don't know that people. I actually 600 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,079 read a lot about this movie while I was watching it, 601 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:50,079 as I tend to do on my phone, and it 602 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,519 was just it changed the way action movies were. Now. 603 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,160 You might not people might not care about this very much, 604 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,480 but before die Hard, you had I Arnold Tchwarzenegger, you 605 00:33:59,519 --> 00:34:02,240 had other heroes who are almost very strong and perfect, 606 00:34:02,319 --> 00:34:04,680 and he was just a mess. And it was It 607 00:34:04,799 --> 00:34:08,199 just gave the movie a lot of heart and it's 608 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:09,639 just a lot of fun to watch. I've seen it 609 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:13,519 a million times and I always enjoy it, and I 610 00:34:13,559 --> 00:34:14,920 do I am one of the people who think it's 611 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:15,800 a Christmas movie. 612 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,119 Speaker 2: So I'm one of the people that just gets annoyed 613 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,800 at people talking about whether or not it's a Christmas movie, right. 614 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,039 I feel like it's a way of saying I'm a 615 00:34:25,079 --> 00:34:29,360 boring person and I have nothing interesting to say, thank you. 616 00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:34,119 Speaker 1: I did not. I don't like that debate. I just 617 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:38,400 it happens during Christmas. There's Christmas music run dmc is 618 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:41,840 in talking about you know that Hollis Queen's Christmas rap, 619 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:45,119 and I just I considered it a Christmas movie. I 620 00:34:45,119 --> 00:34:47,360 don't really like to debate it, you can, you know? 621 00:34:47,599 --> 00:34:49,559 Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, cool? And I don't. 622 00:34:49,679 --> 00:34:52,119 Speaker 1: Also, I don't have a lot of choices, so you know, 623 00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:52,760 it is what it is. 624 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:58,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, So I will say the one movie that I 625 00:34:58,559 --> 00:35:02,840 definitely like to watch each year is one that I'm 626 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:07,519 pretty sure is on literally nobody's list, and I it's 627 00:35:07,559 --> 00:35:09,840 a movie where when I ask other people to watch it, 628 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,400 they're like, what are you talking about? My brother is 629 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,320 still angry that I made him watch this movie as 630 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:18,760 a Christmas movie. He just did not find it funny 631 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:21,760 at all. And it's Trapped in Paradise. 632 00:35:22,199 --> 00:35:28,360 Speaker 1: You've mentioned this movie in our podcasting career together, which 633 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,039 you know, I guess is two or three years old now, 634 00:35:31,039 --> 00:35:33,360 but we used to do it before. Every once a 635 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,880 week usually you have mentioned this movie number of time. 636 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,920 You love this movie? Now this is with John Lovett, 637 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,320 Nicholas Cage, and the Dana Carvey. 638 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:49,239 Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I'm trying to pull it up. Where did 639 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:54,000 it go? Anyway? It's sorry? Did you already say Nick 640 00:35:54,039 --> 00:35:54,760 Cage too? 641 00:35:55,119 --> 00:35:55,960 Speaker 1: Yeah? I think I did. 642 00:35:56,239 --> 00:36:00,719 Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so it is. I just came upon it 643 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:04,039 by accident, you know, when you're doing that Netflix scrolling 644 00:36:05,159 --> 00:36:07,920 and this was years ago and we watched it with 645 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,800 the children, which is a horrible idea because of all 646 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:17,440 the Christmas movies ever done. Yeah, it has the most cussing, okay, 647 00:36:18,119 --> 00:36:21,280 and yet it is I think it has a wonderful 648 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:26,400 message of redemption and it's so stupid. This is the 649 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:30,920 movie that my kids and I will recite lines from constantly. 650 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:35,119 And it's Goofy. So you have to ender watch Goofy 651 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,159 and it's not true. Oh please do. I can't wait 652 00:36:37,199 --> 00:36:38,079 to hear what you think of it. 653 00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:39,599 Speaker 1: I'm going to watch it if it's streaming. 654 00:36:39,679 --> 00:36:43,440 Speaker 2: Yeah and yeah. So it's about these two brothers who 655 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:46,519 get out of prison and then they con their straight 656 00:36:46,599 --> 00:36:53,320 brother into taking them to Paradise, Pennsylvania, where they claim 657 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:56,320 they're doing a good deed, but really they're robbing a bank. 658 00:36:56,599 --> 00:37:00,360 And it's about what happens as a result, how the 659 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:06,800 town reacts to it, and the demonstration of love in 660 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,519 this film I like very much. It does have We 661 00:37:09,519 --> 00:37:13,159 were talking about idiot plots last week. There's quite a 662 00:37:13,199 --> 00:37:16,719 bit of idiot plotting in it. But it's just stupid 663 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,519 and funny and great and I like, again the message 664 00:37:19,559 --> 00:37:25,199 of giving and love and repentance and turning away from 665 00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:29,480 sin and redemption and what forgiveness really looks like. Like 666 00:37:29,519 --> 00:37:33,360 there's a scene where or let me put it this way, 667 00:37:33,679 --> 00:37:37,920 when we talk about forgiveness in Christianity, we believe that 668 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,440 God blots out our sins, you know that it's like 669 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,519 they're just blotted out, and like take he covers them, 670 00:37:44,639 --> 00:37:48,000 and that they're not done. And there's some representation of 671 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:49,440 that in this film that I really like. 672 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,320 Speaker 1: The director of this film wrote the film Midnight Run 673 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,039 with Robert de Niro that I like, and I was 674 00:37:56,079 --> 00:37:58,039 just looking it is funny because I was going to 675 00:37:58,079 --> 00:38:00,480 look at reception for this film and it does not 676 00:38:00,599 --> 00:38:03,880 have a very good Rotten Tomatoes score. In fact, it 677 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:06,760 has a ten and then it says your ear end lists, 678 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:10,199 it's like eighth worst film Rocky Mountain News and stuff. 679 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:15,039 But I don't care. What what's that? You know that guy, right, 680 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:20,800 Robert Zenerson, Yeah, anyway, I'm gonna watch it. I like 681 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,760 all three of those guys. I think John Lowitz is funny. 682 00:38:25,679 --> 00:38:28,559 I have a kind of a movie too that our family. 683 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:32,679 Speaker 2: The IMDb rating is better than the ten percent Rotten Tomatoes, 684 00:38:34,199 --> 00:38:38,280 it's still very low. It's five point nine. I think 685 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:40,159 that it's just one of these things where you have 686 00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:41,840 to be in the right mood and you have to 687 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:43,480 accept the silliness of it. 688 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,159 Speaker 1: I listen. I think there are movies you have to accept. 689 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:49,840 You have to accept them for what they are and 690 00:38:50,119 --> 00:38:51,639 enjoy it if you want. And there are a lot 691 00:38:51,679 --> 00:38:53,559 of bad movies that I like, you know what I mean. 692 00:38:55,519 --> 00:38:58,159 I have a movie. Our family watched this movie year 693 00:38:58,199 --> 00:39:01,000 after year with the kids that it wasn't very successful, 694 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,199 but I thought it was really delightful and we liked it. 695 00:39:03,239 --> 00:39:05,360 Was called Arthur Christmas. Have you ever seen it? 696 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:09,360 Speaker 2: Nope? It has mentioned this one before, but yeah. 697 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:12,280 Speaker 1: Oh, okay, probably last Christmas. It's got Hugh Laurie and 698 00:39:13,679 --> 00:39:16,280 James McAvoy I think his name is, you know, the 699 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:20,079 Scottish actor. So it's kind of one of these delightful, 700 00:39:20,559 --> 00:39:23,360 you know, Christmas movies. I think it's very nice, and 701 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,079 then I feel like such a loser. But it's so 702 00:39:26,679 --> 00:39:30,920 uninventive or so obvious. But I thought, I was watching 703 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:33,000 Home Alone the other day and that movie is just 704 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:37,760 really He's so cute, the movie's so funny. Joe Peshy's 705 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:40,400 great everyone's great in it. And that's another John Hughes movie. 706 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:42,440 Speaker 2: I was gonna say, I mean, it's just it's a 707 00:39:42,559 --> 00:39:44,880 great it's great, it's wonderful. 708 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:47,599 Speaker 1: I'm going to watch the second one with the starring 709 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:50,159 co starring Donald Trump. Donald Trump's in that one. 710 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:52,440 Speaker 2: Yeah. When we watched that last year, the kids were like, 711 00:39:52,519 --> 00:39:57,000 oh my goodness. But I'm like, if I weren't busy 712 00:39:57,039 --> 00:40:00,400 this Christmas trying to finish a writing project, I would 713 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,719 be watching a ton of movies. It's actually what we 714 00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:06,079 love to do during our Christmas celebrations, just going to 715 00:40:06,119 --> 00:40:07,519 gather watch. 716 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:11,800 Speaker 1: Movies and are you into the like It's a wonderful life. 717 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:12,559 Do you like that movie? 718 00:40:12,639 --> 00:40:12,840 Speaker 3: Yeah? 719 00:40:13,119 --> 00:40:16,039 Speaker 1: I do. I love that. Charlie Brown's Christmas. 720 00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:20,119 Speaker 2: I love Charlie brown Christmas, and I love the Vince 721 00:40:20,159 --> 00:40:24,159 Giraldi album. And I pull out all the Christmas music 722 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:27,320 and we listen to John Fahey on the guitar and 723 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:31,360 the Vince Giraldi Christmas, John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album, 724 00:40:31,519 --> 00:40:34,960 one of the most christ centered Christmas albums from pop culture, 725 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:38,199 and then like a ton of like Bach and other stuff. 726 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:39,199 I just love it. 727 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:43,320 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, do you have any other movies. I'm trying 728 00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:46,480 to coax you to say something. Now, all right, Trapped 729 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:50,559 in Paradise it is, which is fine. I'm going to 730 00:40:50,599 --> 00:40:54,559 watch it. I hope your family and you have a 731 00:40:54,559 --> 00:41:00,360 great Christmas. Merry Christmas, Thank you you too. And I 732 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:03,480 hope all our listeners have a wonderful Christmas as well. 733 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:07,360 Speaker 2: And I hope they send in movie recommendations, whether or 734 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:11,599 not they're Christmas related at radio at the Federalist dot com. 735 00:41:12,079 --> 00:41:14,119 Speaker 1: That's so good. And let me just say we need 736 00:41:14,159 --> 00:41:18,119 them obviously because I'm still watching die Hard. 737 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:20,119 Speaker 2: The weirdest Christmas recommendation list. 738 00:41:20,199 --> 00:41:24,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's all right. Anyway, we'll see you guys next week. 739 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:27,159 Until then, be lovers of freedom and anxious for the 740 00:41:27,159 --> 00:41:28,480 Fray