New Investigation into E Jean Carroll

Hear that? That's my business hard at work. But what you don't hear is the hard work of optimum Business Secure Fiber Internet Send her out. For sixty five dollars a month, I get Business first Fiber with built in security that helps protect customer data. Unreliable and unprotected interternet on the other hand, just sounds like chaos And I already have enough of that. Call eight fivety five to optimum or visit optimum dot com slash business today. Terms applly. See optimum dot com slash business for details This is a Global Player original podcast. Donald Trump wanted this time round to back the MAGA candidate, Ken Paxton, one of the most ephemistically controversial candidates in this entire Senate race. Donald Trump wanted his man. He's got his man, he's doing a victory lap now, but in November it might be entirely different He comes with huge, huge questions surrounding him, which if you cared about the ethics of your politicians would represent a real problem. Remind us all, what is Attorney General Paxton accused of doing? The list is really long Bribery, dereliction of duty, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy. A majority of Texas House Republicans voted to impeach one of their own sixty Republicans voting in favor. allegations he abused his office to benefit himself and a major donor who allegedly paid for his home renovations and even helped him cover up an affair. They claim the AG used secret email accounts, burner phones, and a fake Uber account to see his mistress. Paxson is a repgnant character. He's always been on the edge of sort of criminal activity, three felony fraud charges, which have lingered for nine long years. And in between it all, the state's top attorney had a mugshine I for Ken Paaxon to step down. Ken Paxon is an extremely flawed candidate, and I sense the worst is yet to come about his background Ken Paxton How has the Republican Party just made This man, is Senate candidate for Texas And might this to the Democratic Party in the midterm elections Welcome to the News agents USA The News agents USA with Emily Matrilice and John Soopel. It's Maitless. It's John. And we are going to take you to Texas this week to an extraordinary primary race that was going on between two Republican candidates. And the only thing you really need to know about this is that Donald Trump Loves one and he hates the other So the person that has been in the seat, who has been electorally successful for Texas for the last four rounds was John Cornan He is somebody who has been critical of Donald Trump, but not that critical? I mean, what you might call a spineless critic. He is somebody who's voted with him ninety percent of the time. He's wanted to create a bridge named after him. But this was not enough for Donald Trump. Donald Trump wanted this time round to back the MAGA candidate, Ken Paxton, ephemistically controversial candidates in this entire Senate race, somebody whose own staff called the FBI on him to impeach him because of his murky dealings And on Tuesday night of this week, Ken Paxton beat John Cornyn to become the candidate by more than thirty percent. In other words, it was a wipe out for the incumbent and the big shiny MAGA candidate, Ken Paxton, is the person who will face off against what the Democratic Party hope is New Dream, James Talerico, young, fresh faced, really exciting for the party And the question I guess we're asking is what happens to the race now If Donald Trump had his ballroom built He'd been dancing round it. I mean, he was going on a victory lap. as a result of Ken Paxton having been elected. And as you say, Emily, his past is murky Mury ethically confused. He has been a thw in the side everybody in some ways since he became the attorney general for Texas. I mean, I remember when I first moved to America, he was making life hell for Barack Obama and not enforcing any of the rules that the government had passed in Washington. He was challenging everything come january the sixth And the twenty twenty election, he is challenging in the courts the fairness of the election, that it had been stolen and wanted the Supreme Court to overturn the election result. On january the sixth itself, he's at the ellipse and making a speech on Donald Trump's behalf. and on and on it goes Mainstream Republicans, the Republicans in the Senate wanted Corny to remain. And they put out a whole series Tack nads trying to go after Corny, which they're now of course having to No, no, no, did I say I didn't want Kem Paxson? Of course I no, no, I'm very happy. And there is this shotgun wedding that has now taken place between a person that the Republican partarty in the Senate absolutely detest. And there's this wonderful clip of the North Carolina Senator I'm Tillis talking about Ken Pangston And to call Paxton ethically challenged is to call Jeffrey Dahmer sufferating from an eating disorder. This guy is an empty suit and will do us no service by being in the US. Congress. I hope the Texans realize how tough John Corn is, how pro secondecond Amendment he is, how pro limited government he is, how pro America first he is. And when they go to the polls on Tuesday, I hope that they know that they've got a great American who deserves reelection and the other guy is going to be nothing but an anchor on our conference for as long as he's in the U. S. Senate. That is Tom Tillis, who is now probably having to eat his words just as Jeffrey Dahmer ate his victims, becausecause when he says that you know, it's like saying Dahmer had an eating disorder. I mean what a comparison you are making to Kem Paxton this mask killer who became a legend for all the wrong reasons in America. and Tom Tillis is making that comparison and now he is the Republican candidate for the Senate. Yeah, I mean, Tom Tillis, we should remember, is newly unchained because he's also somebody that stood in a primary Trump took against and is now basically unleashed and free to say and think exactly what he likes for the next six months. But if you want to understand why he's making this claim of Paxon being ethically challenged, and we heard a little bit in that attack ad at the very top of the episode, he comes with what we would call significant political baggage. He was this is Pxton, impeached in twenty twenty three after being accused of corruption. that was when he was reported to the FBI. He was later acquitted in trial in the Texas Senate where his wife was a state senator but not allowed to cast a vote, and he was then also indicted on charges of felony securities fraud whichich would have led to a prison sentence, but the case was dismissed after twenty twenty four pre trial diversion agreement He got a divorce last year, his wife in the end filed for divorce on what they call biblical grounds citing adultery. So I think political baggage probably doesn't you know, doesn't kind of fill up the sort of the easy jet airline hold in those terms. but he he comes with huge, huge questions surrounding him, which if you cared about the ethics of your politicians would represent a real problem But he's already fired out an astonishingly potentially effective attack ad against James Talarico. And we're going to play you a bit of that. He's called Talarico. He's accused him of loving trans kids and running a vegan campaign. and the whole framing of it is about Texas. Texas this red meat state doesn't like political correctness, that doesn't really like diversity, that definitely doesn't really do gay. they are trying now to frame Talerico as the Let's say it, what Richard Tice would call the Woaratei. Here's a little clip of that ad. This is Texas This is not. There are are many more than two biological sexes. In fact, there are six. This is Texas. This is not. The American flag It's such a complicated symbol for most of us. This is Texas This is not. They're gonna call me a radical leftist This is Texas. This is not. somethingomething that you love that's not family or friends. U I love and just say this because it's on my mind. the trans children. This is Texas. This is not. Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front. This is Texas. This is not. It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption. I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non meat campaign. This is Texas This is not Yeah, radical Talerico is what they're calling him. And you can see how, even though they have very carefully edited, a lot of those answers to sort two word sound bites That is probably going to hit exactly where they want it to in a deep red Republican state like Texas. I guess the real question is and we shouldn't We shouldn't forget that actually Texas votes for its Republican candidates, like breaking news, it would be extraordinary If Talarico won this seat and turned it blue for the Democrats, it would be beyond extraordinary. But because he is this sort of great new hope for the Democratic Party, they think there genuinely is a chance. and in some ways, they think that Kempaxton is helping them because he is such a MAGA candidate that they believe he might push more people in the centre to Taloico. And I guess that's where it comes down what it comes down to that anyone who is MAGA is obviously going to vote Paxton and anyone who hates MAGa is obviously going to go with ico And the question is how many people are left in Texas that are persuadable, that are marginal, that are independent minded enough to kind of go, he sounds a bit of a criminal Um This was Tala Rico's own response to Paxton, which I think is worth hearing because this was in response to Kem Paxton calling him Tala Frico Well I think if Ken Paxson is worried about freaks, he should stop giving Epstein style sweetheart deals to pedophiles You know, this is the guy who just released Adam Hoffman from jail and admitted child rapist after K Paxton's wealthy lawyer friends got involved in the case. Ken Paxton even kept him off the sex offender registry Adam Hoffman was supposed to serve twenty five years to life But instead, he served less than a month As of this week, he's now back on our streets because of Ken Paxton's corruption Kamppacton is the most corrupt politician in America and it is costing Texans. It's endangering children. And it must end I think The Epstein class has no place in Texas And this November come together to defeat Kem Paxton and take back our state for the people. And it's worth noting that when the results of the primary came through that Kem Paxton had won Puo Rico had his record fundraising evening as money piled into his campaign because of the horror of the idea of Kem Pxton becoming Texas's next senator. Now, look, the Democrats have been here before. when Beto O'Rke was then suddenly seen as the great hope of the Democratic partarty in the Lone star state, and that didn't go anywhere But things have changed since then and I'll tell you how they've changed. For a start In the presidential election in twenty twenty four very large numbers of Hispanic voters voted for Donald Trump because they too were concerned about the border and they liked the sort of rather macho style of the president. Since then He has been hemorrhaging support from Hispanic voters, because of the IC policies, because of the crackdown on illegal immigrants, because of the way that kind of anyone who happens to be brown is just being picked up and arrested and kind of roughed up by these IC officers. and that is costing Donald Trump Married to that is Talarico himself, who is young Charismatic speaks the language of God is a pastor and he is someone who is reaching out. And I think the Republicans are terrified by this. And the other thing, you know, I said that there's now this kind of shotgun wedding between Republicans in the Senate. Wh really don't want Ken Paxxton They have to get behind him because the Democrats could retake the Senate if he wins And the other side of that is this fight is going to cost a fortune. The primary fight between Pxton and Cornin cost one hundred thirty million dollars. That's two Republicans fighting each other for the nomination alone and the Republicans in the Senate saying, well, okay, Donald, you've got your MAGa candidate now in Texas, who's going to fund what we need to win this campaign. think you need to stump up the money rather than the Republican Senate Caucus having to stump up the money because he's your guy, he's not our guy. And that's going to be another fascinating battle that as we'll see, who's going to pick up the tab for this Yeah, and the person who's actually really good at fundraising in that race and that whole race is Talarico. You might remember Talarico's appearance on the Stephen Colbert show, the late late the one that's now ended, where Colbert was told by the sort of American offc equivalent that he couldn't appear on the live show. and so they ended up putting it on YouTube And there was quite a lot of controversy at the time from the person who was in the runoff with Talarico, Jasmine Crockett, who sort of I don't know, thought there was something slightly fishy about this and she wondered whether he was getting a bit of a hand up over her at that point. But they did put it on YouTube. It got four million views overnight, like way, way outstripping the actual programe itself and his fundraising went off the charts at that point. But I think to your point about Kem Paxton reaching the non MAGA voters in Texas, there is also a charge for Terico because he has to pick up Jasmine Crockett's supporters. She is a young female black American who might have been taking her voters with her. So he has somehow got to reach across the Democratic aisle and make sure that even though things ended badly between those two, he is still picking up all the potential available Dmocratic votes in that state. And you're right. On the one hand, yes, we've been through it all before with BTo. On the other hand, There is something about this guy when he stumps and it's something that Obama has noticed and sort of hailed. if he made it through This race. if he became the Democratic Senator for Texas almost guarantee you that he would then be talked about as a potential president for either the next round or the one after that, because to have done that would be so seismic for the Democratic Party it would be so unusual and it would be such a vote of confidence in the kind of charisma and the potential and the personality of one man that I think the Dems would immediately start sort of know getting the bunting out and possibly the halo out and thinking they'd found their saavior It is decades since the Democrats last took a Senate seat in Texas. And so this would be a huge event. and I think that frankly, if Tala Rico could take Texas, then the Democrats are going to win controlled of the Senate, which would be hugely significant and absolutely kind of thought Donald Trump's ambition in the second half of his second term. Although Donald Trump is trying to profess that he doesn't care about the midterm elections. You know, he was saying that in the context of Iran and the fact that the Strait of Hormz is still shut and the cost of fuel in America is still very high and all those things and say, yeah yeah, I don't care about any of that. you can be sure that the Republican partarty as a whole is absolutely crapping itself about that. And so for when Donald Trump just says, ye Oil prices don't care I don't care about the midterms I think the Republicans start tearing their hair out economic system is broken down They thought they were going to outweight me, you know, We'll outweight him. He's got the midterms. I don't care about the midterms. Look what happened last night. That was the prelude to the midterms. prelude to the midterms that he's talking about about the victory he won last night is of course Kamp Paxton. And it's Donald Trump simimultaneously and we've seen it before, in his political career simultaneously can win and he can lose. Yes, he got Ken Paxton, his person in But has he made Texas? Why did he do it? Why did you do it What have you gained And you know, it would have been an absolute shewing for Corny if he had stood again for the Senate. But no, Donald Trump wanted his man. He's got his man. he's doing a victory lap now But in November, it might be entirely different Yeah, it's the very definition of a vanity project really, isn't it? Completely. And Donald Trump has done this because he willed it and he wanted to have, you know, he places such a premium on total abject loyalty he went ahead with this idea of Paxton to be the Senate candidate for Texas And he may pay a really, really heavy price for it. We'll be back in a moment, talking to the Pennsylvania Cgressman Brendan Boyle about the other races we should start keeping an eye on now This week on pointo game with me, CJ Todon and Isaiah Thomas, Nate Robinson joins us and talks about how he blessed IT back in the day when he was on the Kicks and IT was on his alma mater, U Dub. Take a listen Nate blessed me like, I'm out to make you some Koes for the whole year. When Nike ID came out, I used to go early before the games and go down there and make shoes. Snakes' be like, Nate, why are you making all these shoes for everybody else? I said Because I gotta share the wealth Bigest stars turn it up when the titles's on the line, and Draft Kings turns it up with them with a profit boost available every single game of the NBA finals. That player props bet live from the opening tips to the final possession, every moment matters, and only Draft Kings's sports book keeps boosting you all the way through. All Draft Kings's customers can enjoy a profit boost every single day throughout the finals. Downoad the Draft King Sportsbook app now and use code Point Game to claim a profit boost. That's code Point Game to get a boost every day of the NBA Fals. In partnership with Draft Kings, the crrown is yours. Gambling probleblem, callall one eight hundred Gambler or one eight hundred My reset. New York, call eight sevenenty seven eight Hope and Y or text hope N Y. Connecticut call eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit ccPG dot orgot On behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, wager tax passed through may apply in Illinois. twenty one plus in most states, Void in Ontario. restrictions apply, one profit boost per customer per day, NBA playoff bets only. B restrictions apply and vary when offered. Max bet and Boosts vary. Boost only applies to winnings and expires at the end of the last NBA game each day See terms at sportsbook d. dravekings d. com slash promos The News agents USA Well join us now, Brendan Boyle, Congressman Pensylvania and ranking member of the House Budget Committee Congressman, Do you think that the Democrats are now looking at the Texas race in a new light given who James Talarico will be up against? Yeah, good to be with you. You know, I have to say I have not been one of those Democrats who every cycle predicts that this will be the year that we win statewide in Texas. The last time, in fact, Democrats won a major statewide race in Texas Anne Richards in nineteen ninety So it has been more than a generation. and as I mentioned, I've always been a bit of a skeptic. Yeah. That said, if we are ever going to win Texas This really is the perfect formula for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it's just the overall environment. I mean, we are now, I checked it as of this morning Democrats have an eight point lead on the generic congressional ballot That is massive. I'm used to political races nowadays decided by half a percentage point or one percentage point So to have an eight point lead, the last time Democrats won an election by that margin. Was the blue wave of twenty eighteen that saw us win forty house seats So that's number one. numberumber two. I think we do have a talented Democratic candidate and James Talorico And then the third reason finally is the deeply damaged Ken Pax and the Republicans just spent more than a hundred million dollars. in negative advertising against the man who is now their Republican nominee Y is a guy who was impeached by a state house that was controlled by Republicans. So If it is ever going to happen, this would be the cycle. You will have seen his attack ad that plts Talar Rico as a vegan in Texas, as a lover of trans kids in Texas, as somebody who is a radical leftist in Texas I mean, that stuff will have traction, won't it? Republicans always run the same race, basically saying, lookook, this Democrat is weird. He's probably gay, not normal That's their same stick basasically every election. in many ways George Herbert Walkter Bush ran that race against Mike Dukakis in nineteen eighty eight And this is just the latest variation of it. The question is in an environment like this in which not just Texas, but nationwide, The views on the economy by the American public are the lowest they have been since poolling began asking this question in nineteen fifty two The approval rating of President Trump when it comes to his handling of the economy The last time we saw a president in the twenties, wasas George W. Bush at the height of the Great Recession in the fall of two thousand eight. So Maybe it will work again this time, but I actually think that the economic issues far and away will be the number one reason why people vote for Democrats. Let me take you to your home Turf of Pennsylvania. and John Fetteran, who is a senator there, who is not a kind of normal cut of Democrats and has been sort of welcomed by the other side frrankly sounding quite magger on a lot of issues. I mean, do you still think of him as useful to the Democrats or is he Is he just not on the same? Side Well, his evolution has certainly been head spinning because it was just a few years ago that he was seen as a very far left figure and the sort of Fox News hardcore write that is now embracing him Of course the ones who were bashing him just a few years ago So look, he's still a Democratic member of the U. S. Senate votes with us a majority of the time. But I do notice that he is on American television here pretty much daily spouting a lot of the common MGa talking points. So where Fetterman will be Tomorrow, I really can't predict Would you take him on? Are you interested in standing for that seat Well, you know, although I love the news agents, this is probably not where I'd be announcing a candidacy for for statewide office in Pennsylvania. But I will say that The most important thing is that we win the midtermss this November. If we do, I will be the chairman of the House Budget Committee, obviously a very important position And then whatever I may decide in twenty twenty eight, I'll worry about when that cycle comes. You could rule it out though I could, but I won't I won't rule out I won't rule out in or anything in or out whether it comes at twenty twenty eight, twenty thirty, twenty thirty two One game at a time is something I learned long ago as a long suffering Philadelphia sports fan So there's a man who still believes that twenty twenty eight will see a normal presidential election cycle, presumably. The thing we learned in the last week is that Trump has amassed a slush fund one point seven seven six billion to bail out what sounds like Convicts Is that going to get through? Is that going to get through Congress now Well first, I mean, it's u It's just disgusting and as someone who personally experienced january sixth barricaded in my office, the idea that Any one of those criminals would get just even one penny of taxpayer money. Frankly, a lot of them should still be in jail today and they would be had they not been pardoned by Donald Trump. In terms of the the brass tax of whether or not they will actually get a payout At this moment, I would say I'm skeptical We were supposed to vote last week on a piece of legislation that would keepe the government funded in terms of the rest of the Department of Homeland Security including controversially when it comes to IC and CBP. That vote did not happen because the effort to attach this Trump slush fund for criminals was simply did not have majority support. And John Thunne, the Republican Senate leader has flat out said publicly that he doesn't have the votes for it So while, you know, everything can change on a dime when it comes to life on Capitol Hill As we sit here today, I would say that I think the odds are it does not pass. I was listening to one of the police officers who was injured in january the sixth and he was sort of u almost angrier. the relaxed nature of the Democratic partarty at this point. He was like, why aren't people literally marching on the streets, marching on the bridges? Why don't people call this out for what it is the most I mean the sort of corruption Off the charts. And I wonder if you think that he has a point that we're still sort of playing this asymmetric politics here where, you know you might stop a bill or you might sort of, as Gavin Newson suggesting, tax at one hundred percent, but none of it is None of it is kind of shaking America by the shoulders Yeah, look, I don't speak for every Democrat. I can only speak for myself. I was on CNN last week and I called those people scum And I'm pretty pissed that they would frankly that they even got pardoned It's just like I'm pissed off that Trump even was elected a second time after january sixth Um, And I think a lot of us are still trying to figure out exactly how that could happen. So I share his his anger. You know, he's one of one hundred and forty. U. S. Capitol police officers who were injured manyany of whom badly injured on that dark day U so I share his anger And we'll keep speaking out on this. I am a co sponsor, by the way, legislation that would stop this. I'm a co sponsoring for another bill that if it were to come to pass tax it of one hundred percent So my view is I will do anything possible in order to prevent those from happening. Why do you think so many Republicans are so relaxed with Trump is up to right now I mean, I think you know the answer to that question. what we've seen the last few weeks. They're afraid of losing a primary They saw what happened to Cassidy in Louisiana. They saw what just happened to Corn in Texas. They saw what happened to Thomas Massey And so that's why you have a number of congressional Republicans who will privately in quiet say something to me Uh, and then in public, play a different role on TV and try to be more meGa than they actually are because they're afraid of losing their jobs. It's that simple. And would you I mean, would you call them out Would you name them? You know, it's, u publicly naming them, I try to in private stiffen their backbones. There was also the reality that, you know for a number of them who have spoken out and have been defeated in primaries, the person who wins ends up being far worse than they were. So it's it's a it's a real conundrum. Ultimately the root of the problem is that has Unpopular as Donald Trump is now with a general election audience. hisis approval is in the high thirties Nonetheless, among the Republican primary electorates Donald Trump still has about seventy fivecent to eighty percent support. and that has proven decisive. So until we can get that figure low enough, Unfortunately, this is the very unhealthy sick dynamic that we have to continue to live with. In this country, an investigation has just been launched into Nigel Farage by the sort of ethics Commissioner about funding that he received, a donation he received a f million pounds. In the US, that figure wouldn't even touch the sides. off the money that is swilling around now, admittedly in the White House itself Why do you think the American public is not more concerned by that No, you know, I would push back on that. I have to say I just goingoing around the streets of Philadelphia, I do have a lot of people bring up to me the corruption issue. Remember, we haven't had a any sort of other than the special elections, we haven't had any sort of election Since we have seen the unbelievable scale of corruption in this Donald Trump second term which makes him look like a boy Scout actually in his his first term The lesson he learned from not being prosecuted was that He is a green light. He can get away with it So the first time we will really have a referendum on this sort of gross level of corruption will be the midterm elections in about five months from now. I do want to make one other point though. I really hope the British public learns the lesson of Donald Trump when it comes to Nigel Farrage. It is amazing to me the way these Brs and Flim Flam artist are able to get away with some of this stuff in this new media environment Frage is a total fraud And I hope the British public realizes it before it's too late. I guess their response would be it's the failures of the traditional parties and their traditional policies. which have allowed encourage these insurgents to say They haven't delivered you what you want. What would you say as a Democrat to that Yeah, I would say, I mean, I think there's a lot of blame to go around, whether it's the traditional parties or traditional media But ultimately in a democracy, the responsibility ultimately falls on the shoulders of the viewers or the voters. Uh, and they' good common sense U So I think that a lot of us are still trying to figure out in this new media how we fight back against figures like Trump and Farj, but making sure they're at least held to the same standard It's pretty amazing, this Texas race, for example All I've heard about in the last forty eight hours is this Um, you know, incendiary ad against Calorico calling him low tea and those sorts of things Here is Paxton, a guy who has a rap sheet. You need multiple pages in order to capture it all. I mean, a guy who has violated every rule in the book. And then they're making all sorts of unfounded allegations about the Democratic nominees. So I think that You know, the reality is that, as you know, better than I, the traditional gatekeepers are gone and how we fight back in this new environment is something that I think traditional parties are still grappling with? Yeah, I mean, do you think you've worked it out because you've basically laid it out there that one man's voice evenven if he's a, you know FBI chased you know, Crim is louder than the other guys, right? So how How are you dealing with that now and as a party You know, you've sort of, I guess there has been a change, you know, when we would have talked about gerrymandering of sort of congressional seats a year ago, I think the Democrats would have been a year ago, two years ago, the Democrats would have been horrified by it And now your party is saying, well, yeah, we'll do whatever it takes. I mean, are you as a Democrat saying gloves off whatever it takes. I'm not trying to go high anymore in the Michelle Obama line. I'm just trying to I'm just trying to win this. Yeah, I mean, being from Blue Coar Philly, I never accepted the Michelle Obama line of When they go low, we go high. My attitude was go ten times lower and punch them where it really hurts. Where is that Wh it really hurts? Yeah.. Well I was making actually a kind of a graphic allusion to No I get it I'm not asking physically, but I'm saying where can you as a Democrat, where can you as a party? actually hurt the Republicans that keep on winning elections For a minute there, Emily I thought you were asking for an entirely different kind of conversation. but N So you brought up Gerrymanderick. I have been vocal on this for years going back many cycles Democrats made a tremendous mistake. by unilaterally disarming with these high minded and naive and dopey independent commissions in blue states while getting our teeth kicked in in red states. So you have New York, Colorado, usedustv, California where Democrats would have good government fair maps, frankly the way I think it should be nationwide but would do this on an ad hoc basis in blue states while red states like Florida and Texas and Ohio would gerrymander out the wazoo publicly anyone on Twitter knows this for years have been calling for an end to that. I'm glad that finally this cycle Democrats responded. and by the way reallyally have to give Gavin New some credit. U, he took a big risk when he said, you know what? We are actually going to undertake changing the state Constitution so that we can fight back so that we can have a map that basically applies the same rules in California. that Republicans are using in Texas And he went about and he did it. Democrats went ahead and did that in Virginia, Unfortunately an outrageous court decision throughout. a publicly held free and fair election of the public But I encourage Democrats to keep doing this for next cycle. We need to do it in New York State. Colorado in Oregon and Washington. until we get a fair nationwide standard on gerrymandering We have to fight back and fight back harder. And what are your three words for Democrats fighting the midterms of November There is the simplest message that you could distill what you want to in a line, what is it I mean, it's about the voters. I know that's four. sorry. It's about the voters. It always is Ultimately, when we're talking about a fifty percent increase in gas prices in just the last two months, we're talking about the highest utility bills on record when you're talking about healthcare premiums, through the roof and a big reason why is the Republican tax bill for billionaires They passed last summer ultimately This midterm election, like almost every midterm election is a referendum and not a choice talking about the incredibly bad economy that we have now and that we will actually focus on the middle class and working class of this country That's ultimately what people care about more than anyy of the other sort of social issues that tend to dominate media conversation? Are you optimistic I am, yes. You know, I'm very, I am incredibly optimistic about this midterm election And I would say I'm neutral about twenty twenty eight. We will win Big victory this November That will be the good news. But what I will say a week later when we House Democrats convene in Washington in the majority And I have the Gavels Budget commommittee chair. What I will say to my new members is All right, be wary of irrational exuberance. This tells us nothing about the dynamics of twenty twenty eight That will be more of a choice election And we still have some issues that we need to resolve on our own side. Congressman Brandon Boyle, thank you very much Thank you Hear that? That's my business hard at work. But what you don't hear is the hard work of optimum Business Scure Fiber Internet Send her out. For sixty five dollars a month, I get Business first Fiber with built in security that helps protect customer data. Unreliable and unprotected interternet, on the other hand, just sounds like chaos And I already have enough of that. Call eight fivety five to optimum or visit optimum dot com slash business today. Terms apply. See optimum dot com slash business for details Hello from me, crrime journalist Andy Hughes. and one of the hosts of the Cime agents. This is true crime like you've never heard before. And I'm the XCOop Neil Bassu. Well, XCOop isn't really doing it justice isn't Neil? I mean, you did head up every major department in Europe's biggest police force, the mightighty Met. But you're no slouch in the crime department yourself after twenty years as a investigative reporter and also as an undercover journalist. On this podcast, we tackle the major crime stories in the news like the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, as well as delving into some of the most famous cases in criminal history like The murder of Stephen Lawrence. Check out the crrime agents on Global Player YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts The News agents USA Eclusive breaking news right now. The Justice Department, CNN is learning, has launched a new criminal investigation into one of Trump's enemies. Egene Carroll