Podcasts about congressperson

On March 23 in Glens Falls, the group IndivisibleADK held a town hall for NY Congressional district 21. Their representative, Elise Stefanik has recently been appointed ambassador to the United Nations by Donald Trump, but has yet to be confirmed. Members of IndivisibleADK claim that Stefanik has been ignoring her constituents for some time as she pursues a national or international spotlight. The meeting, which was filled to capacity with several people unable to get in to the hall, had a cardboard cutout of Stefanik on a chair at the front of the room. After an introduction from Cheryl Bratton, members of the audience posed questions to their absent Congressperson.

As the video details, the Trump/Musk administration has already started cutting your Social Security. It is time to engage your Congressperson, Senator, and President.Subscribe to our Newsletter:https://politicsdoneright.com/newsletterPurchase our Books: As I See It: https://amzn.to/3XpvW5o How To Make AmericaUtopia: https://amzn.to/3VKVFnG It's Worth It: https://amzn.to/3VFByXP Lose Weight And BeFit Now: https://amzn.to/3xiQK3K Tribulations of anAfro-Latino Caribbean man: https://amzn.to/4c09rbE

Indivisible ADK Saratoga is organizing against the policies of Donald Trump and his administration. Recently, they held an event protesting Elise Stefanik, Congressperson representing Saratoga and much of the North Country in NY and Trump's appointment for UN representative. Stefanik replied in local media with what Indivisible called lies nad bullying. Moses Nagel spoke with Joe Seeman about what happened.

Elon made a bid for OpenAI, the DOGE team is on the loose and one of them, a 19-year-old student, was fired from a cybersecurity team for leaking secrets. A few got wealthy from the Trump meme coin, but the majority got crushed. Plus getting in tough with your Congressperson is rough, Boomers are coming to the senior housing market and Cheryl is not happy with her home insurance renewal.

Cats and Cosby Team Talk: How does a congressperson or senator have a $200 million net worth on a $200K salary? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're talking government on the Data Over Dogma show, and woof! It's a doozy! First, we're going into the belly of the beast and talking to and actual, honest-to-goodness United States congressperson. Eric Swalwell has a D next to his name, which, if you ask some in our country, means he's a godless communist. In fact, he's a professed Christian who is nevertheless concerned about the dangerous rise of Christian Nationalism here. He's come on the show to talk about secularism in government, and how his religion guides him as he makes decisions in Congress. Then the Dans will dive into a discussion of the Biblical take on the interplay between religion and government. If God is over all, then should God's people submit to a secular authority? Did Jesus have anything to say about that? (You already know he did, so why are so many Christians acting like he didn't?) ---- For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at: https://www.patreon.com/DataOverDogma      Follow us on the various social media places: https://www.facebook.com/DataOverDogmaPod https://www.twitter.com/data_over_dogma Hey! Don't forget to pre-order Dan McClellan's upcoming book The Bible Says So https://static.macmillan.com/static/smp/bible-says-so-9781250347466/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGLTkpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHQY4Ahs0Hi289IcnsQMh_0OAVf3oGefyUsWkLjhfB8OF8nio1fmroJbXxA_aem_v_4sISp8Zt43zsKfDjx1aA This episode was sponsored by BetterHelp Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laken Riley Act is an attack on basic American Rights. AOC is the only Congressperson calling out her own side in it's complicity in passing it. https://youtu.be/lmVq6Pq9RH0

OA1107 - Chief Justice John Roberts has used his annual end-of-the-year report to remind us that federal judges should not accept luxury vacations from billionaires, fly insurrectionist flags on any of their properties, or ever be criticized for any reason. Or, you know--at least one of those things. We also answer a patron question about what happens if Republicans can't get their House in order by the time that electoral votes are supposed to be certified on January 6th before getting to today's main story: the very real possibility that TikTok may not live to see the first day of the second Trump administration if the Supreme Court allows current law barring it from doing business in the US to take effect on January 19th. How could the US government shutting down one of our nation's favorite new ways to communicate not constitute a massive First Amendment problem? Why did a majority of Congressional Democrats, the Biden administration and pre-election Donald Trump all agree that TikTok is a threat to national security? And when is Matt going to finally release his signature TikTok dance video? We answer two of these questions before dropping a quick footnote to look back on a stupid Congressperson's idea of a smart person's legal argument in support of overturning a democratic election. DC Circuit decision in Tiktok v. Garland (12/6/24) “What If Free Speech Means Banning TikTok?,” Alan Rozhenstein, The Atlantic (12/13/24) Redacted transcript of U.S. intelligence briefing to House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 7, 2024 filed with DC Circuit ACLU amicus brief in Tiktok v. Garland (12/27/24) Donald Trump's amicus brief in Tiktok v. Garland  (12/30/24) Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (signed into law 4/24/24) “2024 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary,” John Roberts (12/30/24)   Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you'd like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

Let's talk about the case of the missing congressperson, Kay Granger.... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beau-of-the-fifth-column/support

Join the conversation with C4 & Bryan Nehman.  The Trump resistance.  GOP bars transgender congressperson from using women's bathroom.  A new inspector general report involving MONSE, Isabel Cumming joined C4 & Bryan in-studio to discuss it.  The Stuart Pittman welcoming committee.  The CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools Sonja Santelises also joined the show.  Listen to C4 & Bryan Nehman live weekdays from 5:30 to 10am on WBAL News Radio 1090, FM 101.5 & the WBAL Radio App.

It's News Day Tuesday! Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the day. First, they run through updates on Trump's neo-con pivot for his administration, Israel's failure to meet a US deadline to boost aid to Gaza (and the unlikelihood of repercussions), calls to annex the West Bank, final tallies on the US Senate race, the GOP's House majority, and civil unrest in Haiti, also touching on the importance of organizing in the wake of this election, and diving deep into Congress' ongoing fight to pass the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act” which would set the stage for Trump to abuse any non-profit that acts against him. Next, they parse through some of Trump's overwhelmingly hawkish, neo-conservative choices for his administration, including notorious supporters of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively, Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz. They also touch on Trump's ability to differentiate himself from the “establishment” GOP, despite wanting all of the same things, and tackle his über-concerning agenda against higher education in the US. They wrap up the free half with the importance of being militant about the lessons the Left (and Democrats) learn from this election, and discuss the future direction of the show. And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma talk with Gilbert from California about what to expect from a GOP trifecta, unpack AOC's Q-and-A with joint AOC-Trump voters, and explore Israel's unsurprising response to the US election (more exuberant, unchecked violence). They also talk with RM Brown about his work with the Tim Pool Research Foundation, before doing their own deep dive into Sam's Halloweekend appearance on Tim Pool, including Tim's open acknowledgment of his refusal to do any research beyond reading a subheading. Kevin from Columbus touches on the “your body, my choice” trend, and the importance of community organizing, and the MR Team unpacks RFK's wild pitch for a spot in the Trump administration, with some help from Kowalski from Nebraska, plus, your calls and IMs! Call the House switchboard at 202-224-3121, contact your Congressperson, and urge them to vote NO on House Res. 9495! Contact your Senators and urge them to support Sen. Sanders' Joint Resolutions of Disapproval on sending more arms to Israel! Call the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121: https://act.newmode.net/action/ifnotnow/tell-your-senator-say-no-20-billion-weapons-israel Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Follow us on TikTok here!: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorityreportfm Check us out on Twitch here!: https://www.twitch.tv/themajorityreport Find our Rumble stream here!: https://rumble.com/user/majorityrep ort Check out our alt YouTube channel here!: https://www.youtube.com/majorityreportlive Join Sam on the Nation Magazine Cruise! 7 days in December 2024!!: https://nationcruise.com/mr/ Check out StrikeAid here!; https://strikeaid.com/ Gift a Majority Report subscription here: https://fans.fm/majority/gift Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code majority to get 20% off your purchase! Check out today's sponsors: Prolon: Right now, Prolon is offering The Majority Report with Sam Seder listeners 15% off their 5-day nutrition program. Go to https://ProlonLife.com/MAJORITY.  That's ProlonLife.com/MAJORITY for this special offer. Henson Shaving: It's time to say no to subscriptions and yes to a razor that'll last you a lifetime. Visit https://hensonshaving.com/sam to pick the razor for you and use code SAM to get a free shave cream with your razor–just make sure to add it to your cart. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattLech @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

KZYX News interviews Jared Huffman about his record, why he is running for a seventh term, what it takes to be a good Congressperson, housing, homelessness, energy, insurance, immigration, and more.

Puerto Rico is nearly unlivable for Puerto Ricans. After decades of exploitation and natural disasters, it seems like the U.S. territory (*cough colony!*) is now completely at the whim of crypto billionaires, money launderers and American tax evaders. Co-directors of forthcoming documentary Losing Puerto Rico, Nomiki Konst and Federico de Jesus break down how an unelected economic board and American tax policies have led to a massive housing crisis and skyrocketing prices. Puerto Rico is no longer for Puerto Ricans. Call or write your Congressperson about ending Article 22 and go to www.losingpuertorico.com to follow the film and the campaign. *** Watch more from the forthcoming documentary on YouTube: Losing Homeland - How a Speculators and Tax Cheats are Stealing Puerto Rico https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6K2SxZNxGQ  Puerto Rico's Act 22 Tax Evaders: PROMISES NOT KEPT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dxCOj8BBGQ  Stop Rich Outsiders & Crypto From Taking Over Puerto Rico!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p9qSaLJS1g  *** Frantastic Fridays on The Bitchuation Room are free to watch. To see more bonus content and get access to the Wednesday Bonus Bish become a member on YouTube or a Patron: www.patreon.com/bitchuationroom. ** Frantastic Fridays on The Bitchuation Room are free to watch. To see more bonus content and get access to the Wednesday Bonus Bish become a member on YouTube or a Patron: www.patreon.com/bitchuationroom. ** Francesca and Matt Lieb Are In Chicago for the DNC! Monday 8/19 LIVE Bitchuation Room X Bad Hasbara Podcast. Tickets here: https://bit.ly/3wKW5Rf Tuesday 8/20 LIVE Stand Up: Francesca Fiorentini & Matt Lieb Co-Headline. Tickets here: https://bit.ly/3yN5fgp ** The Bitchuation Room Podcast is available everywhere you get your podcasts. It streams LIVE every TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY and FRIDAY at 1/4pmEST on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/franifio and Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/franifio Support The Bitchuation Room by becoming a Patron: www.patreon.com/bitchuationroom to get special perks and listen/watchback privileges of the Wednesday *BONUS BISH* Tip the show via Venmo:@TBR-LIVE Cash-App:@TBRLIVE Music by Nick Stargu Follow The Bitchuation Room on Twitter @BitchuationPod, Instagram: @BitchuationRoom , TikTok: @BitchuationRoom Get your TBR merch: www.bitchuationroom.com *** Get 20% off SUNSET LAKE CBD with code FRANTIFA at check out. Explore all their organic, vertically-integrated craft CBD products including tinctures, gummies, smokables, salves and more: www.sunsetlakecbd.com

The government is NOT our ruler but our representative. The concept presupposed that the government would know and understand its citizens. Elections would help establish that representation by placing citizens' chosen candidate as our President, Senator, or Congressperson.

The government is NOT our ruler but our representative. The concept presupposed that the government would know and understand its citizens. Elections would help establish that representation by placing citizens' chosen candidate as our President, Senator, or Congressperson.

The government is NOT our ruler but our representative. The concept presupposed that the government would know and understand its citizens. Elections would help establish that representation by placing citizens' chosen candidate as our President, Senator, or Congressperson.

The government is NOT our ruler but our representative. The concept presupposed that the government would know and understand its citizens. Elections would help establish that representation by placing citizens' chosen candidate as our President, Senator, or Congressperson.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, Dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany Robert Griffin, and Albany Law School Professor of Law, Director of The Justice Center, and Director of Immigration Law Clinic Sarah Rogerson.

10:05 – 10:15 (10 mins) Weekly: Tim Jones -  @SpeakerTimJones “The Tim Jones and Chris Arps Show” weekdays 4p-6p on NewstalkSTL 10:25 – 10:37 (17mins)  MATT GAETZ  takes Merrick Garland apart with facts over other facts.  10:41 – 10:56 (15mins)  WEEKLY with Mark Harder, St. Louis County Council Candidate, Missouri State Senatemarkformissouri.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Khelan and Brent talk with unabashed comic book fan and sitting Congressperson, Rep. Robert Garcia about what comics mean to him, why the art is so important to so many people in our nation, and what kind of super team he would build!

Rep. Tim Burchett is blasting the Deep-State yet again with a UFO bill demanding the truth. Is it time for Rep. Burchett or some other brave Congressperson to exercise their Constitutional Right and simply read the hidden truth into the Congressional Record for all to see? Listen in to learn more.

Becca Balint, Vermont's lone Congressperson, joins Kurt & Anthony to give an update from Washington.

In a recent podcast interview with Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson says the quiet part out loud. Carlson raises the notion that the entities behind UFO's are dangerous, that they have killed people and that are own government has colluded with them in exchange for technology. Another podcaster, Benny Johnson, has made startling revelations about a conversation he had with an unnamed Congressperson. Listen in to learn more.

On today's episode, Jessica chats with the crew she has been working with on the Boulder Ethnographic-Education Project. The crew includes the amazing Erica Walters (Ethnographer, Living Heritage Anthropology), Reshawn Edison (Ethnographer, Living Heritage Anthropology; Diné; CESC Program Coordinator for Harvest of All First Nations), and Joseph Gazing Wolf (Executive Director, Heritage Lands Collective (formerly Living Heritage Research Council); Lakota, Nubian, and Amazigh). The crew talks about their favorite parts of the project, learning moments, challenges, and advice for others wanting to do ethnographic research or other work with Indigenous communities.Transcripts For rough transcripts of this episode go to https://www.archpodnet.com/heritagevoices/84Links Heritage Voices on the APN Boulder Tribal Consultation website Boulder's Indigenous Peoples' Day Resolution Fort Chambers/Poor Farm Management Plan website Boulder Website on The Peoples' Crossing Renaming Process National Association Of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers' Page on THPO Funding Find your Congressperson (to ask them to increase funding to the Historic Preservation Fund!) Harvest of All First Nations Living Heritage Anthropology Website Heritage Lands Collective (Formerly Living Heritage Research Council) Website The Association of Indigenous Anthropologists, A Section of the American Anthropological Association (AAA: connect with Indigenous anthropologists for potential guidance): Tuck and Yang 2012 Decolonization is not a metaphorContact Jessica@livingheritageanthropology.org @livingheritageA @LivingHeritageResearchCouncilArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodne APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnetAffiliates Motion: https://www.archpodnet.com/motion Liquid I.V.: Ready to shop better hydration, use my special link https://zen.ai/thearchaeologypodnetworkfeed to save 20% off anything you order.

On today's episode, Jessica chats with the crew she has been working with on the Boulder Ethnographic-Education Project. The crew includes the amazing Erica Walters (Ethnographer, Living Heritage Anthropology), Reshawn Edison (Ethnographer, Living Heritage Anthropology; Diné; CESC Program Coordinator for Harvest of All First Nations), and Joseph Gazing Wolf (Executive Director, Heritage Lands Collective (formerly Living Heritage Research Council); Lakota, Nubian, and Amazigh). The crew talks about their favorite parts of the project, learning moments, challenges, and advice for others wanting to do ethnographic research or other work with Indigenous communities.Transcripts For rough transcripts of this episode go to https://www.archpodnet.com/heritagevoices/84Links Heritage Voices on the APN Boulder Tribal Consultation website Boulder's Indigenous Peoples' Day Resolution Fort Chambers/Poor Farm Management Plan website Boulder Website on The Peoples' Crossing Renaming Process National Association Of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers' Page on THPO Funding Find your Congressperson (to ask them to increase funding to the Historic Preservation Fund!) Harvest of All First Nations Living Heritage Anthropology Website Heritage Lands Collective (Formerly Living Heritage Research Council) Website The Association of Indigenous Anthropologists, A Section of the American Anthropological Association (AAA: connect with Indigenous anthropologists for potential guidance): Tuck and Yang 2012 Decolonization is not a metaphorContact Jessica@livingheritageanthropology.org @livingheritageA @LivingHeritageResearchCouncilArchPodNet APN Website: https://www.archpodnet.com APN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodne APN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnet APN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnet Tee Public StoreAffiliates Motion: https://www.archpodnet.com/motion Liquid I.V.: Ready to shop better hydration, use my special link https://zen.ai/thearchaeologypodnetworkfeed to save 20% off anything you order.

The last time Maebe ran for Congress, she got nearly 30% of the vote. Now that the incumbent is gone… could she win it all? In this episode we talk about politics, Silver Lake, smash burgers, growing up in the suburbs of Illinois and playing football on her high school team.

The ongoing war in Gaza has some Eurovision competitors calling for a boycott until Israel is removed from the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. We talk about the reasons countries have been removed from the competition in the past, and how that relates to Israel's participation in Eurovision this year.The NY Times article about Netanyahu's efforts to dismantle Kan: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/15/business/israel-government-public-television.htmlA deeper dive on the connection between Eurovision, Kan, and their struggle with Netanyahu's government: https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-kan-do-how-israels-public-broadcaster-ended-up-in-the-governments-firing-line/PBS had this to say about proposed cuts to public broadcasting in the US: https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/pbs-statement-trump-administration-proposes-elimination-of-federal-funding-for-most-trusted-institution/Contact your Congressperson and tell them you support a ceasefire in Gaza: https://act.moveon.org/letter/ceasefire-now-email-your-representative The Eurovangelists are Jeremy Bent, Oscar Montoya and Dimitry Pompee.The theme was arranged and recorded by Cody McCorry and Faye Fadem, and the logo was designed by Tom Deja.Production support for this show was provided by the Maximum Fun network.Audio mixing help was courtesy of Shane O'Connell.Find Eurovangelists on social media as @eurovangelists on Twitter and Instagram, or send us an email at eurovangelists@gmail.com. Also follow the Eurovangelists account on Spotify and check out our playlists of Eurovision hits, competitors in upcoming national finals, and companion playlists to every single episode, including this one!

We must up our game in 2024. We sign petitions and make donations, but how many meet with a Congressperson or write a letter to the editor? SAM DALEY-HARRIS, founder of anti-poverty lobby RESULTS and Civic Courage, has a new 2024 edition of RECLAIMING OUR DEMOCRACY: Every Citizen's Guide to Transformational Advocacy. His message: Find and get involved this year with a group that offers a rich structure of support - that coaches you, empowers you, emboldens you, and educates you. To learn more go to civiccourage.org or reclaimingourdemocracy.com 

On this Tuesday topical show, Crystal welcomes Jaelynn Scott, Executive Director of Lavender Rights Project, for a conversation about their intersectional work to protect Black trans femmes (and thereby all trans people) by focusing on housing justice, economic justice, and violence prevention. Though our lawmakers have passed some protective legislation in what many consider a progressive state, Crystal and Jaelynn discuss how much more needs to be done to ensure the safety of Black trans people here in Washington. To that end, Jaelynn describes a King County Housing First initiative Lavender Rights Project is undertaking in conjunction with Chief Seattle Club to provide permanent supportive housing for trans people who don't feel safe in shelter offered by traditional housing services agencies - the hope is to become a model for how similar support can be provided to other vulnerable communities across the country. Crystal then notes the remarkable success of pilot after pilot of guaranteed income programs, and Jaelynn details the small program Lavender Rights Project has run over the last two years and its positive impact on participants. Finally, the two give a rundown of how to listen, step up, and take action - whether you're a state legislator, a county or city official, or a concerned community member - to push back against anti-trans sentiment, hate, and fascism. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Jaelynn Scott and the Lavender Rights Project at @lavrights.    Resources Lavender Rights Project   The Combahee River Collective Statement    “Introducing our New Mission: thoughts from Executive Director, Jaelynn Scott” | Lavender Rights Project   “BREAKING: Lavender Rights Project and Chief Seattle Club opening permanent housing for QT2BIPOC in Fall 2023” | Lavender Rights Project   “Here's why the Lavender Rights Project, county officials, and Seattle's mayor think this Capitol Hill apartment building is the right place to start a new approach to creating supportive housing and putting a real dent in the homelessness crisis” by Justin Carder from Capitol Hill Seattle Blog   “Seattle's new 'Health through Housing' property to serve QT2BIPOC residents” by Erica Zucco from King5    “This organization's plan to provide housing for Black trans people in Seattle offers a much-needed glimmer of hope” by Naomi Ishisaka from The Seattle Times   Seattle Solidarity Budget: Basic Income Guarantee   Solidarity Budget presents: Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) panel discussion   Washington State Basic Income Feasibility Study | WA Department of Social and Health Services   Welcoming Cities Resolution | Seattle City Council   “Seattle City Council reaffirms support for immigrants, refugees” by Daniel Beekman from The Seattle Times   “Seattle ‘Welcoming City' resolution includes plan for push back on federal orders” by Agatha Pacheco from The Seattle Globalist   Impact of Gender Affirming Care Bans On LGBTQ+ Adults | Human Rights Campaign   “Majority of LGBTQ adults feel safety threatened by gender-affirming care bans: poll” by Brooke Migdon from The Hill   “‘Kids Online Safety Act' will ‘protect' children from trans content, senator Marsha Blackburn admits” by Emily Chudy from Pink News    We are family, too — A love letter to the Black community from your trans family | Lavender Rights Project   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review show and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Well, today I am excited to be joined by Jaelynn Scott, the Executive Director of Lavender Rights Project. Welcome to the show. [00:01:02] Jaelynn Scott: Good to be with you. [00:01:04] Crystal Fincher: Well, I'm excited to have this conversation - your reputation precedes you, Lavender Rights' reputation has been talked about. We just had a guest bring you up on the show the other day talking about what wonderful work you do - that was Dr. Ben Danielson. What is Lavender Rights Project and what brought you to this work? [00:01:22] Jaelynn Scott: Oh my goodness, I love Dr. Danielson - I'm so glad he brought us up. So Lavender Rights Project is a Black trans-led organization. We're based in Seattle, we serve all of Washington, and we also do national policy work as well. And we're primarily focused on protecting Black trans people. Honestly, we're in the business of protecting all trans people from violence, period - but we use a lens of Black trans feminism to do that work. And what I mean by that - oftentimes I need to clarify - is we really believe in intersectionality, and as a praxis, and not in the way that people casually use. Like, you know, my mother's from Italy and my father's from whatever, and it's intersectional - nah. In the original term that was meant by the Combahee River Collective - when they brought it up and as others who have coined intersectionality - thinking about what are those pieces, those intersectional pieces that need to be put in place to protect the most vulnerable in our community. That, in 1977 - with the collective, right - was Black women. And I think we have more clarity on gender diversity, so we say Black trans women, Black trans femmes even to be specific. And it really is a praxis, right? It's a strategy to look at - we're not only concerned about Black trans femmes and Black trans women but we know, as the Combahee River Collective said, that if we can really protect Black trans women, Black women - if we can do that, it means all of the systems of destruction and oppression will dismantle because we have taken care of that core group that are affected by each of those intersections. So that's the work that we do, but doing trans work from that lens in particular - in three quick areas, I'll let you know quickly. So housing justice, economic justice, and really getting in the meat of violence prevention, also - those three. [00:03:19] Crystal Fincher: Well, and a lot of work is in that portfolio - a lot needs to be done. You talk about protecting the entire trans community from violence, particularly with the lens of Black trans femmes, which is critical. We're in Washington state, which is in a better position than several other states - true, and we've done some positive work on positive legislation. But there are still challenges here despite the fact that this is a blue state, a progressive area. What do you say to people who feel like - Hey, we're in Washington, it's all good. We don't need to worry about this here. We're all progressive. [00:03:56] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, I mean, the fact is, is that it is not safe anywhere in this country and frankly in the world for trans people - not completely - and especially for Black trans people. For me personally, I'm Black first, and so we start there, right? That there is still police violence against Black communities in Washington state, that we have dismal outcomes in terms of health and housing - even here in progressive states, in Washington state. All of the progressive legislation that exists isn't quite reaching our community because of systemic oppression and because of systems that really need to be looked at and anti-Blackness. And then we add transgender to that lens. I mean, it is just the fact that - anecdotally, when I go to a grocery store, that it is hard to feel safe even there because of - my hair might not be in the right place, my makeup might not be right, and I might catch the wrong light. And it is a constant stare or a calling out of who I am and what people are projecting onto me as a trans woman. And that's the case with all of us who are visibly trans, and those of us who may be a little bit more stealth and can navigate safely. The fact is that many of us in Washington state live in fear. And so is there a modicum amount of protections in terms of legislation? Yeah, it's a bit better in terms of our access, but those freedoms aren't necessarily reaching us in the way that they need to, those protections aren't reaching us in the way that they need to protect - particularly Black trans people. And socially, it's still a mess. We are not that different - I'm from Mississippi - culturally, it's not that different than it is in Mississippi in terms of my ability to navigate socially, social spaces in Washington state. And in many ways, it's safer in Black community in the South because at least there are more of us there, and I'm able to navigate Blackness a little bit easier when there's more Black people here. So you're faced with this sort of double thing - you got us who are a smaller amount of people navigating a mostly white community, and also the general transphobia and transmisogynoir that exists across the country. And if there is a slight degree of - very, very slight degree - of it being socially more acceptable, it's not enough to secure our protection and safety. And it is still dismal. [00:06:23] Crystal Fincher: Now, you talked about the areas that you're practicing in, where you're focusing on - housing being one of them. Why is housing so important? [00:06:33] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, so we had conversations with community, with our community members - and across the nation and also in Washington state - to really get to what are we being asked of as an organization to focus on, to really think about in the protection of Black trans people. And we determined both from research and also from those conversations, three particular areas that are absolutely necessary to guarantee our protection. And the first of those is housing. We believe in Housing First as a disruption and violence against Black trans people. We need to be able to know that our housing - and really food security - but housing is secure and we don't have to depend on others for our security. And we don't have to negotiate our livelihood, right - and our wellbeing so that we can have a place to stay at night. And so the research shows that when people are housed that the outcomes are a lot better in terms of their own security and safety. And it is absolutely critical that we focus in. It's a strange thing - we started as a legal services organization, I think seven years ago now, and we never were in housing and housing justice. But as you know, in Washington state, especially Seattle, and across the country - there's a housing crisis. And no one was actually standing up to do this work. Outcomes for trans people in general - for public housing services - is absolutely terrible. We were finding that our clients and our people, that our family - were not feeling safe in shelters, were not feeling safe by the traditional housing services agencies. And it was unacceptable, so somebody actually needed to step in. So our project is small, it's tiny - 30, maybe 32 housing units for individuals here in the Seattle area. It is permanent supportive housing - ongoing in perpetuity - they leave when they want to leave and they have ongoing supports for their health. It's open to all folks, but we'll primarily be focused on the people that we serve with our specialty. But it really is a model - and that's how I'm looking at it - it's a good model to work across the City of Seattle, King County, Washington state, nonprofits. We're partnering with a Urban Native organization, Chief Seattle Club - who actually owns, right, the land whose land this really is - and they have a lot more competency in the area. So they're providing a lot of support for us as we learn housing. And so there's this beautiful model happening - if it works, and I pray that it does, that we can then replicate across the country with other partners and other people who are interested in getting secure and well-funded housing for trans folk to protect them from violence. And I really think this model is not exclusive to Black trans community, but I think it really could be used for trans community - trans exclusive housing that is well supported by the government and well supported by community is what's needed in this moment to reduce the crisis of violence in our community. [00:09:33] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely - to reduce the crisis of violence, to help people stabilize and find housing security, which is necessary to address so many other challenges that people find in life. Now you talked about this being a model, which I think is important - and permanent supportive housing is, as you said, what research is showing to be most effective in keeping people safe and stable. How did this partnership come about? [00:10:00] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, so initially there was a client of ours who - and a friend, a community member who we were advocating for - who had experienced some really lack of cultural competency with King County, I'll just name it. And they hired her for an event and she was targeted by right-wing media and doxxed because of how she showed up - she did a burlesque performance and they ran with it. And I think King County was really just regretful about that experience - they were hoping to empower trans folk and really show Black trans visibility. And there needed to be some healing. And they asked her - What do you need? We'll do whatever is needed to repair this. And she said - We need housing for my community. And to their credit, King County jumped on it. And so we found the right model with King County - they contacted us because we were the only Black trans-led organization in the state that was doing this work and especially in King County. They contacted us and we began discussions - how could we get into this work and find the right model that worked for Black trans folk? We identified the right program, we found the right partners - we knew we wanted to partner with either a Black or Native org, right? - to help us get this rolling and get going. And it just moved on and progressed from there. [00:11:21] Crystal Fincher: So where is this at in the process currently? Will this be opening soon? [00:11:25] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, and by the way, I do want to name - her name was Beyoncé Black St. James - she's a fantastic community leader out of Spokane who does amazing advocacy work, but also is just a powerful and beautiful and fantastic performer. But we are in the process - we were awarded the facility, it was announced. And we are now waiting on some minor repairs that need to happen in this new building. And so we're sort of caught up in really - King County's working on getting things through their processes and government processes so that we can actually get this minor repair done and open our house. We're delayed in the opening about a year. So we really need our community to continue to encourage the county to move quickly to get this facility open, because we're just wasting money at this point with open rooms - and we have residents lined up and ready to move into the facility. [00:12:20] Crystal Fincher: Now, when you say permanent supportive housing, what does that mean for the people who will eventually be moving in? What does that look like and how will they be served? [00:12:28] Jaelynn Scott: So Ebo Barton, who's our Director of Housing Services has worked really hard to build out a network of support for our residents. So on the first half, King County will provide ongoing social services support as they do for any of their agencies. There also will be security - and we don't look at that security on-site as protecting anyone else but our residents. So there will be 24 hour security on-site to protect them from the outside and make sure that they are safe, as well as ongoing support groups for - I believe there's support for gender affirming care, and healthcare, and counseling services to heal from just the trauma of being Black and the trauma of being trans in this community - as well as getting them career support and moving on career support. There's a number of, I believe, 9 or 10 agencies who are committed to supporting our particular facility in addition to King County's ongoing services. [00:13:28] Crystal Fincher: So is most of the focus on this facility, are there any plans for others, or is it working on getting this model straight and then evaluating after? [00:13:37] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, so we aren't a housing services org, right? So I think we see ourselves as a policy shop and really our direct services really informs what we're doing to push forward in policies. I mean, we equally do criminal legal services and we also do policy advocacy around criminal law and this intersection with trans people. And we do economic justice - we're really pushing for a guaranteed income as a sort of third pillar of support for all trans people in Washington State, quite similar to the guaranteed income in San Francisco. So we aren't a housing services organization and I don't think we're immediately planning on expanding those services. It is our hope that - King County has promised that those properties will move over and shift into the ownership of organizations. I think we just wanna stay there - continue to work in supporting that property and maybe even have those residents, if they want to, participate in the movement building and policy work that happens with our organization. So we're not seeing them as this sort of dual client versus people providing services - that they are a part of our community and they're part of the movement building effort. So I think we wanna stay there and it's a good size for us at the moment, but we do and we have been talking nationally with other Black trans community members and organizations who are hoping to do projects similarly. So we hope other people will take on the banner - and even in Seattle, we need a lot more than 32 units to take care of trans community in general. I know, and I don't wanna get ahead of the county, but there was at least a request for proposals for transitional housing services for veterans - for LGBTQ veterans focusing on trans communities - that King County is also doing, that we hope another agency will take up the banner and continue to provide for those expanded services. I know Chief Seattle Club is hoping to serve more Two-Spirit people - we will also be serving some of those folks in our facility. And so there's a number of places that we can start moving in. And really this is the right response right now to what is happening across the country. If we can take anything from these coordinated political attacks - and let me tell you that they are coming after us, not because they actually care that much about the issues - they are coming after us because they wanna get elected, because they need a boogeyman and they think that this is gonna score them political points. But what they don't know is it's drawing more attention to the issue of the crisis that is happening in trans community. And it's really bringing more support from the majority of Americans who actually have love in their heart and care for their community, and believe in the diversity of the American society, and really support LGBTQ community. And so that's - right now, it is our opportunity to in response to them, not necessarily be put on the defensive, but let's finally secure and build trans protections, trans security, trans safety in response to their disgusting actions. [00:16:31] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely, I love that. And focus on support and building, as opposed to centering the people who are just pushing fascism and hate. [00:16:42] Jaelynn Scott: Fascism, period. Period. [00:16:44] Crystal Fincher: So you said you are a policy shop and you have a lot of experience in policy. One, I'm excited to hear about the talking about a guaranteed income - every single pilot, and there have been many now, for guaranteed income has just been successful and shown that it's helped. Turns out when you give people money and let them spend it on what they need the most, that's the most effective intervention that we see. Is this something that you're advocating for locally, and in our city or state? Is this something that looks like might be possible here in Seattle? [00:17:20] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, so there is two areas - well, a few areas. So we're doing our own very, very small - a sort of a pilot just for our community to get a sense of how this is actually serving us. We started thinking about guaranteed income because in the summer of 2020, we were doing mutual aid and we were finding that people - $50, $100, $500, every once in a while - they were becoming more dependent on that. And we didn't like the positionality of us looking like sort of the saviors of individuals instead of empowering them to have economic security. And what we found now is that there were a few, right - that were return. And so we had enough money to do about five folks - it's over the last two years - a $1,000 a month, every single month, for those people. And they, we're watching just the results - both from our surveys and our conversations with them - their economic security, their housing security, how they're thriving in their own careers. Month after month after month, we're just seeing so much improvements and they are needing less to do the GoFundMes and less seeking mutual aid - that is declining - and support in the community. And so that's sort of our - that's the piece where I say we do the support so to inform how we approach it. So we do - there's basic income, right - which is a kind of a guarantee for all. And then there's sort of guaranteed income, which I think in our understanding is really focused on particular populations that are most in need. There's a basic income approach in Washington state that, I think, there was even a bill pushed through that didn't actually make it through - I don't think it made it out of committee and it failed, and I think that will continue to come up. And we do support that, but we really do believe - that you have to start looking at who are the people who are most in need and you have to consider gender and race, economic status, pregnancy status, as well as a number of items in order to get this right. And I believe the state version was kind of a lottery system that we weren't feeling secure about. So we've been in conversation with the Transgender Cultural District in San Francisco, and they launched a - worked with the City of San Francisco as well as other agencies and nonprofits - to get a guaranteed income for trans people in the City of San Francisco. And that is, you know, there's been some lawsuits and et cetera, but that is getting launched there if it hasn't started already. But that program follows on the heels of other guaranteed income for people who are pregnant, guaranteed income for other particular populations in San Francisco that have proven effective - and at least $1,000 a month in an ongoing way. And that's what we wanna push in the City of Seattle. We're currently, I believe, and the people who are doing a Solidarity Budget are also looking at how they can do guaranteed income for particular populations. And so we're in conversation with them as well as pushing on our own for a guaranteed income for trans people. And hopefully using some of the data from the support that we provided - our organization - to prove that this is a proven method to protect your Washington and Seattle populations. [00:20:21] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely. What other policy is really important right now, or what is at the top of the list for you that you're advocating for? [00:20:29] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, so I think right now it's guaranteed income. We use policy in a number of different ways - like the capital P, which is like the legislation - but the lowercase policy, which includes how King County is operating in relationship to providing housing to trans people. Like we see all that as a sort of movement building policy where different aspects depending on who's involved. But right now, we're really concerned about what's happening nationally. As you may know, Washington state really has a suite - what I've been calling a suite - of trans protections that have passed over the years, including an expansion of Medicare to include gender affirming care. As well as recent legislative session, there was the SHIELD law, which protects people who are seeking refuge here from extradition to other states and penalty and persecution from other states for what they do in Washington state. And finally, there is a youth gender affirming care access for people who end up in shelters who are runaways and making sure that they have access to this data and aren't turned back to dangerous living situations for seeking affirmations in their gender. And all of those are good bills - they're all at different levels of acceptance and there's lawsuits and all kinds of things happening, being pushed from outside parties who are trying to push legislation here. But they don't necessarily really address the needs of trans communities of color because they are mostly written in legislative corners, sessions with white folk who are in the legislative game. They really haven't, didn't sit down - because they're on the defensive, right? It's a quick thing. You gotta get this stuff going 'cause you're seeing like all of the sort of outlawing gender affirming care in Alabama and Georgia and et cetera, and criminalizing seeking care outside of the state - both for abortion and gender affirming care. And so to their credit - that they needed to, and they felt like they needed to respond. And I do think there needed to be a response. But there wasn't enough time to actually doing the organizing, the movement building, the conversations with communities of color to say - actually, you never had access to gender affirming care in the way that white communities have. You've never had that access, especially not in the US South. So what is it that we can do now to correct the original sin, right? So that you never find yourself there and none of our communities will find ourselves there. But what we're doing now is putting a band-aid on an issue and making sure that those people of privilege who have already had access to care, don't lose that access. So one of the ways they could have done it, right? is to say - Okay, we want to protect people seeking gender affirming care here from Texas, for example. And we wanna have this legislation up so that they can't be extradited to other states and et cetera. Okay - build a budget line item in the state budget that provides support for them, to fly them in to seek care, to make sure they have access to medical care, to make sure they have recovery services and et cetera. In addition to that, if you had really talked to communities, you would have known that none of the people who are most at risk in Texas can afford to get here to seek that care and to actually benefit from that bill. And so there was additional conversations needed. If not that, at least put out some funding and support for communities of color here to gather and come up with legislative priorities on our own that they can take the lead from instead of us following on the tail end of whatever they decided in their corners. [00:23:57] Crystal Fincher: So for people who may be legislators or policy makers listening right now, where can they start with that? How do they start with that? [00:24:06] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, I think right now capacity building funding is absolutely necessary. So for those organizations who are trusted - there's POCAAN and PCAF and our organization, Lavender Rights Project. There is Gender Justice League. There's a number of queer and trans organizations - Creative Justice - who serve Black trans and queer people, who are brilliant and who have policymakers and movement builders and do amazing work, but they aren't as well funded as the big box nonprofits. And so we need the ability to actually hold policy - to have the staffing for it, to organize for it, to fund our people to do that work - so that when the legislative session comes up, we have the policy recommendations necessary, that we actually have boots on the ground. We're learning from other community members about what those priorities are, but we are behind the game here. We're behind the ball here. We are years and years and years behind the ball. So that capacity building around the ability to do both organizing and policy making - that's needed, critically needed - including lobbying, the ability for us to fund our own lobbyists. We need it and we need it like 30 years ago in this state. [00:25:24] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely, and makes a lot of sense. Now we're thinking about legislatively, do you think - for local leaders, city council members, mayors - locally, that they need to embark upon the same path or are there additional suggestions that you would have for them? [00:25:41] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, I haven't - we've been thinking a lot about the State Legislature. And locally we've been thinking more around sort of some of the direct support initiatives like guaranteed income and et cetera. But I do think it's worth local politicians, councils - to figure out how can they build out a sanctuary county, city for trans people - what policies are in their power to make, what protections are in their power to make to ensure security and safety for Washington residents and others who seek care here. And let me tell you, it will work because I - the majority of the Black trans people that work in my organization come from the US South, they come from the East Coast. They come from other places where they may have felt less safe and they sought refuge here because of the promise of progressiveness of Washington state. Now that promise has mostly been empty, but they can work really hard to make sure that promise is fulfilled - because we are already starting to see that there will be a flood of refugees from other places around this country as this ball continues to drop on attacks against us and the rise of fascism in this country. So there are protections that are in the power of King County - to make sure that folks have income, to make sure they have access to employment, to make sure they have access to housing, to ensure that their laws protect them safely within their city jurisdictions - that people need to be looking at on their own and starting to work on. [00:27:14] Crystal Fincher: Now for people who aren't policy makers - they're just looking around and feeling very troubled by what they're seeing by the rise of hate and fascism, anti-trans violence. What advice would you give for how they can meaningfully help? [00:27:32] Jaelynn Scott: People, we need the voices of everyone at this moment. And the first thing is to continue to love on your LGBTQ family that's around you. And really lean into care for them in this moment - because whether or not we're saying it, a lot of us are feeling deeply traumatized, targeted and attacked at this moment. And there was a poll that was recently released - I can't remember, but I found it through the HRC, National HRC - that more and more of us are feeling less safe across the country because of what's happening. And so what can you do to extend your love and care to people. Also, as people start seeking refuge here and refuge from other states, be thinking about what can you give up? You know, we might be at the place that we were during the crisis of immigration, especially in the Trump administration, where people were starting to open up their homes to - as refugee assistance. And I think it's time to start planning that. What can we do to prepare our space for people who might need care and safety here? And I think the third thing I will say is look at and lean into Black queer and trans communities of color, Native and Indigenous Two-Spirit communities - and see the organizing that they're doing right now. Follow their lead. When they say - Hey, we need you to speak out against the Kids Online Safety Act - that's currently moving through Congress right now. And that promises to silence trans communities nationally in social media, that will almost destroy the social media and the publicity of nonprofits who do this work. And really will remove the ability of trans youth to find affirming media, to find affirming care, services, information, education, sexual health on social media. It will be destructive, and yet it has bipartisan support. Speak out, right - whenever we say this bill is being pushed in this state that's not quite working - and take the lead from communities of color, trans and queer communities of color in their legislative efforts. It's pretty easy. Follow them on social media, right? Give when they say give, take action when they say take action. Many people are often calling and saying - I want to volunteer. I want to be on the ground. I want to whatever. But when we post - Hey, we need you to call your Congressperson on this - no one calls. It's so much easier than you think. Follow, support, and listen. [00:29:56] Crystal Fincher: It does. And it makes a difference when you call and when you reach out, especially when it's to your Congressperson. They pay attention, they listen, and it is very important to do that. I appreciate that. As we move to close this interview, is there just anything that you would urge people to reflect on, or act on, or do as we move forward? [00:30:18] Jaelynn Scott: Yeah, so Black trans community, Black trans people, Black trans women, trans folk have always been here. And I think - speaking specifically to Black community at this moment - we have always been a part of culture. There have been moments when we have been silenced, where colonization has forced our history around gender diversity on the continent to be erased. And we need to have a conversation. We need to have a conversation about how much trans communities have supported who we are as a people - our role in the civil rights movement, our role in the Black Lives Matter movement - how we have always been there for Black community. And we need Black community to stand up for us in this moment too - that we are much more beautiful because of our diversity and that violence against any Black person is violence against the entire Black community. And so, yeah, we need to have conversations. But I also want us to take care to not take the lead from white right-wing neo-fascists who are concerned about the destruction of trans folk, the oppression of women, and who really cannot stand your Black skin - to let them lead the conversation, to let them take your voice, and you to be taking talking points from them. Let's have a conversation as community as we are - deeply from the place of the value for human rights, civil rights, and our value for our love ethic that we all share as Black folk. Let's sit down around that and let's sit down around gender and have a convo. And so I think that right now is what's at the top of my heart in speaking and speaking to the community that is closest to my heart. [00:32:02] Crystal Fincher: Very well said, absolutely necessary to be said. I sincerely appreciate you sharing with us on the program today - all the work that you're doing as part of the Lavender Rights Project. And thank you so much for your time today. [00:32:17] Jaelynn Scott: Thank you, Crystal. And thank you so much for this platform. This is - it's a critical moment - and this may seem small on a podcast and a brief conversation, but every single one of these matter at this moment. [00:32:28] Crystal Fincher: Thank you. Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is produced by Shannon Cheng. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on every podcast service and app - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get the full versions of our Friday week-in-review shows and our Tuesday topical show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the podcast episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

WATCH NOW! Santos Just a Dupe? Health Care Woes; Is Thanksgiving Over? Karel Cast #280 George Santos has committed almost as many crimes as Donald Trump. Almost. So why is he the only Congressperson being condemned so harshly? Sure, he's a liar. Find me on member of the GOP that isn't. Sure, he's a thief, a deceiver, can't speak the truth at all. Again, find me one member of the GOP who can. Why are they coming after him so hard and yet for decades have left so many unscathed? Is it the gay thing? Or? I had to go to ER to find out some answers. Not only did I not get answers, but I got an education in how America's health care system is truly just a big for-profit money grab, leaving patients and loved ones in the dirt. Columbus Day is all but a thing of the past. Should Thanksgiving follow suit?The truth is, we don't celebrate the harvest any more, as we have round the year foods. And it rooted in a myth that European Settlers got along with the indigenous people, which they did not. So why do we still have the Holiday that Lincoln proclaimed? Watch on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe at YouTube.com/reallykarel @ReallyKarel is all social media and website reallykarel.com The Karel Cast is heard three times a week on all your favorite streaming services and the video can be seen on Youtube. Karel is a history-making #LGBTQ talk show host currently living in Las Vegas with his pup Ember. https://youtu.be/H9bIJaC2Obg

WATCH NOW! Santos Just a Dupe? Health Care Woes; Is Thanksgiving Over? Karel Cast #280 George Santos has committed almost as many crimes as Donald Trump. Almost. So why is he the only Congressperson being condemned so harshly? Sure, he's a liar. Find me on member of the GOP that isn't. Sure, he's a thief, a deceiver, can't speak the truth at all. Again, find me one member of the GOP who can. Why are they coming after him so hard and yet for decades have left so many unscathed? Is it the gay thing? Or? I had to go to ER to find out some answers. Not only did I not get answers, but I got an education in how America's health care system is truly just a big for-profit money grab, leaving patients and loved ones in the dirt. Columbus Day is all but a thing of the past. Should Thanksgiving follow suit?The truth is, we don't celebrate the harvest any more, as we have round the year foods. And it rooted in a myth that European Settlers got along with the indigenous people, which they did not. So why do we still have the Holiday that Lincoln proclaimed? Watch on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe at YouTube.com/reallykarel @ReallyKarel is all social media and website reallykarel.com The Karel Cast is heard three times a week on all your favorite streaming services and the video can be seen on Youtube. Karel is a history-making #LGBTQ talk show host currently living in Las Vegas with his pup Ember.

Bill Bartholomew reacts to Democrat Gabe Amo's decisive victory over Republican Gerry Leonard in the Rhode Island congressional district 1 special election. Support the show

(Nov 1, 2023) Local town and village officials can have a more direct impact on people's lives than a Congressperson. Yet fewer people are running for local races. The longtime mayor of Clayton is retiring and reflects on the importance of local government. Also: Today is the first day people can apply to get help with their heating bills this winter. More people qualify than you might think.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, political consultant and lobbyist Libby Post, Vice President for Editorial Development at the New York Press Association Judy Patrick, and Wall Street Investment Banker Mark Wittman.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, political consultant and lobbyist Libby Post, and Albany Law School Professor of Law, Director of The Justice Center and Director of Immigration Law Clinic Sarah Rogerson.**Please note: today's audio is from a back-up recording source and will sound different than usual.**

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Siena College Professor of Comparative Politics Vera Eccarius-Kelly, former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, political consultant and lobbyist Libby Post.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, political consultant and lobbyist Libby Post, and investment banker on Wall St. Mark Wittman.

Hooray. He's kicked the ball. Now the ball's over there. That man has it now. That's an interesting development. Maybe he'll kick the ball. He has indeed and apparently, that deserves a round of applause. Ahhh, American Sports Round Ball. You know I love it. Doctor, Professor, Astronaut, Congressperson, Shaman, Healer, Quarterback, kit girl, and all-around fantastic gal Scout G joins me in the Plastic Microphone Studios to discuss our Favorite Sports Movies.  "Live, from deep in the heart of Cajun country, the place whose landmarks are famous all over the world. The world's center for shipping, transportation, communications, finance, fashions, and above all -- entertainment. A place that pulsates always because of the millions of people who live here, work here, and visit here. And in the heart of the metropolis, the great arena: the Plastic Microphone Studios, which has hosted so many guests, and which is why tonight from the Studios the most enduring podcast guest of them all comes to the entire western hemisphere live with The Main Event: Scout! Links on our Profile Page and our PodLink. Visit & interact on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, & our website. Also, check out the Plastic Microphone Studios for more fun! @NetworkSIP #FaveFiveFromFans #FFFF #podcast #podcasts #podcasting #podcastlife #podcaster #podcasters #podcastshow #podcastersofinstagram #anchorfm #spotify #spotifypodcasts #itunes #applepodcasts #youtube #googlepodcasts #overcast #stitcher #stitcherpodcasts #castbox #castboxpodcasts #PodcastSuggestions #podcastinglife #podcastaddict #newpodcast #podcastlove #podcastmovement #podcasthost #podcastnetwork #podernfamily #EveryoneIsFam #SIPNetwork  #PodernFamily #PodcastNation #PodcastNetwork #PodcastRecommendations #FollowBack #CrowdsourcedPodcastDatabase #PodTime #Movie #Movies #Comedy #baseball #football #Soccer #basketball #golf #hockey #boxing #sportsfilm #sportsmovie #film #movie #sports #movies #cinema #boxing #films #squaredcircle #punches #boxcombo #jabs #dontbeacrumbbum #sweetscience #sportsmovies #slipthejab #rockybalboa #stateofboxingwithrickyrick #stateofboxing #keeppunching #hollywoodblockbuster #basketball #knockdown #knockout #documentary #boxingfilm #boxingmovie  #squareup #hollywoodsmashhit #sportsfilms #sportscomedy #sylvesterstallone #protectyourself #creed #fight #boxingandhollywood #filmreview #filmmaker #baseball #comedymovie #instagood #comedyfilm #ragingbull #sportsvideo #hollywood #cinematography #instafilm #sportsvideographer #sportsvideography #rocky #sport #robertdeniro #rockybros #sportsdrama #apollocreed #filmisnotdead #footballfilm --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fave-five-from-fans/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fave-five-from-fans/support

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are investigative journalist and visiting professor at UAlbany Rosemary Armao, immigration attorney and Partner with the Albany law firm of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, Cianna Freeman-Tolbert, former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, and former Associate Editor of the Times Union Mike Spain.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Siena College Professor of Comparative Politics Vera Eccarius-Kelly, former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, and Dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany Robert Griffin.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are UAlbany Lecturer in Africana Studies Jennifer Burns, former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, Chairman of Capital District Latinos Dan Irizarry and political consultant and lobbyist Libby Post.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are UAlbany Lecturer in Africana Studies Jennifer Burns, former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, and Albany County District Attorney David Soares.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are WAMC's Alan Chartock, UAlbany Lecturer in Africana Studies Jennifer Burns, former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, and political consultant and lobbyist Libby Post.

Today's panelists are WAMC's Alan Chartock, former NY 19 Congressperson and attorney John Faso, immigration attorney and Partner with the Albany law firm of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, Cianna Freeman-Tolbert, and Albany Law School Professor of Law, Director of The Justice Center and Director of Immigration Law Clinic Sarah Rogerson.

The Global Gag Rule (GGR) prevents foreign non-governmental organizations that receive U.S. foreign assistance funds from providing, advocating for, counseling on, or referring for abortion services even when done with their non-U.S. funds. Bergen Cooper, Director of Policy Research at Fòs Feminista and Kat Olivera, Associate Director for U.S. Global Policy at Fòs Feminista, sit down to talk to us about the unmitigated harm caused by the GGR and why permanent repeal of this rule is needed immediately. The Global Gag Rule, or the Mexico City Policy as introduced in 1984 by President Ronald Raegan, which is a presidential memorandum that is either reinstated or revoked depending on party lines. During the Trump administration, the Global Gag Rule was expanded and rebranded as the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy, and Biden revoked the GGR early in his tenure. Still, even when the GGR is not in effect, it can be impactful. When the policy is put into place, purposeful communications are made to ensure cooperation; when the policy is revoked, communications are one-off. In fact, Fòs Feminista's research team found an alarming breakdown in communication between the U.S. government and relevant global stakeholders. It was found that, this particularly damaging game of telephone resulted in the prolonging of the policy's implementation and unnecessarily prevented people from accessing legal abortions.  The Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights Act (The Global HER Act) is a bicameral piece of legislation that would repeal the Global Gag Rule permanently. The overturning of Roe v. Wade has the potential to embolden anti-abortion policies like the GGR, which is why it's important to take advantage of our remaining time left with the Biden administration, the Senate majority, and the House to continue priming the Global Her Act and permanent repeal of the GGR. Especially when many countries' own national laws and policies permit for the funding and provision of abortion care, the United States' restriction of providers speech and services abroad is racist and unconscionable. The failure of the administration, Congress, and other government actors to monitor for and ensure compliance with the GGR revocation and provide clear communication only perpetuates the policy's harm. LinksFòs Feminista on TwitterFòs Feminista on FacebookInformation on Reintroduction of the Global HER ActFòs Feminista's report Chaos Continues: The 2021 Revocation of the Global Gag Rule and The Need for Permanent RepealThe Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Index Take ActionContact your Congresspeople and tell them to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule by supporting and passing the Global HER Act. If your Congressperson is already a co-sponsor, thank them! You can also ask them to find other avenues of moving the bill forward. Contact the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.Support the showFollow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfbFacebook: rePROs Fight Back Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.comRate and Review on Apple PodcastThanks for listening & keep fighting back!

The First Amendment prohibits the U.S. government from censoring speech. In this episode, drawing from internal Twitter documents known as “the Twitter files” and Congressional testimony from tech executives, former Twitter employees, and journalists, we examine the shocking formal system of censorship in which government employees are using their influence over private companies to indirectly censor speech in a way that they are clearly prohibited from doing directly. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! View the shownotes on our website at https://congressionaldish.com/cd270-the-twitter-files Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD224: Social Media Censorship CD141: Terrorist Gifts & The Ministry of Propaganda (2017 NDAA) CD113: CISA is Law The Twitter Files "Capsule Summaries of all Twitter Files Threads to Date, With Links and a Glossary.” Matt Taibbi. Jan 4, 2023. Racket News. Matt Taibbi “The Democrats' Disastrous Miscalculation on Civil Liberties.” Matt Taibbi. Mar 12, 2023. Racket News. “#1940 - Matt Taibbi.” Feb 13, 2023. The Joe Rogan Experience. Hunter Biden Laptop Story “Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad.” “13. They did the same to Facebook, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. ‘The FBI basically came to us [and] was like, “Hey... you should be on high alert. We thought that there was a lot of Russian propaganda in 2016 election. There's about to be some kind of dump similar to that”'” [tweet]. Michael Shellenberger [@ShellenbergerMD]. Dec 19, 2022. Twitter. Influence, Propaganda, and Censorship “From the Twitter Files: Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb secretly pressed Twitter to hide posts challenging his company's massively profitable Covid jabs.” Alex Berenson. Jan 9, 2023. Unreported Truths. “Twitter Aided the Pentagon in Its Covert Online Propaganda Campaign.” Lee Fang. December 20, 2022. The Intercept. “Facebook, Twitter dismantle a U.S. influence campaign about Ukraine.” Aug 24, 2022. The Washington Post. Angus King Takedown Request Spreadsheet Audio Sources Hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, the Twitter Files March 9, 2023 House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government Witnesses: Matt Taibbi, Journalist Michael Shellenberger, Author, Co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute and the California Peace Coalition Clips 17:20 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): In the run up to the 2020 Presidential election, FBI Special Agent Elvis Chan, in his deposition in Missouri versus Biden, said that he repeatedly, repeatedly, informed Twitter and other social media platforms of the likelihood of a hack and leak operation in the run up to that Presidential election. He did it even though there was no evidence. In fact, he said in his deposition that we hadn't seen anything, no intrusions, no hack, yet he repeatedly told them something was common. Yoel Ross, Head of Trust and Safety at Twitter, testified that he had had regular meetings with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and other folks regarding election security. During these weekly meetings, federal law enforcement agencies communicated that they expected a hack and leak operation. The expectations of a hack and leak operation were discussed throughout 2020. And he was told they would occur in a period shortly before the 2020 Presidential election, likely in October. And finally, he said "I also learned in these meetings, that there were rumors that a hack and leak operation would involve Hunter Biden." So what did the government tell him? A hack and leak operation was coming. How often did the government tell him this? Repeatedly for a year. When did the government say it was going to happen? October of 2020. And who did the government say it would involve? Hunter Biden. 19:35 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): How did they know? Maybe it's because they had the laptop and they had had it for a year. 21:50 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Finally, as if on cue, five days later on October 19, 51 former intel[ligence] officials signed a letter with a now famous sentence "the Biden laptop story has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation." Something that was absolutely false. 25:25 Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): And the Republicans have brought in two of Elon Musk's public scribes to release cherry-picked, out-of-context emails and screenshots designed to promote his chosen narrative, Elon Musk's chosen narrative, that is now being paroted by the Republicans, because the Republicans think that these witnesses will tell a story that's going to help them out politically. 25:50 Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): On Tuesday, the majority released an 18 page report claiming to show that the FTC is quote, "harassing" Twitter -- oh my poor Twitter -- including by seeking information about its interactions with individuals before us today. How did the report reach this conclusion? By showing two single paragraphs from a single demand letter, even though the report itself makes clear that there were numerous demand letters with numerous requests, none of which we've been able to see, that are more demand letters and more requests of Twitter. 28:05 Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): Mr. Chairman, Americans can see through this. Musk is helping you out politically and you're going out of your way to promote and protect him and to praise him for his work. 28:15 Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): This isn't just a matter of what data was given to these so-called journalists before us now. 31:35 Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): Mr. Chairman, I'm not exaggerating when I say that you have called before you two witnesses who pose a direct threat to people who oppose them. 32:30 Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): We know this is because at the first hearing, the Chairman claimed that big government and big tech colluded to shape and mold the narrative and suppress information and censor Americans. This is a false narrative. We're engaging in false narratives here and we are going to tell the truth. 37:35 Michael Shellenberger: I recognize that the law allows Facebook, Twitter, and other private companies to moderate content on their platforms and I support the right of governments to communicate with the public, including to dispute inaccurate information, but government officials have been caught repeatedly pushing social media platforms to censor disfavored users and content. Often these acts of censorship threaten the legal protection social media companies need to exist, Section 230. If government officials are directing or facilitating such censorship, and as one law professor, it raises serious First Amendment questions. It is axiomatic that the government cannot do indirectly what it is prohibited from doing directly. 41:50 Matt Taibbi: My name is Matt Taibbi, I've been a reporter for 30 years and a staunch advocate of the First Amendment. Much of that time was spent at Rolling Stone magazine. Ranking Member Plaskett, I'm not a "so-called" journalist. I've won the National Magazine Award, the I.F Stone Award for Independent Journalism, and I've written 10 books, including four New York Times bestsellers. 45:35 Matt Taibbi: Ordinary Americans are not just being reported to Twitter for deamplification or deplatforming, but to firm's like Pay Pal, digital advertisers like Xandr, and crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe. These companies can and do refuse service to law abiding people and businesses whose only crime is falling afoul of a distant, faceless, unaccountable, algorithmic judge. 44:00 Matt Taibbi: Again, Ranking Member Plaskett, I would note that the evidence of Twitter-government relationship includes lists of tens of thousands of names on both the left and right. The people affected include Trump supporters, but also left leaning sites like Consortium and Truthout, the leftist South American channel TeleSUR, the Yellow Vest movement. That, in fact, is a key point of the Twitter files, that it's neither a left nor right issue. 44:40 Matt Taibbi: We learned Twitter, Facebook, Google and other companies developed a formal system for taking in moderation requests from every corner of government from the FBI, the DHS, the HHS, DOD, the Global Engagement Center at [the Department of] State, even the CIA. For every government agency scanning Twitter, there were perhaps 20 quasi private entities doing the same thing, including Stanford's Election Integrity Partnership, Newsguard, the Global Disinformation Index, and many others, many taxpayer funded. A focus of this fast growing network, as Mike noted, is making lists of people whose opinions beliefs, associations, or sympathies are deemed misinformation, disinformation or malinformation. That last term is just a euphemism for true but inconvenient. Undeniably, the making of such lists is a form of digital McCarthyism. 1:01:00 Matt Taibbi: So, a great example of this is a report that the Global Engagement Center sent to Twitter and to members of the media and other platforms about what they called "the Pillars of Russian Disinformation." Now, part of this report is what you would call, I think you would call, traditional hardcore intelligence gathering where they made a reasoned, evidence baseed case that certain sites were linked to Russian influence or linked to the Russian government. In addition to that, however, they also said that sites that quote, "generate their own momentum," and have opinions that are in line with those accounts are part of a propaganda ecosystem. Now, this is just another word for guilt by association. And this is the problem with the whole idea of trying to identify which accounts are actually the Internet Research Agency and which ones are just people who follow those accounts or retweeted them. Twitter initially did not find more than a handful of IRA accounts. It wasn't until they got into an argument with the Senate Select Intelligence Committee that they came back with a different answer. 1:06:00 Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL): Before you became Elon Musk's handpicked journalists, and pardon the oxymoron, you stated this on Joe Rogan's podcast about being spoon fed information. And I quote, "I think that's true of any kind of journalism," and you'll see it behind me here. "I think that's true of any kind of journalism. Once you start getting handed things, then you've lost. They have you at that point and you got to get out of that habit. You just can't cross that line." Do you still believe what you told Mr. Rogan? Yes or no? Yes or no? Matt Taibbi: Yes. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL): Good. Now, you crossed that line with the Twitter files. Matt Taibbi: No. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL): Elon Musk -- It's my time, please do not interrupt me. Crowd: [laughter] Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL): Elon Musk spoon fed you his cherry-picked information, which you must have suspected promotes a slanted viewpoint, or at the very least generates another right wing conspiracy theory. 1:11:20 Matt Taibbi: That moment on the Joe Rogan show, I was actually recounting a section from Seymour Hersh's book, Reporter, where he described a scene where the CIA gave him a story and he was very uncomfortable. He said that "I, who had always gotten the secrets, was being handed the secrets." Again, I've done lots of whistleblower stories. There's always a balancing test that you make when you're given material, and you're always balancing newsworthiness versus the motives of your sources. In this case, the newsworthiness clearly outweighed any other considerations. I think everybody else who worked on the project agrees. 1:14:45 Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): Richard Stengel, you know who that is? Matt Taibbi: Yes, he's the former, the first head of the Global Engagement Center. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC): I want the American people to hear from him for 30 seconds. Richard Stengel: Basically, every country creates their own narrative story. And, you know, my old job at the State Department was what people used to joke as the "chief propagandist" job. We haven't talked about propaganda. Propaganda. I'm not against propaganda. Every country does it, and they have to do it to their own population. 1:24:20 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): December 13, the very first letter that the FTC sends to Twitter after the Twitter files, 11 days after the first Twitter file, there have been five of them come out, the FTC's first demand in that first letter after the Twitter files come out is identify all journalists. I'm quoting "identify all journalists and other members of the media" to whom Twitter worked with. You find that scary, Mr. Taibbi, that you got a federal government agency asking a private company who in the press are you talking with? Matt Taibbi: I do find it scary. I think it's none of the government's business which journalists a private company talks to and why. I think every journalist should be concerned about that. And the absence of interest in that issue by my fellow colleagues in the mainstream media is an indication of how low the business has sunk. There was once a real esprit de corps and camaraderie within Media. Whenever one of us was gone after, we all kind of rose to the challenge and supported -- Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): It used to be, used to be the case. Matt Taibbi: Yeah, that is gone now. 1:28:50 Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): How many emails did Mr. Musk give you access to? Michael Shellenberger: I mean, we went through thousands of emails. Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): Did he give you access to all of the emails for the time period in which? Michael Shellenberger: We never had a single, I never had a single request denied. And not only that, but the amount of files that we were given were so voluminous that there was no way that anybody could have gone through them beforehand. And we never found an instance where there was any evidence that anything had been taken out. Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): Okay. So you would believe that you have probably millions of emails and documents, right? That's correct, would you say? Michael Shellenberger: I don't know if -- I think the number is less than that. Matt Taibbi: Millions sounds too high. Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): Okay. 100,000? Matt Taibbi: That's probably closer. Michael Shellenberger: Probably, yeah. Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): So 100,000 that both of you were seeing. 1:37:10 Matt Taibbi: There were a couple of very telling emails that wepublished. One was by a lawyer named [Sasha Cardiel???], where the company was being so overwhelmed by requests from the FBI and in fact they, they gave each other a sort of digital High Five after one batch, saying "that was a monumental undertaking to clear all of these," but she noted that she believed that the FBI was essentially doing word searches keyed to Twitter's Terms of Service, looking for violations of the Terms of Service, specifically so that they could make recommendations along those lines, which we found interesting. 1:48:15 Michael Shellenberger: And we haven't talked about Facebook, but we now know that we have the White House demanding that Facebook take down factual information and Facebook doing that. 1:48:25 Michael Shellenberger: And with Matt [Taibbi]'s thread this morning we saw the government contractors demanding the same thing of Twitter: accurate information, they said, that needed to be taken down in order to advance a narrative. 1:49:55 Matt Taibbi: You know, in conjunction with our own research, there's a foundation, the Foundation for Freedom Online, which, you know, there's a very telling video that they uncovered where the Director of Stanford's Election Integrity Partnership (EIP) talks about how CISA, the DHS agency, didn't have the capability to do election monitoring, and so that they kind of stepped in to "fill the gaps" legally before that capability could be amped up. And what we see in the Twitter files is that Twitter executives did not distinguish between DHS or CISA and this group EIP, for instance, we would see a communication that said, from CISA, escalated by EIP. So they were essentially identical in the eyes of the company. EIP is, by its own data, and this is in reference to what you brought up, Mr. Congressman, according to their own data, they significantly targeted more what they call disinformation on the right than on the left, by a factor I think of about ten to one. And I say that as not a Republican at all, it's just the fact of what we're looking at. So yes, we have come to the realization that this bright line that we imagine that exists between, say the FBI or the DHS, or the GEC and these private companies is illusory and that what's more important is this constellation of kind of quasi private organizations that do this work. 1:52:10 Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): What was the first time that Mr. Musk approached you about writing the Twitter files? Matt Taibbi: Again, Congresswoman that would — Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): I just need a date, sir. Matt Taibbi: But I can't give it to you, unfortunately, because this this is a question of sourcing, and I don't give up... I'm a journalist, I don't reveal my sources. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): It's a question of chronology. Matt Taibbi: No, that's a question of sourcing — Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Earlier you said that someone had sent you, through the internet, some message about whether or not you would be interested in some information. Matt Taibbi: Yes. And I refer to that person as a source. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): So you're not going to tell us when Musk first approached you? Matt Taibbi: Again, Congresswoman, you're asking me, you're asking a journalist to reveal a source. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): You consider Mr. Musk to be the direct source of all this? Matt Taibbi: No, now you're trying to get me to say that he is the source. I just can't answer — Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Either he is or he isn't. If you're telling me you can't answer because it's your source, well, then the only logical conclusion is that he is in fact, your source. Matt Taibbi: Well, you're free to conclude that. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Well, sir, I just don't understand. You can't have it both ways. But let's move on because -- Unknown Representative 1: No, he can. He's a journalist. Unknown Representative 2: He can't, because either Musk is the source and he can't talk about it, or Musk is not the source. And if Musk is not the source, then he can discuss [unintelligible] Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): No one has yielded, the gentlelady is out of order, you don't get to speak — Multiple speakers: [Crosstalk] Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): The gentlelady is not recognized...[crosstalk]...he has not said that, what he has said is he's not going to reveal his source. And the fact that Democrats are pressuring him to do so is such a violation of the First Amendment. Multiple speakers: [Crosstalk] Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): I have not yielded time to anybody. I want to reclaim my time. And I would ask the chairman to give me back some of the time because of the interruption. Mr. Chairman, I am asking you, if you will give me the seconds that I lost. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): We will give you that 10 seconds. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Thank you. Now let's talk about another item. When you responded to the ranking member, you said that you had free license to look at everything but yet you yourself posted on your...I guess it's kind of like a web page...I don't quite understand what Substack is, but what I can say is that "in exchange for the opportunity to cover a unique and explosive story, I had to agree to certain conditions." What were those conditions? She asked you that question and you said you had none. But you yourself posted that you had conditions? Matt Taibbi: The conditions, as I've explained multiple times -- Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): No sir, you have not explained, you told her in response to her question that you had no conditions. In fact, you used the word licensed, that you were free to look at all of them. All 100,000 emails. Matt Taibbi: The question was posed, was I free to to write about — Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Sir, did you have any conditions? Matt Taibbi: The condition was that we publish — Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Sir, did you have any conditions? Yes or no? A simple question. Matt Taibbi: Yes. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): All right. Could you tell us what conditions those were? Matt Taibbi: The conditions were an attribution of sources at Twitter and that we break any news on Twitter. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): But you didn't break it on Twitter. Did you send the file that you released today to Twitter first? Matt Taibbi: Did I send the...actually I did, yes. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Did you send it to Twitter first? Matt Taibbi: The Twitter files thread? Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): That was one of the conditions? Yes or no, sir. Matt Taibbi: The Twitter files thread actually did come out first. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): But sir, you said earlier that you had to attribute all the sources to Twitter first. What you released today, did you send that to Twitter first? Matt Taibbi: No, no, no, I post I posted it on Twitter Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): First. First, sir, or did you give it to the Chairman of the Committee or the staff of the Committee first? Matt Taibbi: Well, that's not breaking the story, that's giving...I did give — Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): So you gave all the information that you did not give to the Democrats, you gave it to the Republicans first, then you put it on Twitter? Matt Taibbi: Actually, no, the chronology is a little bit confused. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Well then tell us what the chronology was. Matt Taibbi: I believe the thread came out first. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Where? Matt Taibbi: On Twitter Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): On Twitter. So then you afterwards gave it to the Republicans, and not the Democrats? Matt Taibbi: Yes, because I'm submitting it for the record as my statement. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Did you give it to him in advance? Matt Taibbi: I gave it to them today. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): You gave it to them today, but you still have not given anything to the Democrats. Well, I'll move on. 1:57:20 Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Now in your discussion, in your answer, you also said that you were invited by a friend, Bari Weiss? Michael Shellenberger: My friend, Bari Weiss. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): So this friend works for Twitter, or what is her....? Matt Taibbi: She's a journalist. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Sir, I didn't ask you a question. I'm now asking Mr. Shellenberger a question. Michael Shellenberger: Yes, ma'am, Bari Weiss is a journalist. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): I'm sorry, sir? Michael Shellenberger: She's a journalist. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): She's a journalist. So you work in concert with her? Michael Shellenberger: Yeah. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): Do you know when she first was contacted by Mr. Musk? Michael Shellenberger: I don't know. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX): You don't know. So you're in this as a threesome? 2:00:10 Michael Shellenberger: Reading through the whole sweep of events, I do not know the extent to which the influence operation aimed at "pre-bunking" the Hunter Biden laptop was coordinated. I don't know who all was involved. But what we saw was, you saw Aspen and Stanford, many months before then, saying don't cover the material in the hack and leak without emphasizing the fact that it could be disinformation. Okay, so they're priming journalists to not cover a future hack and leak in a way that journalists have long been trained to in the tradition of the Pentagon Papers, made famous by the Steven Spielberg movie. They were saying [to] cover the fact that it probably came from the Russians. Then you have the former General Counsel to the FBI, Jim Baker, and the former Deputy Chief of Staff to the FBI, both arriving at Twitter in the summer of 2020, which I find, what an interesting coincidence. Then, when the New York Post publishes its first article on October 14, it's Jim Baker who makes the most strenuous argument within Twitter, multiple emails, multiple messages saying this doesn't look real. There's people, there's intelligence experts, saying that this could be Russian disinformation. He is the most strenuous person inside Twitter arguing that it's probably Russian disinformation. The internal evaluation by Yoel Roth, who testified in front of this committee, was that it was what it looked to be, which was that it was not a result of a hack and leak operation. And why did he think that? Because the New York Post had published the FBI subpoena taking the laptop in December of 2019. And they published the agreement that the computer store owner had with Hunter Biden that gave him permission, after he abandoned the laptop, to use it however he wanted. So there really wasn't much doubt about the provenance of that laptop. But you had Jim Baker making a strenuous argument. And then, of course, you get to a few days after the October 14 release, you have the president of the United States echoing what these former intelligence community officials were saying, which is that it looked like a Russian influence operation. So they were claiming that the laptop was made public by the conspiracy theory that somehow the Russians got it. And basically, they convinced Yoel Roth of this wild hack and leak story that somehow the Russians stole it, got the information, gave us the computer, it was bizarre. So you read that chain of events, and it appears as though there is an organized influence operation to pre-bunk.... Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Why do you think they could predict the time, the method, and the person? Why could the FBI predict it? Not only did they predict this, they predicted it, so did the Aspen Institute, seemed like everyone was in the know saying, here's what's gonna happen, we can read the future. Why do you think, how do you think they were able to do that? Michael Shellenberger: I think the most important fact to know is that the FBI had that laptop in December 2019. They were also spying on Rudy Giuliani when he got the laptop and when he gave it to the New York Post. Now, maybe the FBI agents who are going to Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook and Twitter executives and warning of a hack and leak, potentially involving Hunter Biden, maybe those guys didn't have anything to do with the guys that had the top. We don't know that. I have to say, as a newcomer to this, as somebody that thought it was Russian disinformation in 2020, everybody I knew thought it was Russian disinformation, I was shocked to see that series of events going on. It looks to me like a deliberate influence operation. I don't have the proof of it, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty disturbing. 2:14:30 Matt Taibbi: We found, just yesterday, a Tweet from the Virality Project at Stanford, which was partnered with a number of government agencies, and Twitter, where they talked explicitly about censoring stories of true vaccine side effects and other true stories that they felt encouraged hesitancy. Now the imp— Unknown Representative: So these were true. Matt Taibbi: Yes. So they use the word truth three times in this email, and what's notable about this is that it reflects the fundamental misunderstanding of this whole disinformation complex, anti-disinformation complex. They believe that ordinary people can't handle difficult truths. And so they think that they need minders to separate out things that are controversial or difficult for them, and that's again, that's totally contrary to what America is all about, I think. 2:17:30 Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): Of course we all believe in the First Amendment, but the First Amendment applies to government prohibition of speech, not to private companies. 2:33:00 Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY): And even with, Twitter you cannot find actual evidence of any direct government censorship of any lawful speech. 2:33:20 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): I'd ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the following email from Clarke Humphrey, Executive Office of the Presidency, White House Office, January 23, 2021. That's the Biden Administration. 4:39am: "Hey folks," this goes to Twitter, "Hey folks, wanted..." they used the term Mr. Goldman just used, "wanted to flag the below Tweet, and I'm wondering if we can get moving on the process for having it removed ASAP." 2:35:40 Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA): He said the First Amendment applies to government censorship of speech and not private companies, but what we're talking about and what the Chairman just illustrated is that what we have here and what your Twitter files show is the Federal government has partnered with private companies to censor and silence the speech of American citizens. 2:29:20 Matt Taibbi: In the first Twitter files, we saw an exchange between Representative Ro Khanna and Vijaya Gadde, where he's trying to explain the basics of speech law in America and she's completely, she seems completely unaware of what, for instance, New York Times v. Sullivan is. There are other cases like Bartnicki v. Vopper, which legalized the publication of stolen material, that's very important for any journalists to know. I think most of these people are tech executives, and they don't know what the law is around speech and around reporting. And in this case, and in 2016, you are dealing with true material. There is no basis to restrict the publication of true material no matter who the sources and how you get it. And journalists have always understood that and this has never been an issue or a controversial issue until very recently. 2:44:40 Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL): Would you agree that there was a black list created in 2021? Michael Shellenberger: Sorry, yes, Jay Bhattacharya, the Stanford Professor, who I don't think anybody considers a fringe epidemiologist, was indeed -- I'm sorry, I couldn't, I didn't piece it together -- he was indeed visibility filtered. Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL): Correct. And so this blacklist that was created, that really was used to de-platform, reduce visibility, create lists internally, where people couldn't even see their profiles, that was used against doctors and scientists who produced information that was contrary to what the CDC was putting out, despite the fact that we now know that what they were publishing had scientific basis and in fact was valid. Michael Shellenberger: Absolutely. And not only that, but these are secret blacklists, so Professor Bhattacharya had no idea he was on it. 43:05 Matt Taibbi: The original promise of the internet was that it might democratize the exchange of information globally. A free internet would overwhelm all attempts to control information flow, its very existence a threat to anti-democratic forms of government everywhere. What we found in the Files was a sweeping effort to reverse that promise and use machine learning and other tools to turn the Internet into an instrument of censorship and social control. Unfortunately, our own government appears to be playing a lead role. We saw the first hints and communications between Twitter executives before the 2020 election, when we read things like "flagged by DHS," or "please see attached report from FBI for potential misinformation." This would be attached to an Excel spreadsheet with a long list of names, whose accounts were often suspended shortly after. #1940 - Matt Taibbi February 13, 2023 The Joe Rogan Experience Clips Matt Taibbi: So this is another topic that is fascinating because it hasn't gotten a ton of press. But if you go back all the way to the early 70s, the CIA and the FBI got in a lot of trouble for various things, the CIA for assassination schemes involving people like Castro, the FBI for, you know, COINTELPRO and other programs, domestic surveillance, and they made changes after Congressional hearings, the Church Committee, that basically said the FBI, from now on, you have to have some kind of reason to be following somebody or investigating somebody, you have to have some kind of criminal predicate and we want you mainly to be investigating cases. But after 9/11 they peeled all this back. There was a series of Attorney General memos that essentially re-fashioned what the FBI does, and now they don't have to be doing crimefighting all the time. Now they can be doing basically 100% intelligence gathering all the time. They can be infiltrating groups for no reason at all, not to build cases, but just to get information. And so that's why they're there. They're in these groups, they're posted up outside of the homes of people they find suspicious, but they're not building cases and they're not investigating crimes. It's sort of like Minority Report there, right? It's pre-crime. Matt Taibbi: We see reports in these files of government agencies sending lists of accounts that are accusing the United States of vaccine corruption. Now, what they're really talking about is pressuring foreign countries to not use generic vaccines. Right. And, you know, that's a liberal issue, that's a progressive issue. The progressives want generic vaccines to be available to poor countries, okay? But, you know, you can use this tool to eliminate speech about that if you want too, right? I think that's what they don't get is that the significance is not who [it's used against], the significance is the tool. What is it capable of doing, right? How easily is it employed, and you know, how often is it used? And they don't focus on that. Joe Rogan: Has anything been surprising to you? Matt Taibbi: A little bit. I think going into it, I thought that the relationship between the security agencies like the FBI and the DHS and companies like Twitter and Facebook, I thought it was a little bit less formal. I thought maybe they had kind of an advisory role. And what we find is that it's not that, it's very formalized. They have a really intense structure that they've worked out over a period of years where they have regular meetings. They have a system where the DHS handles censorship requests that come up from the States and the FBI handles international ones, and they all float all these companies and it's a big bureaucracy. I don't think we expected to see that. Matt Taibbi: I was especially shocked by an email from a staffer for Adam Schiff, the Congressperson, the California Congressman. And they're just outright saying we would like you to suspend the accounts of this journalist and anybody who retweets information about this Committee. You know, I mean, this is a member of Congress. Joe Rogan: Yeah. Matt Taibbi: Right? Most of these people have legal backgrounds. They've got lawyers in the office for sure. And this is the House Intelligence Committee. Protecting Speech from Government Interference and Social Media Bias, Part 1: Twitter's Role in Suppressing the Biden Laptop Story February 8, 2023 House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Witnesses: Vijaya Gadde, Former Chief Legal Officer, Twitter James Baker, Former Deputy General Counsel, Twitter Yoel Roth, Former Global Head of Trust & Safety, Twitter Annika Collier Navaroli, Former Policy Expert for Content Moderation, Twitter Clips 14:50 Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): What's more, Twitter's editorial decision has been analyzed and debated ad nauseam. Some people think it was the right decision. Some people think it was the wrong decision. But the key point here is that it was Twitter's decision. Twitter is a private media company. In America, private media companies can decide what to publish or how to curate content however they want. If Twitter wants to have nothing but Tweets commenting on New York Post articles run all day, it can do that. If it makes such tweets mentioning New York Post never see the light of day they can do that too. That's what the First Amendment means. 16:05 Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD): Officially Twitter happens to think they got it wrong about that day or two period. In hindsight, Twitter's former CEO Jack Dorsey called it a mistake. This apology might be a statement of regret about the company being overly cautious about the risks of publishing contents and potentially hacked or stolen materials, or it may reflect craven surrender to a right wing pressure campaign. But however you interpreted the apology just makes the premise of this hearing all the more absurd. The professional conspiracy theorists who are heckling and haranguing this private company have already gotten exactly what they want: an apology. What more do they want? And why does the US Congress have to be involved in this nonsense when we have serious work to do for the American people? 26:20 James Baker: The law permits the government to have complex, multifaceted, and long term relationships with the private sector. Law enforcement agencies and companies can engage with each other regarding, for example, compulsory legal process served on companies, criminal activity that companies, the government, or the public identify, such as crimes against children, cybersecurity threats, and terrorism, and instances where companies themselves are victims of crime. When done properly, these interactions can be beneficial to both sides and in the interest of the public. As you Mr. Chairman, Mr. Jordan, and others have proposed, a potential workable way to legislate in this area may be to focus on the actions of federal government agencies and officials with respect to their engagement with the private sector. Congress may be able to limit the nature and scope of those interactions in certain ways, require enhanced transparency and reporting by the executive branch about its engagements, and require higher level approvals within the executive branch prior to such engagements on certain topics, so that you can hold Senate confirmed officials, for example, accountable for those decisions. In any event, if you want to legislate, my recommendation is to focus first on reasonable and effective limitations on government actors. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 31:05 Vijaya Gadde: On October 14, 2020, The New York Post tweeted articles about Hunter Biden's laptop with embedded images that looked like they may have been obtained through hacking. In 2018, we had developed a policy intended to prevent Twitter from becoming a dumping ground for hacked materials. We applied this policy to the New York Post tweets and blocked links to the articles embedding those sorts of materials. At no point to Twitter otherwise prevent tweeting, reporting, discussing or describing the contents of Mr. Biden's laptop. People could and did talk about the contents of the laptop on Twitter or anywhere else, including other much larger platforms, but they were prevented from sharing the primary documents on Twitter. Still, over the course of that day, it became clear that Twitter had not fully appreciated the impact of that policy on free press and others. As Mr. Dorsey testified before Congress on multiple occasions, Twitter changed its policy within 24 hours and admitted its initial action was wrong. This policy revision immediately allowed people to tweet the original articles with the embedded source materials, relying on its long standing practice not to retroactively apply new policies. Twitter informed the New York Post that it could immediately begin tweeting when it deleted the original tweets, which would have freed them to retweet the same content again. The New York Post chose not to delete its original tweets, so Twitter made an exception after two weeks to retroactively apply the new policy to the Post's tweets. In hindsight, Twitter should have reinstated the Post account immediately. 35:35 Yoel Roth: In 2020, Twitter noticed activity related to the laptop that at first glance bore a lot of similarities to the 2016 Russian hack and leak operation targeting the DNC, and we had to decide what to do. And in that moment with limited information, Twitter made a mistake. 36:20 Yoel Roth: It isn't obvious what the right response is to a suspected, but not confirmed, cyber attack by another government on a Presidential Election. I believe Twitter erred in this case because we wanted to avoid repeating the mistakes of 2016. 38:41 Annika Collier Navaroli: I joined Twitter in 2019 and by 2020 I was the most senior expert on Twitter's U.S. Safety Policy Team. My team's mission was to protect free speech and public safety by writing and enforcing content moderation policies around the world. These policies include things like abuse, harassment, hate speech, violence and privacy. 41:20 Annika Collier Navaroli: With January 6 and many other decisions, content moderators like me did the very best that we could. But far too often there are far too few of us and we are being asked to do the impossible. For example, in January 2020 after the US assassinated an Iranian General and the US president decided to justify it on Twitter, management literally instructed me and my team to make sure that World War III did not start on the platform. 1:08:20 Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC): Did the US government ever contact you or anyone at Twitter to censor or moderate certain Tweets, yes or no? Vijaya Gadde: We receive legal demands to remove content from the platform from the US government and governments all around the world. Those are published on a third party website. 1:12:00 Yoel Roth: The number one most influential part of the Russian active measures campaign in 2016 was the hack and leak targeting John Podesta. It would have been foolish not to consider the possibility that they would run that play again. 1:44:45 Yoel Roth: I think one of the key failures that we identified after 2016 was that there was very little information coming from the government and from intelligence services to the private sector. The private sector had the power to remove bots and to take down foreign disinformation campaigns, but we didn't always know where to look without leads supplied by the intelligence community. That was one of the failures highlighted in the Senate Intelligence Committee's report and in the Mueller investigation, and that was one of the things we set out to fix in 2017. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA): On September 8 2019, at 11:11pm, Donald Trump heckled two celebrities on Twitter -- John Legend and his wife Chrissy Teigen -- and referred to them as "the musician John Legend and his filthy mouth wife." Ms. Teigen responded to that email [Tweet] at 12:17am. And according to notes from a conversation with you, Ms. Navaroli's, counsel, your counsel, the White House almost immediately thereafter contacted Twitter to demand the tweet be taken down. Is that accurate? Annika Collier Navaroli: Thank you for the question. In my role, I was not responsible for receiving any sort of request from the government. However, what I was privy to was my supervisors letting us know that we had received something along those lines or something of a request. And in that particular instance, I do remember hearing that we had received a request from the White House to make sure that we evaluated this tweet, and that they wanted it to come down because it was a derogatory statement towards the President. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA): They wanted it to come down. They made that request. Annika Collier Navaroli: To my recollection, yes. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA): I thought that was an inappropriate action by a government official, let alone the White House. But it wasn't Joe Biden, about his son's laptop. It was Donald Trump because he didn't like what Chrissy Teigen had to say about him, is that correct? Annika Collier Navaroli: Yes, that is correct. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA): My, my, my. 1:45:15 Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH): Mr. Roth, were those communication channels useful to Twitter as they work to combat foreign influence operations? Yoel Roth: Absolutely, I would say they were one of the most essential pieces of how Twitter prepared for future elections. 2:42:35 Rep. Becca Balint (D-VA): Ms. Gadde, did anyone from the Biden campaign or the Democratic National Committee direct Twitter to remove or take action against the New York Post story? Vijaya Gadde: No. 4:15:45 Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): And now we forward to 2020. And earlier you had testified that you were having regular interactions with National Intelligence, Homeland Security and the FBI. Yoel Roth: Yes, I did. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): And primarily to deal with foreign interference? Yoel Roth: Primarily, but I would say -- Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): But you had said earlier your contact with Agent Chang was primarily with foreign interference? Yoel Roth: Yes, that's right. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): And these were emails....were there meetings? Yoel Roth: Yes, Twitter met quarterly with the FBI Foreign Interference Task Force and we had those meetings running for a number of years to share information about malign foreign interference. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): Agents from Homeland Security or Intelligence, or just primarily the FBI? Yoel Roth: Our primary contacts were with the FBI and in those quarterly meetings, they were, I believe, exclusively with FBI personnel. 4:18:05 Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): Earlier today you testified that you were following national security experts on Twitter as a reason to take down the New York Post story on Hunter Biden's laptop. Yoel Roth: Yes, sir, I did. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): So after 2016, you set up all these teams to deal with Russian interference, foreign interference, you're having regular meetings with the FBI, you have connections with all of these different government agencies, and you didn't reach out to them once? Yoel Roth: Is that question in reference to the day of the New York Post article? Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): Yeah. Yoel Roth: That's right. We generally did not reach out to the FBI to consult on content moderation decisions, especially where they related to domestic activity. It's not that we wouldn't have liked that information, we certainly would have. It's that I don't believe it would have been appropriate for us to consult with the FBI. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): In December of 2020, you did a declaration to the Federal Election Commission that the intelligence community expected a leak and a hack operation involving Hunter Biden. Recently, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that the FBI warned Meta that there was a high effort of Russian propaganda including language specific enough to fit the Hunter Biden laptop security story. You're talking to these people for weeks and months, years prior to this leaking. They have specifically told you in October, that there's going to be a leak potentially involving Hunter Biden's laptop. They legitimately and literally prophesized what happened. And you didn't contact any of them? Yoel Roth: No, sir, I did not. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): Did they reach out to you? Yoel Roth: On and around that day, to the best of my recollection, no, they did not. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): After the story was taken down and you guys did it, and you personally disagreed with it Ms. Gadde, did you contact them and say is "Hey, is this what you were talking about?" Yoel Roth: If that question was directed to me. No, I did not. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): Ms. Gadde, did you talk to anybody from the FBI? Vijaya Gadde: Not to the best of my recollection. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): So I guess my question is, what is the point of this program? You have constant communication, they're set up for foreign interference. They've legitimately warned you about this very specific thing. And then all of a sudden, everybody just walks away? 5:18:55 Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM): We are devoting an entire day to this conspiracy theory involving Twitter. Now, the mission of this committee is to root out waste, fraud and abuse and to conduct oversight on behalf of the American people. And if you need any evidence of waste, fraud and abuse, how about the use of this committee's precious time, space and resources to commit to this hearing? 5:58:25 Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO): Back to Mr. Roth, is it true that Twitter whitelisted accounts for the Department of Defense to spread propaganda about its efforts in the Middle East? Did they give you a list of accounts that were fake accounts and asked you to whitelist those accounts? Yoel Roth: That request was made of Twitter. To be clear, when I found out about that activity, I was appalled by it. I undid the action and my team exposed activity originating from the Department of Defense's campaign publicly. We've shared that data with the world and research about it has been published. 6:07:20 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Mr. Roth, I want to go back to your statement in your declaration to the FEC "I learned that a hack and leak operation would involve Hunter Biden," who did you learn that from? Yoel Roth: My recollection is it was mentioned by another technology company in one of our joint meetings, but I don't recall specifically whom. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): You don't know the person's name? Yoel Roth: I don't even recall what company they worked at. No, this was a long time ago. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): And you're confident that it was from a tech company, not from someone from the government? Yoel Roth: To the best of my recollection, yes. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Did anyone from the government, in these periodic meetings you had, did they ever tell you that a hack and leak operation involving Hunter Biden was coming? Yoel Roth: No. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Did Hunter Biden's name come up at all these meetings? Yoel Roth: Yes, his name was raised in those meetings, but not by the government to the best of my recollection. 6:09:30 Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): Mr. Roth, why were you reluctant, based on what I read in the Twitter files, why were you reluctant to work with the GEC? Yoel Roth: It was my understanding that the GEC, or the Global Engagement Center of the State Department, had previously engaged in at least what some would consider offensive influence operations. Not that they were offensive as in bad, but offensive as in they targeted entities outside of the United States. And on that basis, I felt that it would be inappropriate for Twitter to engage with a part of the State Department that was engaged in active statecraft. We were dedicated to rooting out malign foreign interference no matter who it came from. And if we found that the American government was engaged in malign foreign interference, we'd be addressing that as well. 6:13:50 Rep. James Comer (R-KY): Twitter is a private company, but they enjoy special liability protections, Section 230. They also, according to the Twitter files, receive millions of dollars from the FBI, which is tax dollars, I would assume. And that makes it a concern of the Oversight Committee. Does Section 230's Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior? October 28, 2020 Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Witnesses: Jack Dorsey, [Former] CEO, Twitter Sundar Pichai, CEO, Alphabet and Google Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook [Meta] Clips 2:20:40 Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA): The issue is not that the companies before us today are taking too many posts down. The issue is that they're leaving too many dangerous posts up. In fact, they're amplifying harmful content so that it spreads like wildfire and torches our democracy. 3:15:40 Mark Zuckerberg: Senator, as I testified before, we relied heavily on the FBI, his intelligence and alert status both through their public testimony and private briefings. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): Did the FBI contact you, sir, than your co star? It was false. Mark Zuckerberg: Senator not about that story specifically. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): Why did you throttle it back? Mark Zuckerberg: They alerted us to be on heightened alert around a risk of hack and leak operations around a release and probe of information. Emerging Trends in Online Foreign Influence Operations: Social Media, COVID-19, and Election Security June 18, 2020 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Watch on YouTube Witnesses: Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Security Policy at Facebook Nick Pickles, Director of Global Public Policy Strategy and Development at Twitter Richard Salgado, Director for Law Enforcement and Information Security at Google 1:40:10 Nathaniel Gleicher: Congressman, the collaboration within industry and with government is much, much better than it was in 2016. I think we have found the FBI, for example, to be forward leaning and ready to share information with us when they see it. We share information with them whenever we see indications of foreign interference targeting our election. The best case study for this was the 2018 midterms, where you saw industry, government and civil society all come together, sharing information to tackle these threats. We had a case on literally the eve of the vote, where the FBI gave us a tip about a network of accounts where they identified subtle links to Russian actors. Were able to investigate those and take action on them within a matter of hours. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 1: 3:05pm- According to a report from NJ.com, the New Jersey state government spent $522,000 in COVID-19 relief money on the purchase of eight SUVs used to transport Governor Phil Murphy and other state officials. Murphy's administration also spent an estimated $15 million to improve the state's prospects of hosting the 2026 World Cup. 3:10pm- Republican Dave McCormick is exploring the idea of running against U.S. Senator Bob Casey Jr. in 2024. In 2022, McCormick lost the Republican nomination for Pat Toomey's vacated Senate seat.  3:20pm- According to a report from CNN's Senior Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid, the Justice Department was fully prepared to seek a warrant to search President Joe Biden's Wilmington, Delaware home had Biden's team not consented to a search. Reid emphasized that “there could be more searches.”  3:35pm- Speaking with the press on Wednesday, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) explained that Congress should have access to the classified documents discovered at President Biden's home and UPenn office. Cotton argued that it's necessary to review the documents in order to properly assess whether they could have impacted national security. Cotton also said he would like to review the classified documents discovered at Mike Pence's Indiana home. The Executive branch has not yet granted bipartisan requests for access to the aforementioned documents.  3:45pm- Remember that time when Joe Biden plagiarized a speech initially delivered by former leader of Britain's Labour Party Neil Kinnock?  4:05pm- New York Times journalist & “1619 Project” author Nikole Hannah Jones will be paid an astounding $33,350 to deliver a one-hour lecture at Fairfax County Public Library—Northern Virginia taxpayers will pay the exorbitant speaker fee.  4:30pm- While appearing on Fox News, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo applauded Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy's decision to remove Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) from the House Intelligence Committee. Pompeo accused Schiff of routinely leaking classified information while serving on the committee.  4:40pm- Zeoli complains about “having” to go to a black-tie event. What a burden! 4:45pm- While speaking with Charlie Kirk, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis endorsed Harmeet Dhillon over Ronna McDaniel for Republican National Committee Chairwoman. McDaniel has been RNC Chairwoman since 2017. 4:50pm- Meta has restored former President Donald Trump's Facebook page. The Washington Post writes, “[b]eing reinstated to Facebook means Trump will be able to resume fundraising to his presidential campaign.”  5:00pm- Dr. EJ Antoni—Research Fellow for Regional Economics in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss his most recent opinion editorial for Fox Business, “GDP Report Reveals Ominous Great Depression Warning Sign Not Seen Since 1932.” Read the article at: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/gdp-report-reveals-ominous-great-depression-warning-sign-1932 5:20pm- In a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion editorial, Adam Sanchez, a teacher at Central High School in Philadelphia, denounced the Union League's decision to honor Florida Governor Ron DeSantis earlier this week. Sanchez baselessly accused DeSantis of forbidding the teaching of racism and slavery in public schools—critiquing the Governor's comprehension of American history. Ironically, Sanchez concludes his editorial by espousing the beliefs of historian Howard Zinn, a Marxist with a history of making unsubstantiated claims, and the Zinn Education Project—even revealing that he uses material from the Zinn Education Project in his lesson plans. Daniel J. Flynn of George Washington University documents Zinn's most outlandish history rewrites. For example, in “A People's History of the United States,” Zinn writes of America's founding: “certain important people in the English colonies made a discovery that would prove enormously useful for the next two hundred years. They found that by creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity called the United States, they could take over land, profits, and political power.” Flynn notes Zinn completely rejects the idea America was founded on liberty and equality. Why is this being taught to kids in Philadelphia's public schools?  5:45pm- While delivering a speech on Thursday, President Joe Biden made a joke about people thinking he's “stupid” mere moments before forgetting the name of a Congressperson in attendance.  6:05pm- On Twitter, the Associated Press Stylebook recommended not using dehumanizing “the” labeling. The examples they provided: “the poor, the mentally ill, the French.” What? 6:10pm- Appearing on “The Midnight Miracle” podcast, comedian Dave Chappelle stated that his jokes don't incite violence—but people protesting his jokes frequently justify violence in order to get their way. 6:20pm- On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate held a hearing to determine if Live Nation Entertainment has become a monopoly. Musical artist Clyde Lawrence told Senators that Live Nation Entertainment controls the “promoter, venue, and ticketing company.”  6:30pm- President Biden's U.S. District Judge nominee Charnelle Marie Bjelkengren was unable to tell Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) what is discussed in Article II or V of the United States Constitution.  6:45pm- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez repeatedly says she's in New York…while standing in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C.

The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 3: Dr. EJ Antoni—Research Fellow for Regional Economics in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation—joins The Rich Zeoli Show to discuss his most recent opinion editorial for Fox Business, “GDP Report Reveals Ominous Great Depression Warning Sign Not Seen Since 1932.” Read the article at: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/gdp-report-reveals-ominous-great-depression-warning-sign-1932 In a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion editorial, Adam Sanchez, a teacher at Central High School in Philadelphia, denounced the Union League's decision to honor Florida Governor Ron DeSantis earlier this week. Sanchez baselessly accused DeSantis of forbidding the teaching of racism and slavery in public schools—critiquing the Governor's comprehension of American history. Ironically, Sanchez concludes his editorial by espousing the beliefs of historian Howard Zinn, a Marxist with a history of making unsubstantiated claims, and the Zinn Education Project—even revealing that he uses material from the Zinn Education Project in his lesson plans. Daniel J. Flynn of George Washington University documents Zinn's most outlandish history rewrites. For example, in “A People's History of the United States,” Zinn writes of America's founding: “certain important people in the English colonies made a discovery that would prove enormously useful for the next two hundred years. They found that by creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity called the United States, they could take over land, profits, and political power.” Flynn notes Zinn completely rejects the idea America was founded on liberty and equality. Why is this being taught to kids in Philadelphia's public schools? While delivering a speech on Thursday, President Joe Biden made a joke about people thinking he's “stupid” mere moments before forgetting the name of a Congressperson in attendance. 

Brad is joined by Congressperson Jared Huffman, who represents California's 2nd District. Rep. Huffman is the only member of the House who is not affiliated with a religious tradition. He started the Freethought Caucus in 2018 to highlight the concerns and needs of Americans who are humanists, freethinkers, agnostics, and otherwise invested in freethinking in politics and the public square. Perhaps most importantly for SWAJ in March 2022 Rep. Huffman held a hearing on White Christian nationalism that reviewed a report on J6 by the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Baptist Joint Committee. He has called out Christian nationalism on the House floor and said that it is infecting our government. Join us at the SWAJ Live Event: https://www.bradonishi.com/nationalism/ We have in-person tickets at 50% off - use SWAJ50 (limited number available) We have virtual tickets at 50% off - use SWAJ50 (limited number available) Pre-Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163 For access to the full Orange Wave series, click here: https://irreverent.supportingcast.fm/products/the-orange-wave-a-history-of-the-religious-right-since-1960 To Donate: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/BradleyOnishi Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/straightwhiteamericanjesus SWAJ Apparel is here! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/listing/not-today-uncle-ron Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://swaj.supportingcast.fm