Podcasts about DOJ

Tommy and Ben discuss: the fallout from the Trump administration's strikes on Venezuela and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, why President Trump chose Maduro's VP Delcy Rodríguez to run the country instead of opposition leader María Corina Machado, how the DOJ's new indictment of Maduro shows that the administration has been lying about him being the head of a drug cartel, and the comparisons between the Venezuela operation and the 1989 invasion of Panama to arrest Manuel Noriega. Then they dig into the (unfortunately named) “Donroe Doctrine” and what Trump's embrace of regime change means for the world, including how seriously we should take his threats against Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, and Greenland. Finally, they explain why Iranians have been protesting in huge numbers for over a week, how serious of a threat the protests pose to the regime, and debate whether we should take seriously Trump's threat to respond militarily if the regime kills protesters. Then Ben speaks to Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) about President Trump's lack of transparency to Congress about the attack on Venezuela, how much it's costing American taxpayers, and how Democrats are trying to stop him from future invasions. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's been five years since rioters stormed the Capitol in one of the most violent events on U.S soil in recent history. To commemorate the day and remind Americans of the consequences that still reverberate around the nation, House Democrats organized a hearing to “to set the record straight on the violent insurrection carried out by supporters of Donald Trump.” In this bonus episode, you'll hear from Winston Pingeon, a former United States Capitol Police Officer, Brendan Ballou, a former Department of Justice Prosecutor, Pamela Hemphill, a rioter who refused President Trump's pardon, and Main Justice co-host Mary McCord, the Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) and Visiting Law Professor at Georgetown.Audio provided by the Office of Leader Hakeem Jeffries.Here is an OpEd on MS Now from Mary that reflects her testimony: Political violence doesn't always look like Jan. 6 Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Wednesday, January 7th, 2026Today, the DOJ finally got a federal grand jury indictment of the alleged pipe bomber; the Wyoming Supreme Court has struck down laws banning abortion and abortion pills; less than 1 percent of the Epstein Files have been released according to a new court filing; the CDC has axed a number of recommended childhood vaccines; Trump says he'll use your taxpayer dollars to reimburse oil barons for drilling in Venezuela; Republican Representative Doug LaMalfa has died further narrowing the GOP's House majority; the White House has unveiled a new January 6th webpage blaming Democrats and Capitol Police; the government says if you put a sticker over Trump's face on your Parks Pass you'll invalidate it; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.Thank You, Daily LookFor 50% off your first order, head to DailyLook.com and use code DAILYBEANS.  Stories:DOI cracks down on stickers covering Trump's face on national park passes | SF GateU.S. Axes Number of Recommended Childhood Vaccines in Blow to Public Health | Scientific AmericanDOJ says millions of Epstein files have yet to be released | POLITICOWhite House unveils Jan. 6 webpage saying Democrats ‘staged the real insurrection,' criticizing Capitol Police | The HillTrump says the U.S. may reimburse oil companies for rebuilding Venezuela's infrastructure | NBC NewsRepublican Rep. LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP's House majority | Washington PostWyoming Supreme Court keeps abortion legal, strikes down pill ban | AP NewsGood TroubleControl of the House of Representatives is in play right now!With margins this close, this year is critically important. Getting involved with local organizations and grassroots groups can make a real difference in special elections. Staying connected and taking action could help Democrats retake the House - or effectively neutralize the majority sooner than you might expect.Find upcoming actions, marches, and other ways to get involved:Indivisible.org, 50501 Movement, No Kings.orgFrom The Good NewsThat Gay Guy Candle Co.@mercurystardusttopz - InstagramMercury Stardust - YouTubeA Queer Guide to Home Repair: Safe and Sound by Mercury Stardust →Go To DailyBeansPod.com Click on ‘Contact' → ‘Good News and Good Trouble' to Share YoursSubscribe to the MSW YouTube Channel - MSW Media - YouTubeOur Donation LinksPathways to Citizenship link to MATCH Allison's Donationhttps://crm.bloomerang.co/HostedDonation?ApiKey=pub_86ff5236-dd26-11ec-b5ee-066e3d38bc77&WidgetId=6388736Allison is donating $20K to It Gets Better and inviting you to help match her donations. Your support makes this work possible, Daily Beans fam. Donate to It Gets Better / The Daily Beans FundraiserJoin Dana and The Daily Beans and support on Giving Tuesday with a MATCHED Donation http://onecau.se/_ekes71More Donation LinksNational Security Counselors - Donate

The U.S. is allegedly considering intervention in Iran after Maduro's arrest. The DOJ drops the claim that “Cartel de los Soles” is an actual cartel. Trump says the U.S. will keep Venezuelan oil & reimburse oil firms. Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/TYT and use code TYT and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! Hosts: Ana Kasparian & Cenk Uygur SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE ☞  https://www.youtube.com/@TheYoungTurks FOLLOW US ON: FACEBOOK  ☞   https://www.facebook.com/theyoungturks TWITTER  ☞       https://twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM  ☞  https://www.instagram.com/theyoungturks TIKTOK  ☞          https://www.tiktok.com/@theyoungturks

Rod and Karen discuss their Podcast anniversary, Doug LaMalfa dies, DOJ sued on eve of Jan. 6 to 'shed light' on top officials' communications about Trump pardons, Fans slam Dwight Howard for urging Donald Trump to impose mandatory military service, Megyn Kelly doesn’t support Trump’s war because her kids might get drafted, Trump warns that if GOP loses midterms he could be impeached, George Clooney and family become French citizens, Barn where Emmett Till was slain is bought as a ‘sacred site’ - Mississippi Today, Kevin Durant Committed $10M To Establish A Free Maryland-Based After-School Facility, Bishop Patrick Wooden Criticizes Jamal Bryant During Sermon, Gender Wars, women attack couple in road rage incident, officer gets on Zoom with no pants for court hearing, dad steals baby mama's car while she's giving birth and sword ratchetness. Podjam 3 Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/podjam3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theblackguywhotips Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rodimusprime⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SayDatAgain⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TBGWT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TheBlackGuyWhoTips⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theblackguywhotips@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Blog: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.theblackguywhotips.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Teepublic Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠- https://the-black-guy-who-tips-podcast.dashery.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon Wishlist⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ – https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1PDD9JUQUNVY5?ref_=wl_share ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Crowdcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ – https://www.crowdcast.io/theblackguywhotips Voicemail: ‪(980) 500-9034 Go Premium: https://www.theblackguywhotips.com/premium/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, the January 6th Pipe Bomber is being held in pretrial detention as the DOJ tries to cover up his motives.Nicolás Maduro pleads not guilty.Pete Hegseth is going to strip Mark Kelly of his retirement benefits.Federal judges rule against the Trump Administration in immigration enforcement cases. Go to joindeleteme.com/CLEANUP, and enter code CLEANUP at checkout for 20% off your DeleteMe plan. Allison Gillhttps://muellershewrote.substack.com/https://bsky.app/profile/muellershewrote.comHarry DunnHarry Dunn | Substack@libradunn1.bsky.social on BlueskyWant to support this podcast and get it ad-free and early?Go to: https://www.patreon.com/aisle45podTell us about yourself and what you like about the show - http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=short Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Krystal and Emily discuss DOJ admits Maduro cartel is fake, Megyn Kelly rips Fox coverage, Zionist oligarch to profit off Venezuela, guerillas mobilize in Venezuela. To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show AD FREE, uncut and 1 hour early visit: www.breakingpoints.comMerch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just days into 2026, Mary and Andrew dive into a fresh slate of legal questions brought on by the United States' surprise extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife to New York to face criminal charges. Unpacking why the operation is widely viewed as illegal in both Venezuela and here at home, they focus on the Trump administration's pattern of self-excusing questionable tactics under the banner of fighting crime and drug smuggling. Next, as the fifth anniversary of the January 6th insurrection approaches, Mary previews her upcoming testimony in front of House Democrats on the impact the broad swath of pardons for J6 convictions has had, before the co-hosts review Jack Smith's now public deposition before the House Judiciary Committee. Last, Mary and Andrew turn to the newly unsealed order in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case, in which the judge believes DOJ officials may have pushed to prosecute him only after he was wrongly deported to El Salvador.Further reading:Former Special Counsel Jack Smith's testimony transcript is HERE,  the video is HEREHERE is Judge Gary R. Brown's ruling from 12/18 on the awful conditions in an ICE detention facility in Long Island, NY. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Thanks to TrekMovie.com for naming Trek Politics the “Best Themed Podcast” of 2025! The invasion and occupation of Venezuela. This is about imperialism and oil revenues. Twitchy Stephen Miller lost his shpadoinkle on CNN. Greenland is next. Europe's Joint Statement on Greenland. Tiny Trump was slurring his words while announcing the attack. The charges against Maduro have ZERO to do with fentanyl. The New York Times confirmed that 40 Venezuelan civilians were killed. It's the five year anniversary of Jan. 6 – and Donald may have accidentally pardoned the pipe bomber. Meantime...the Epstein Files. DOJ admits it has only released 12,285 documents required by Epstein Files Transparency Act. Donald was a supplier of girls in Epstein's human trafficking operation. Marla Maples's warning. Tim Walz dropped out of his re-election campaign. Good news about Donald's military deployments. Good news about green energy. With Jody Hamilton, David Ferguson, music by Brother Dynamite, Richard Turgeon, and more! Support our new sponsor Quince.com!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Michael Cohen reacts to the DOJ revealing that millions of additional Epstein files exist as officials attempt to bury the story with distractions, including chaos surrounding Venezuela. House Democrats are refusing to let the files disappear and are demanding their release. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part one of Red Eye Radio with Gary McNamara and Eric Harley, Democrats in Minnesota are urging longtime Sen. Amy Klobuchar to jump into the blue-leaning state's race for governor in the wake of Monday's blockbuster move by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to end his 2026 re-election bid amid political fallout from a massive fraud scandal. Klobuchar is receiving calls urging her to run for governor and the possibility of appointing Walz to the state Senate. Also the DOJ's investigation into the Minnesota fraud scandal and a close look into fraud in other blue states as well. And the double-edged sword of social media and how public servants mitigate their communication alongside citizen journalism. For more talk on the issues that matter to you, listen on radio stations across America Monday-Friday 12am-5am CT (1am-6am ET and 10pm-3am PT), download the RED EYE RADIO SHOW app, asking your smart speaker, or listening at RedEyeRadioShow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

0:30 - Maduro: Reactions 16:41 - Pro-Maduro protestors 40:02 - The fall of Walz 01:02:26 - Child actors wanted 01:18:17 - In-depth History with Frank from Arlington Heights 01:21:22 - Joseph Moreno, former DOJ federal prosecutor and U.S. Army combat veteran, breaks down the legal case behind Maduro’s removal — plus the censure of Sen. Kelly and Jack Smith’s testimony 01:34:37 - Wirepoints founder Mark Glennon warns Illinois, New York, and other blue states are about to learn some painful lessons about socialism. 01:52:31 - Navy veteran Tom Caldwell recounts his arrest, imprisonment, and fight for survival as a J-6er. For more of Tom’s story, check out his book The Mouths of the Wicked: A True January 6 Story of Corruption, Persecution, Survival and Victory 02:10:49 - Former federal prosecutor Bill Shipley: Yes, The Trump/Bondi DOJ Is Aggressively Pursuing Multiple Fraud Investigations In Minnesota — Here Are The Details. For more from Bill, check out his substack substack.com/@shipwreckedcrewSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this explosive episode, Tara breaks down why federal investigators are flooding Minneapolis — and why local Democrat leadership is panicking in public. After Minnesota Governor Tim Walz abruptly drops out of the governor's race, Trump officials signal what many already suspect: this isn't a PR issue — it's criminal exposure. With 2,000 federal agents deployed, funds frozen, daycare and SNAP programs under review, and ICE on the ground, the reaction from city leaders has turned desperate. From suitcases of cash moving through airports, to empty daycares raking in millions, to a mayor all but threatening ICE agents, Tara lays out a fraud operation years in the making — and why it's finally being exposed.

Tara breaks down a sweeping federal crackdown unfolding in Minneapolis and beyond — from thousands of fraud and immigration investigators deployed, to explosive revelations about ghost daycare centers, suitcase cash operations, and decades-old investigations buried by Washington. As panic spreads among Democrat officials, Tara explains why this moment is different, how crime statistics are finally moving in the right direction, and why the media's narrative about “chaos” and “war” collapses under basic facts and long-standing law. This episode connects fraud, open borders, crime, censorship, and media deception — and shows why accountability is suddenly back on the table.

With the CA state auditor alleging 70 BILLION worth of taxpayer funds "lost," Trump again today announced the DoJ is investigating. Like Maduro & Tim Walz, Gavin may want to get his go-bag packed.

The DOJ missed a legally mandated December 19 transparency deadline on the Epstein files and has offered little more than vague assurances that it is still “working behind the scenes” to process millions of documents. That explanation rings hollow given how long the government has possessed this material and how predictable the transparency requirement was. Missing the deadline is not a clerical slip but a statement of priorities, signaling continued institutional resistance to full disclosure. The invocation of massive document counts functions less as a justification than as a delay tactic, one designed to exhaust public attention and blunt accountability while preserving protection for powerful interests connected to Epstein.The DOJ has repeatedly shifted the goal posts on Epstein transparency by turning clear legal and public demands into an endless process with no fixed endpoint. Each time a deadline or disclosure requirement approaches, it is met not with documents, but with new justifications—more records to review, more redactions to apply, more internal steps to complete. What began as a mandate for transparency has been reframed into a moving target defined entirely by the DOJ's own pace and preferences. This pattern allows the department to appear cooperative while functionally delaying accountability, keeping the most damaging material out of public view while insisting progress is being made. The result is a rolling postponement that undermines the law itself and reinforces the perception that when Epstein is involved, transparency is something the DOJ controls, not something it complies with.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.com

A behind-the-scenes explanation of what a high-risk operation would require—intel, rehearsals, timing, air-defense countermeasures, and the kind of “boring details” that decide whether people live or die. You'll hear a former CIA voice walk you through why human sources still matter, why leadership authorization changes everything, and why “Maduro gone” doesn't automatically mean “Venezuela free.”Then you shift gears with comedian/radio host Kevin Downey Jr., who shares his account of January 6—what he says he witnessed, how he describes the crowd's behavior, and what it felt like to get pulled into the media/DOJ narrative machine. Along the way, you'll hear commentary on information ops, public trust, and why certain stories stay hot long after the facts are disputed.

In a highly critical new court filing, the **U.S. Department of Justice has acknowledged that more than 2 million documents potentially responsive to the Epstein Files Transparency Act remain in “various phases of review,” even though the law required all unclassified material to be publicly released by Dec. 19, 2025. To date, the DOJ has only posted about 12,285 documents (roughly 125,000 pages) — less than 1 % of the estimated total — and says that hundreds of Justice Department attorneys and FBI analysts are still slogging through the backlog to identify, review, and redact material for release. The department also revealed that it uncovered over 1 million new files late in the process that were not included in its initial review, further expanding an already massive effort. This disclosure came in a letter signed by top DOJ officials including Attorney General Pam Bondi and was submitted to a federal judge overseeing compliance with the law, underlining how far the agency remains from meeting its statutory obligations.Critics — from members of Congress to survivors of Epstein's trafficking network — have panned the DOJ's slow pace and partial disclosures, arguing that the vast number of yet-to-be-released documents suggests a failure of transparency and accountability at the heart of a case tied to powerful figures and alleged systemic failures. The department defends its approach by pointing to the need for meticulous redactions to protect victim privacy and the logistical challenge posed by the sheer volume of records, but the continued delay past the congressional deadline has fueled accusations of obfuscation and insufficient urgency. With millions of pages still in review and no clear timetable for full release, the DOJ's handling of the Epstein files remains a flashpoint in ongoing debates over transparency, justice for victims, and public trust in federal institutions.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:DOJ tells court it has more than 2M Epstein documents to review ahead of redacted release | The IndependentBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

The DOJ missed a legally mandated December 19 transparency deadline on the Epstein files and has offered little more than vague assurances that it is still “working behind the scenes” to process millions of documents. That explanation rings hollow given how long the government has possessed this material and how predictable the transparency requirement was. Missing the deadline is not a clerical slip but a statement of priorities, signaling continued institutional resistance to full disclosure. The invocation of massive document counts functions less as a justification than as a delay tactic, one designed to exhaust public attention and blunt accountability while preserving protection for powerful interests connected to Epstein.The DOJ has repeatedly shifted the goal posts on Epstein transparency by turning clear legal and public demands into an endless process with no fixed endpoint. Each time a deadline or disclosure requirement approaches, it is met not with documents, but with new justifications—more records to review, more redactions to apply, more internal steps to complete. What began as a mandate for transparency has been reframed into a moving target defined entirely by the DOJ's own pace and preferences. This pattern allows the department to appear cooperative while functionally delaying accountability, keeping the most damaging material out of public view while insisting progress is being made. The result is a rolling postponement that undermines the law itself and reinforces the perception that when Epstein is involved, transparency is something the DOJ controls, not something it complies with.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

On this episode we break down the stunning arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and his wife, now in U.S. custody on narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, and weapons charges, as Maduro claims he was “kidnapped” while his son calls for street protests and threatens traitors back home. We dig into what the DOJ alleges, the legality of the military capture, the power vacuum in Venezuela, and why this case could carry the death penalty. Then we shift to Minnesota where Governor Tim Walz abruptly drops out of his re-election race amid a massive fraud scandal involving billions in allegedly stolen taxpayer dollars, lashing out at Trump, Republicans, and “right-wing YouTubers” while refusing questions. Finally, we cover the bizarre and disturbing arrest of a hammer-wielding suspect accused of smashing windows at Vice President JD Vance's Ohio home, including the suspect's wealthy family background, ongoing mental health issues, prior vandalism cases, and why this incident is raising new concerns about political violence and security.#Maduro#TimWalz#JDVanceGet more AoA and become a member to get exclusive access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOfx0OFE-uMTmJXGPpP7elQ/joinGet Erin C's book here: https://amzn.to/3ITDoO7Get Merch here - https://bit.ly/AnthonyMerchSubscribe to the Anthony On Air Podcast here:Facebook - https://bit.ly/AntOnAirFBYouTube - https://bit.ly/AntOnAirYTApple Podcast - https://bit.ly/AntOnAirAppleSpotify - https://bit.ly/AntOnAirSpotTwitter - https://bit.ly/AntOnAirTwitterInstagram - https://bit.ly/AntOnAirInstaTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@anthonyonairpodDiscord - https://discord.gg/78V469aV22Get more at https://www.AnthonyOnAir.com

Maduro y su esposa seguirán detenidos en Nueva York y comparecerán nuevamente en marzo; María Corina Machado dijo que planea regresar a Venezuela “tan pronto” como sea posible y el DOJ dice que hay más de dos millones de documentos “potencialmente relevantes” del caso Epstein, entre otras noticias. Más información en UnivisionNoticias.com.

Event Summary (WATCH: PRESIDENT TRUMP PRESS CON HERE) The U.S. military executed a highly complex and precise operation in Caracas, Venezuela, to apprehend Maduro. The mission involved over 150 aircraft, advanced coordination across multiple military branches, and cyber and space operations. The operation was completed without any American casualties, which is emphasized as a major success. Geopolitical Context Venezuela’s significance stems from its vast oil reserves (largest in the world) and strategic location near the U.S. Maduro’s regime is portrayed as illegitimate, corrupt, and deeply involved in drug trafficking and alliances with U.S. adversaries (Russia, China, Iran, Hezbollah). The discussion highlights Venezuela’s decline from being one of the wealthiest nations in the 1950s to a failed state under socialist rule. Legal Justifications President Trump acted within his constitutional authority under Article II as Commander-in-Chief. References are made to historical precedents, notably the 1990 capture of Manuel Noriega in Panama. The legal basis includes: FBI’s extraterritorial arrest authority. Precedents like the Ker-Frisbie doctrine and United States v. Alvarez-Machain. DOJ opinions (including one by Bill Barr) affirming presidential power to authorize such actions. Anticipated legal challenges include head-of-state immunity and UN Charter arguments. Future Implications (WATCH HERE: Is Cuba Ready to Fall?) There will be geopolitical ripple effects in Latin America, especially Cuba and Colombia. Avoiding prolonged U.S. military occupation in Venezuela is key Discussion of possible democratic elections and leadership changes in Venezuela. Please Hit Subscribe to this podcast Right Now. Also Please Subscribe to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson and The Ben Ferguson Show Podcast Wherever You get You're Podcasts. And don't forget to follow the show on Social Media so you never miss a moment! Thanks for Listening YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruz/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/verdictwithtedcruz X: https://x.com/tedcruz X: https://x.com/benfergusonshowYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve discusses the United States' actions in Venezuela, why they're marks of an empire, and why (in this case) that's a good thing. Then Steve unveils his top 10 predictions for 2026, from extraterrestrial contact to geopolitical influence-swaps. In Hour Two, FBI whistleblower Steve Friend joins the show to share the latest in his attempts to get his job back and what went wrong. Finally the team tries to figure out how things could be going (seemingly) so wrong at the DOJ. TODAY'S SPONSORS: DWELL BIBLE: https://get.dwellbible.com/steve/?utm_campaign=sponsorships&utm_content=&utm_medium=podacst&utm_source=steve_deace&utm_term= JASE MEDICAL: https://jasemedical.com/ and enter code “DEACE” at checkout for a discount on your order Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger PictureThe [CB] system is being dismantled, Trump getting control of the oil will begin to bring prices down further, once Iran has regime change, it is game over for the [DS]/[CB] system. Gas prices will fall further when the US begins to drill. The [CB] debt is in violation of the constitution and most it will most likely be wiped out and the [CB] will cease to exist. The [DS] is panicking, from dictators, fake news and the D’s they are all panicking. The [DS] world is now coming to and end and it is being exposed and dismantled for the world to see. The [DS] is no longer in control, the patriots are. Trump and team sent a clear message, everything you are seeing is to return the power back to the people. Economy (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2007823029846372858?s=20 https://twitter.com/Geiger_Capital/status/2008196746653151644?s=20 https://twitter.com/echodatruth/status/2008056541627228502?s=20   to $1 TRILLION in Latin American precious metals, including Venezuelan supply. Let that sink in. An $8 BILLION state-of-the-art facility, jointly backed by Wall Street capital and the U.S. Department of Defense, now sits at the center of the supply chain. This isn't about invasion. This is about control, security, and price discovery. • Physical metals moving out of unstable regions • Refining brought back under U.S. oversight • Paper markets losing influence • Strategic metals secured for energy, defense, and AI When governments build first and explain later, it's not speculation, it's preparation. Silver isn't being hyped. It's being positioned. Know What You Hold.  https://twitter.com/profstonge/status/2008176575833948484?s=20  roads 4. Bankruptcy, counterfeiting, piracy laws 5. Patents and copyrights 6. Regulate commerce with foreign nations, between states, and with Native tribes 7. Declare war; maintain army, navy, and militia 8. Establish lower federal courts 9. Exercise authority over Washington, D.C. That means roughly 80% of federal spending is, in fact, illegal. Political/Rights https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/2007937505296093357?s=20   (up 31%) enough to kill 130 million Americans -Nihilistic Violent Extremism arrests up 490% -Over 6,000 child victims located (up 22%) -Espionage arrests up 35% -Multiple successful surges including Summer Heat which had almost 9,000 arrests in just three months This FBI is saving lives, protecting innocent kids, and taking deadly drugs off our streets at levels not seen in decades. None of it would've been possible without Dan's leadership and support. And he paved the way for even better things to come. Thank you @dbongino .  https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/2008177002608779675?s=20 DOGE Geopolitical https://twitter.com/jsolomonReports/status/2007493457338605628?s=20 https://twitter.com/Leon4Congress/status/2007969020352647528?s=20  2020 indictments, $15 million bounty, and expanded sanctions In 2022, President Biden increased the then-$15 million bounty on Maduro to $25 million. 25million for anyone who can deliver Maduro to America. 2026 Trump executes the orders of Obama and Biden. Who is the joker, hero or villain? Obama , Biden or Trump https://twitter.com/amuse/status/2008198931985879499?s=20  to power. Why? https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/2008061863565852729?s=20 https://twitter.com/mattvanswol/status/2007919000773353481?s=20   https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/2008155905880453463?s=20 https://twitter.com/ColonelTowner/status/2007827528711590045?s=20  https://twitter.com/WallStreetMav/status/2008188125617569887?s=20   start taking back its deported gang members. https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/2007988528677052517?s=20 https://twitter.com/DerrickEvans4WV/status/2008083325802696896?s=20 https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2008032031876202758?s=20 https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/2008176950427423164?s=20   Trump wants to make a deal with Mexico like he did with the Nigerian government. The cartels are going to be eradicate https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/2007990748910682257?s=20   grandparents, etc. It's been a dream they prayed to witness. 3/4 of my grandparents didn't survive to see it. Attached are some photos of my Grandpa Julio “Papi” who's alive still and my deceased Grandma Martha in Cuba during better times as young love birds. Fidel Castro stole everything but their love and their lives. Same with my other grandparents Rafael and Ophelia and my Mom. They lost everything but their love and their lives. Now there's hope of a free Cuba for our long lost family there and hope of making past wrongs right once again. I'm with President Trump all the way. Cuba should be a rich, island paradise and it can be as a US territory. It's a strategic asset for our safety too as a base of operations to defend our homeland in the mainland US. There's no downside to toppling the communists who've only stayed in power by killing and jailing Cubans for decades. Now is the time. It can also serve as a helpful spot to run any US/Venezuela operations that benefits America instead of a narco pass through entity used by our enemies as a constant threat to American safety. Russia, China, Venezuela and many others have used Cuba to threaten us for long enough. It's time we take control and empower the Cuban people. No American blood needs to be spilled. This can be a massive win for the future of both Cuba and more importantly, for America. It's time for the evil of communism to die. https://twitter.com/AwakenedOutlaw/status/2007882386529542519?s=20 https://twitter.com/FaytuksNetwork/status/2008187454595969240?s=20   rials monthly ($7). https://twitter.com/AwakenedOutlaw/status/2007930486438682861?s=20 https://twitter.com/RyanSaavedra/status/2007978922458444265?s=20   longer had it. He did something and saw the consequences.” The message: Leave now. Ayatollah Khamenei plans to flee to Moscow if Iran unrest intensifies The republic's supreme leader has plotted an exit route out of Tehran should his forces fail to quell dissent, an intelligence report reveals https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/2008206247808700734?s=20 War/Peace Medical/False Flags [DS] Agenda https://twitter.com/remarks/status/2007947270910841313?s=20 https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/2008031475057439076?s=20   Weaver outline how homeowners will need to modify their view on their property ownership to reflect a new municipal perspective that considers all individually owned property to be part of a new collective property viewpoint as controlled by city government. “For centuries we really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good, in transitioning into treating it as a collective good and towards the model of shared equity … it will mean that families, especially White families … are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have.” It is likely that Mayor Mamdani and Director Weaver are going to run into some stiff legal opposition as they try to reimagine a world where individuals are not allowed to own property.   https://twitter.com/AAGDhillon/status/2008207308950782417?s=20 https://twitter.com/amuse/status/2007866604139225514?s=20   briefings. After 9/11, New York's mayors kept the NYPD commissioner in a direct, daily intelligence loop. That model is now ending. Mamdani has removed the Commissioner Jessica Tisch direct line to his office, relegating police leadership to the same access level as garbage collection. The shift weakens situational awareness at the top & reflects a belief that Islamic terror threats no longer require mayoral focus. https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2008183851802337656?s=20 https://twitter.com/wcdispatch/status/2008018760746078438?s=20     done, in my opinion, an even more dishonest and incompetent job. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW! Mugshot Emerges of Deranged Man Accused in Vance Home Attack, VP Blasts Media for Publishing Home Images Authorities have released the mugshot of 26-year-old William DeFoor following his arrest for allegedly attempting to break into Vice President JD Vance’s Cincinnati home with a hammer.   The booking photo, posted by the Hamilton County Justice Center, also lists the charges DeFoor is facing, including vandalism, criminal trespass, criminal damaging or endangering, and obstructing official business. Cincinnati police and Secret Service agents responded swiftly to reports of the vandalism, arriving at the scene to detain the man without further incident. No one was injured, as Vance and his family had already left for Washington, D.C. at that time. https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/2008188525162721647?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008188525162721647%7Ctwgr%5Ec29f78485445e314b120eda36408e134f4f5245a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Frusty-weiss%2F2026%2F01%2F05%2Fmugshot-emerges-of-deranged-man-accused-in-vance-home-attack-vp-blasts-media-for-publishing-home-images-n2197767   already to DC. One request to the media: we try to protect our kids as much as possible from the realities of this life of public service. In that light, I am skeptical of the news value of plastering images of our home with holes in the windows. Source: redstate.com President Trump's Plan https://twitter.com/SecWar/status/2008189258528665898?s=20   is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice. Therefore, in response to Senator Mark Kelly's seditious statements — and his pattern of reckless misconduct — the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret). The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay. To ensure this action, the Secretary of War has also issued a formal Letter of Censure, which outlines the totality of Captain (for now) Kelly's reckless misconduct. This Censure is a necessary process step, and will be placed in Captain Kelly's official and permanent military personnel file. Captain Kelly has been provided notice of the basis for this action and has thirty days to submit a response. The retirement grade determination process directed by Secretary Hegseth will be completed within forty five days. Captain Kelly's status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action. These actions are based on Captain Kelly’s public statements from June through December 2025 in which he characterized lawful military operations as illegal and counseled members of the Armed Forces to refuse lawful orders. This conduct was seditious in nature and violated Articles 133 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to which Captain Kelly remains subject as a retired officer receiving pay. https://twitter.com/TonySeruga/status/2008201370458075286?s=20  energy, and corporatism, all are reliant on the narcos for dark funding. Just look at how they are treating Maduro? It’s like he is a rock star. Already with 5 ‘costume’ changes just today. Does Maduro look worried?  THE FIX IS IN? YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP: 92-Year-Old Clinton Judge Who Denied Trump's Hush-Money Removal to Federal Court and Blocked Venezuelan Gang Deportations Now Assigned to Preside Over Maduro Case in New York President Trump Shuts Down Fake News Reporter Trying to Pit Rubio and Vance Against Each Other (AUDIO)  Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed back to the White House on Sunday evening after spending the Christmas holiday at Mar-a-Lago in South Florida. President Trump shut down a fake news reporter who was trying to create a wedge between Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.   A legacy media reporter tried to stir up a little trouble and President Trump promptly shut her down. “What you say that Marco Rubio has your ear more than the Vice President right now?” a reporter asked President Trump. Trump shut it down. “No! They both do. JD is very smart and doing a great job and so is Marco! I would say they're equal,” Trump said. The reporter continued, “It sounds like [Rubio] is the go to and you were just talking about Cuba and what could come next there.” AUDIO: Source: thegatewaypundit.com https://twitter.com/AwakenedOutlaw/status/2008092328867869069?s=20  a plea of some sort. In fact, that may well have been pre-negotiated thereby removing the judges ability to thwart the prosecution. These images support as much. https://twitter.com/Rasmussen_Poll/status/2007939030839701667?s=20   election systems currently in use here have been newly examined last year by Federal authorities and are apparently FULL of illegal CCP sourced items – While @DNIGabbard is still withholding her completed official report on this, her boss is now aggressively retweeting older descriptors of evidence against Dominion and our US Election Theft Syndicate in general. This is apparently the overture of what is to come – The Secret Dominion/Huawei Data Center in Belgrade, Serbia – that emphatically and officially did not exist – DID exist and was disabled by U.S. gov employees just days prior to the 2024 election. It has now been dismantled, which may disappoint former CIA Director John Brennan, who reportedly financed half of it from the CIA ‘Black Budget.’ The other half of the funding was from our dear friends in China. That’s right, the theft of The US Presidency and multiple other elections worldwide was co-financed by our own CIA – Top Venezuelan engineers who reportedly designed and executed multiple foreign based election frauds in America using Dominion and Smartmatic systems are in America under U.S. gov protection and have provided sworn testimony. They include an engineer who personally helped illegally install Joe Biden as President in 2020 – These engineers are also joined by General Hugo Carvjal, former Head of Venezuelan Intelligence, now in jail in New York (his cellmate is Diddy Combs) and he is cooperating with Fed authorities (see below) – Another Venezuelan General has now also joined General Carvjal in providing 1st person testimony – Official state and court adduced evidence of 2020 election fraud has been compiled for every one of the battleground states. Cowardice and corruption within the American judiciary has scuttled any real progress – Georgia corruption came into better focus last month as Fulton County admitted not following the law concerning over 300K ‘votes’ and then their most corrupt state judge agreed to unseal the 2020 ‘warehouse ballots,’ many of which are officially sworn to be likely counterfeit. What a sad crooked bunch – The DOJ is suing multiple states to require compliance with Federal election laws including HAVA – Georgia is among them – and @AAGDhillon is leading the charge – President Trump pardoned Tina Peters but corrupt Colorado officials refuse to release her from prison. Colorado wants to litigate her role as a Federal officer in their elections while her health declines due to their horrible conditions. Colorado officials are going to pay dearly – An American Armada, the likes of which hasn’t been assembled in this century, sits off the coast of U.S. Election Theft Central. They are resting up after the historic strike extraction of Maduro. They will not idle long. The President promises to clean out all the cartel del Soles thugs and return Venezuela to democratic self governance. A big job but essential to keeping America safe and its enemies out of our hemisphere and out of our elections.  https://twitter.com/WarClandestine/status/2007981628648206368?s=20   which gave hope to the low-morale Continental Army and boosted enlistment, and eventually led to victory. I think Trump and the US MIL were sending a message. Now is when we start winning the war against the Deep State. I think we have graduated into a new phase of the operation. https://twitter.com/WarClandestine/status/2007924998703366560?s=20   necessary for what comes later, when Trump invokes the Insurrection Act and sends US MIL to cities nationwide. If the US MIL are going to conduct mass arrests, the public will need to trust them and trust Trump. So for those asking why Trump is arresting Maduro before arresting treasonous actors in the US, I think there is method to the madness. The high-profile US arrests will likely be towards the end, after more of the public are fully bought in on the operation to dismantle the Deep State. Arresting people is the easy part. Convincing billions of people that high-profile individuals, including former heads of state, need to be arrested… that's the tricky part. https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2008033626294792665?s=20 https://twitter.com/USDOL/status/2007933111729021305?s=20 (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:13499335648425062,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7164-1323"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.customads.co/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

Monday, January 5th, 2026Today, the Trump administration has invaded Venezuela without authorization from Congress and has arrested Nicolas Maduro; oil barons are already booking flights to Venezuela to plunder the oil there; MSW Media has filed a response to DOJ in the Epstein training videos FOIA case; five years later we're fighting a battle over the basic facts of January 6th; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.Thank You, Daily LookFor 50% off your first order, head to DailyLook.com and use code DAILYBEANS.  Thank You, HomeChefFor a limited time, get  50% off and free shipping for your first box PLUS free dessert for life!  HomeChef.com/DAILYBEANS.  Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert.I Just BLEW UP Trump's EPSTEIN LIE in NEW FILING to DOJ | YouTubeStories:The Venezuela Takeover | The New York TimesFinance Industry Eyes Investment Opportunities in Venezuela | WSJTexas Democrats fill every state and federal race on 2026 ballot, a first for either party | Texas TribuneGood TroubleOppose the US intervention in Venezuela?Indivisible will send an email on your behalf to your Congressmember.Take Action: Stop Trump's War in Venezuela | Indivisible GuideThey also have scripts for phone calls to make it easy for you to voice your opposition to Trump using our military like they're a part of Big Oil.From The Good NewsTahquitz Canyon →Go To DailyBeansPod.com Click on ‘Contact' → ‘Good News and Good Trouble' to Share YoursSubscribe to the MSW YouTube Channel - MSW Media - YouTubeOur Donation LinksPathways to Citizenship link to MATCH Allison's Donationhttps://crm.bloomerang.co/HostedDonation?ApiKey=pub_86ff5236-dd26-11ec-b5ee-066e3d38bc77&WidgetId=6388736Allison is donating $20K to It Gets Better and inviting you to help match her donations. Your support makes this work possible, Daily Beans fam. Donate to It Gets Better / The Daily Beans FundraiserJoin Dana and The Daily Beans and support on Giving Tuesday with a MATCHED Donation http://onecau.se/_ekes71More Donation LinksNational Security Counselors - Donate

A feckless Chief Justice who is obviously trying to avoid being attacked by his favorite president Trump, issued a worthless “Final Report” on this past year at the Judiciary, filled with misstatements, omissions and misleading “statistics”. Missing from the report? Any mention of Trump's attacks on the Judiciary, Judges, Lawyers and Law Firms, the violence threatened against them, the use of rogue US Attorneys to go after Trump's political enemies, the corruption of the DOJ, the lack of ethics at the Supreme Court, and the battle that has spilled into the open between the lower federal trial courts and the Supreme Court, or the Court being complicit with Trump through the use of the “shadow docket” to allow back door appeals to side with Trump 86% of the time. Michael Popok blows apart the Report and its attempt to wrap Roberts and judges in a flag to fool the American people into believing that the Third Branch hasn't been captured by MAGA and Trump. Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast⁠ Legal AF: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af⁠ MissTrial: ⁠https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial⁠ The PoliticsGirl Podcast: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast⁠ Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan⁠ Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen⁠ The Weekend Show: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show⁠ Burn the Boats: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats⁠ Majority 54: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54⁠ Political Beatdown: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown⁠ On Democracy with FP Wellman: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman⁠ Uncovered: ⁠https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's Headlines: Looks like there's no easing into this new year. Trump dramatically escalated his Venezuela fixation this weekend, launching major strikes in Caracas and having Nicolás Maduro pulled from his home and flown to federal detention in Brooklyn. Maduro was re-indicted on familiar narcotrafficking charges, while Trump bragged that the U.S. is effectively “running Venezuela now” alongside American oil companies. But instead of installing Trump's preferred opposition figure, Venezuela's Supreme Court tapped Maduro's vice president Delcy Rodríguez as interim leader. Before all that, the U.S. had spent weeks chasing a Venezuela-bound oil tanker — until Russia swooped in on New Year's Eve, added it to its registry, and painted a Russian flag on the side to shield it from seizure. Trump also hosted President Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago with Stephen Miller, Jared Kushner, and Pete Hegseth, claiming “progress” while simultaneously echoing outrage on Putin's behalf after a friendly call with him. Abroad, Switzerland's army chief warned the country couldn't withstand a major attack, protests in Iran turned deadly as Trump threatened to “intervene,” and Trump ordered Christmas Day strikes on ISIS militants in Nigeria. On the home front, Trump froze all childcare payments nationwide after citing a Minnesota welfare fraud case involving a small group of Somali immigrants — while simultaneously moving to garnish wages from millions of student loan borrowers in default starting in January. One notable check on his power: the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 against his National Guard deployments to several U.S. cities. Meanwhile, the newly released Jack Smith testimony says he had evidence Trump committed multiple felonies that could rise to treason before his cases were shut down — and the massive Epstein document dump is already under scrutiny for delays, missing records, and questionable redactions, including internal DOJ emails noting Trump flew on Epstein's plane more than previously known. Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode: NBC News: Maduro arrives in New York after capture in Venezuela NYT: How Trump Fixed On a Maduro Loyalist as Venezuela's New Leader NYT: Russia Asks United States to Stop Pursuit of Fleeing Oil Tanker NBC News: Trump and Zelenskyy project optimism about prospects for a Ukraine-Russia peace deal despite 'thorny issues' The Daily Beast: Putin Burns Trump With Embarrassing Details of Phone Chat Reuters: Army chief says Switzerland can't defend itself from full-scale attack PBS: Trump threatens to intervene in Iran if regime continues to kill protesters NYT: U.S. Strikes ISIS in Nigeria After Trump Warned of Attacks on Christians NYT: Trump and Netanyahu Exchange Praise After Meeting, Showing Few Signs of Strain CNN: Israel becomes first country to formally recognize Somaliland as independent state AP News: Trump's attacks on Minnesota's Somali community cast a spotlight on fraud cases The Guardian: Trump administration reportedly freezes all childcare payments to all states CNBC: Trump administration to start seizing pay of defaulted student loan borrowers in January WaPo: Trump ends effort to keep National Guard in Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland PBS: Read Jack Smith's full deposition on the decision to indict Trump Axios: Mike Pence's think tank poaches top Heritage staff as MAGA rift grows NBC News: Justice Department is reviewing 5.2 million pages of Jeffrey Epstein files NBC News: The president, the plane and the prince: Top takeaways from the 3rd Epstein files release Des Moines Register: Democrat wins Iowa Senate election, holding off GOP supermajority CNBC: USPS changes may delay postmark dates. What it means for your tax returns, ballots, bills and more Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@LegalAFMTN?sub_confirmation=1 In late December, the Department of Justice missed the federally mandated deadline to release all the Epstein files, citing the huge number of files it needs to process. On Christmas Eve, the DOJ revealed it had “found” another 1 million Epstein documents and recent reports claim there are more than 5 million documents yet to be reviewed. Asha and Renato break down the Epstein files saga and how Congress can compel Attorney General Pam Bondi to comply with the law. Plus, they discuss the latest revelation that the U.S. bombed a facility for the first time on Venezuelan soil. Finally, Asha and Renato analyze the ethics of generative AI and search engines. Asha Substack: https://asharangappa.substack.com/Subscribe to our podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/its-complicatedFollow Asha on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/asharangappa.bsky.socialFollow Renato on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/renatomariotti.bsky.socialFollow Asha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asha.rangappa/Follow Renato on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renato.mariotti/Cruise with us! https://www.travelstore.com/group-travel/its-complicated-cruise-2026/ Legal AF Substack: https://substack.com/@legalaf Follow Legal AF on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/legalafmtn.bsky.social Follow Michael Popok on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mspopok.bsky.social Subscribe to the Legal AF by MeidasTouch podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legal-af-by-meidastouch/id1580828595 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

KnifeRights.org head Doug Ritter joins Cam to discuss the DOJ's recent court filing that claims "there is no constitutional right to carry concealed or inherently concealable weapons" in defense of the Federal Switchblade Act.

In this episode, we delve into the intricate world of the Chicago Outfit’s informants, featuring insights from my late friend, Cam Robinson, and Paul Whitcomb, a well-respected expert on the mob. This special compilation draws from past interviews and shorts that once highlighted various informants who operated during the notorious 1980s era of organized crime in Chicago. Through a series of concise segments, we explore the lives of key players who chose to turn against the Outfit, revealing the complex motivations and consequences of their decisions. We kick things off by revisiting the tale of Paul “Peanuts” Pansko, an influential figure leading the Polish faction of the Outfit. Pansko's criminal activities, including a racetrack heist, not only placed him in dangerous territory but also set into motion a chain of events that would later link to the infamous Family Secrets trial. It's during this journey that we outline how interconnected the informants’ narratives are, showcasing how Pansko’s actions inadvertently unraveled parts of the organization.   The discussion shifts to more dramatic stories, including Mario Rainone. Rainone's infamous decision to cooperate with the authorities opened the door to significant revelations about Lenny Patrick, one of the highest-ranking Outfit members to switch sides. Rainone's tapes ultimately led to the dismantling of major sections of the Outfit’s operations, including political connections that had long shielded them from legal repercussions.   We also explore the tale of Ken “Tokyo Joe” Eto, a Japanese mobster who thrived within the Outfit’s ranks. His attempts at self-preservation after surviving an assassination effort highlighted the stark realities faced by those who navigated the perilous landscape of organized crime. As he eventually became a witness for the prosecution, Eto’s insights illuminated the internal workings of one of Chicago’s most feared organizations. The episode further examines dramatic betrayals and deadly encounters that shaped the Outfit’s legacy. From the chilling events surrounding the murders of the Spilotro brothers, orchestrated by their own associates for reasons steeped in loyalty and betrayal, to the grim fate that met informants like Al Toco and the impact of domestic discord on organized crime, each tale is a window into the bleak realities faced by both mobsters and informants alike. As we round out the episode, we reflect on the cultural dynamics surrounding informants, particularly how personal relationships and family ties heavily influenced their decisions to cooperate. It becomes clear through the interviews that while fear of retribution often compels loyalty, the specter of betrayal looms large within the mob. This multifaceted examination blends personal stories with historical context, providing a deeper understanding of the Chicago Outfit’s complexity and its operatives. Join us in this retrospective journey through the shadows of organized crime as we pay homage to those who bravely shared their stories, revealing the inner workings of a criminal empire that continues to fascinate and terrify in equal measure. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. Transcript [0:00] Well, hey, guys, after listening to Bob Cooley, one of the more damaging sources and witness and informant to the Chicago Outfit outside of the Calabrese family, [0:13] Nick and his nephew, Frank Jr., I got the rest of the Chicago Outfit informants on tap here. No, not really. They’re not coming in. But I did do a story. I did a series of shorts a few years, or I don’t know, two or three years ago, maybe. [0:32] I interviewed my late friend, Cam Robinson, rest in peace, Cam. So you get to hear from him again. And Paul Whitcomb, who is a Chicago outfit expert, he’s been on this. They used to have some kind of a round table show up there. I don’t know if they still have it or not with the Seiferts. But anyhow, I got these guys to sit down with me and talk about all the different informants in Chicago during the, it was during the 80s. So this is just kind of a series of shorts that I put up before. They’re six or eight minutes long, I think, each one of them, that they talk about different informants. This kind of threw it together as another little bonus episode we’ve done. And I went to Chicago, if you notice, after Johnny Russo, which I apologize for in a way, I don’t know. I mean, the guy’s got some crazy-ass stories, doesn’t he? Who am I to say that he didn’t do it? But most people know that he didn’t do most of that stuff. Anyhow, so I threw up another Chicago right away about the guy that had the race wire that they killed, James Reagan. [1:38] Then i had this interview that i’d been doing during those last couple weeks with bob cooley who’s appeared uh out of nowhere and he’ll maybe see him on some other shows now he’s he’s wanting to do shows he tells me so after hearing bob cooley talk i thought well i’m doing do one more i want to just throw it up as an extra uh from some of my old chicago outfit stuff and that’ll finish me off on the Chicago outfit for a while. I hadn’t, I hadn’t been in Chicago, uh, doing shows about Chicago for quite a while. And, and I didn’t want to, uh, neglect you guys. You know, I get a lot of books written about New York and I’ve got all these authors that are wanting to do these books about New York. Uh, not so much about Chicago. So if you got anybody that, you know, wants to, got a book and wants to come on the show, uh, talking about the outfit, why steer them to me. So anyhow, just sit back and relax and enjoy. [2:37] My late, great friend, Cam Robinson. One more look at Cam, for those of you who remember him, and Paul Whitcomb. And we’re going to talk about famous snitches from Chicago. Thanks, guys. Well, let’s move along now to, this is kind of interesting, Paul Peanuts Panczko, who was the leader of the Polish branch of the outfield. Is that what you would call Peanuts Panczko, the leader of the Polish branch? If the Polish branch is the Panczko family, which you could easily say there were three brothers, then yeah, that wouldn’t be right. We haven’t really done a show on them. I don’t know a whole lot about them other than they were released at all. So we said non-Italian, Peckerwood, as we call them at Kansas City, professional criminals who did a lot of business with different outfit people. And he did a robbery of a racetrack. I think it’s the Balmoral Racetrack. It’s the name of it. James Duke Basile and then Panczko was in trouble for that and he convinced Basile to come in and they did some talking remember anything about that situation, you know in a lot of ways you. [3:50] Panczko could be considered one of the first dominoes that eventually led to the Family Secrets trial. Panczko, as you said, led to Dookie Bazile, who they had done robberies together. Bazile led them to Scarpelli, who was a much higher guy. I mean, there’s debate, but he was, because there was a making ceremony at this time, but Scarpelli was pretty highly ranked. I mean, he was a known killer, and he was up there. He was in the wild bunch. But Scarpelli then did tell them about a lot of the things that Frank Calabrese had done. [4:28] He wasn’t known as well as Scarpelli had brought him up to be. And a lot of those things dominoed into what would eventually lead to family secrets years later. [4:42] Scarpelli, I think, did not know so much about Nick, but he did know about Frank. And so a lot of that information sort of filled in the gaps. And even though Frank Calabrese Jr. Led them led them to Nick They A lot of seeds were planted And can be traced back to Pianus Pansico Um. [5:01] So it is kind of an interesting line. Basile, he wore a wire on Scarpelli and not even talking about a lot of these things. It’s not the FBI knew about that. They were in a car together. Right. If I remember right, he even talked about a mob graveyard. They went up there and they found two or three bodies. One of them was connected. It wasn’t anybody really important, but one of them was connected to Harry Aleman. So it was a pretty important wearing of a wire on Scarpelli, who then came at himself for a while. And that’s what led to the family secrets. He talked about Frank Calabrese. Is that what you’re saying? Yeah, that’s right. And some of those bodies in that graveyard were 10 years apart, which was interesting. I’ve got, it’s on the map that I created, but some of those bodies, there was years in between them. So it was something they were going back to and they believed that there were a lot of things there they did not find. Yeah, because they built a health care facility or something. They built some big building over where there would have been bodies. Right. Right. And the fascinating thing about this is Scarpelli, like, just like Cam said, this guy was a serious killer. He was a muscle builder. He was a terrifying guy. I mean, he had almost inhuman physical strength. Yeah. And when he flipped, he was completely debriefed by the FBI and the DOJ and then decided to try and change his mind. [6:27] But before he could do that He hung himself in the bathroom Of the Metropolitan Correctional Center With his hands behind his back And a bag over his head, Who was he in prison with? Who was he in MCC with, Paul? Was it anybody? He did happen to be in the MCC with the German at the time. He bound his hands behind his back and put a bag over his own head. He did. He did. And so the outfit continues to somehow persuade people to take their own lives rather than testify against them. [7:07] It’s a hell of a way to die by suicide it is by suicide at least they didn’t have arrows in his back, not as far as we know yeah it was terrible he cut his own head off I saw a cartoon once that the homicide guy liked to go ahead and maybe real suckle of suicide because then you could just walk away from it so there’s a dead body laying there with a bunch of arrows at his back and a homicide detective standing over him with a hand and pencil and says, hmm, suicide, huh? [7:44] Got the inside joke. It worked homicide. You see how those guys sometimes will try to make something into a suicide that probably is a homicide. On the other hand, we had one, we had a mob guy, he wasn’t really a mob associate, who had gone to Vegas. He lost a lot of money and they found his body in his car at the airport parking lot after coming back from Vegas and they found out later lost a lot of money and the car was parked up against the fence and he was shot in the head and there was no gun in the car you know found so just assume that somebody shot him in his head the car kept going and rolling up against the fence. [8:25] But this one detective, I remember Bob Pence is his name. He was dumb. And he started, he went back over and he dusted that car for prints again. And he got some more evidence out of it. And then he went back to the airport and he looked and started asking questions. And he found out later that somebody who had a pickup truck parked there had a week later, three or four days later, come back and got his truck. When he got home he found a pistol inside the bed of his truck and he called the airport or he called somebody turned it in Pinson found that pistol that was a pistol that that shot the guy so Pinson's theory was he was rolling along in his car he shot himself in the head and then he flipped that pistol out is with a reaction he flipped it out and went in the bed in that pickup and then it rolled on up against the fence and they ruled it a suicide wow damn that’s not that different than Scarpelli I mean the fbi to this day insists it was suicide yeah well, Oh, well, right. All right. Let’s move along to Mario. John, the arm. Rainone. [9:41] Is that correct, Cam? That yeah, that’s Rainone. Yeah. So tell us about that. I know we talked about this, you know, a little bit about this one. [9:50] This is kind of a funny one. He was he was sent to kill a building inspector. Raynaud was with the Grand Avenue crew and so he’s en route to kill this guy and this is one of those mob blunders and he sees a couple guys following him and it’s Rudy Fredo and Willie Messino and he recognizes him when he’s driving over there and it’s important to point out who these guys are, Cam, not to interrupt you Willie Messino, was the right hand man and bodyguard for Tony Accardo for 30 years I mean, he was serious, serious business. Rudy Frayto, you know, the chin, but Massino was serious news. If you saw Willie Massino, you knew he were in for trouble. Yeah, he wasn’t there as backup to do anything except clean up after Rainone, including Rainone. So Rainone saw the writing on the wall. He pulls up and he goes straight to the FBI. [10:54] And he informs, he talks to them and gives them his information. And later on, he sort of regrets doing so, denies that he ever did. Uh, there were, there were, uh, articles written about him. There’s a, there’s a Chicago Tribune writer, John Cass, and Ray Nolan had a back and forth with him writing letters. This is how these mob guys in Chicago operate, talking about, I’m, I ain’t no beefer. And, uh. Once he was out of prison in 2009, he was busted several more times. If you can believe it, he stayed in the criminal life. He was robbing a liquor store with another guy. And the guy he was robbing with, this is why I jump ahead a little bit, was a guy named Vincent Forliano. He claimed that he didn’t even know Fratto or Messino. These were guys he didn’t know, so he never would have informed against them. The guy he was robbing the liquor store with and he was committing other robberies with, Vincent Forliano, was Fredo’s son-in-law. [11:56] So he was committing robberies with a guy related to the guy, but he didn’t know who they were. And to say that somebody didn’t know, as Paul said, Willie Messino, is just ludicrous. Anybody in the criminal atmosphere, period, knew who Willie Messino was because you were probably paying money to it. to exist. And this is extremely important because Rainone, at the time this happened, Rainone cooperated long enough to record conversations with Lenny Patrick. That’s right. That’s right. And that set dominoes in place that would lead to the fall of the outfit. Even though he tried to take back his cooperation, to say he never cooperated, I’ve heard those tapes that were played in trials that I participated in, so I I know better. Uh, and that’s why they call him Mario flip flop Rainone because he, uh, would cooperate and uncooperate and then cooperate. But he is the one who got Lenny Patrick on the hook. Yeah. [13:00] Interesting, interesting. Let’s just continue on with this Lenny Patrick because we weren’t going to talk about him. That’s a good lead hand to talk about another, really one of the most important informants that year who testified. [13:13] Can you talk about the domino that led to the end? Rainone really, really flipped the domino that kicked over. Go ahead, Paul. Well, Lenny Patrick was the highest, and even to this day, remains the highest ranking member of the outfit to ever turn state’s evidence. The guy was a capo in all but name. He had been in charge of Rogers Park, the gambling. He was essentially the head of the Jewish arm of the mafia, kind of the Meyer Lansky figure of Chicago. And when the Lawndale neighborhood moved north to Rogers Park, he moved with them, and he had his own crew. He reported directly to Gus Alex, who was, of course, at the very top, and Sam Carlisi. And he was dealing with Marcello and Carlesi in a number of different outfit ventures, loan sharking. He personally had been staked by Carlesi with a quarter million in cash to put out on the street. And he was involved in extortions Bombings of theaters All these things directly at the command of Sam Carlisi Who was then the boss of bosses of the Chicago outfit So when Rainone got him on tape They set up what was the beginning of the end for the outfit And I think people need to understand who Gus Alex is also For people outside of Chicago Gus Alex was. [14:40] Basically, I guess you could call him the equivalent of maybe the consigliere in Chicago. When you look at Chicago, the triumvirate in the 70s, once a guy like Paul Ricca died and several major outfit leaders died in the early 70s. [14:58] Tony Accardo decided that the outfit would be led by himself, by Joy Iupa, and the political wing and all of the non-Italians and all of the grift and a lot of aspects would be led by Gus Alex. So he was essentially on the same level as Joey Iupa, and he was responsible for much more for things of greater import than Joey Iupa. I mean, controlling the political arm and all the payoffs and all of that is much, much more than the streets and the murders. So all the politics and all the anything that had to do was definitely fell under gus alex and he was part of a ruling triumvirate he was a non-italian part of a ruling triumvirate with iupa and uh acardo so he was the the leader top of the outfit and he had been for years going back to going back to the 30s and the 40s 40 he had come up under, the Murray the Camel Humphreys and had made those connections he was the most connected guy in the Chicago outfit, so for a guy like Lenny Patrick to be. [16:15] Rollover against is essentially the political leader, national political leader and political leader of Chicago. This was absolutely crippling to the outfit. That was he wiped out the entire political arm of the Chicago outfit. After Lenny Patrick brought down Gus Alex, this became a basically a street crime organization. It was that those political contacts. I mean, I think that’s a fair statement, right, Paul? Those political contacts and judges, I mean, that was all but eliminated with Gus Alex going away. You’re absolutely right, Cam. And he not only took out Gus Alex, but he took out the boss of the Italians, too. That’s right, yeah. Both of them at the same time. He wiped out the outfit, and you put it beautifully by saying it became a street crime organization. You think about the division of labor and it started with IUP and IUP and. [17:19] La Pietra, Jackie Cerone, they had all the gambling, a lot of the sports gambling, but they also had the skim from Las Vegas, and they ran all that stuff, while Gus Alex, along with Lenny Patrick, ran all that politics, and you can’t have a mob organization if you don’t have cover politically. That’s why even in Kansas City, we’re pretty clean here, but we still never had any real mob prosecutions. [17:47] And it certainly had very few, if any, little, if any mob prosecutions at Cook County. And you couldn’t even get convicted of a real crime, murder, assault, or something. It’s just a straight-out crime. You weren’t even trying to do a RICO, I think, on anybody. So it was, you know, they just operated with impunity. Well, you took out that whole gambling side. That was all the money coming in. And then shortly thereafter, you take out the political side, who then turns back and gets the new boss on the gambling side and loan sharking and all that. [18:23] I’ll tell you, by 1990, the outfit’s gone. It really is. It still exists to a degree, but Sam Carlisi was the last traditional old line boss of the outfit. you, that, in my opinion, that ever ruled. After that, it was never the same. Yeah, I think a guy like Gus Alex, you know, like you said, Gary, you had Aiuppa who was dealing with gambling, but I think that’s a lot of, there’s a lot of optics to that, you know, and you’ve got all these cities who have got characters who are not Italian, Gus Alex in Chicago, and, you know, as Paul said, Meyer Lansky, who was New York, and you had Mashie Rockman in Cleveland, and these characters not italians so they know when to step back and let and let the italians talk but that doesn’t mean that they’re not running things it’s just for the optics of city to city where the italians have to see that they’re dealing with italians they don’t walk in the room it doesn’t mean that behind the scenes they’re not pulling the levers they just because of of the uh uh criminal um. [19:34] The the criminal view of of non-italians in that world sort of sort of their own prejudices these guys don’t always walk in the room when they’re dealing with other cities gus alex is is sitting down with anybody in chicago but you go to kansas city you go to new york, you know meyer lansky would leave the room when they were when they were talking you know italian to Italian. And the same thing with Gus Alex or Mace Rockman or any of those other guys who are not Italian. It was just an optics city to city. It doesn’t mean that they weren’t pulling the levers. Is it Yehuda or Jehuda, Cam? Jehuda. I’ve always heard of Jehuda. Yeah, Jehuda. So he kind of dealed with the IRS that year. [20:23] He must have had some. The IRS was really strong working the mob in Chicago. I’ve noticed several references to IRS investigations. We did not have that in Kansas City, and the IRS did a little bit, but they were not as strong as they were up in Chicago. [20:38] Yeah, he met with an agent, Tom Moriarty, who’s been around and worked Chicago for a long time. He was a pretty well-known guy up here. But Bill Jehota worked under Ernest Rocco Infelice, who was a real powerhouse going back a long time. And out in Cicero, and his crew, a lot of these crews had their own little names, and they called the good shit Lollipop. He was a huge gambling enterprise, you know. And they bought a house up in Lake County, which is north of the city. It’s funny, this house they bought was actually the family that had lived in it. The son had murdered the family. It was a murder house before the outfit bought it. and uh they bought it used it as a as a gambling den and and after that moved out they used it for prostitution and they would park cars at a nearby motel that they ran and then then have a uh a, valet service that drove him to this this gambling house and there was also quite a few uh murders that uhJahoda witnessed i’m sure he took no part in it he just happened to be standing outside of the house when they when they these murders were committed there was a uh was it hal smith and um. [21:57] Oh i can’t remember the they killed somebody else in this home and they burnt these were guys who didn’t want to pay his tree tags, and they were gamblers who refused to give in. And he brought down this entire crew. I mean, Rocco and Felice was… There’s a famous picture of the day after the Spolatros were killed. And it was really the upper echelon of the up that you’ve got. You’ve got little Jimmy Marcello. You’ve got the boss, Sam Wings-Carlesi. You’ve got the street boss, Joe Ferriola. And you’ve got Rocco and Felice, who’s right there. These are the four top guys, basically, in the outfit as far as at this time, the Cicero crew had risen to the top. That was the powerhouse crew. And so he was involved in those discussions because he was such a powerhouse out there with Ferriola being the street boss. So he was, it really can’t be thatJahodatestimony that eventually brought down this crew was really, it really crippled that crew for a long time. Well, those people that went down in that trial have only in the last five years come out of prison. Yeah, we’ve actually had been talking to somebody. We’ve had the… [23:13] Opportunity to meet he brought down uh uh robert um to go beat um bellavia and another guy who doesn’t like to be mentioned who runs a pretty successful pizza pizza chain up in lake county and uh these guys went down for a long time the beat was down for 25 years and he just came out. [23:39] So and billJahoda have if you read his testimony it is kind of kind of odd that he was standing outside of the building and just looked in the window and they were committing a murder and he just he he places himself outside of the house witnessing a murder through the window which is convenient when you’re the one testifying against murderers it certainly is yeah. [24:03] So so that was he was involved in the gambling so that makes sense then the irs got him and millions of dollars millions of dollars a month they were bringing and he met uh, i don’t remember paul and you did he he contacted moriarty right or did moriarty reach out to him because he was under investigation i i thought Jahoda was was worried about himself so he reached out to them i can’t remember the details i think you’re right yeah i i think he was worried about his own his own safety gary and he reached out to moriarty and they met up at a hotel just outside the city on the uh up in the northwest and uh they talked about things i actually found the location and on the little map you can find where where they met each other but he they met each other in disgust and they would meet different locations and and jahuda wore a wire and some of those some of those wiretaps are they really make for that. [25:05] That those conversations come right out of the movie just i love what we’re doing out here and i love my job and and you actually where i’m going to make you trunk music i mean you really hear these things that that you see it right in the movies i mean you you can’t write the dialogue that these guys are actually using it’s it’s it’s you know it it comes straight out of a book i mean You’ve got, you’ve got, uh, this is the toughest dialogue you’ll ever hear. Interesting. How’d you buy it? Where’d you find that at? Is that, uh, it’s probably not the audio in probably anywhere. No book or something. Yeah. You can, if you look up, if you look up different, different, you know, you go on newspapers.com or you go in different, uh, I believe, uh, I’ve got, um, uh, mob textbook by, um, Howard Abedinsky. I’ve got a couple of copies of his, of his textbook, organized crime. And he’s got some clips of it. This guy who owns a pizza shop up north is talking about how he loves his job. He loves what he does. And it’s funny to hear he talk about smashing somebody and loving what you do. Really? I’ve heard a few conversations like that back at the station house. [26:25] I don’t care. It’s on both sides. Is that what you’re saying? When you live in that world. Those guys can go either direction. [26:37] Well, let’s talk about ex-Chicago cops. Speaking of cops, let’s talk about, Vince Rizza, his daughter actually appeared on that Chicago Mob Housewives, or they tried to do a show. And Frank Schweiss’ daughter was on it. And Pia Rizza, who has gotten some notoriety as a model or something, I can’t remember. And she really, she was tight. She would not talk about her dad at all. I read an interview of her. She would just talk about her dad at all. But he came in and he testified against Harry Aleman, of all people, and linked him to the murder of this bookie, Anthony Ritlinger. Remember that one? [27:22] Go ahead, Paul. No, that one I’m not very up on, Cam. I’m sorry. So, Ritlinger, I believe he didn’t want to pay his street tax, if I’m right, Gary. Yeah, you’re right. He had been warned. Rattlinger had been warned that he needs to pay, he needs to pay, and he was making a good deal of money. And Ratlinger was he was brought in just the normal course of action with the wild bunch because he was a wild bunch murder I’m a little rusty but here it comes so he was a wild bunch killing, he was brought in he was warned it was the typical Harry Ailerman and if I’m remembering correctly and people correct me if I’m not it was Butch Petruccelli they sat him down. [28:11] Usually it would be Butch and, um, uh, Borsellino who would do the talking, uh, Tony Borsellino, and they would do the talking. And then afterwards, Butch Petruccelli would just sit down and glare. So he was a pretty scary guy. And he had that, uh, uh, Malocchio, the, the evil eye, and he would just glare at people. And that would send the message and Rattlinger didn’t, didn’t listen. He was making too much money, he’s not going to pay any damn Degos, that kind of line. And so he, of course, fell victim to these guys. And I believe he may have been trunk music. I think I remember this one, Matt, but I can’t remember. Yeah, I got this one. He went to a restaurant. That’s right. That’s right. And he had already, his daughter lived with him. I’m not sure about the wife, but he had warned his family to take all kinds of extra cautious. He knew something was coming. And it was, you know, after reading that thing, it’s, It’s kind of like, well, we talked about Spilotro taking off their jewelry. Ken Eto did this similar kind of a thing and told his wife he may not be coming back. [29:22] I tell you, another guy that did the same thing was Sonny Black. That’s right. It came out about Joe Pistone, the Donnie Brasco story. He did the same thing. He went to a sit-down or a meeting, and he took off his jewelry, I believe left his billfold, when he went to the meeting. this. Ken Eto was the same way. Ken Eto, I think, thought he could talk his way out. I think all of them thought they could talk their way out of it. So Rettlinger went out by himself and sat in a prominent place in this local restaurant that was really well known up there in the north side. It’s north of downtown Chicago, and I can’t remember the name of it. [30:02] And he just sat there and pretty soon a car pulls up and two guys run in kind of like a Richard Cain kind of a deal and just start popping. And that was a Harry Aleman deal. That’s right. He did, I believe. There’s an old guy who married the girlfriend of Felix Adlericio, I believe. He and this woman are sitting out in front of their brownstone, and Aleman and some other dude pull out and get out when guys walk up to him and shoot him and kill him. [30:31] And so that was – Yeah, that was Petrocelli and Aleman walked up, And he had been, he had been dating, uh, uh, Aldericio’s, Alderico’s girlfriend. Now that’s the famous hit from beyond the grave. Because we’re going to go on the old Samuel’s just sitting in the lawn chair thinking he’d got it made. That’s right. You know, Gary, you and I did the show on the outfit, uh, a long time ago. No, I’m sorry. On the wild bunch, a long time ago. So a lot of those, and they did so much work back in the day. A lot of those run together, but yeah, you’re now, uh, now that you’re right, writing her was he was eating in a restaurant. I’m, Uh, I can’t remember the name. It may have been, been Luna’s, but he was, went out in public. He thought he’d be safe. And like you said, a lot of these guys have a six cents because they come up on the street and they know these things. And, uh, like a guy like Sammy and Reno knew it was coming. He was dodging them for a long time, but they, they know that their time is coming. Eventually they just, they stay ahead of it for a while and figure they can fight their way out or talk their way out. And yeah, they, he was blown away right in public. Like it was similar to the, I remember it being similar to the, to the Richard Cain murder. And this was in, it was right around the same time. It was, it was in the mid seventies, 75, 74, 75, 76. It might’ve been 75 that writing or happened right, right in the middle of the restaurant. [31:58] I’ve been a lot cheaper to pay the street tax, I reckon. You know, and it wasn’t, I don’t recall that they’re asking for so much, but once these murder started happening yeah i think it was it wasn’t like it was half or 75 i think they just wanted it was you know it might have been a quarter it might have just been a flat fee across the board but once that street tax was was instituted i mean we’ve talked about this before gary that was when the wild bunch was out there that was that was they really didn’t play around When Ferriola told these guys, get everybody in line, [32:31] they really cracked down and they weren’t playing at all. You pay or you die. And guys like Alem and Patrick Shelley, whether it was right in public or whatever, in the outfit in the 70s, Paul, you know this from Richard Cain and several others. They just write in public would just blow you away. and writing her was just was almost textbook just like the Richard Cain it was it was right in the right in the restaurant yeah I’ll tell you I’ll tell. [33:05] I was conflating him with Hal Smith. Okay. I’ll tell you something about those mob hits. When they kill somebody in public like that in a public way, more than likely it’s because whoever the victim is has been alerted, and they can’t get anybody to get close to them. They will already try to send somebody around to get them isolated, and when they can’t get them isolated, then they want them bad enough. They’ll just lay, as Frank Calabrese, I heard him say once, well, lay on them. And I thought, oh, that’s interesting. Well, lay on them. I read that somewhere else. They use that term when you’re following somebody and you’re trying to set them up, or yet they lay on them. Calabrese even said, you know, you’re like, get an empty refrigerator box and hide inside of it. I mean, it’s just like the kind of stuff we used to do at the intelligence unit to run surveillances on people. And so they’ll lay on them for a while until they can get you somewhat isolated. And if they can’t, then they’ll just take you out in public. It might be to send a message, but I don’t think so because it’s so risky to get somebody in public. You can have a young, all-fitty cop in there that you didn’t even notice, and he comes out blazing. And, you know, it’s just not worth it. Even if you take him out, he’s probably got to get you. [34:21] So it’s kind of a last resort. A desperation. Yeah, it’s desperation because they can’t get you isolated. [34:28] You look at some of these public murderers, guys like Richard Cain or Ridinger, like you said, who was on the watch. Sam Annarino, who was right on Cicero. [34:39] A guy like Chris Carty, who was years later. I mean, these are guys who would have been smart enough and street smart enough to be on the watch, to watch their step, to know what was going on. With the exception of a guy like Michael Cagnoni, who just happened to be difficult to get, and he probably might have had an idea that something was happening, but I think just he was a family guy, and so it was hard to isolate. They blew him up on the interstate, but I think that in general, that’s a good point, Gary. These guys, if they just run up and blow away, it’s just a last resort. That’s an excellent point. I have always been in that camp of, oh, that must be sending a message. But you, with your experience, I think you’re exactly right. One thing, guys, I think we’re mixing up Sambo Cesario with Sam Annarino. I was thinking when they – yeah, you’re right, Paul. I was thinking, though, when they blew away Sam Annarino in the parking lot with his family, though, they had been trying to get him for several months. And they finally just went after him in the parking lot, called in a robbery, and blew him away in the furniture store parking lot. That was what I meant. Yeah, Gary was referring to Sambo earlier. I just meant they had been trying to get Sam Annarino for a long time, and when they couldn’t, they just got him in the parking lot. [36:08] Well, interesting. You know, no matter how much terror these guys strike in the heart of their underlings, in the end, they still will turn once in a while. And I think people don’t really not turn because they’re afraid of getting killed so much if they don’t turn because they don’t want to have their family suffering the disgrace of them being a rat or a snitch. I think that’s more important to be a man and go out like a man in this subculture and believe me I’ve lived in a subculture where being a man and being a tough guy is more important than anything else, I think that’s the most important thing that keeps people from coming in you’re like a wimp you’re a puss, you can’t take it, can’t handle it you know what I mean you can’t handle five years I could do five years standing on my head or a tray like the dude told me so uh you know but even even with all that and still there’s a certain percentage that will end up coming in sure and usually there are people that either don’t care about their family like lenny patrick yeah or that don’t have close family so that they don’t have it so much of that pressure that you’re talking about gary because you make a really valid point that that that cultural value is so strong yeah yeah it’s it’s. [37:36] In a lot of these small towns, you see in Detroit where they’re all family tied in and everything, you don’t see informants. I think they’ve had one. Kansas City, as you said, Gary, you don’t see. But then you look at a place like Rochester where they’re all just lower tier mob guys. Everybody was informing on everybody because they really weren’t as upper echelon sort of mob guys. So I think that, like you said, once you get that culture seeped in, you’ve got those families and all, there’s a lot of factors. But if it’s a deep-rooted mob town, you really don’t see a lot of real informants. [38:11] So, guys, now we’ve got one that I did a show on. I did a couple of shows on him. I talked to the FBI agent who brought him in and dealt with him for quite a while. Ken Tokiojo Eto. He survived a murder attempt. When that didn’t happen for him with the outfit, what happened after that? [38:32] I believe his attempted assassins got killed themselves. So tell me a little bit about Tokyo Joe Eto. There’s a photograph I have from the late 50s, early 60s And it shows Joe Ferriola And a couple of other heavyweights Hanging around with a young Ken Eto, And a lot of people didn’t know who Ken Eto was But he ran the Japanese game, Gambling, Bolita And lots of money Poured into the outfit through Tokyo Joe As they called him And there was a rumor that perhaps Tokyo Joe was going to turn under a little bit of pressure. And so Jasper Campisi put three slugs in the back of his head. [39:22] Miraculously, he survived three slugs at point blank range. And if he wasn’t going to turn state’s evidence before, he certainly had a powerful incentive to do so now. He seems to insist As I’ve heard that he was not His intention was not It’s hard to say at this point But he says he had no intention Of flipping and that he’s not sure What the evidence was against him But he was not going to flip until, It was Yeah. [39:55] I’m drawing a blank, Paul. Who was it that sent? It wasn’t the saint. It was Vincent Solano. He was kind of Vincent Solano, who was a union guy and a made guy up there. He kind of had which one. [40:11] He was a capo. And which crew was it? Do you remember? He was on the north side. North side crew. North side crew. And actually, Ken went to Vince Solano and had a talk with him. Said you know what i can do this he was looking at a tray i had a dude tell me what’s that pressure and tried to get him to talk and he said uh he said what am i gonna get out of this a tray he said man i can do a tray standing on my head and i threw him right then that’s right gotta talk to me so uh and that’s all he had to do but solano for some reason uh who knows what was in his head because uh ken Eto had made him a lot of money a lot of money and he was a tough little dude he had he had survived he had been put in the uh concentration camps if you will during the internment camps yeah internment camps and then came as a young man up chicago and been around for a long time by the time this all came down he’d been with him for a long time and made him a lot of money and all kinds of different gambling operations but particularly the bolita. [41:13] So uh it just didn’t make sense i heard one thing that these guys in chicago got the idea Yeah, to keep the noise down, they were loading their own rounds with lighter loads of powder. I don’t know. They had like a hit car up there. The guys in Chicago were pretty sophisticated or tried to be. And so they used these lighter loads. And when it went into his head, it just didn’t penetrate his skull. I remember I was at the hospital once, and there was a young guy who had gotten shot in the head. And they said that the bullet was not a good bullet because it went in under his skin and then went under his scalp, along his skull, and then lodged up on his forehead. [41:56] Wow. And so Eto was kind of the same way. Those bullets were probably lodged up underneath his scalp. He pulled himself to a neighboring, I believe it was a pharmacy that was right there, a corner store. And then that guy went to help him. I think he had to dial a call of 911 or whatever. 911 was in place then. He had to call for help for himself from a phone booth. You know, he saved his own life by being smart and playing dead. Yeah, that’s right. And you look at Chicago, it’s a city of neighborhoods, and you’ve got the Mexican town, and you’ve got the different towns, and you’ve got Chinatown where there’s so much money and so much gambling. And while Haneda was Japanese and there’s obviously division between Japanese and Chinese, it would be much easier for him to go in and then some of these outfit guys and because of different things going on back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. But he could go into neighborhoods and represent the outfit in ways in different communities that the outfit wouldn’t go into or a lot of these made guys. [43:12] And that gave him entry into a lot of communities. In the Asian community, there’s a lot of gambling that he was able to tap into. He was smart enough to see that as a route that maybe the Italian guys didn’t, just like Lenny Patrick, who we’ve talked about in other episodes, had that access into the Jewish communities and other Jewish gangsters. There’s a lot of gambling there. If you can get somebody who has an in to different communities, that’s really a way to go and that’s part of why he made so much money. A game like BolEto wouldn’t normally be and that’s huge in the Hispanic communities and huge with Asians also. You know in kansas city that’s interesting that you should point that out camp we had a um large vietnamese community moved in after the the boat peoples when it started and they moved in through the same church uh. [44:09] Sacred Heart Church and Don Bosco Center that the Italians moved in, the Sicilians moved into back in the turn of the century, the same neighborhoods. And Italians are getting successful and they’re moving out the suburbs and the Vietnamese are moving in and creating the Vietnamese restaurants and Vietnamese shops. And they brought, they have a love for gambling. Like you said, they have huge love for gambling. They don’t drink so much or do so many drugs, but they do love to gamble, it seemed to me like. [44:36] And so they had their own book. he was called the king a guy a friend of mine told me a story uh there’s a mob book he got on the periphery that neighborhood’s got a joint and he he was running a sports book and he had a lot of action going in and out of his joint so this one vietnamese guy had a big debt owed to the king so he goes down and talks to this guy’s name was Larry Strada, he ends up getting killed by some other uh mobsters in a deal they thought he was going to testify but i just needed to hear are there, this young, middle-aged Vietnamese guy goes down to the Caddyshack, Larry Strada’s bar. And he starts telling him about the king. He said, man, he said, the king, you take all your business. He said, he got all business down here. He take all your business. He said, you know, you need to do something about the king. He said, you know, we’re close to the river here. And then he made a motion across his throat like he was cutting his throat. So he was trying to get out of his gambling debt to convince this Italian, La Cosa Nostra bookie to go back and kill me yeah king piano. [45:42] You know i’ve heard a lot of stories and some of them are true some are not that one had to ring a truth to it it had a definite ring of truth that that got to do that playing them against each other yeah you bet and you know another thing about tokyo joe and you know he could testify But Ben Solano had Campizé and Gattuso killed right away. Found them in the trunk of their car, I think. Maybe at the airport, even. [46:09] Chicago trunk music, but they have some saying like that. And so Solano knew that they could testify against him, and they didn’t want to go down for attempted murder, more than likely, and he just didn’t take a chance. So he had them killed, and I can’t remember if he went down behind this or not. But another thing Tokyo Joe was able to do, I mean, he certainly could expose all the inner workings of what he knew about to the FBI, which gives you a lot of tips on where to go, who to work on, and maybe where to throw up microphones or some wiretaps. But he also traveled around he came to Kansas City during the skimming trial because they’re working on the Chicago hierarchy. So they just fly him into town. They show him that picture, the last separate picture where everybody’s in the picture. And they say, now, who’s that? Oh, that’s Aiuppa. Okay, then who’s that? Oh, that’s Vince Solano. Yeah, he reports to Aiuppa. You know, and who’s that guy? I can’t remember the other people at all. So the nation said that Joe is up hard. Oh, yeah, he reports to this guy. So to show the organization of the mob in Chicago and that it is an organization that gives orders to have other people carry it to make the RICO case, that he was a storyteller for that. And he didn’t know anything about the skim at all. But he was a storyteller on getting the mob name and the organization in front of a jury. That’s huge, as you know, Paul. [47:35] Absolutely. We had a similar arrangement during the Carlesi trial about how [47:40] the Carlesi crew operated and who was who, and to tell the story. Yeah. You have to make it a story. Let’s take a look at Betty Toco, which, uh, this is pretty interesting. There was a, um, I’m not sure. Albert Toco was your husband. Remind me what his position was at the outfit at that time. So Al Toco was, there’s sort of a division on who was the leadership of, who was the central leader of Chicago Heights. There’s Dominic Tuts Palermo and Al Toco, who was really a powerhouse in Chicago Heights. And Tuts Palermo was definitely highly connected and across the pond too, also in Italy. But uh Toco was involved in the in the chop shop wars really really heavily involved and he had a lot of connections in chicago too he was involved with lombardo and a lot of these chop shops throughout chicago he had a lot of partnerships and so this was a 30 million dollar a year racket stolen cars chop shops international car rings uh car rings throughout stolen car rings throughout the country. Toco was responsible for burying the Spolatro brothers. It was very sectioned off. Each crew had a part in their murder. And then Chicago Heights was responsible for the burial. [49:02] And they were down in Enos, Indiana. They got kind of turned around a little bit. They were down a farm road. They were burying them in a freshly tilled field. And the road where they’re on, there’s a little side road that you would drive down. There’s very little down there. I’ve, I’ve seen it, but a car happened to come down middle of night and they were in a, there’s a, there were a couple of feet off of a wooded area and they see this car coming down and they sort of all panicked and before they had a chance to cover the area or really do anything, it just looked like a freshly dug, it really just looked like freshly dug mound. And so they all fled and three of Toco’s guys went one way and he went the other. They had the car in both radios. [49:46] He’s wandering around barefoot, and he calls his wife finally. She shows up, and he’s screaming and yelling. And he runs to Florida, and he’s waiting for permission to come back from Joe Ferriola. He’s worried he’s going to get killed because they find the Spallachos immediately because the farmer sees his field all messed up, freshly tilled ground, and it looks really suspicious, like somebody had been poaching deer and burying the carcass. Uh but Toco was a tyrant to his wife he was he was horrible to her he was he was when you think of what a mob guy was that was Toco you know tipping the guy who mows his lawn the kid who mows his lawn hundred bucks and wandered around town everybody knows him but he’d come home and unlike a lot of these guys he was he was a real you know a real. [50:36] Real bastard to his wife you know and for years she put up with this sort of abuse and finally after this this happened and it was in the news and all he finally pushed her too far and she began informing on him and and he was arrested later on he was in his jail cell talking about all the murders he had committed and and this and that about his wife and uh his his uh uh A cellmate repeated everything that he said to try and lessen his sentence. So really, Toco got buried by his big mouth and his terrible behavior. He initially fled to Greece before he was arrested, and they extradited him back from Greece. So this is, I mean, Toco is like deep in mob behavior. [51:22] I mean, fleeing the country and all. I mean, it doesn’t get much more mafia than Al Toco. I hesitate to use that word with Chicago, but that was, Al Toco was running deep. and that Betty Tocco’s testimony eventually led to the trial of Al Tocco. And that was really a blow to the Chicago Heights crew that nowadays, I mean, they continued on and had a few rackets, but after the eventual trial that stemmed from that, it really wasn’t, there’s not much activity now. I’m in that area and there’s just, there’s really nothing here. [51:59] Interesting. Now, so Tony and Michael Spilotro had been lured to somebody’s house on the promise that Michael was going to be made. It’s my understanding. I believe that’s what Frank Collada had reported. And some other people, not part of the Chicago Heights crew, killed him. How did that go down? And how did they pass off the body? You guys, is there anything out there about that? Wasn’t that the family secrets trial, maybe? It was. And, of course, it’s been popularly portrayed in the movie Casino. And it’s surprisingly accurate Except for the fact That where they were beaten But what happened was Little Jimmy Marcello called them. [52:41] And said Sam, meaning Sam Carlisi, the boss, wanted to see them. And they knew that that was ominous because of what was going on beyond the scope of this show. But they took off the jewelry. They left. They told their wives, if we’re not back by 930, it’s not good. They really did not suspect that it was to make Michael. That’s what Collada said. You’re absolutely right about that, Gary. But I don’t think that’s correct at all. They knew that it was bad. And they went. He took a pistol, which was against the rules. They hit him a pistol. Tony hit a pistol on his brother, which you do not do when you go to see the boss. And they were picked up by, by Marcello and taken to a house. I, uh, was it Bensonville? Yeah. Up in Bensonville. Uh, in, in the basement, they walked down the stairs and all of a sudden they looked into the eyes of Carlici and, uh, DeFranzo and everybody, the whole, all the couples were there to spread the, the, uh, liability around and they were beaten to death with, with fists and feet, uh, in, in that basement and then transported to that burial ground, which coincidentally was just maybe a couple hundred yards away from Joey Aupa’s farm. [54:00] Right. So I guess that they must have had, uh, Toco standing by, because I don’t believe he was in that basement. I like that. He must have had him standing by to go grab the bodies and take them out. Really interesting. He should have had the old Doug before he got there. You know, that’s what they always say. First you dig the hole then you go do the murder right and i don’t think he had it done before he got there yeah i don’t i really that’s a good that’s a good point gary i really don’t know and nobody’s ever come forward to say what the status of the hole was beforehand uh you know it was a deep it was a deep it was it was a pretty deep hole uh but they may have had a dug ahead of Tom, but, but, uh, cause they knew the location and it’s pretty obscure location. So they had clearly been there before. And, and, you know, everybody knew that that was, I, I hope was, I got it right. Farm. And, uh, So they may have had it dug, and they just did a shoddy job covering it up. [55:05] But I also haven’t heard the specific details about how they handed it off to Toco. I don’t recall seeing that in Calabrese’s testimony. Yeah, it was Nick Calabrese that testified about that. It brought up the light. He named the killer. So he may not have gone that far, probably having Toco and having his wife testify that he did do this. that she picked him up out there. It was just a piece of the entire prosecution on the spot, which it really never was a trial or anything on that. I don’t believe. Another odd thing is he, I believe he ranted and raved the entire car ride back. And from where he was, you would run up with, It’s now turns into Indianapolis. So it’s a good car ride from where they were to Chicago Heights. I believe he ranted and raved about the guys and his crew and the burial and everything, the entire car ride, which was not something most guys would do in front of their wives. But I really, especially when he treated like that. Right. And complained about how long it took her to get there and everything. So she was able to verify a lot of what Calabrese was saying from the final end of it. Interesting. A friend of mine was in the penitentiary, and he said, there’s a guy in there who called himself a verifier. He said, what do you mean? He said, I’m a professional verifier. What he was, he was an informant. That’s what he was, but he called himself a verifier. [56:33] A girl would come to him and say, well, I heard this, this, and this. Is that true or not? He’d say, well, that’s true. That’s not true. [56:40] I guess that’s a more preferable term. Yeah, she was a verifier. Well, that was great. I really appreciate having that on there and Paul. And I really, I still miss Cam. Every time I get ready to do a Chicago show, I think, oh, I want to get Cam or Rochester. [56:58] We did one about Rochester. We did one about Utica. I did several other shows about other families. And he was a good guy and a real great researcher and a real expert on the outfit and other mafia families. So rest in peace, Cam and Paul. I hope to talk to you again one of these days. Guys, don’t forget, I got stuff to sell out there. Just go to my website or just search on my name for Amazon. I can rent my movies about the skim in Las Vegas, about the big mob war between the Savella brothers and the Spiro brothers in Kansas City. Then one about the great 1946 ballot theft in which the mob… Rigged election, helped Harry Truman rig an election. It’s a little harder to find than mine. You need to put ballot theft and Gary Jenkins. I think you’ll find it then. The other two, Gangland Wire and Brothers Against Brothers, Sabella Spiro, were a little bit easier to find. Had to put it up a different way because Amazon changed the rules, but I got them up there. So thanks a lot, guys.

It's Monday, January 5th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Muslims in Congo, Africa kill 15 The New Year began in chaos and mourning for residents of Katanga village in North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reports International Christian Concern. As families gathered to welcome 2026, armed Muslim fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, carried out a deadly nighttime incursion, killing at least 15 people on Thursday, January 1. Working with the global Islamic State movement, the ADF is among the most dangerous terrorist groups in Congo. Venezuelan dictator captured in daring U.S. raid Venezuelans are celebrating in the streets. (Audio of celebration) Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was seized by the United States Army's secretive Delta Force unit in a daring raid on his heavily-secured compound, reports the Daily Mail. CBS News reported that the ultra-elite Delta Force unit was behind the capture of Maduro, and his wife Cilia, in the early hours of Saturday morning. The couple was seized from their bedroom in the dead of night by U.S. forces as they slept, according to CNN. The raid did not lead to any U.S. casualties. The pair was snatched by helicopter from Caracas after they had been monitored by CIA spies, with President Donald Trump giving the order to take them two days ago. President Trump says Maduro and his government have conspired to flood the United States with illegal drugs, and will now face trial in the U.S. on drugs and weapons trafficking charges. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke at a Saturday press conference. RUBIO: “Nicolas Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid this. He was provided multiple very, very, very generous offers, and chose instead to act like a wild man, chose instead to play around. “The 47th president of the United States is not a game player. When he tells you that he's going to do something, when he tells you he's going to address a problem, he means it. “The President doesn't go out looking for people to pick fights with. Generally, he wants to get along with everybody. We'll talk and meet with anybody. But don't play games. Don't play games while this President's in office, because it's not going to turn out well. I guess that lesson was learned last night, and we hope it will be instructive moving forward.” Biden's DOJ pressured FBI to raid Mar-a-Lago Newly-declassified documents show that President Joe Biden's Department of Justice pressured the FBI to conduct the infamous 2022 raid of then-former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home – even though the FBI repeatedly warned that such a raid was unwarranted, reports NewsBusters.org. In an X.com post last Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, wrote, “FBI did not believe it had probable cause to raid Pres. Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway. Based on the records, Mar-a-Lago raid was a miscarriage of justice.” Grassley linked to the documents posted online, which detail communications between the DOJ and the FBI. Brent Bozell confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell as U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, despite obstructionist tactics by Democrats, reports CNSNews.com. By a 53-43 vote, the Senate approved Bozell to fill the post vacated by former ambassador Reuben Brigety, who resigned in January. BOZELL: “I will communicate our objections to South Africa's geo-strategic drift from non-alignment toward our competitors including Russia, China and Iran. “I'll press South Africa to end proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice. “Second, I will advance the President's invitation to Afrikaners who wish to flee unjust racial discrimination. “I will support the President's call for the South African government to rescind its support for the expropriation of private property without compensation.” Bozell served as president of the Media Research Center from its founding in 1987 until May of this year when he stepped down to be ambassador. His son, David Bozell, now leads the Media Research Center. Mom upset school secretly socially transitioned her daughter A mother in Maine, named Amber Lavigne, had her parental rights usurped by school officials when a guidance counselor secretly gave her gender-confused 13-year-old daughter a chest binder and referred to her by using a male name and pronouns. A chest binder is used to flatten the breasts of a trans-identified girl to help her pretend to be a boy. With the help of the Goldwater Institute, Lavigne is taking the school to the Supreme Court, reports The Christian Post. LAVIGNE: “I don't want to lose my daughter to the state, even as she grows into an adult, I'll always be her mom.” When she confronted her daughter about the chest binder in her bedroom, she learned that the school guidance counselor had provided it.  LAVIGNE: “This situation really is about my parental rights being violated, about a social worker who had never even had a conversation with me, encouraging my child to keep secrets from me, to tell her, ‘Look, I'm not going to tell your mom, and you don't have to either.' So, she's bringing these breast binders home and hiding them in her room on me. That's distressing!” Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them;  male and female He created them.” (Watch Amber Lavigne's 4-minute video.) Arkansas Governor in hot water for celebrating Christmas And finally, secularists and atheists alike were predictably furious with Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders this past Christmas, reports LifeSiteNews.com. It's just not that they found her professed love for Jesus Christ problematic. It's that she used her position as governor to spread the truth that Jesus Christ is the Savior of Mankind. On December 16, Sanders issued a declaration recalling that “more than two millennia ago in the little town of Bethlehem, far from the centers of power in first-century Rome, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born in a humble manger.” Sanders added that “on that first Christmas, Christ's arrival was unassuming” and “not focused on the wealthy or powerful but rather on the poor, powerless, and meek.” Sanders then approved an extra day off for state employees on December 26 “in order that [they] may spend this holiday with their families giving thanks for Christ's birth.” The God-hating Freedom From Religion Foundation was livid. In a letter to Governor Sanders, attorney Chris Line said, “State offices are not churches, and gubernatorial proclamations are not sermons. The governor is free to practice her religion privately, but she may not use the authority of the state to promote Christian doctrine as official government speech.” Governor Sanders tweeted, “The Freedom from Religion Foundation took issue with me closing state offices to celebrate Christmas and sent a letter demanding I rescind my proclamation. Christmas is not just a holiday; it's the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. Meaning matters, we won't pretend otherwise.” Matthew 1:20-21 says, “What is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, January 5th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

During Jeffrey Epstein's first prosecution in Florida, his legal team adopted an unusually aggressive and confrontational posture toward prosecutors and investigators in the Southern District of Florida. Rather than treating the case as a standard criminal matter, Epstein's lawyers pushed relentlessly on procedure, jurisdiction, and internal DOJ dynamics, applying pressure not just through formal filings but through behind-the-scenes maneuvering aimed at shaping the outcome before charges could fully crystallize. This approach went beyond zealous advocacy and veered into open hostility, with Epstein's attorneys repeatedly challenging investigators' motives, authority, and conduct, while seeking to box prosecutors into a narrow set of options favorable to their client.In this episode, we dig into a newly unsealed Epstein file that lays bare just how acrimonious that relationship truly was. The document shows a toxic, adversarial environment in which negotiations were marked by distrust, sharp exchanges, and constant friction between Epstein's defense team and the lawyers tasked with investigating him. Far from a collaborative or routine plea discussion, the record reveals a legal battlefield where Epstein's attorneys treated federal prosecutors as obstacles to be neutralized rather than partners in resolution—offering a rare, unfiltered look at how the groundwork was laid for one of the most controversial prosecutorial outcomes in modern criminal justice history.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:EFTA00013538.pdf

The Department of Justice has displayed a clear inconsistency in how it has handled two allegedly fabricated Epstein-related documents. When the letter purportedly sent by Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar surfaced, the Department of Justice responded swiftly and decisively. Officials publicly and unequivocally denied the letter's authenticity, leaving no room for ambiguity or extended review. That response demonstrated the DOJ's willingness to intervene forcefully when it believes a document is false and can confidently support that conclusion. The speed and certainty of that denial set a clear institutional benchmark for how the department handles dubious materials tied to Epstein.By contrast, the DOJ has remained conspicuously silent regarding the alleged Epstein birthday card reportedly sent by Donald Trump. Despite the availability of the same investigative tools and expertise used in the Nassar letter assessment, the department has not issued a similar categorical denial. This silence is notable given the far greater political and reputational implications of the birthday card. The uneven response suggests uncertainty rather than neutrality, implying that the DOJ may be unable to definitively disprove the card's authenticity. In the context of Epstein's broader history—marked by selective transparency and delayed accountability—the DOJ's inconsistent behavior has fueled skepticism and reinforced perceptions that politically sensitive material is treated with greater caution, even when public clarity would otherwise be expected.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.com

This week, we're taking a look at the state of knife laws across the United States. The Department of Justice recently made headlines, and garnered backlash, after it defended the federal Switchblade Act in court on the same day it filed suit against Washington, DC's "assault weapons" ban. To discuss the state of play in that case and against other switchblade regulations, we have Knife Rights Inc's founder Doug Ritter on the show. His group is responsible for the federal case and numerous cases against state laws around the country. Ritter described the way switchblades, often described as automatic knives and sometimes vaguely defined, are regulated. He said the federal Switchblade Act effectively, or perhaps ineffectively, bans most interstate sales of the knives as well as their carry in certain places. He noted several states go even further and ban their possession outright. In the case against DOJ, Ritter said his group is arguing that knives--switchblades included--are "arms" protected by the Second Amendment. He argued they fit the definition the Supreme Court has pointed to in previous cases and it makes little sense for the Trump Administration to argue AR-15s are protected by knives aren't. Ritter further criticized the way that DOJ defended the Switchblade Act. He argued the DOJ's logic, which centers on the concealability of automatic knives and their appeal to criminals, could be and has been used to defend restrictions on AR-15s or even handguns. He dismissed the historical tradition of regulating knives cited by the DOJ as too thin to stand. He also accused the administration of being schizophrenic on the Second Amendment. He went on to describe his group's strategy in challenging state knife restrictions. Ritter said they filed suits in multiple federal circuits, hoping to create a split that puts pressure on the High Court to get involved.  Special Guest: Doug Ritter.

In This Episode Erin is away, so David joins Weer'd to discuss: Hawaii citing Louisiana Black Code as justification for carry bans; the DOJ attacking assault weapon bans, but supporting switchblade bans; an anti-gun hit piece written by a firearm prohibitionist who was at Brown University during the shooting; and Lima Six introduces a belt-fed AR upper. Xander had an incident that led him to go holster shopping; and David talks about the history and mechanics of shotgun shells. Did you know that we have a Patreon? Join now for the low, low cost of $4/month (that's $1/podcast) and you'll get to listen to our podcast on Friday instead of Mondays, as well as patron-only content like mag dump episodes, our hilarious blooper reels and film tracks. Main Topic Hawaii Uses Black Codes, Defunct Kingdom's Decree to Defend Broad Gun-Carry Ban at Supreme Court Trump Administration Argues Second Amendment Doesn't Protect Pocket Knives Anti-2A DOJ Drops Coal in Knife Rights' Stocking Knife Rights A shooter terrorized my university. This is the cost of inaction. | Opinion The LIMA SIX is an affordable, reliable belt fed upper receiver for your AR15.  Gun Lovers and Other Strangers Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 251 Prepper's Armory: Shotguns Prepper's Armory: Shot Sizes Prepper's Armory: Shotgun Chokes Ballistic Products Brass Shotgun Hulls Paper Shotgun Shells Mayville Engineering Company Powder Burn Chart (PDF Warning) Taufledermaus SAAMI Shotgun Data (PDF Warning) Ammunition Making by George Frost Cartridge manufacture by Douglas Hamilton  Clint Smith: Terminal Ballistics Mark Serbu 20mm Die Wad Gas Seal Wad Fiber Wad Felt Wad Cork Wad Complete Shot Shell Cutaway 01 Shot Shell Cutaway 02 Primers Lengths 01 Length - Mini Plastic Length - 3 Inch Plastic Length - 2.75 Inch Plastic Length - 2.75 Inch Paper Crimps Balloon Head Cases Brena Bock Author Page David Bock Author Page Team And More  

Elon Musk keeps finding new ways to cut waste out of the federal government. An American hostage returns home, and President Trump is there to greet him. Senate delays confirmation vote on Tulsi Gabbard. Trump meets with the king of Jordan and reiterates the claim that he wants the U.S. to run the show in Gaza. Warning! An asteroid is headed our way. Popular medication causing blindness? Fort Bragg is back!! Super Bowl ratings are in! Introducing the "retirement mine." "Which side are you on … which side are you on???" The Jeffrey Epstein files to be released within the next 10 days? How do politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) get so wealthy? Sorry, Uganda! You're cut off! DOJ drops charges against Mayor Eric Adams. The hypocrisy of the pope on immigration is stunning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when a system designed to uncover truth suddenly shuts its own lights off? In this gripping dual-segment episode of Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski and former FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke dig deep into the psychology of institutional protection — and the escalating political pressure surrounding the Epstein network. In the first half, Robin Dreeke breaks down how organizations drift from accountability into silence. Drawing from decades in counterintelligence, he explains how fear, ambition, and self-preservation turn institutions into shields for the powerful. Using the DOJ's shutdown of the Epstein co-conspirator probe as a case study — based on concerns raised by Rep. Jamie Raskin in his congressional letter — Robin unpacks how “strategic ignorance,” internal pressure, and denial can override the pursuit of truth. This is not about partisanship; it's about psychology, and what happens when mission gives way to reputation. Then the story widens. In an unprecedented development, the U.S. House Oversight Committee has formally requested testimony from Prince Andrew regarding his historical association with Jeffrey Epstein. This request, signed by sixteen members of Congress, cites flight logs, financial entries, and survivor allegations — all of which Andrew has consistently denied. Tony breaks down what the congressional letter asks, why lawmakers say new information has emerged, and what cooperation or refusal could mean for Andrew and the monarchy's already fragile public standing. We analyze the survivor accounts, the alleged documents now in congressional hands, and how political bodies pursue answers when other institutions stand still. No conclusions — just the claims, the context, and the psychology behind why powerful systems protect themselves. If you've ever wondered why accountability stops at certain doorways, this episode lays bare the patterns. #HiddenKillers #EpsteinCase #InstitutionalPsychology #RobinDreeke #TonyBrueski #PrinceAndrew #CongressionalInquiry #DOJ #FBI #TrueCrimePodcast Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

For years, the Epstein story sat half-exposed and half-buried—until the DOJ quietly released over 40,000 files. In this episode, investigative biographer Andrew Lownie breaks down what actually matters: missing evidence, sanitized redactions, and an investigation that admits to 10 co-conspirators yet charged only one person. From Clinton and Trump to Prince Andrew, the files suggest not incompetence, but protection.   Guest bio: Andrew Lownie is an award-winning investigative biographer, journalist, and publisher, widely regarded as one of Britain's most relentless royal historians. He is the author of Traitor King, The Mountbattens, and his latest book Entitled, which examines Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. Known for deep archival research and award-winning writing, Lownie has built a reputation for exposing power, corruption, and institutional cover-ups at the highest levels of the British establishment. Subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0 to gain early access to all future episodes, exclusive AMAs, the ability to suggest guest questions, bonus content, and more: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/ ANDREW LOWNIE LINKSEntitled: https://bit.ly/3YpacFTWebsite: https://andrewlownie.me/Substack: https://andrewlownie.substack.com/All Books: https://andrewlownie.me/books THE ZACH SHOW LINKS: The Zach Show 2.0: https://thezachshow.supercast.com/Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3zaS6sPYouTube: https://bit.ly/3lTpJdjWebsite: https://www.auxoro.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auxoroTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thezachshowpod If you're not ready to subscribe to The Zach Show 2.0, rating the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts is free and massively helpful. It boosts visibility, helps new listeners discover the show, and keeps this chaos alive. Thank you: Rate The Zach Show on Spotify: https://bit.ly/43ZLrAtRate The Zach Show on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/458nbha

What happens when a system designed to uncover truth suddenly shuts its own lights off? In this gripping dual-segment episode of Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski and former FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke dig deep into the psychology of institutional protection — and the escalating political pressure surrounding the Epstein network. In the first half, Robin Dreeke breaks down how organizations drift from accountability into silence. Drawing from decades in counterintelligence, he explains how fear, ambition, and self-preservation turn institutions into shields for the powerful. Using the DOJ's shutdown of the Epstein co-conspirator probe as a case study — based on concerns raised by Rep. Jamie Raskin in his congressional letter — Robin unpacks how “strategic ignorance,” internal pressure, and denial can override the pursuit of truth. This is not about partisanship; it's about psychology, and what happens when mission gives way to reputation. Then the story widens. In an unprecedented development, the U.S. House Oversight Committee has formally requested testimony from Prince Andrew regarding his historical association with Jeffrey Epstein. This request, signed by sixteen members of Congress, cites flight logs, financial entries, and survivor allegations — all of which Andrew has consistently denied. Tony breaks down what the congressional letter asks, why lawmakers say new information has emerged, and what cooperation or refusal could mean for Andrew and the monarchy's already fragile public standing. We analyze the survivor accounts, the alleged documents now in congressional hands, and how political bodies pursue answers when other institutions stand still. No conclusions — just the claims, the context, and the psychology behind why powerful systems protect themselves. If you've ever wondered why accountability stops at certain doorways, this episode lays bare the patterns. #HiddenKillers #EpsteinCase #InstitutionalPsychology #RobinDreeke #TonyBrueski #PrinceAndrew #CongressionalInquiry #DOJ #FBI #TrueCrimePodcast Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

January, 4 2026, 7AM; Maduro was taken by armored vehicle from Stewart Airport in Orange County, New York to be processed at a DEA field office in New York City.It comes less than 24 hours after a major U.S. military operation in Caracas, where more than 150 aircraft were deployed to neutralize Venezuelan air defenses and facilitate the capture of Maduro and his wife from their home. Laura Barron-Lopez and Missy Ryan join The Weekend to discuss the events of the last 24 hours in Venezuela. Former CIA Director John Brennan also joins The Weekend to discuss what comes next for the country after its president was captured by U.S. forces.For more, follow us on social media:Bluesky: @theweekendmsnow.bsky.socialInstagram: @theweekendmsnowTikTok: @theweekendmsnow To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

January 4, 2026; 9am: On this hour of “The Weekend,” three members of Congress talk the latest on the president's military action in Venezuela. Including, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, Washington Representative Adam Smith, who says Secretary of State Rubio, "misled the American people" by claiming U.S. activities weren't aimed at regime change. Plus, Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. And Colorado Congressman Jason Crow – one of the Democrats who last year warned the military not to carry out illegal orders.For more, follow us on social media:Bluesky: @theweekendmsnow.bsky.socialInstagram: @theweekendmsnowTikTok: @theweekendmsnow To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Department of Justice's release of the Ghislaine Maxwell transcripts is nothing but theater—a sham staged to protect the powerful and slam the door shut on the Epstein saga. Maxwell, a convicted trafficker, was granted immunity and a microphone to mock survivors, erase the notion of a client list, and cast doubt on Epstein's death, all while the DOJ used her denials as a shield. The scandal isn't that these transcripts were released—it's that the interview happened at all, that the government legitimized a predator's voice and tried to use it as “closure” for the most explosive trafficking scandal of our time.But this isn't closure—it's desperation. They want the public exhausted, numb, and willing to accept Maxwell's lies as the final word. Yet those who've been in the trenches since the beginning know better. This doesn't end because she says it ends. Every denial and every carefully managed release only proves the cover-up is alive, the names are still hidden, and the truth is still too dangerous to reveal. The DOJ can trot out Maxwell as their mouthpiece, but it won't work—this fight isn't over, and when the reckoning comes, it won't be Maxwell or the elites doing the laughing.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

For years, the Department of Justice moved at a glacial pace despite mounting evidence that Jeffrey Epstein was running an organized sex-trafficking operation involving underage girls. Local law enforcement in Palm Beach began flagging serious allegations as early as 2005, supported by victim statements, corroborating witnesses, and sworn accounts from Epstein's own staff. Yet instead of escalating the matter into a robust federal prosecution, DOJ leadership allowed the case to languish, cycling through internal reviews, jurisdictional hedging, and prolonged “consideration” while Epstein remained free to continue abusing victims. The delay was not due to a lack of evidence, but a lack of urgency—an institutional hesitation that treated Epstein as a problem to be managed rather than a predator to be stopped.When the DOJ finally did engage in earnest, it did so in the narrowest and most deferential way possible, culminating in a non-prosecution agreement that short-circuited accountability rather than delivering it. Federal charges that could have dismantled Epstein's network were shelved, co-conspirators were quietly shielded, and victims were kept in the dark in violation of their rights. The drawn-out timeline reveals a pattern of foot-dragging that benefitted only Epstein and those around him: delays created leverage for his lawyers, softened prosecutorial resolve, and ultimately allowed the DOJ to claim resolution without reckoning. In hindsight, the slow walk toward charges wasn't a bureaucratic accident—it was a decisive factor in one of the most consequential failures of federal justice in modern memory.to  contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

Host Radell Lewis breaks down the biggest political stories of the new year with his signature "political solutions without political bias" approach. This week: The Trump administration launches unauthorized airstrikes on Venezuela, capturing President Nicols Maduro in what critics call a violation of international law and congressional war powers. Is the "no new wars" promise officially dead? Plus, Radell debunks Nick Shirley's viral Minnesota daycare fraud video that racked up 135 million viewsand reveals what state investigators actually found. The truth about Somali childcare centers may surprise you. And the Epstein files bombshell nobody's talking about: the Lake Michigan connection, a 14-year-old girl, and Mar-a-Lago. What do the newly released DOJ documents reveal? Also covered: Nigeria airstrikes, Iran threats, Israel-Gaza ceasefire violations, Congress's record-low legislative output, and good news the media won't tell you. Keywords: Venezuela invasion, Trump airstrikes, Maduro captured, Minnesota daycare fraud, Nick Shirley exposed, Epstein files 2026, Lake Michigan Epstein, Trump MAGA news, political podcast, nonpartisan analysisStandard Resource Links & RecommendationsThe following organizations and platforms represent valuable resources for balanced political discourse and democratic participation: PODCAST NETWORKALIVE Podcast Network - Check out the ALIVE Network where you can catch a lot of great podcasts like my own, led by amazing Black voices. Link: https://alivepodcastnetwork.com/ CONVERSATION PLATFORMSHeadOn - A platform for contentious yet productive conversations. It's a place for hosted and unguided conversations where you can grow a following and enhance your conversations with AI features. Link: https://app.headon.ai/Living Room Conversations - Building bridges through meaningful dialogue across political divides. Link: https://livingroomconversations.org/ UNITY MOVEMENTSUs United - A movement for unity that challenges Americans to step out of their bubbles and connect across differences. Take the Unity Pledge, join monthly "30 For US" conversation calls, wear purple (the color of unity), and participate in National Unity Day every second Saturday in December. Their programs include the Sheriff Unity Network and Unity Seats at sports events, proving that shared values are stronger than our differences. Link: https://www.us-united.org/ BALANCED NEWS & INFORMATIONOtherWeb - An AI-based platform that filters news without paywalls, clickbait, or junk, helping you access diverse, unbiased content. Link: https://otherweb.com/ VOTING REFORM & DEMOCRACYEqual Vote Coalition & STAR Voting - Advocating for voting methods that ensure every vote counts equally, eliminating wasted votes and strategic voting. Link: https://www.equal.vote/starFuture is Now Coalition (FiNC) - A grassroots movement working to restore democracy through transparency, accountability, and innovative technology while empowering citizens and transforming American political discourse. Link: https://futureis.org/ POLITICAL ENGAGEMENTIndependent Center - Resources for independent political thinking and civic engagement. Link: https://www.independentcenter.org/ GET DAILY NEWSText 844-406-INFO (844-406-4636) with code "purple" to receive quick, unbiased, factual news delivered to your phone every morning via Informed (https://informed.now) ALL LINKShttps://linktr.ee/purplepoliticalbreakdownThe Purple Political Breakdown is committed to fostering productive political dialogue that transcends partisan divides. We believe in the power of conversation, balanced information, and democratic participation to build a stronger society. Our mission: "Political solutions without political bias."Subscribe, rate, and share if you believe in purple politics - where we find common ground in the middle! Also if you want to be apart of the community and the conversation make sure to Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/ptPAsZtHC9

Washington Congressman Adam Smith said something remarkably stupid about using the military to target drug traffickers. The DOJ is suing Washington State for refusing to hand over voter registration information. Seattle now has the highest rate of residents with a college degree of any major city in the United States. // Seattle activists held one of the most pathetic protests ever against Amazon. // Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia issued an apology for a post that bashed Heisman trophy voters after he didn’t win the award. A Chiefs player reacted in real time to finding out that the team had been eliminated from the playoffs.

Voting rights attorney Marc Elias warns that the Trump Department of Justice is aggressively seeking access to Americans' most sensitive voter data—including Social Security numbers, party affiliation, voting history, and signatures—by suing more than 20 states. Elias explains why this unprecedented data grab is central to a broader strategy of voter suppression, election subversion, and litigation designed to undermine free and fair elections in 2026 and beyond. Drawing on decades of experience and current court battles, he breaks down how voter files work, how they can be weaponized, and why DOJ control of this data could fundamentally reshape elections, from voter challenges to targeted suppression laws and post-election challenges. Support independent journalism: https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/member-youtube Stay informed with the latest news and political analysis: https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/youtube Follow Democracy Docket: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/democracydocket.com Instagram⁠: https://instagram.com/democracydocket Facebook⁠: https://facebook.com/democracydocket X/Twitter⁠: https://twitter.com/DemocracyDocket TikTok⁠: https://tiktok.com/@democracydocket Threads: https://www.threads.net/@democracydocket

The Constitution Study with Host Paul Engel – Delay the exposure of malfeasance long enough, and someone will claim it doesn't matter because it's old. Like the claims that FBI and DOJ leadership kept obstructing investigations into then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Clinton Foundation. Now, almost ten years later, does anyone expect a fair investigation?

Tonight on Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski reads — in full — the November 3, 2025 letter sent by Congressman Jamie Raskin to Attorney General Pam Bondi, demanding answers about what he calls a “gigantic cover-up” surrounding the shutdown of the Epstein co-conspirator investigation. The claims laid out in this letter are extraordinary, and they raise questions that cut to the heart of how justice works in America. According to Raskin's letter, until early 2025 the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York was still pursuing leads involving Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's alleged co-conspirators. Nearly fifty survivors had reportedly provided testimony naming individuals connected to the trafficking network. Raskin alleges the investigation was active, growing, and producing evidence — until it was suddenly transferred from SDNY to DOJ headquarters in Washington, D.C. Six months later, the case was closed. In his letter, Raskin asks the DOJ to explain: • Why a federal trafficking probe was halted mid-investigation • Why banks reportedly flagged over $1.5 billion in Epstein-linked transactions without follow-up • Why survivors whose testimony helped convict Ghislaine Maxwell were later assessed as “not credible” • And whether the closure protected certain individuals from scrutiny Tony Brueski reads the entire letter unedited and uninterrupted, allowing listeners to hear Raskin's concerns exactly as written. This episode does not claim the allegations are proven — it presents the congressional questions now publicly on the record. If these claims are accurate, the implications are enormous. If they're not, why were they raised at all? Tonight, you hear the letter — and decide for yourself. #JamieRaskin #EpsteinInvestigation #JeffreyEpstein #GhislaineMaxwell #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #DOJ #FBI #TrueCrimePodcast #JusticeForSurvivors Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

On this New Year's Day episode of the MeidasTouch Podcast, we kick off 2026 by breaking down a barrage of consequential developments: the DOJ's review of 5.2 million “newly surfaced” Epstein records, a Wall Street Journal report detailing how Mar-a-Lago staff were sent to Epstein's mansion; new reporting on Donald Trump's health, from his excessive aspirin use and contradictory statements about scans to visible discoloration on his hands, chronic sleep issues, and a fast-food diet; and the release of Jack Smith's closed-door video deposition from the House Judiciary Committee in which he outlines his case against Trump. We also contrast the ugliness and cruelty of Trump and MAGA politics with a moment of civic inspiration as Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as New York City's mayor, highlight Trump's abuses of power, from seizing public golf courses in D.C., vetoing a bipartisan clean water project in Colorado over personal grudges, and launching vile attacks on the Kennedy family and political opponents. Ben, Brett, and Jordy break it all down in the first full-length pod of the year. Subscribe to Meidas+ at https://meidasplus.com Get Meidas Merch: https://store.meidastouch.com Deals from our sponsors!  StopBox: Get firearm security redesigned and save 10% off @StopBoxUSA with code TRUTH at https://www.stopboxusa.com/TRUTH  #stopboxpod Hiya Health: Go to https://hiyahealth.com/MEIDAS to receive 50% off your first order! and get your kids the full-body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults. MUD/WTR: Start your new morning ritual & get up to 43% off your @MUDWTR with code MEIDAS at https://mudwtr.com/MEIDAS! #mudwtrpod Remi: Save your smile and your bank account with Remi! Get up to 55% off and a free gift at ⁠https://shopremi.com/meidas today! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friday, January 2nd, 2026Today, the Wall Street Journal is out with new reporting that the Mar a Lago spa was trafficking girls to Epstein; the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered Trump to return control of the National Guard to Gavin Newsom; new jail video footage disproves government claims about which cameras were working at the time of Epstein's death; US officials confirm Ukraine did NOT strike Putin's residence; the US strikes five more boats in the Caribbean, possibly leaving survivors; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.Guest: John FugelsangTell Me Everything|John Fugelsang, The John Fugelsang Podcast, John Fugelsang|Substack, @johnfugelsang|Bluesky, @JohnFugelsang|TwitterSeparation of Church and Hate by John Fugelsang - OUT NOW!AG is joining John Fugelsang this Friday on his Sirius XM show Tell Me Everything on Channel 127 at 9 PM Eastern, 6 Pacific. UNSEALED order in the Abrego Case and the DoJ coverup of the pipe bomber motivesStories:https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-finds-ukraine-didnt-target-putin-in-drone-strike-615ce4be?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalinkhttps://apnews.com/article/boat-strike-us-military-venezuela-trump-6d975cd2cafaf9ad959e2dad6f0cb8f0https://www.wsj.com/us-news/trump-epstein-mar-a-lago-ban-2011dc53?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalinkhttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/epstein-files-videos-jail-footage/Good TroubleACA subsidies that lower monthly insurance premiums for millions of Americans have expired. An estimated 22 million of the 24 million ACA marketplace enrollees are currently receiving enhanced premium tax credits to lower their monthly premiums, and many are preparing to see their premiums soar in 2026.Contact  your House Rep and your Senators - Let them know that this is unacceptable and they need to take action now.Contacting U.S. SenatorsFind Your Representative | house.gov5 Calls.orgFrom The Good NewsPaw It Forward Sanctuary Non-Profithttps://www.facebook.com/people/Paw-It-Forward-Sanctuary-Non-Profit/100095532039556/?mibextid=wwXIfrhttps://ncdoj.gov/attorney-general-jeff-jackson-wins-17-million-lawsuit-against-fema-blocking-femas-attempt-to-withhold-funding-for-first-responders/https://www.npr.org/2025/12/20/g-s1-103223/lumbee-tribe-federal-recognition-137-yearsPatrons Sponsoring Patrons - The Daily Beans→Go To DailyBeansPod.com Click on ‘Good News and Good Trouble' to Share YoursSubscribe to the MSW YouTube Channel - MSW Media - YouTubeOur Donation LinksPathways to Citizenship link to MATCH Allison's Donationhttps://crm.bloomerang.co/HostedDonation?ApiKey=pub_86ff5236-dd26-11ec-b5ee-066e3d38bc77&WidgetId=6388736Allison is donating $20K to It Gets Better and inviting you to help match her donations. Your support makes this work possible, Daily Beans fam. Donate to It Gets Better / The Daily Beans FundraiserJoin Dana and The Daily Beans and support on Giving Tuesday with a MATCHED Donation http://onecau.se/_ekes71More Donation LinksNational Security Counselors - Donate