Maddow: Trump admits what the attack on Iran is really for

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Thanks, Ruth Holm, for joining us this hour. Happy to have you here. How has Iran been able to hit American military targets in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia and other places? I mean, some targets for them are obvious places that anybody would be able to pick off a map, places like air bases or even U.S. embassies or consulates. But for all the damage that has been done to Iran's offensive capabilities in this war thus far, Iran has somehow also been able to hit things like, reportedly, a CIA facility in Riyadh and a naval command and control facility in Bahrain and U.S. radar facilities that are not clearly marked on any map and not obvious locations for anybody. How has Iran been able to find targets like that so they could aim their missiles and their drones at American facilities like that with such specificity? Well, the Washington Post and the Associated Press and us here at MSNOW have all now reported that Iran has been getting help in targeting American personnel and military facilities, help from a sophisticated military ally in targeting U.S. personnel and U.S. military capabilities all over the Middle East. The Washington Post's report on this was first, and they explained it bluntly and clearly. Quote, and its much more advanced space capabilities, highly valuable to the Iranians. So again, this was first reported by the Washington Post, this reporting then corroborated by the Associated Press and by us here at MSNOW. The upshot is that Russia is helping Iran. Russia specifically is giving them targeting information, giving them very specific locations, using their own intelligence capabilities to give the Iranians very specific locations so they know where to attack American troops to try to kill them and where to attack American facilities in the Middle East. Russia is giving Iran that information. What should the United States do about that? Well, under the leadership of Donald Trump, the United States has decided that under these circumstances, what our response is going to be is that we're going to ease sanctions on Russia, ease sanctions on Russia. Trump has moved to give Russia relief from sanctions. Trump has moved specifically to let Russia sell more of its oil and gas, get around sanctions, restrictions that might have prevented them from doing that before. I mean, Russia is allies with Iran, right? Russia issued a statement of congratulations when Iran chose Khomeini's son to replace him as the country's supreme leader. Congratulations, Junior. Enjoy your Ayatollah ship. He's a close relation, a close connection to the radical and powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Putin sends his personal congratulations. But, you know, Russia, as much as they might not want to see their ally put in difficult straits, Russia financially is actually really enjoying this moment. Because what does Russia have to offer the world? What does Russia have to offer the world economy? I mean, if you don't count vodka and potash, Russia basically has two industries, two things to offer the world, oil and war. And they're using their war making abilities, their intelligence and satellite capabilities to help Iran kill Americans, to help Iran target and kill Americans in the Middle East. Also, on the war-making front, Russia is obviously enjoying seeing the United States burn up lots and lots and lots of missiles and interceptor munitions in the Middle East. So we'll be less happy and less able to provide those same types of weapons to Ukraine to fight against Russia. So on the war-fighting side of things for Russia, this is great for them. This is a win-win. And meanwhile, Russia's other industry, oil and gas, is as happy as it's been in a long time because of the huge spike in oil and gas prices all over the world, as Russia's oil and gas competitors in the Persian Gulf all basically get knocked offline. If Russia can just sell their oil and gas, if they can be allowed to get their oil and gas to market, well, Russia's going to be rich again, which they desperately need given how they've spent themselves into oblivion in their endless, pointless Ukraine war. And so we now simultaneously have the U.S. intelligence reports that Russia is helping Iran target American personnel and military facilities to kill Americans in the Middle East. And the news that Trump is cutting sanctions on Russia to ensure they can sell practically all the oil and gas they want and refill their financial coffers as a country. And so what exactly happened today when Trump reportedly called a CBS news reporter and said, um, the war's pretty much over. And then Trump called a bizarre and incoherent press conference at one of his golf resorts where he said, no, no, no, it's not pretty much over. Where did you hear that? Who told you that fake news? In the middle of that swirling dust devil of nonsense and reversal and double reversal and incoherence and non sequitur from the president of the United States. What happened in the middle of all that today? Well, according to the Kremlin, in the middle of all that, President Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin and talked to him for an hour. And we only learned about that phone call because the Kremlin told us about it. The White House didn't announce it. The Kremlin did. Did the White House even know Trump was doing that before the Kremlin told everybody it had happened? Did Trump just call Putin from his flip phone? Was it while he was playing golf? Was it even in the White House calendar that today was the day Trump was supposed to check in with his boss? Gulf War III continues. Gulf War I was because Iraq invaded Kuwait and we wanted to make them uninvade Kuwait. Gulf War II was because the George W. Bush administration wanted somewhere else to invade besides Afghanistan, so they made up a fantasy about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction when they didn't. Gulf War III is now, and Donald Trump started it, but for Gulf War III, there is still no coherent explanation from the president or the White House as to what exactly this is all for, not even an obviously pretextual false reason like we had from George W. Bush. The president did unveil a new purported justification for the war today in his rambling press conference at his golf thing. He said, quote, we're doing this for the other parts of the world. We're doing this for the other parts of the world. It's actually hard to argue with that one. That one might actually be true. The Wall Street Journal is now describing this as the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s. CNBC calls it the biggest oil supply disruption in history. Because there is no way to safely move it to market, Saudi Arabia has now cut its production of oil. Iraq's production of oil is down to less than one third what it was before Trump started this war. In Qatar and Kuwait and Bahrain, major energy companies have declared force majeure, which basically means they're saying, hey, you know, act of God, outside our control, we can no longer be held to any contracts we previously signed as they all radically, radically scale down their oil and gas production. And it's not only fuel, it's also food, huge amounts of fertilizer passed through the Strait of Hormuz, fertilizer bound for ports all over the world. for crops all over the world, for foodstuffs all over the world. Raw materials related to the petroleum industry also being choked off. A plastics plant north of Tokyo started to scale down production on Friday because they can't get the raw materials they use in that production process because they're petroleum-based products. It's also aluminum and other commodities like that as facilities like smelters shut down for lack of fuel. The nation of Bangladesh just closed its universities because they need to conserve energy. They need to conserve electricity used by the universities, and they need to reduce the need for people to drive anywhere. Whole regions in the Philippines, including the capital city of Manila, just forced the country, just forced employers to institute a four workweek instead of a five workweek specifically to try to save energy Gas stations in Vietnam have started to run out of fuel They started to put up sold signs all over Hanoi The New York Times reports that Pakistan's strategy is to hike gas prices so people hopefully stop driving, and they're hoping that will be a protective measure to try to preserve both the supply and the price of diesel for Pakistan's trucks and buses. Okay, maybe, maybe, maybe that'll work for some time. Maybe some of that will work for some time. But why did all this happen? What was all this for? We're doing this for the other parts of the world. We're doing this for the other parts of the world. We're doing this for the other parts of the world. I'm sure they're delighted with that. We're watching right now the dignified transfer of the remains of Sergeant Benjamin Pennington, 26-year-old sergeant from the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade based at Fort Carson, Colorado. He's from Glendale, Kentucky. You see the transfer case was moved into that transfer vehicle as they now close it. After the arrival there at Dover Air Base, you also saw civilian officials, the vice president and the defense secretary there, as well as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Joining us now is retired U.S. Army Colonel Jack Jacobs. He is a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his service during the Vietnam War. Colonel Jacobs, can you just talk to us a little bit about what we're seeing and why this happens the way it does at Dover? Well, it didn't used to happen. When we had lots and lots of casualties during the war in Vietnam, we lost in some weeks a thousand troops. It didn't happen. And at that time, we had a draft. This was not long after the end of the Second World War, when we had 19 million people in uniform. and everybody knew somebody who had served every household and made a contribution to the defense of the country. And then we decided that we were going to have a volunteer force. We weren't going to have a draft. And the result of that is that most Americans do not know anybody in uniform. And when the military instrument of power is used and people are killed, this ceremony, and I think the Defense Department would say it's not a ceremony, but it's a ceremony, is vitally important for the American public to see it. Because in the past, we knew what the cost was, and now we don't, because we don't know anybody in uniform, but this is the cost of the use of the military instrument. I also remember in the post 9-11 wars, significant controversy and political debate over the then George W. Bush administration, wanting to make sure that there was no media coverage, that there were no cameras at events like this, at these solemn events at Dover, even as the family may have been there, even as some public officials may have been there. They did not want the public to see these things. That is a debate that I think was soundly settled in favor of people believing there ought to be public access, such as it is, to these events. But it is limited. As you can tell here from this footage that we have got, this is not live. This happened just moments ago. We don't take this footage live. We only take it on a slight delay. Also, we don't air any audio from these ceremonies. It's very tightly constrained so that we can see it but are also held a little bit at every move. Do you think those kinds of restrictions are appropriate given the sort of purpose of us being able to see this that you were just describing? Well, it's very solemn, and maybe not having audio is a worthwhile thing to do. You know, you mentioned the war in Iraq, and we had been in the Middle East for a long, long time fighting. And it's interesting to note that at the beginning of the war, Secretary Rumsfeld argued strenuously that we should not have any press coverage at all of what was happening in the Middle East. And I think it was Torrey Clark, his press advisor, his communications advisor, I think that's who it was at the time, who argued that we needed to have that. And the result was that we wound up with press embedded with units. And the argument was it's vitally important that the American public see what is done in their name. To be sure, we need to do whatever we can do in order to protect the United States, our allies, our interests everywhere around the world. But whatever is done to do that, it's important that the American public always be informed of what it takes to get it done, whether or not it's getting done, and when it's over, when it is over, that we've accomplished our objectives or have not accomplished our objectives. So full and complete disclosure is vitally important for the health of the republic. But also, it's important for the kids who are out there fighting. It's important that the public knows who's out there, what they're doing, and the efforts in service and sacrifice that are made on their behalf, Rachel. Yeah, made very, very real by these images we've just had tonight. Colonel Jack, it is always an honor to have you with us whenever you can have time to be here, especially on a night like this. I appreciate you being here, sir. Thanks for having me on the program. All right. That dignified transfer, again, for Sergeant Benjamin N. Pennington, 26 years old, of Glendale, Kentucky. We'll be right back. Stay with us. What do you know about the Family Detention Center in Dilley, Texas? It's where our government imprisons immigrant parents, children, and even newborns, a place with putrid drinking water, food with bugs and worms, and even a confirmed measles outbreak. These conditions are unsafe and inhumane. The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES, This is the only legal aid provider inside Dilley, day in and day out. We're there right now, defending immigrants' rights to due process and filing emergency petitions to free families illegally detained. You can fuel our fight to protect the rights of our children, our neighbors, and all of us. Donate at freeallfamilies.org. That's freeallfamilies.org. This message comes from the International Rescue Committee. Right now, in places like Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, conflict and disaster have forced millions of families into temporary shelters without basic supplies and in urgent need of aid. With your help, the International Rescue Committee is on the ground in more than 40 countries, delivering food, clean water, shelter, and medical care where it's needed most. Donate today by visiting rescue.org slash rebuild. Upgrade your bathroom routine with the Cottonelle Cleaning Duo. Their toilet paper and flushable wipes feature cleaning ripples, designed to help you come clean. Using them together leaves you feeling cleaner and fresher than dry toilet paper alone. Cottonelle gives you that kind of clean that makes you want to come clean about everything else, like admitting you've been rocking press on nails since 2008. It's the clean that boosts your confidence and keeps you feeling fresh all day. The classified report by the National Intelligence Council, quote, found that even a large-scale assault on Iran launched by the United States would be unlikely to oust the Islamic Republic's entrenched military and clerical establishment. Unlikely to oust the Islamic Republic's regime. A sobering assessment as the Trump administration raises the specter of an extended military campaign. The findings were confirmed to The Washington Post by three people familiar with the report's contents. They raised doubts about President Trump's declared plan to, quote, clean out Iran's leadership structure and install a ruler of his choosing. So this is a Trump administration intelligence product. This is an analysis produced for Donald Trump by the National Intelligence Council, which is veteran intelligence analysts who are in charge of crafting intelligence assessments for all 18 of the U.S. government's 18 different intelligence agencies. And the National Intelligence Council has advised the Trump administration, has advised the White House, that even a large scale assault on Iran launched by the United States will not be likely to oust Iran's regime. Why are we doing this anyway? Joining us now is Congressman Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut. He is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, it's really nice of you to make time to be here this evening. Thank you. Good to be with you, Rachel. So we've just seen the images from that solemn event at Dover Air Base, that dignified transfer of the remains of the seventh U.S. service member to have been killed in this war. We have just spent the last few days the weekend including today watching the economic shock of this war and its repercussions resonate all around the world in ways very large and very small in multiple countries all over the world if not every country in the world The ramifications of what we doing are deadly and very very wildly serious Do you think you understand why we have done this, why Trump started this war? Well, we finally got a consistent rationale from the Secretary of State, from Marco Rubio. I first heard it in a Gang of Eight meeting on the Tuesday prior to the attack. We heard it as the attack was underway, and we've heard it a variety of times since. And the problem is it's a profoundly dissatisfying rationale. So what did Marco Rubio tell us? He said that we were sure that the Israelis were about to launch an attack. We were sure that when the Israelis launched that attack that the Iranians would retaliate against us, and therefore we had to join the Israelis. And, Rachel, it's on the face of it. So it's as though we're licked in shine, as though we have no leverage over the players in the region. And, of course, we do have rather substantial leverage or at least partnership with Israel. And there were all sorts of options. But that was the rationale. And then, of course, we got the president freelancing his own rationales, which it was about the attempts to kill him or the nuclear facilities, which we were told were obliterated. But nonetheless, if you go with the Secretary of State's explanation, which he's repeated multiple times, we were passive and reactive bystanders in the single most serious thing that we can do, i.e. get involved in war and a war in the Middle East. And I don't need to punctuate that point because we all just watched the dignified transfer of the remains of a young soldier, Sergeant Pennington, who was with us a week ago and who is no longer with us. And that just punctuates why this is probably the most serious decision a president can make, taken completely unseriously. Do you believe Marco Rubio when he gave you that explanation? I mean, I hear you that it's at least somewhat consistent and that at least he might be the one person in the administration who said the same thing twice rather than iterating some new version of an explanation every single time they're asked for an answer about it. But does it strike you as plausible that that is the reason that we did it as bad a reason as that is? Do you think it's true? First of all, I don't spend a lot of time with Donald Trump, but I can only imagine what it's like to be in his war council, right? Because my suspicion is that every hour or so, the rationale and the emotional temperature and the objectives change. You just need to watch Donald Trump in a news conference to know that that is most likely true. So my best guess is that the president realized that Iran was imminent danger notwithstanding, because that explanation, of course, is both wrong, a lie and insane, considering that Iran, as vicious and as dangerous as they are, are weaker today, relatively speaking, than they have been for a very long time because of the 12-day war of June and because of the bombing of their nuclear infrastructure. My guess is that Donald Trump, probably listening to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who for 40 years, this has been his primary objective, decided that he could secure a role in history. And my guess is that the Secretary of State, and I do emphasize that these are my guesses because I wasn't in the room, my guess is that the Secretary of State was doing a lot of backfilling and not particularly well. Again, his explanation makes it sound as though we are reactive and passive bystanders rather than, you know, a superpower. What do you make of the reports that Russia has been providing targeting information to Iran to help them in killing American service members and targeting American military and other infrastructure in the Middle East? Yeah, I've just got to be a little careful about talking about said reports if they exist, given my role on the Intelligence Committee. But one way to think about this is, duh, the United States has been making no secret of its effort, halting though it may be to help the Ukrainians. And you can imagine what Vladimir Putin thinks now that we have a substantial portion of our military capability exposed in the region. So, I mean, I'll just I'll leave it at that. Democratic Congressman Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, sir. Thank you for your time this evening. It's really good to have you here. Thank you, Rachel. All right. We got much more news ahead here tonight. Stay with us. I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo Pre-Filled Syringe, which contains F-Gartigamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivgardMyWay.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T MyWay.com. and talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo. Brought to you by Argenics. Performance comes down to controlling what you can. For Jessica Pagula, it starts with the air around her. A Blue Air user for over five years, she trusts Blue Signature air purifiers. Engineered to perform and designed to impress. Shop blueair.com and use code SIGNATURE30. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin? or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top-rated pros, see price estimates, and read reviews all on the app. Download today. This was Texas Today, a delegation of Democratic members of Congress. Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas, California Congresswoman Nanette Barragan, Julia Brownlee and Sarah Jacobs, Massachusetts Democratic members of Congress, Catherine Clark and Jim McGovern and Congresswoman Madeline Dean of Pennsylvania. They were all in Texas today. They all specifically went to the Dilley Immigrant Prison in Texas today. Dilley is about an hour outside of San Antonio. These members of Congress went there to get the Gomez-Cuellar family out of that prison. The Gomez-Cuellar family is a family from Texas. They have two teenage sons who are part of an award-winning band at their high school. because of that band membership. They were invited to Washington, D.C. by their Republican congresswoman, Monica de la Cruz. They and their band visited the White House and they performed in Washington. And then after they got home, the two brothers from that family and their parents were arrested by Trump's federal agents. One of the brothers and the parents were locked up in that hellhole, that family prison in Dilley, Texas. The older brother, the one who's 18, He was separated from his younger brother and his mom and dad. He was locked up on his own three and a half hours further south in Texas, in Raymondville, Texas. But all members of the family got out today after a lot of news coverage about what has been done to this family. And after these seven, seven members of Congress got into Dilley to get them out. the other facility that was just holding the older of the two teenage brothers, the older of the two high school boys in this family. This was Raymondville, Texas this weekend. Local folks there rallying for the older teenage son in that family who was separated from his family and locked up there all alone. Today, he got out from Raymondville as his mom and his dad and his younger brother got out from Dilley, and Congressman Castro is now helping the whole family get home. the largest ice prison anywhere in the country is also in texas it's way out in west texas on the fort bliss military base they call it camp east montana they only opened camp east montana in august already at least three people have died there including one whose death was ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner a homicide at the hands of staff at that facility They wanted Camp East Montana to hold 5,000 people, but they never got the numbers there close to it. What with the people dying there and the measles outbreak there and the freaking tuberculosis there. Seriously. They've now reduced the number of people held at Camp East Montana to roughly 1,500 people. Within the past few days, there have been reports that they may be closing East Camp East Montana altogether. And of course, it's all quite opaque. the Washington Post reporting that it looks like Camp East Montana is closing down, the El Paso Times obtaining an internal email that suggests, okay, maybe it's not closing down. But, you know, it's clear even from their inability to fill that facility, that that facility, their largest facility thus far, has been a failure for them thus far. I mean, just in terms of the scale of this thing, the largest federal prison, like real prison in the United States, holds 4,000 people. Why did they think that under the wise, experienced leadership of Christy Noem, they'd be instantly able to stand up a massive facility even larger than the largest federal prison in the United States? And it wouldn't just be one. They want to stand up massive facilities all over the country, all of which will hold way more people than the largest federal prison in America. I mean, Camp East Montana is the biggest one they've tried to operate yet. At 5,000 beds, right? It is already a catastrophic failure and is limping along now with multiple disease outbreaks and multiple deaths. And it's only at roughly 30 percent of its 5,000 person capacity. So tell me how it going to go when they try to open these new facilities they trying to build in these warehouses to hold not 5 people but 7 people 8 people 10 people 14 to 16 people are the highest numbers they have proposed for some of what they calling these mega facilities You think they capable of running those Looks like they about to close the one they tried to build for 5 people the first one they tried This was a protest this weekend in Georgia against plans to build a 10 person Trump prison camp in Social Circle, Georgia. Donald Trump is telling the people of Social Circle, Georgia, that it doesn't matter that they don't want it, doesn't matter that their sewer system can't handle it, doesn't matter that their water system can't handle it. That little Republican voting Georgia town is going to be forced to take a 10,000 person Trump prison camp that will triple the population of their town to hold people indefinitely without trial and without access to lawyers. And I say that because I mean it specifically. New York Times notes today that in the blueprints that have been made available for that facility in Social Circle, Georgia, among other problems in the blueprints, there do not appear to be any facilities whatsoever for the people being held there to meet with lawyers there. And that's because this is honestly, this is a black site prison to hold people without trial and without access to legal representation indefinitely. That is what all of these places are that they are trying to build. There were protests this weekend in 13 states, more than 70 different protests in 13 states this weekend, all targeting Citizens Bank, Citizens Bank headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Citizens Bank is being targeted because activists say they provide financing to the private companies that have been running Trump's immigrant prisons thus far. Citizens Bank, as I say, headquartered in Rhode Island. That meant that a lot of these protests this weekend were in New England, but they were all over. They were all over. You see the sign here at Concord, Massachusetts on the left hand side, boycott Citizens Bank. And the overpass sign on the right there, Akron, Ohio. Citizens Bank funds ICE camps. national boycott's effort now for a bank purported to be financing Trump's immigrant prisons. There was also this protest this weekend in New Mexico at the site of Jeffrey Epstein's former ranch. People protesting at the site of that ranch for full disclosure and for full accountability for people involved in Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of girls and women and his sex trafficking ring. I should tell you that ranch in New Mexico, Jeffrey Epstein's ranch in New Mexico, has a new owner now. That ranch was bought secretly just a couple of years ago by a Texas Republican named Don Huffines, H-U-F-F-I-N-E-S, Huffines. You might have seen his name in headlines this week because he was just nominated by Texas Republicans last week to be their nominee for state comptroller. Honestly, Texas Republicans just nominated for statewide office the proud new owner of Jeffrey Epstein's ranch. Mr. Huffines has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein's crimes, but Texas Republicans must just be so proud. They own Epstein's ranch. I'm sure they got a great deal. Speaking of Republicans' core message to voters for the election this year, in Arizona today, we learned that the Trump administration subpoenaed records from the 2020 election from Maricopa County, which is where Phoenix is in Arizona. You might remember after the 2020 election, which Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden, both nationwide and specifically in Arizona. You might remember after that election, the Republican controlled Arizona Senate contracted, seriously, with a company that called itself Cyber Ninjas. And they spent taxpayer money on that contract to do a bizarre circus of an audit of the Maricopa County ballots from the 2020 presidential election. And at that audit, among the things they did was they checked the ballot paper to see if it might have bamboo fibers in it, because that would mean China did it. China stole the election. Cyber Ninjas sadly and surprisingly went out of business not long after their bizarre audit adventure with Maricopa County's ballots. But today we learned that the same Republican controlled Arizona Senate that contracted with Cyber Ninjas to do that to their 2020 ballots. Today, we learned they also have happily complied with a Trump administration subpoena of some kind to hand over all the Maricopa County elections data that still exists from 2020. No word on if that included any test strands of bamboo or maybe ninja outfits. This comes on the heels of a number of luminaries from the QAnon movement starting to explain to various podcasters that they themselves have drafted an executive order that Trump is going to sign to proclaim a national emergency of some kind over the 2026 midterm elections. QAnon celebrities say they've written the executive order and they're now just waiting for him to sign it. So, I mean, that's that's about how it's going. Right. I mean, job creation under Donald Trump was literally negative last month. The U.S. economy under Donald Trump lost ninety two thousand jobs last month. Over the past year, while Trump's been in office, the country has lost nearly one hundred thousand manufacturing jobs specifically because remember how his tariffs were supposed to save U.S. manufacturing. He's finally had to fire his Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem. There are three, four, five-hour waits at some airports now for airport security, because that's Christy Noem's department, so that's going great. His efforts to build himself a huge new network of massive prisons where he can hold people without trial and without access to lawyers, those efforts appear to be either floundering or revealed as just patently insane everywhere he's trying to do it. Local residents and voters and politicians of both parties rejecting those Trump prison camps outright in every single place he is trying to put them. Gas prices have now spiked as high as they've ever been while he has been president, with the worst still to come, as the war he started for no discernible reason causes the worst energy world shock in at least 50 years. The Trump era is really rising up to its full height right now. With Republicans in Washington today starting to crater in a whole new way. And that story is next. Stay with us. I mentioned a moment ago one awkward situation playing out for Republicans heading into this November's elections. The statewide candidate for Texas state comptroller turns out to have secretly bought the New Mexico ranch that was owned by notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. He bought the Epstein ranch and now he's the Republican Party's candidate for statewide office for state comptroller in Texas. Must have a great head for numbers, this guy who secretly bought Jeffrey Epstein's ranch. It has made for awkward headlines already. Even though Don Huffines has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the Epstein case, even though he says any request from law enforcement to search the property will be met with immediate access and full cooperation, it's still going to be awkward for Texas Republicans all the time. when his ownership of Jeffrey Epstein's ranch keeps coming up over and over again during the course of 2026, heading into the November election. Just today, New Mexico investigators began a new search of the property, a good reminder to all Texas Republicans that that's their guy, the Jeffrey Epstein ranch owner guy. It's expected to be a difficult election season for Republicans for a lot of reasons. Their biggest challenge will likely be keeping control of Congress in November. Already, the Republican majority is so slim in the House, they can afford to lose only one vote on any party line issue. Well, today, California Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley announced that he's leaving the Republican Party. He wants to serve his swing district as an independent from here on out. Congressman Kiley says he will still caucus with the Republicans. But of course, he now has every political reason to try to distance himself from his party on any high profile vote he has to take. Meanwhile, several other House Republicans have essentially become very lame ducks, say Texas Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who lost his primary. He's going to be out of office next year. Does he have to show up between now and the end of his term? It's up to him. Texas Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt also gave up his seat in the House to come in third in the Texas Senate race. Congressman Hunt already had a terrible attendance record in Congress. What reason does he have to show up now, now that he's given up his seat? Texas Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez. How about him? He agreed not to seek re-election after an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. If Tony Gonzalez remains in the House, which he says he plans to do, he'll have to face an ethics investigation. What's the likelihood that he's going to keep showing up? If he quits, the ethics investigation just goes away. See also Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who has recently bucked her party specifically on the issue of Jeffrey Epstein. Congresswoman Mace is also giving up her seat to run for governor. So what incentive does she have to stick around in the meantime? She is also facing a House ethics investigation over an alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars. She denies that wrongdoing, but any investigation would go away if she were to step down before her term is finished. Republicans knew to expect a fight for control of the House in November. I'm not sure they expected this much of a fight for control right now, like Monday, today, and from here on out. All right, that's going to do it for me for now. 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