KFI’s White House Correspondent, Jon Decker joins to talk about DOGE’s access to personal taxpayer data from the I.R.S. / January 6th rioters argue pardons apply to charges including murder plot and child porn. / A post-fire LA grapples with whether builders should permit their own projects. / Food recalls in the US were widespread - and deadly in 2024.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty. The Bill handles
show on demand on the iHeartRadio aps.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Some of the big stories. We are looking at.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
A Delta Regional flight from Minneapolis crash landed at Toronto
Pearson International Airport, flipped upside down and everybody survived.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Boy, that's a miracle for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Okay, there is a lot of controversy going on with
the Department of Government Efficiency DOGE, headed by Elon Musk,
and getting access to personal taxpayer.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Data from the IRS.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
And wouldn't they have wouldn't the government have that information anyway?
Wouldn't the White House be able to say I want
that information?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And that may not be the case. Matter of fact,
it's not.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
The case, albeit with certain circumstances and a court order.
John Decker, who is kfi's White House correspondent, we've talked
to before. John, Thanks for joining us real quickly sort
of explain this because a lot of people have a
little confusion about what's going on and what the basis
of this complaint is about.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Well, there's a complaint based upon a report that I've seen.
Don't know if it's accurate that DOGE, the Department of
Government efficiency is seeking taxpayer information from the IRS. Again,
don't know if that's true. That would seem to me
to be improper. You know, when you submit your tax
information to the Internal Revenue Service, I think there's an
(01:28):
expectation of privacy. DOGE is not a part of the government,
they are not government employees. They're essentially consultants, and it
would be improper for a consultant to gain access to
that information. Now, whether or not that's true is another
story entirely. And meanwhile, there's an effort by thirteen state
(01:50):
Democratic attorneys general to halt the progress or efforts by DOGE.
In fact, that hearing was held yesterday here and watch
in Kim, d C. Those Democratic state attorneys general are
seeking a temporary restraining order preventing Elon Musk's team from
going through these government agencies. And the judge presiding over
(02:13):
this matter heard arguments yesterday and she was not sympathetic
to the arguments being put forward by those state attorneys general.
She may issue her ruling today and whichever way she rules,
that decision will likely be appealed to the d C
Circuit Court of Appeals.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Now, this would seem an easy end around for the
president to get that information unless there was a law
passed by Congress that that private information that the IRS
holds on all of us remains with the IRS.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Which is the policy now or it is a law.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I don't know, but either if it's policy, of course
the president can overturn policy and grab that information this afternoon.
If it is law, a law is does we're send
that because he controls Congress?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So which way do you think it's going to go?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Well, let me just correct the record here. The president
can't pick up a phone speak to the person who
heads up the IRS and says I want to see
Bill Handel's IRS tax returns for the past ten years.
That is not something that is permissible. That as it
really is. Well, it's a part of the law, the
(03:25):
tax code that the only individuals that could actually see
an individual's tax return are those individuals that are authorized
to do so at the Internal Revenue Service. You may
recall there was an individual who worked at the IRS
that looked into Donald Trump's tax returns improperly, and they
were actually prosecuted for that. So that's what I say.
(03:47):
It's improper, it's illegal. So could the president do as
you put it an end around and ask Congress to
do that. No, I mean, Congress doesn't have that authority.
With one exception, and that is the Again, I don't
know why you need to look at one person's tax returns,
but the Supreme Court has upheld the right of the
(04:09):
House Ways and Means Committee chairperson to look at the
tax returns for a legislative purpose, and that's what happened
last year when Donald Trump's tax returns were seen by
the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
I don't know what type of waste and abuse you
would find that would justify looking at an individual's tax returns. Now,
(04:32):
there may be waste and abuse at the IRS, but
it's certainly not contained in the filings that you or
I or anybody else submit to the IRS.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, going back in history with Richard Nixon and his
enemies list, he was using the IRS to go after
his quote enemies in the press for the most part,
and so what happened there.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Well, I think that what you're talking about is efforts
to apply some pressure on individuals using the IRS. In
the aftermath of that, a law is passed to prevent
that type of abuse from happening in the future.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Okay, makes for great deal of sense, your guests as
to what's going to happen between the courts and the
President and the irs and the taxpayer.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Well, based upon the arguments that took place in this
emergency hearing that took place yesterday, I think that those
Democratic state attorneys general need to come up with better
rationale for halting the work of the Department of Government
Efficiency because the arguments that they put forward in this
hearing yesterday were not swaying Judge Tanya Chuck, and she's
(05:40):
the judge presiding over this. She likely will issue her
ruling today, and I think that this ultimately will be
settled by the US Supreme Court. It will take some
time to get there, but the Supreme Court likely will
have the final say as to whether or not the
work of the Department of Government Official and See is
(06:01):
proper and is legal. I think it is. It's essentially
a glorified consultant that has been hired by the government.
And there are consultants that are hired by the federal
government in the hundreds every year, and they make recommendations
to the decision makers, and the decision makers ultimately ultimately
(06:23):
decide whether or not to adhere to the recommendations put
forward by a consultant. So that's what's happening here as
it relates to the work of Elon Musk's team.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
John, Thank you. Always a pleasure to have your thing
it out, all right, yeah, all right?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Coming up the January sixth rioters, Well, they're arguing pardons
apply to what they're doing, including murder plots and child porn. See,
some of them are really not good guys. They weren't
particularly heroes, certainly in the opinion of many.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So I'm going to cover that one. Coming right up.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Some of the big stories we are covering.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
We just had John Decker, kfi's White House correspondent. I
talk about Elon Musk doge trying to get personal IRS
records that's going to court. And yet another person announcing
candidacy for governor in the twenty twenty sixth election, Riverside
County Sheriff Chad Bianco, hard right law and order guy,
(07:31):
and is California ready for that?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Don't know. It's a pretty liberal saite to say the.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Least one out of four California is a registered Republicans
one out of four twenty five percent, fifty percent are Democrats,
and the rest are various other parties or unaffiliated. And
I'm unaffiliated because I think all these parties suck. Now,
let's talk about the January six pardons. A lot of people,
(07:59):
including the press scident, think that the January sixth insurrectionist
rioters were heroes and were held hostage by the government,
which is why the President issued these bark these blanket pardons.
So here is less than a month after the January sixth,
well a little bit more than a month afterwards, some
(08:22):
of these former defendants are finding themselves well back in
court facing other criminal charges. Edward Kelly, for example, pardon
for assaulting police at the Capitol, now fighting another case
because in November.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Last November, a jury.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Convicted him of conspiring to murder the Federal Bureau Investigation
Agents FBI agents who were investigating his January sixth participation.
He even had a kill list of targets. He is
arguing that conviction should be tossed out. Why because the
President's blanket pardon covering quote offenses related to events that
(08:59):
occurred or near the Capitol. That day extends beyond that day,
and that was a blanket pardon.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Now is that too tenuous?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
I was a January sixth defendant, and I assuming well
he was already convicted, and I threatened to kill a
FBI agent's and I had a hit list that's covered. Now,
let me, is the court going to go that way?
I don't think the president. I don't think the president
(09:33):
was thinking that it went that far. However, he did
pardon people who assaulted police officers and nearly killed them.
There were some cops that were there rioting, and I'm
assuming they think, well, that's a small price to pay,
you know, one or a few cops being beaten half
(09:55):
to death or this close to death.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I don't know the answer to that.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I'll tell you there are a lot of ops out
there that were not thrilled when those individuals.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Who assaulted police.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Forget about everything else, assaulted police were pardoned. There was
a manhunt in Houston January twenty seven. County prosecutors announced
this manhunt. Adrew Taki of Pardons, defendant being sought on
a twenty sixteen charge of online solicitation of a minor.
(10:25):
He was serving a seventy four month sentence after pleading
guilty to violence at the Capitol. Oh, by the way,
he also sprayed police officers with the best bear spray
four separate times and stuck struck one with a metal whip.
Okay for that one, Well what happened January sixth. Therefore
the pardon goes. There's a child pornographer who is arguing
(10:48):
a blanket pardon goes all the way.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
There are some that are.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Published, have published the names and addresses.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Of FBI agents.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
That were there or to the point where these agents
are scared to death because we're not talking about people
just you know, threatening them, and it's sort of a
you know, a blanket threatened that there's really meaning a thing.
These are people that have said I'm going to kill
FBI agents. We want here's their name, hear their addresses,
(11:19):
here's where their families are.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Now, you know, quote, let's take care of them. Now.
Is the pardon going to go that far? I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I can't imagine, because now it's with the courts, and
what does a blanket pardon mean?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I you know, the courts have never dealt with something
like this before. And keep in mind how many. How
many rioters.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Were pardoned fifteen sixteen hundred, we're pardoned, and the ones
I think in question are the ones that assaulted police officers.
There were a couple that were put in jail for
absolutely committing themselves to overthrowing the government, straight out insurrection,
straight out.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Let's overthrow the government. Pardoned.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Police officers were beat up, those defendants pardoned, threats against
government officials pardoned. I can see if someone was there
now yet breaking into the capitol. I don't think there
should be a pardon. But a lot of people dissent
from that view. A lot of people disagree, But how
(12:31):
many people disagree truly about the attack on police officers?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Man, I just don't get that.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
I don't get that, but the feeling these were true
patriots and they were upholding the constitution and had Trump lost,
America would be destroyed. And who promoted that? So we'll
see what the court say. Even with the most conservative
(12:59):
court we have, I don't see it going that far.
I mean, these arguments are insane, But then again, what
wasn't insane that day?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Huh? What was not insane? All right? Coming up, we're
talking about rebuilding. That's another one.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
We're gonna have a lot of discussion on and that
is rebuilding the Palisades, rebuilding Altadena.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And I've built before badly.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I might add I had a construction business that I'm
thrilled was a spectacular failure while I was in law
school and beforehand. So I'm going to talk about the
permitting process which makes it. I would think Los Angeles
is probably the most difficult place in the country to build.
I think that's fair, and I will get into that
(13:45):
when we return.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
With news that we are covering.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced to his candidacy for
guy in twenty twenty six, a hard, hard law and
order guy and it's is it that time for California
to swing in that direction? We're going to find out
in twenty twenty six, that's for sure. And right now
US and Russian officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Ending the war in Ukraine.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
The only people that are absent are the Ukrainians. Hum,
and they're saying, you're gonna cram this down our throat.
We're not even at the table.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Well, it seems that's the case.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Now we are in the rebuilding stage as quickly as
possible for the homes ten thousand of them lost in
the Eton and the Palisse fire and parts of Malibu, Calabasas.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So how difficult is it to rebuild? How difficult is
it to build? It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
In southern California, the permitting process can take I don't know,
ten months a year. We're just talking about the permitting,
which means the plan. The architect and the civil engineer
drop the plans and they submitted to the city and
they take ten months to oh, okay and make changes
or whatever. Because city planners or city building and safety
people do that all the time.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And what a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Are saying, we want to move that very quickly. Forget
all that, we want to go balls to the wall.
Karen Bass is on board. The governor just signed some
executive orders, and the city council is moving in that direction.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Why is that, Well, because it's the right thing to do.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
And two, there's some pretty heavy hitters out there, like
in the Palisades, who have a fair amount of pull
at city at city government. So they're talking about fast tracking,
even to the point of no permitting necessary at all,
especially if it's just being rebuilt.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
The house is being rebuilt as was as it was.
Does that make sense? It may a bunch of cities
do that. Dallas does that. I think New York does that. Now,
so what are the safeguards.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Safeguards is the inspectors still come in and if it
doesn't meet code, you get to redo what was being built.
And having been in construction and knowing a lot of developers,
let me tell you how much fun it is when
they come in and.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Go, oh no.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
I know a developer who had an inspector who did
not like him at all, and he had a project
where the bibs on the on the faucets, you know,
those faucets outside and at each garden area, those were
half an inch off and the city made them take
(16:45):
out every one of those and redo it over. I
think thirty units for half an inch. I mean, it
can get that crazy. So what's going to happen here?
I'll tell you what's going to happen. People are going
to be to do their own projects. You're going to
see architects, you are going to see designers, You're going
(17:08):
to see instructural engineers. Their projects are going to be okay,
even to the point where they're not even okay. Just
do it and our inspections will go in. There's already
HVAC can do it. Some roofing can do it. Where
the inspectors come in. So we're sort of a quarter
of the way there. And just to give you an idea,
as I said just before the break and I promoted
(17:28):
this segment, let me tell you how crazy it is
in southern California to build. I think Malibu is probably
the most difficult place in the country. And that is
because Malibu not only has the City of Malibu Building
in Safety, but also has the state requirements of Building
in Safety and the Coastal Commission, and they do things
like you can't build during a certain time because in
(17:51):
this case it was the turtles are moving around, and
you can't build during that time.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
There's only this window.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Okay, Then you have the state of California that says
you can't build during this window because of these requirements
for the habitat of insert name of animal here, and
they overlap. There is no window. There is no time
you can actually build. So waivers have to be requested
(18:22):
across the board. It is that tough to build, and
they're undoing that completely because you have no choice.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
You got ten thousand homes. What are you gonna do?
Is it gonna take years to rebuild? Well?
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yes, but are we gonna take years just to get
to the process where the builders and in some cases
developers are just gonna be given permission to build.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
So it's gonna go a whole different way.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Now, a lot of these builders talking about inspectors don't
have a lot of respect for inspectors. Why is that, Well,
because they view as inspectors as just failed builders, and
they're not happy peoples like English lit teachers or writing
teachers in college.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
All they are failed writers, or.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
So some people think. Others say, no, I mean, I
think there are plenty of people that teach writing who
aren't failed writers. But at some point there's not a
lot of respect. As a matter of fact, inspectors are
universally hated. But in southern California, homes have to be
built better than in Dallas, better than in New York
(19:34):
because of all of the environmental issues involved, like wildfires. Now,
certainly earthquakes have to meet earthquake requirements, seismic requirements, so
we're going to see homes going up like crazy. I
think contractors are coming from all over the country. And
the other thing is the licensure of contractors because it
(19:58):
is a licensed feel the state license. I think that
might be waived also, like during COVID the licensure of doctors.
Doctors are licensed state by state, and the state of
California waived those requirements for doctors who were licensed in
other states to deal with the COVID pandemic. Okay, coming up,
(20:23):
food recalls and Neil's going to join us, and it
all has to be and you want to listen to
this on the food recall because by tomorrow you're going
to be dead of food poisoning. So grab it today, right, Neil,
that's coming out or whatever you say, sir.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
You're listening to Bill Handle on Demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
This segment, I would like to talk about the fact
that you're probably not going to make it through next
week because you eat food. And this year food recalls
are on the upswing and they were deadly or in
twenty twenty four, and contaminated food is causing a growing
number of illnesses in the US and death. All Right,
(21:09):
just some stats before we get to Neil. Three hundred
food recalls in twenty twenty four, fourteen hundred illnesses, four
hundred and eighty seven people really, six six sick, nineteen
died from contaminated food. No big deal because those numbers
are so small, But that's double what was in twenty
(21:29):
twenty three.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
This is an upswing. It's an uptick. It's an uptick.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So Neil, you have often served because you were a
food he contaminated food and people have been very sick
as I have been.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Okay, I didn't tell I didn't want to tell you.
But so let's talk about that. How dangerous is that?
And which products have it? What diseases?
Speaker 1 (21:53):
What are we talking about? Not diseases, but what kind
are like? Yeah, bacteria, viruses, I don't think viruses happen
in food.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
There's a lot of there's a lot of confusion as
to what's going on. So there's there's a couple of
things you need to look at. One, there's two organizations
that the US Food and Drug Administration are looking at
about three.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Fourths or so of the food.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
And then you have the US Department of Agriculture that
are looking at you know, fish, poultry, meat, those types
of things. Not all recalls are for bacteria. A good
number of recalls are just because something was mislabeled or
(22:42):
had allergens in it that weren't labeled, whether that is
milk products, peanuts, soy, these things can be pulled as well.
So in one group you've got them ticking down a
little bit going into twenty twenty four, and then there's
some that have pushed up. Usually if you're going to
(23:02):
be cooking the food, there's less problems. If you notice,
what we end up seeing is the raw product. So
you had cucumbers that was a huge link to a
huge recall and illnesses. You had raw onions.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Oh that was McDonald's.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
That was the McDonald's one. So really there the battle
is is this happening. Are they on the rise or
are we getting better at catching them? Which is what
it seems to be that we're more proactive. We're catching
them and there's less illness and thankfully less death that's
(23:39):
associated because we're catching him beforehand.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
So one of the things that I find fascinating when
they're looking at the cause you have an outbreak and
the FEDS are able to trace down where it came
from to the individual farm and I joke about it,
but to the individual row within the farm of for example,
(24:04):
romaine lettuce.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
And how do they do that so specifically?
Speaker 5 (24:09):
Well, because of the numbering, we've gotten very good at
labor labeling and tracking down you have. There's no way
you can have a safe, a safe food system without
being able to track the path from you know, that
concept to completion the growth to the grocery store. So
(24:32):
these have very detailed numerical systems and following the path.
And it's just like you know, we see with these
fires that they're able to reverse track to the point
of ignition. So you're able to go back and follow
the path of back from the store or to us
the user or consumer, and trace it back to the
(24:55):
actual farm. If you look, if you've ever been in
a a processing site, whether it's for meat and I have,
or whether it's for produce and I have, These places,
when done right, you could eat.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Off the floors.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
They are so clean when they're done right, and if
you trace them back you can you're able to see
any point in the process that's that's broken down, because
really it is. It should be pristine in those processes.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Just a couple of questions and we're out of it.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Is there any safe food that you absolutely know it's
safe for?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Is the only answer?
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Simply not eating or producing your own food, having your
own chickens in the backyard, like many Beverly Hills residents have.
Speaker 5 (25:45):
No We talked about this on the show. We did
a deep dive last week on the whole egg situation
in the bird flu of the avian flu. The reality
is that even if you had your own eggs, there's
always a possibility of depending on the migration area you're in,
of birds coming by that could be contaminated anything. Think
of produce, even organic produce, right bill that people pay,
(26:08):
you know, a high dollar four because it hasn't been
touched by certain chemicals whatever, Well people are handling it
all day. What if somebody comes in with bacteria on
their hands or there's there's always a point of introduction
for something that could be bad in food.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Oh Ranil and Neil is heard by the way on
the weekend Saturdays two to five on the Fork Report,
All Things Food Coming up. Mike Dubuski Tech Tuesday riches
off today and we're going to talk about Tesla, one
of my favorite topics, and there's an Apple event coming
up and he'll discuss that.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
You've been listening to The Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Catch My Show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
You're listening to KFI AM six forty. The Bill handles
show on demand on the iHeartRadio aps.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Some of the big stories. We are looking at.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
A Delta Regional flight from Minneapolis crash landed at Toronto
Pearson International Airport, flipped upside down and everybody survived.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Boy, that's a miracle for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Okay, there is a lot of controversy going on with
the Department of Government Efficiency DOGE, headed by Elon Musk,
and getting access to personal taxpayer.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Data from the IRS.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
And wouldn't they have wouldn't the government have that information anyway?
Wouldn't the White House be able to say I want
that information?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And that may not be the case. Matter of fact,
it's not.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
The case, albeit with certain circumstances and a court order.
John Decker, who is kfi's White House correspondent, we've talked
to before. John, Thanks for joining us real quickly sort
of explain this because a lot of people have a
little confusion about what's going on and what the basis
of this complaint is about.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Well, there's a complaint based upon a report that I've seen.
Don't know if it's accurate that DOGE, the Department of
Government efficiency is seeking taxpayer information from the IRS. Again,
don't know if that's true. That would seem to me
to be improper. You know, when you submit your tax
information to the Internal Revenue Service, I think there's an
(01:28):
expectation of privacy. DOGE is not a part of the government,
they are not government employees. They're essentially consultants, and it
would be improper for a consultant to gain access to
that information. Now, whether or not that's true is another
story entirely. And meanwhile, there's an effort by thirteen state
(01:50):
Democratic attorneys general to halt the progress or efforts by DOGE.
In fact, that hearing was held yesterday here and watch
in Kim, d C. Those Democratic state attorneys general are
seeking a temporary restraining order preventing Elon Musk's team from
going through these government agencies. And the judge presiding over
(02:13):
this matter heard arguments yesterday and she was not sympathetic
to the arguments being put forward by those state attorneys general.
She may issue her ruling today and whichever way she rules,
that decision will likely be appealed to the d C
Circuit Court of Appeals.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Now, this would seem an easy end around for the
president to get that information unless there was a law
passed by Congress that that private information that the IRS
holds on all of us remains with the IRS.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Which is the policy now or it is a law.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I don't know, but either if it's policy, of course
the president can overturn policy and grab that information this afternoon.
If it is law, a law is does we're send
that because he controls Congress?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So which way do you think it's going to go?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Well, let me just correct the record here. The president
can't pick up a phone speak to the person who
heads up the IRS and says I want to see
Bill Handel's IRS tax returns for the past ten years.
That is not something that is permissible. That as it
really is. Well, it's a part of the law, the
(03:25):
tax code that the only individuals that could actually see
an individual's tax return are those individuals that are authorized
to do so at the Internal Revenue Service. You may
recall there was an individual who worked at the IRS
that looked into Donald Trump's tax returns improperly, and they
were actually prosecuted for that. So that's what I say.
(03:47):
It's improper, it's illegal. So could the president do as
you put it an end around and ask Congress to
do that. No, I mean, Congress doesn't have that authority.
With one exception, and that is the Again, I don't
know why you need to look at one person's tax returns,
but the Supreme Court has upheld the right of the
(04:09):
House Ways and Means Committee chairperson to look at the
tax returns for a legislative purpose, and that's what happened
last year when Donald Trump's tax returns were seen by
the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
I don't know what type of waste and abuse you
would find that would justify looking at an individual's tax returns. Now,
(04:32):
there may be waste and abuse at the IRS, but
it's certainly not contained in the filings that you or
I or anybody else submit to the IRS.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, going back in history with Richard Nixon and his
enemies list, he was using the IRS to go after
his quote enemies in the press for the most part,
and so what happened there.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Well, I think that what you're talking about is efforts
to apply some pressure on individuals using the IRS. In
the aftermath of that, a law is passed to prevent
that type of abuse from happening in the future.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Okay, makes for great deal of sense, your guests as
to what's going to happen between the courts and the
President and the irs and the taxpayer.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Well, based upon the arguments that took place in this
emergency hearing that took place yesterday, I think that those
Democratic state attorneys general need to come up with better
rationale for halting the work of the Department of Government
Efficiency because the arguments that they put forward in this
hearing yesterday were not swaying Judge Tanya Chuck, and she's
(05:40):
the judge presiding over this. She likely will issue her
ruling today, and I think that this ultimately will be
settled by the US Supreme Court. It will take some
time to get there, but the Supreme Court likely will
have the final say as to whether or not the
work of the Department of Government Official and See is
(06:01):
proper and is legal. I think it is. It's essentially
a glorified consultant that has been hired by the government.
And there are consultants that are hired by the federal
government in the hundreds every year, and they make recommendations
to the decision makers, and the decision makers ultimately ultimately
(06:23):
decide whether or not to adhere to the recommendations put
forward by a consultant. So that's what's happening here as
it relates to the work of Elon Musk's team.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
John, Thank you. Always a pleasure to have your thing
it out, all right, yeah, all right?
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Coming up the January sixth rioters, Well, they're arguing pardons
apply to what they're doing, including murder plots and child porn. See,
some of them are really not good guys. They weren't
particularly heroes, certainly in the opinion of many.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
So I'm going to cover that one. Coming right up.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
Listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Some of the big stories we are covering.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
We just had John Decker, kfi's White House correspondent. I
talk about Elon Musk doge trying to get personal IRS
records that's going to court. And yet another person announcing
candidacy for governor in the twenty twenty sixth election, Riverside
County Sheriff Chad Bianco, hard right law and order guy,
(07:31):
and is California ready for that?
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Don't know. It's a pretty liberal saite to say the.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Least one out of four California is a registered Republicans
one out of four twenty five percent, fifty percent are Democrats,
and the rest are various other parties or unaffiliated. And
I'm unaffiliated because I think all these parties suck. Now,
let's talk about the January six pardons. A lot of people,
(07:59):
including the press scident, think that the January sixth insurrectionist
rioters were heroes and were held hostage by the government,
which is why the President issued these bark these blanket pardons.
So here is less than a month after the January sixth,
well a little bit more than a month afterwards, some
(08:22):
of these former defendants are finding themselves well back in
court facing other criminal charges. Edward Kelly, for example, pardon
for assaulting police at the Capitol, now fighting another case
because in November.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Last November, a jury.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Convicted him of conspiring to murder the Federal Bureau Investigation
Agents FBI agents who were investigating his January sixth participation.
He even had a kill list of targets. He is
arguing that conviction should be tossed out. Why because the
President's blanket pardon covering quote offenses related to events that
(08:59):
occurred or near the Capitol. That day extends beyond that day,
and that was a blanket pardon.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Now is that too tenuous?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
I was a January sixth defendant, and I assuming well
he was already convicted, and I threatened to kill a
FBI agent's and I had a hit list that's covered. Now,
let me, is the court going to go that way?
I don't think the president. I don't think the president
(09:33):
was thinking that it went that far. However, he did
pardon people who assaulted police officers and nearly killed them.
There were some cops that were there rioting, and I'm
assuming they think, well, that's a small price to pay,
you know, one or a few cops being beaten half
(09:55):
to death or this close to death.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
I don't know the answer to that.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I'll tell you there are a lot of ops out
there that were not thrilled when those individuals.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Who assaulted police.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Forget about everything else, assaulted police were pardoned. There was
a manhunt in Houston January twenty seven. County prosecutors announced
this manhunt. Adrew Taki of Pardons, defendant being sought on
a twenty sixteen charge of online solicitation of a minor.
(10:25):
He was serving a seventy four month sentence after pleading
guilty to violence at the Capitol. Oh, by the way,
he also sprayed police officers with the best bear spray
four separate times and stuck struck one with a metal whip.
Okay for that one, Well what happened January sixth. Therefore
the pardon goes. There's a child pornographer who is arguing
(10:48):
a blanket pardon goes all the way.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
There are some that are.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Published, have published the names and addresses.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Of FBI agents.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
That were there or to the point where these agents
are scared to death because we're not talking about people
just you know, threatening them, and it's sort of a
you know, a blanket threatened that there's really meaning a thing.
These are people that have said I'm going to kill
FBI agents. We want here's their name, hear their addresses,
(11:19):
here's where their families are.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Now, you know, quote, let's take care of them. Now.
Is the pardon going to go that far? I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
I can't imagine, because now it's with the courts, and
what does a blanket pardon mean?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I you know, the courts have never dealt with something
like this before. And keep in mind how many. How
many rioters.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Were pardoned fifteen sixteen hundred, we're pardoned, and the ones
I think in question are the ones that assaulted police officers.
There were a couple that were put in jail for
absolutely committing themselves to overthrowing the government, straight out insurrection,
straight out.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Let's overthrow the government. Pardoned.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Police officers were beat up, those defendants pardoned, threats against
government officials pardoned. I can see if someone was there
now yet breaking into the capitol. I don't think there
should be a pardon. But a lot of people dissent
from that view. A lot of people disagree, But how
(12:31):
many people disagree truly about the attack on police officers?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Man, I just don't get that.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
I don't get that, but the feeling these were true
patriots and they were upholding the constitution and had Trump lost,
America would be destroyed. And who promoted that? So we'll
see what the court say. Even with the most conservative
(12:59):
court we have, I don't see it going that far.
I mean, these arguments are insane, But then again, what
wasn't insane that day?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Huh? What was not insane? All right? Coming up, we're
talking about rebuilding. That's another one.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
We're gonna have a lot of discussion on and that
is rebuilding the Palisades, rebuilding Altadena.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And I've built before badly.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I might add I had a construction business that I'm
thrilled was a spectacular failure while I was in law
school and beforehand. So I'm going to talk about the
permitting process which makes it. I would think Los Angeles
is probably the most difficult place in the country to build.
I think that's fair, and I will get into that
(13:45):
when we return.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
With news that we are covering.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced to his candidacy for
guy in twenty twenty six, a hard, hard law and
order guy and it's is it that time for California
to swing in that direction? We're going to find out
in twenty twenty six, that's for sure. And right now
US and Russian officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Ending the war in Ukraine.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
The only people that are absent are the Ukrainians. Hum,
and they're saying, you're gonna cram this down our throat.
We're not even at the table.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Well, it seems that's the case.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Now we are in the rebuilding stage as quickly as
possible for the homes ten thousand of them lost in
the Eton and the Palisse fire and parts of Malibu, Calabasas.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So how difficult is it to rebuild? How difficult is
it to build? It's crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
In southern California, the permitting process can take I don't know,
ten months a year. We're just talking about the permitting,
which means the plan. The architect and the civil engineer
drop the plans and they submitted to the city and
they take ten months to oh, okay and make changes
or whatever. Because city planners or city building and safety
people do that all the time.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And what a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Are saying, we want to move that very quickly. Forget
all that, we want to go balls to the wall.
Karen Bass is on board. The governor just signed some
executive orders, and the city council is moving in that direction.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Why is that, Well, because it's the right thing to do.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
And two, there's some pretty heavy hitters out there, like
in the Palisades, who have a fair amount of pull
at city at city government. So they're talking about fast tracking,
even to the point of no permitting necessary at all,
especially if it's just being rebuilt.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
The house is being rebuilt as was as it was.
Does that make sense? It may a bunch of cities
do that. Dallas does that. I think New York does that. Now,
so what are the safeguards.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Safeguards is the inspectors still come in and if it
doesn't meet code, you get to redo what was being built.
And having been in construction and knowing a lot of developers,
let me tell you how much fun it is when
they come in and.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Go, oh no.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
I know a developer who had an inspector who did
not like him at all, and he had a project
where the bibs on the on the faucets, you know,
those faucets outside and at each garden area, those were
half an inch off and the city made them take
(16:45):
out every one of those and redo it over. I
think thirty units for half an inch. I mean, it
can get that crazy. So what's going to happen here?
I'll tell you what's going to happen. People are going
to be to do their own projects. You're going to
see architects, you are going to see designers, You're going
(17:08):
to see instructural engineers. Their projects are going to be okay,
even to the point where they're not even okay. Just
do it and our inspections will go in. There's already
HVAC can do it. Some roofing can do it. Where
the inspectors come in. So we're sort of a quarter
of the way there. And just to give you an idea,
as I said just before the break and I promoted
(17:28):
this segment, let me tell you how crazy it is
in southern California to build. I think Malibu is probably
the most difficult place in the country. And that is
because Malibu not only has the City of Malibu Building
in Safety, but also has the state requirements of Building
in Safety and the Coastal Commission, and they do things
like you can't build during a certain time because in
(17:51):
this case it was the turtles are moving around, and
you can't build during that time.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
There's only this window.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Okay, Then you have the state of California that says
you can't build during this window because of these requirements
for the habitat of insert name of animal here, and
they overlap. There is no window. There is no time
you can actually build. So waivers have to be requested
(18:22):
across the board. It is that tough to build, and
they're undoing that completely because you have no choice.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
You got ten thousand homes. What are you gonna do?
Is it gonna take years to rebuild? Well?
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yes, but are we gonna take years just to get
to the process where the builders and in some cases
developers are just gonna be given permission to build.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
So it's gonna go a whole different way.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Now, a lot of these builders talking about inspectors don't
have a lot of respect for inspectors. Why is that, Well,
because they view as inspectors as just failed builders, and
they're not happy peoples like English lit teachers or writing
teachers in college.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
All they are failed writers, or.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
So some people think. Others say, no, I mean, I
think there are plenty of people that teach writing who
aren't failed writers. But at some point there's not a
lot of respect. As a matter of fact, inspectors are
universally hated. But in southern California, homes have to be
built better than in Dallas, better than in New York
(19:34):
because of all of the environmental issues involved, like wildfires. Now,
certainly earthquakes have to meet earthquake requirements, seismic requirements, so
we're going to see homes going up like crazy. I
think contractors are coming from all over the country. And
the other thing is the licensure of contractors because it
(19:58):
is a licensed feel the state license. I think that
might be waived also, like during COVID the licensure of doctors.
Doctors are licensed state by state, and the state of
California waived those requirements for doctors who were licensed in
other states to deal with the COVID pandemic. Okay, coming up,
(20:23):
food recalls and Neil's going to join us, and it
all has to be and you want to listen to
this on the food recall because by tomorrow you're going
to be dead of food poisoning. So grab it today, right, Neil,
that's coming out or whatever you say, sir.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
You're listening to Bill Handle on Demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
This segment, I would like to talk about the fact
that you're probably not going to make it through next
week because you eat food. And this year food recalls
are on the upswing and they were deadly or in
twenty twenty four, and contaminated food is causing a growing
number of illnesses in the US and death. All Right,
(21:09):
just some stats before we get to Neil. Three hundred
food recalls in twenty twenty four, fourteen hundred illnesses, four
hundred and eighty seven people really, six six sick, nineteen
died from contaminated food. No big deal because those numbers
are so small, But that's double what was in twenty
(21:29):
twenty three.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
This is an upswing. It's an uptick. It's an uptick.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So Neil, you have often served because you were a
food he contaminated food and people have been very sick
as I have been.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Okay, I didn't tell I didn't want to tell you.
But so let's talk about that. How dangerous is that?
And which products have it? What diseases?
Speaker 1 (21:53):
What are we talking about? Not diseases, but what kind
are like? Yeah, bacteria, viruses, I don't think viruses happen
in food.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
There's a lot of there's a lot of confusion as
to what's going on. So there's there's a couple of
things you need to look at. One, there's two organizations
that the US Food and Drug Administration are looking at
about three.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Fourths or so of the food.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
And then you have the US Department of Agriculture that
are looking at you know, fish, poultry, meat, those types
of things. Not all recalls are for bacteria. A good
number of recalls are just because something was mislabeled or
(22:42):
had allergens in it that weren't labeled, whether that is
milk products, peanuts, soy, these things can be pulled as well.
So in one group you've got them ticking down a
little bit going into twenty twenty four, and then there's
some that have pushed up. Usually if you're going to
(23:02):
be cooking the food, there's less problems. If you notice,
what we end up seeing is the raw product. So
you had cucumbers that was a huge link to a
huge recall and illnesses. You had raw onions.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Oh that was McDonald's.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
That was the McDonald's one. So really there the battle
is is this happening. Are they on the rise or
are we getting better at catching them? Which is what
it seems to be that we're more proactive. We're catching
them and there's less illness and thankfully less death that's
(23:39):
associated because we're catching him beforehand.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
So one of the things that I find fascinating when
they're looking at the cause you have an outbreak and
the FEDS are able to trace down where it came
from to the individual farm and I joke about it,
but to the individual row within the farm of for example,
(24:04):
romaine lettuce.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
And how do they do that so specifically?
Speaker 5 (24:09):
Well, because of the numbering, we've gotten very good at
labor labeling and tracking down you have. There's no way
you can have a safe, a safe food system without
being able to track the path from you know, that
concept to completion the growth to the grocery store. So
(24:32):
these have very detailed numerical systems and following the path.
And it's just like you know, we see with these
fires that they're able to reverse track to the point
of ignition. So you're able to go back and follow
the path of back from the store or to us
the user or consumer, and trace it back to the
(24:55):
actual farm. If you look, if you've ever been in
a a processing site, whether it's for meat and I have,
or whether it's for produce and I have, These places,
when done right, you could eat.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Off the floors.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
They are so clean when they're done right, and if
you trace them back you can you're able to see
any point in the process that's that's broken down, because
really it is. It should be pristine in those processes.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Just a couple of questions and we're out of it.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Is there any safe food that you absolutely know it's
safe for?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Is the only answer?
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Simply not eating or producing your own food, having your
own chickens in the backyard, like many Beverly Hills residents have.
Speaker 5 (25:45):
No We talked about this on the show. We did
a deep dive last week on the whole egg situation
in the bird flu of the avian flu. The reality
is that even if you had your own eggs, there's
always a possibility of depending on the migration area you're in,
of birds coming by that could be contaminated anything. Think
of produce, even organic produce, right bill that people pay,
(26:08):
you know, a high dollar four because it hasn't been
touched by certain chemicals whatever, Well people are handling it
all day. What if somebody comes in with bacteria on
their hands or there's there's always a point of introduction
for something that could be bad in food.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Oh Ranil and Neil is heard by the way on
the weekend Saturdays two to five on the Fork Report,
All Things Food Coming up. Mike Dubuski Tech Tuesday riches
off today and we're going to talk about Tesla, one
of my favorite topics, and there's an Apple event coming
up and he'll discuss that.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
You've been listening to The Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Catch My Show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
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