December 2, 2025 • 37 mins
This week on Red, White & Bruised: Tennessee's 7th District special election is somehow competitive in a Trump +22 district, and it's all thanks to Aftyn Behn, a progressive state rep who won't apologize for hating bachelorette parties or fighting corporate tax dodgers. We break down why her campaign is the blueprint Democrats need and why Republicans are in full panic mode.
Then: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly ordered the military to "kill everybody" on a suspected drug boat, leading to a second strike on survivors—which is, you know, a war crime. Robin dissects the messy timeline, the conflicting White House stories, and why this scandal is just getting started.
Plus: Luigi Mangione is back in court fighting to suppress evidence in the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case, and his legal battle is revealing uncomfortable truths about America's broken healthcare system and why so many people can't condemn a murder without adding "but I understand why."
And finally: Trump's revenge prosecution of James Comey spectacularly collapses after a federal judge rules the prosecutor's appointment was unconstitutional. Schadenfreude at its finest.
Grab your coffee (or wine) and let's go.
----------------
Keywords: Aftyn Behn, Tennessee special election, 7th Congressional District, Pete Hegseth, war crimes, double-tap strikes, Caribbean strikes, Luigi Mangione, UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, James Comey, Trump administration, political revenge, DOJ indictment, progressive politics, left-leaning podcast, economic populism, healthcare reform, Medicare for All, corporate taxes, Nashville politics, constitutional law, Pam Bondi, political persecution, military law, Geneva Conventions, illegal orders, drug interdiction, weaponized DOJ, Matt Van Epps, Lindsey Halligan, Mark Kelly, Letitia James, Kash Patel, insurance industry, CEO murder, activist candidate, constitutional crisis, political commentary, snarky politics, political analysis, 2025 politics, Red White and Bruised, progressive podcast, Trump revenge, Democratic strategy, special election, Tennessee politics
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/we-saw-the-devil-a-true-crime-podcast--4433638/support.
Website: http://www.wesawthedevil.com
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/wesawthedevil
Discord: https://discord.gg/X2qYXdB4
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WeSawtheDevil
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/wesawthedevilpodcast.
Then: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly ordered the military to "kill everybody" on a suspected drug boat, leading to a second strike on survivors—which is, you know, a war crime. Robin dissects the messy timeline, the conflicting White House stories, and why this scandal is just getting started.
Plus: Luigi Mangione is back in court fighting to suppress evidence in the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case, and his legal battle is revealing uncomfortable truths about America's broken healthcare system and why so many people can't condemn a murder without adding "but I understand why."
And finally: Trump's revenge prosecution of James Comey spectacularly collapses after a federal judge rules the prosecutor's appointment was unconstitutional. Schadenfreude at its finest.
Grab your coffee (or wine) and let's go.
----------------
Keywords: Aftyn Behn, Tennessee special election, 7th Congressional District, Pete Hegseth, war crimes, double-tap strikes, Caribbean strikes, Luigi Mangione, UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, James Comey, Trump administration, political revenge, DOJ indictment, progressive politics, left-leaning podcast, economic populism, healthcare reform, Medicare for All, corporate taxes, Nashville politics, constitutional law, Pam Bondi, political persecution, military law, Geneva Conventions, illegal orders, drug interdiction, weaponized DOJ, Matt Van Epps, Lindsey Halligan, Mark Kelly, Letitia James, Kash Patel, insurance industry, CEO murder, activist candidate, constitutional crisis, political commentary, snarky politics, political analysis, 2025 politics, Red White and Bruised, progressive podcast, Trump revenge, Democratic strategy, special election, Tennessee politics
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/we-saw-the-devil-a-true-crime-podcast--4433638/support.
Website: http://www.wesawthedevil.com
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/wesawthedevil
Discord: https://discord.gg/X2qYXdB4
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WeSawtheDevil
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/wesawthedevilpodcast.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Sunny spaces, smiling faces, happy places. But every sunny space
holds a shadow. Behind every smile, our sharp teeth, and
every happy place has something sinister lurking just below the surface.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome to We Saw the Devil, the podcast diving deep
into the chilling realms of true crime. Join your host
Robin as she unravels mysteries that have left investigators baffled
and armchair sleuth's obsessed. Be forewarned, dear listener, We Saw
the Devil is not for the faint of heart. Our
unflinching exploration will take you to the darkest corners of
(00:41):
the psyche and through the unimaginable depths of human darkness
to unearth stark secrets. To the harsh light of day.
Nothing will be left untouched. Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Are you sure?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
We Saw the Devil?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Hello every one, and welcome back to Red White and Bruce.
Courtesy of We Saw the Devil. This is the show
where I dissect us politics with a delicacy of a sledgehammer.
I'm your host, Robin, and holy shit, do we have
a packed episode today. So first, we have the Tennessee
special election that's somehow competitive, and this is competitive in
a district that Trump won by twenty two points. It's
(01:22):
absolute insanity. Then we have a defense secretary who apparently
thinks the Geneva conventions are more like Geneva suggestions. Luigi
Mangioni also had a court appearance. His legal team is
fighting to keep damning evidence out of court. And then, finally,
I want to touch on Trump's revenge tour against James Comy.
It's hitting some shall we say, constitutional speed bumps along
(01:46):
the way. So grab your coffee, grab your wine, whatever,
three drinks you need, you know, one for hydration, one
for taste, one for whatever. Let's dive in. First, I
want to start with the amazing news from which is
Tennessee's seventh congressional district and the special election. No early
voting has been a thing, but it's over as of tomorrow, December. Second,
(02:10):
and I need to talk about why this race has
me more excited than a kid on Christmas who wanted
a pony and then actually got one, Because guys, this
is a barn burner. The Democrat running is Afton Bean. Now,
she's a thirty six year old state representative from Nashville,
I believe. Courtesy of Knoxville and guys, she is chef's
(02:30):
kiss everything Republicans hate and are terrified of. She's young,
she's beautiful, she's smart, she's progressive, and she doesn't apologize
for it. And again, this is a district Trump won
by twenty two points last year, twenty two. It should
be a cake walk for the Republican nominee. Now that
(02:52):
is Matt Van Epps, who surprise, surprise, has Trump's endorsement
and is running on this standard MAGA playbook. Now what
I need you guys to understand, and as someone who
was born and raised literally ten minutes from this place,
you have Nashville proper, right like the city of Nashville.
Davidson County is the county it's in. You have Nashville proper.
(03:13):
Then you have a crap ton of suburbs that aren't
actually Nashville but are kind of lumped in and considered Nashville.
It's very very very very very very let me get
a couple others for good measure, very very very very white.
It is very very very very very Republican. And what's
so interesting about this is that the most recent poll
(03:34):
as of yesterday, has Van Epps at forty eight percent
and often being at forty six percent, there's a two
point difference within the margin of error. And again, this
isn't a Trump up twenty two district. Let that sink
in for a second. And obviously Republicans are losing their
collective minds over this race, which is always a good
(03:56):
thing and a good sign. They've dumped over three million
dollars into the district in this final stretch. The RNC
is in full panic mode, and they're doing what Republicans
always do when they're scared. They just try to dig
up old clips and try to manufacture scandal and controversy.
So here's the scandal that she's been embroiled in. Back
(04:18):
in twenty twenty, Bean was co hosting a podcast because
of course, we millennials love our podcast, and she said,
and this is a direct quote, I hate the city.
I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I
hate country music. I hate all of the things that
make Nashville apparently an it city to the rest of
(04:38):
the country. Republicans pounced on this like it is the
smoking gun that proves that she is unfit for office.
Trump even jumped in calling her the AOC of Tennessee,
like that's supposed to somehow be an insult God, I
fucking wish, But new Splash Donnie boy AOC has a
seventy percent approval rating in her district and raises money
(05:01):
like she's got a money printer in her damn basement.
Last I checked, your approval rating doesn't even come close
to that, maybe even fifty percent of that. But here's
the thing. If you are a Nashville native, you know
exactly what she's talking about. Exactly what she's talking about.
I grew up in Nashville, born and raised here, went
(05:21):
to school here, the Nashville of my teenage years now.
I have always been a liberal. I'm so sorry. Back
ten years old, I've always been you know, I was
talking politics with my parents and whatnot, like I've always
been a Democrat. But old Nashville had character, it had personality.
Everyone knows. I'm obsessed with music. I play instruments, I
(05:42):
seeing I record like I'm obsessed with music. Old Nashville
had dive like cool dive bars, true dive bars, small
venues for a couple hundred people. I was at a
concert every single night of the week almost It was
basically my full time job as a kid. All of
that is gone now, you know. I went away for
so many years and then was forced back because of
(06:05):
COVID and my parents. Nashville lost all of that. They
tore down or closed all of the small concert venues
in favor of the nice, big, shiny, new three five
ten thousand person theaters. Now we have petal taverns. And
I don't know if any of you Nashville's known for it,
but what it is, it's a pedal tavern where a
(06:25):
bunch of drunk girls get on, usually for a bachelorette
party because we're the bachelorette capital, and they just get
drunk and they vomit and they pedal all over the
city of Nashville and hold up traffic. Everything that often
said about Nashville is accurate, And it doesn't matter if
you're a Democrat or Republican, fucking purple crayon, it doesn't
(06:47):
matter if you live here. You feel the same way, period,
full stop. So the fact that Republicans are trying to
turn this into something is hilarious because if you live here,
you know that everyone hates the same things. But the
thing about it is that she's right. And here's why
I love her response to this. She didn't grovel, she
didn't issue some mealy mouthed topology. She said, yeah, bachelorette
(07:10):
parties are annoying, petal taverns block traffic, and as a Nashavilian,
I'm allowed to complain about tourist culture ruining my city.
This woman has a more authentic connection to Nashville than
most of these performative conservatives who moved here in the
last year because Joe fucking Rogan told them to. And
she's right. Every local in every major city in America
(07:31):
complains about tourists. If you live in New York, you
hate Times Square. If you live in DC, you hate
the Metro during cherry blossom season. If you live in Nashville,
you're allowed to be annoyed that your downtown has turned
into a bachelorette party factory. It's all drunk women in
matching T shirt and they're wearing these hideous ass cowboy boots.
And by the way, guys, if you visit Nashville, nobody
fucking wears that here, so please stop. You can pick
(07:54):
them out one hundred miles away and they just get
trash and they start screaming whoo. This is just manufactured
outrage at its finest, and being isn't falling for it.
And I love that for her. And here's why I
really love her though, and why you should too, even
if you're not in Tennessee. Her entire campaign is focused
on one thing. The economy is not working for working people.
(08:17):
She's been a state representative since twenty twenty three, and
one of her first acts was proposing to eliminate Tennessee's
grocery tax. Yeah, we have a seven percent sales tax
on groceries, which disproportionately hurts lower income families. It's a
regressive tax that hits the people who can least afford
it the hardest, and she's been fighting to repeal it.
(08:38):
She's also been organizing around corporate tax reform. Get this.
From twenty nineteen to twenty twenty two, forty percent of
companies in Tennessee paid only the minimum one hundred dollars
franchise tax forty percent, including twelve percent of companies with
income over one billion dollars. More than half of Tennessee's
(08:59):
state revenues come from that seven percent sales tax, all
the while massive corporations skate by paying basically nothing. Bean
comes from a family of accountants, and she shows up
to the Tennessee Legislature with spreadsheets and data. She's ready
to fight about tax policy. She's not some Twitter activist
(09:20):
who just learned what neoliberalism means last week. She's done
the homework, she knows the numbers, and she's built in
an entire campaign around affordability, health care access, and holding
corporate power accountable. This is the democratic playbook that actually
wends you, guys, not some consultant driven focus grouped bullshit
(09:42):
about reaching across the aisle restoring civility. Aten Bean is
running on life is as expensive as shit, corporations are
fucking you over, healthcare is nun affordable, and I'm going
to fight for you. That's it. That's the messaging, and
it's resonating. Early voting data show being winning by fourteen
points fifty six to forty two percent. Voters under forty
(10:05):
are overwhelmingly breaking for her, sixty four percent to thirty
six percent. Women are supporting her by six points. Trump's
approval rating in the district is underwater at forty seven
percent approval forty ninety percent disapproval. Look is she gonna win.
I don't know, honestly, probably not. It is still a
(10:25):
Trump up twenty two district. The Republican infrastructure is deep there, guys.
When I tell you it is deep, it is. Doe
Van Abbs will probably pull this out because partisan gravity
is real. But if she comes within five points, that's
a massive moral victory and a blue print for how
Democrats can compete in red districts either way. Often Being
(10:47):
is the kind of Democrat we need more of, period.
She's smart, fearless, unapologetic, and she's completely focused on material
conditions instead of performative bullshit. Whether she wins or loses
tomorrow or guess today as you're listening to this, She's
proven that Democrats can compete anywhere if they just have
the right messaging, if they have the guts to actually
(11:10):
fight for working people instead of just triangulating themselves into irrelevance.
I feel like we've been seeing a lot of that
over the last six seven months. And also Kamala Harris
campaigned for her here in Nashville as well. The DNC
is throwing resources at this race. I mean that tells
you everything you need to know about how competitive this
is and how much national Democrats are paying attention to her. Okay,
(11:33):
so that is my act in being LoveFest. If you're
in Tennessee's seventh district and you haven't go vote for her,
now it is your final day if you're not pleasing
all the talks and pairs because Tennessee so desperately freaking
needs this. I mean, it doesn't matter to me. I'm
selling my house and actually leaving the state anyway. However, Comma,
there are amazing people here that do not deserve the
(11:55):
republican quagmire that the state has become. If you want
to see why voting against your best interests looks like,
just come to the southern state.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
All right.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
So let's talk about Pete Hesa, you know, former Fox
News host, current Defense secretary, the guy who looks like
he would sertified at Applebee's. That asshole. Yeah, he may
have committed a war crime or multiple war crimes. The
details are still coming out, but here's what we know,
and y'all it's bananas. So on September second, the US
(12:29):
military conducted a strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat
in the Caribbean. The first strike was successful, but it
left two survivors clinging to the boat. Then, and this
is where things get legally and morally dicey, the military
conducted a second strike specifically to kill those survivors. This
is called a double tap strike, and it's extremely illegal
(12:51):
under the law of armed conflict. The Geneva Conventions explicitly
prohibit attacking survivors of a shipwreck who were no longer
able to fight. It's considered an archetypal war crime. Like
this is the example they use in law school when
teaching about illegal orders, by the way, which again Republican
hypocrisy never ceases to amaze me, considering the host of
(13:13):
Democrats who came out and said and made the statement,
you know, do not follow illegal orders. You don't have to.
You know, I can provide you a laundry list throughout history,
specifically in the nineteen forties, where obeying an order didn't
matter if it was illegal. But I digress. According to
reporting from The Washington Post and CNN, Defense Secretary Pete
(13:34):
Hegseth allegedly gave a spoken order to kill everybody on
the boat after the initial strike left survivors. Admiral Mitch Bradley,
who was commanding the operation ordered the second strike to
comply with Hegseeth's directive. Now here's where it gets messier.
Trump was asked about this on Air Force One and
(13:54):
he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, I don't know anything
about it. Pete says he didn't order and I believe him,
but I wouldn't have wanted that, not a second strike.
And then the very next day, White House Press Secretary
Caroline Levitt held a press briefing and she said, again paraphrasing, Actually,
the order to kill everyone came from Trump, and Hegseth
(14:15):
was just executing the president's directive. So within twenty four
hours we went from Trump doesn't know anything about it
whatsoever to Trump actually is the one who ordered it.
I mean, pick a lane, people. And in case you're
wondering if this is just a one off mistake, here's
a fun little detail. About a month later, on October six,
(14:36):
the military conducted another strike that also left survivors, but
this time they didn't conduct a double tap strike. Instead,
they rescue the survivors and sent them back to their
home countries, which raises an obvious question what changed between
September second and October sixth. Well, on October sixth, the
(14:56):
Admiral Alvin Holsley, who oversees US Southern Command and was
in charge of the region where these strikes were happening,
had a meeting with Hegseth and Joint chiefs of Staff
Chairman Dan Kine. According to CNN's reporting, Holsey clashed with
them over the boat strikes. The following week, Holsey announced
his early retirement after just one year in command. So
(15:20):
let me get this straight. We have a high ranking
admiral who, by the way, objected to how these strikes
were being conducted. He mysteriously retired right after disagreeing with
the Defense secretary, and after that the military changed his
policy to not kill survivors. Gee. I wonder if those
things are connected. And here's why it matters at all.
(15:44):
Setting aside the moral obscenity of executing the survivors, which
should be disqualifying on its own, this is flagrantly illegal.
Multiple lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Senator Roger Wicker
and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, have called for investigations. Even
some Republicans are saying this crosses a line. Senator Tom
(16:07):
Tillis or Republican said, if it is substantiated, whoever made
that order needs to get the hell out of Washington.
Senator Mark Kelly, who himself is a former Navy pilot
and astronaut, said he hopes the reports aren't accurate, but
that killing survivors clinging to a damaged vessel could be
over a line. Democratic Senator Chris Van Holland went further
(16:29):
and said that it is very possible there was a
war crime committed. Representative Seth Moulton called it blatantly illegal,
and look, I know we've become numb at this point
to Trump administration scandals. Every day brings a new outrage,
a new shit show, and it's exhausting to keep up with.
(16:49):
But this one is different. This isn't about tweets or
mean comments or policy disagreements. This is about whether the
US military is going to operate under the rule of
war law or whether we're just going to start executing
people because the President and his Fox News Defense secretary
think it sounds tough. And here's the kicker. The administration
is now claiming the strikes were lawful under the law
(17:12):
of armed conflict and conducted in self defense, but multiple
legal experts have said that's bullshit. Sarah Harrison, a former
Associate General counsel at the Pentagon. She told CNN they're
breaking the law either way. They're killing civilians in the
first place, and then if you assume their combatants, it's
also unlawful under the law of armed conflict. If someone
(17:35):
is no longer able to fight, then they have to
be treated humanly. So here's my take that you didn't
ask for. Pete Hegseth needs to resign or be fired
immediately yesterday. This isn't even a close call. If the
reporting is accurate, and multiple outlets with multiple sources have
confirmed the basic facts. Hegseth either ordered or condoned a
(17:58):
war crime. That's disqual and guys, I'm not pussyfooting around
this or making this up or trying to create scandal
where there is nothing. If the reporting is accurate, he
actually committed a fucking war crime, the actual definition of
a war crime. And honestly, this is exactly what Democrats
(18:19):
warned about when they released that video urging military members
to disobey legal orders. I'm gonna say that again. I'm
gonna say that again with my whole fucking chest. Remember
that just a couple of weeks ago, Trump and his
allies went absolutely ape shit accused Democrats of sedition, calling
for FBI investigations, them being hanged for treason. But guess what,
(18:41):
This is the exact scenario they were warning about. A
Defense secretary with no military judgment and a president with
authoritarian tendencies giving orders that violate the Geneva Convention. Senator
Mark Kelly was one of the Democrats in that video.
I've discussed at length, and Trump has now threatened to
have Hecseeth open up an investigation into Kelly for telling
(19:02):
troops to disobey orders. The sheer audacity of threatening the
guy who warned you not to commit war crimes while
you're actively being investigated for committing war crimes is just
It's like punching a firefighter while your house is burning down.
In any case, this story, in my opinion, I could
be very wrong. I'm wrong all the time. I don't
(19:24):
think this one is just going to float away. The
House and Senate Armed Services committees are investigating Admiral Bradley,
who ordered the second strike, is expected to testify this week,
and the more details that come out, the worse. This
looks if Hegseth even has a shred of integrity or decency, which,
let's be honest, that is a big if he should resign.
(19:47):
If Trump had any respect for the role of law,
again ample evidence to the contrary, he would fire him.
We all know that neither one of those things is
going to happen, So this is going to be really
interesting to see how this plays out. You know, in
the trump Land playbook, everything just gets swept under the
rug or people just you know, go back to their
(20:08):
own lives and misery and concerns and it never seems
to go anywhere. So that could also happen here. But
the war crimes are kind of a difficult thing to ignore,
so maybe we will get lucky. All right, So next
up on the docket is we need to talk about
Luigi Mangione because this story is absolutely wild too, and
it says a lot about where we are as a society.
(20:32):
Quick recap for all of you. Back on December fourth,
twenty twenty four, Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare,
was shot and killed outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
It was a very clear targeted assassination. The shooter fled
the city, and after a five day manhunt, police arrested
Luigi Mangione ed McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Now, Luigi is
(20:54):
a twenty seven year old Ivy League graduate from a
wealthy Maryland family. He's been charged with sex and degree
murder in state court and faces additional federal charges that
could carry the death penalty. And here's where things get weird.
A significant portion of the Internet has decided that Luigi
Mangion is a full hero. And I want to be
very very very very very very explicitly clear about something.
(21:17):
Murder is bad. Assassinating a CEO in broad daylight is bad.
Vigilante justice is bad. I'm not defending what Mangion allegedly did,
but I think we need to talk about why so
many people are defending him, because it's revealing something uncomfortable
about American society, and you can't deny that. When Mangione
(21:39):
was arrested, police found a notebook in his backpack. Prosecutors
say it's essentially his manifesto that's outlining his frustration with
the healthcare industry, and it talks about in that manifesto
his intent to carry out an attack. One entry allegedly says,
I finally feel confident about what I will do. The
target is insurance. It checks every bomb bus. The notebook
(22:02):
reportedly includes praise for Ted Kazinski, the unibomber, and justifications
for killing healthcare executives because of what he saw is
their role in a deadly greed fueled health insurance cartel.
And I mean y'all the number of people online who
responded to this story with some version of yeah, man,
(22:22):
I get it. And look, I'm not saying people are
right to feel that way or that they're wrong to
feel that way, but I understand why they feel that way.
United Healthcare denies claims at a higher rate than almost
any other insurer. The American healthcare system kills tens of
thousands of people every year through denial of coverage, medical bankruptcy,
(22:43):
and people rationing insulin because they can't afford it. The
system is designed to maximize profit, and CEOs like Brian
Thompson made millions of dollars by finding creative ways to
deny people the care that they need. In essence, the
more people they kill, the more money they make. So
(23:03):
when someone finally snaps and kills a healthcare executive. A
lot of people are reacting with, well, what the fuck
did you expect. It's not that they're necessarily celebrating murder.
It's that they're so angry and desperate about the healthcare
system that they can't muster sympathy for its architects. And
that said, and I cannot stress this enough, This is
(23:24):
not the answer. Killing CEOs doesn't fix the healthcare system.
It just creates martyrs and hardens the opposition. If you
want to fix healthcare, you organize, you vote, You elect
representatives who support Medicare for all, You pressure lawmakers, you
build coalitions. You don't assassinate people. But the fact that
so many people are at least sympathetic to Mangiun's motives,
(23:47):
even if they condemn his actions like that should be
a wake up call. When a significant chunk of the
population is so pissed about healthcare and the healthcare system
that they can't condemn a murder without adding but I
give it, that is a sign that the system is
fundamentally fogged. Back to the point. Mangione was back in
court this week for pre trial hearings that could determine
(24:10):
the shape of his trial. His defense team is arguing
that key evidence, including the gun and the notebook, should
be excluded because it was obtained illegally. Here's their argument.
When police approached Mangion at the McDonald's, they immediately started
questioning him without reading him his miranda rights. He wasn't mirandized.
(24:30):
Mangion allegedly gave them a fake ID, and they questioned
him for about twenty minutes before finally mirandizing him. The
defense says it's a constitutional violation and anything Mangione said
during that time should be inadmissible. The defense is also
arguing that police illegally searched Mangion's backpack without a warrant.
One officer allegedly said, at this point, we probably need
(24:54):
a search warrant, but another officer kept searching anyways. That's
not great for the pro secution. If the judge agrees
with the defense and suppresses the evidence, prosecutors could lose
access to the alleged murder weapon, the writings that establish motive,
and potentially key statements Mangione made. That would be a
huge blow to their case. The prosecution is arguing that
(25:17):
even if the search was illegal, that they would have
inevitably discovered the evidence during the normal discovery process anyway,
so it should still be admissible. And this is a
legal doctrine called inevitable discovery, and it's basically the legal
equivalent of saying, yeah, well, we broke the rules, but
we would have found it eventually, so it doesn't count.
I mean, courts sometimes by that argument. But it's a
(25:39):
very very tough cell. So here's where we are now
with that. Mangione's trial is going to be a media circus.
From help. There's already a fan club forming outside the courthouse.
People are wearing free Luigi sashes and shirts with his
face on them. Some supporters dressed up as the villain
from Super Mario Brothers because his name is Luigi hahaha.
(26:00):
So original people are holding signs that say when patients die,
profits rise. This case is going to force Americans to
confront some very uncomfortable questions about healthcare. Not only that,
but economic inequality and what happens when people feel like
the system has forsaken them and failed them so completely
that violence starts to feel justified. Honestly, I wish that
(26:23):
this case would force us to confront some things, but
If it's anything that I know as an American, it's
that our attention span is short lived and we do
not give it shit. Just give us a new, shiny
object and we will forget about anything and everything. And
I don't have any easy answers here anyway. I just
know that if we don't fix the healthcare system, and
(26:43):
I mean actually fix it, not just tinker around the edges,
we're going to see more of this. Not because murder
is justified, but because desperate people do desperate things, and
our current system is making a lot of people very desperate. Okay,
So last up, and this story made me very happy
this week. I may have actually squealed when I read
(27:04):
the news because it's a perfect example of why having
competent lawyers is a good thing.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
So.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Donald Trump has been on a revenge tour since day
one of his second term. And this man is obsessed
with prosecuting his enemies, specifically James Comy, Letitia James, and
Adam Schiff. Those are the three that he is just
He's going to the ends of the earth to try
to find something or for something. Trump's been publicly pressuring
(27:33):
Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring charges, posting on True
Social that they're killing our reputation and credibility by not
moving fast enough. And for a hot minute, it looked
like Trump was going to get what he wanted. The
Justice Department indicted James Comy on two felony counts making
false statements to Congress an obstruction of justice. The charges
(27:54):
stem from testimony Comy gave back in twenty twenty about
whether he authorized FBI officials to leak information to the
media during the Russia investigation. Trump celebrated like he just
won the Super Bowl. He posted on Truth Social Justice
in America, one of the worst human beings this country
has ever been exposed to is James Comey. But here's
(28:15):
where it gets good. The indictment was brought by Lindsay Halligan,
a Trump loyalist with zero prosecutorial experience, who Trump installed
as the infim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
And by installed, I mean he fired the previous US attorney,
Eric Sebert, who refused to bring charges because he didn't
think that there was enough evidence. Trump then appointed Halligan,
(28:38):
who immediately presented the case to the grand jury. It
was Halligan and only Halligan, who presented the case and
signed the indictment. No other prosecutors in the office touched it,
which is extremely unusual and a pretty clear sign that
the career prosecutors thought this case was also bullshit. Now
here's the problem. Halligan's appointment was illegal, Trump doing something illegal. Well,
(29:03):
I never under federal law, and interim US attorney can
only serve for one hundred and twenty days unless they're
confirmed by the Senate or appointed by the district judges.
The previous US attorney's one hundred and twenty day window
had already expired, which meant the Attorney General couldn't just
appoint someone new. The district judges should have appointed the
(29:23):
interim US attorney, not Pam Bondi. Comey's lawyers immediately filed
a motion to dismiss, arguing that Halligan didn't have the
legal authority to present the indictment, and on Monday, US
District Judge Cameron McGowan Curry agreed. She ruled that Halligan's
appointment was unconstitutional, which means everything Halligan did as US attorney,
(29:44):
including securing the indictments, was invalid. But the judge didn't
just dismiss the case, she voided the indictment, which is
a much stronger ruling. It means the indictment never legally
existed in the first place. Judge Curry wrote, quote, uote
the cosmous Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment.
I will grant mister Comy's motion to dismiss all actions
(30:07):
flowing from Miss Halligan's defective appointment, including securing and signing
the indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must
be set aside. I mean. She also threw in some shade,
describing Halligan as quote a former White House aid with
no prior prosecutorial experience, which, like fair fam fair Comy
(30:29):
responded with the video on Instagram, saying, my heart is
broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great
confidence in the federal judicial system and I'm innocent. He
also predicted that Trump will probably come after me again,
but said he's not afraid. The same judge dismissed the
charges against Letitia James for the exact same reason. Halligan's
(30:50):
appointment was unconstitutional, so the indictment is void now. The
Trump administration is currently in full damage control mode. Over this,
Pam Bondi said the Just Department would immediately appeal. White
House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt went on Fox News and said,
everybody knows that James Comy lied to Congress. It's as
clear as day. This judge took an unprecedented action to
(31:12):
throw these cases out to shield James Comy and Latitia
James from accountability based on a technical ruling, which, like, bitch,
it's not a technical ruling, it's the fucking Constitution. The
appointment was illegal according to the law. You can't just
ignore the Constitution because it's inconvenient. And I long for
the day where these dumb Republican fox who are constantly
(31:35):
screaming about the Constitution, the Constitution, role of law, role
of law, but yet they want to break it constantly.
They do break it constantly. I mean, spend ten seconds
in a local news station comment section, right, because I
realized that myself almost all of my friends ninety percent
(31:56):
of my friends are left leaning. I'm not saying necessarily progressive,
but at least left leaning. Right like would never vote Republican,
and they will be the very first to admit that
Republicans are on this like. Remember the Tea Party Republicans
and how they all they had copies of the pocket Constitution?
Didn't Paul Ryan have that? Who else did? Like literal
(32:17):
pocket copies of the Constitution because they worshiped it so much,
But yet half of what they do breaks it. I
will never understand that, like this right, like James Comey's
stuff or even the strikes, any of it. And you
ask a typical Trump supporter and they're like, yeah, fuck ya,
I support it. Why it's illegal? It's not, you know,
or Trump did it like Orange Daddy did it, so
(32:39):
it means it must be good. Like I, guys, I.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Don't get it.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
I don't get it. Anyway, anyway, back to it. Sorry
that was a tangent. But here's the best part. The
Justice Department is now scrambling to figure out what to
do next, and they do have a few options. They
could appeal the ruling, but that would take months and
they'd probably lose. They could try to reindict Komy with
a properly appointed US attorney, but that's also a problem
(33:05):
because the statute of limitations on the charges has expired.
Oh so sad Komey's testimony was in September twenty twenty,
and there's a five year statute of limitations on the charges.
The window closed on September thirtieth of this year. The
only reason Halligan was able to indict Coomy at all
was because she rushed to get the indictment right before
(33:26):
the deadline. Now that the indictment has been avoided, the
statute of limitations has run out. Comy's lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald
said the judges ruling indicates that because the indictment is
avoid the statute of limitations has run and there can
be no further indictment. When you thought it was over,
the Justice Department thinks that they may have actually found
a loophole, some obscure law that could extend the statute
(33:50):
of limitations, but legal experts are skeptical. And even if
they managed to reindict Komy, his defense team has about
a dozen ways to challenge it, including arguable that it's
selective and vindictive prosecution. Because it is. But here's the thing.
Trump publicly, and what I mean publicly, I mean very publicly,
pressured the Justice Department to Prosecutekomy. He fired the previous
(34:14):
US attorney for refusing to bring charges. He installed a
loyalist with no experience to do his bidding. That's textbook
evidence of vindictive prosecution. And it's going to be really,
really hard for the Justice Department to convince a judge
that this case is being brought in good faith. So
where does this leave us? Well, Comy and Latitia James
(34:35):
are free for now. The Trump administration is scrambling to
figure out how to revive these cases without running into
more constitutional roadblocks, and FBI Director Cash Pttel is going
on right wing media, promising multiple responses and telling people
to stay tuned. I mean, the whole thing again, is
a beautiful example of what happens when you let incompetent
(34:57):
loyalists run the Justice this department. If Trump had just
let career prosecutors handle this, they may have actually built
a case that could survive judicial scrutiny. Instead, he installed
a lackey with no experience whatsoever. She rushed illegally dubious
indictment to beat the statute of limitations, and then the
whole thing collapsed into a puddle because nobody bothered to
(35:21):
check whether the appointment was even legal to begin with.
I mean, I am so here for that incompetence guys,
it is beautiful. But that is it for today, y'all.
Let's just do a really quick recap. First. Apton Bean
is making Tennessee Republicans sweat in a race that they
should win by at least twenty points. And again, I
(35:41):
love her. I love her so much. And whether she
wins or loses, I mean she's showing Democrats right now,
like take a page out of her book. She's running
on economic populism instead of consultant approved bullshit, and it
is glorious. So far later today, as you guys are
on your phone or get news notifications whatever, depending on
(36:04):
whether she wins or loses, you'll just so you know,
you'll know if I'm gonna be in a good mood
or not. It'll be clear, So think about that. Also
to recap, don't forget Pete Hegseth might have committed a
war crime and the investigation is just getting started into this.
And again I will scream this from the rooftops. If
the reporting holds up, he needs to resign immediately, like
(36:28):
effective immediately. In GTFO. Also, Luigi Manngione was in court
and it's going to be an absolute circus. It's going
to be an absolute circus, so stay tuned on that,
and then all and then lastly, we talked about Trump's
revenge tour against James comeey. This administration is so incompetent
they can't even prosecute their own enemies properly, I mean,
(36:51):
thankfully right for the most part. But y'all, look, it
has been a year since Trump took office again and
things are not great, but there are bright spots. Courts
are still checking executive power. We have candidates like Afton
Bean that are showing up and fighting for everyday people.
(37:11):
Democracy is messy and exhausting, but it is not dead yet.
So vote, organize, support good candidates, donate to them as
you can, and for the love of God, y'all don't
lose hope, because the moment we give up hope is
the moment they win. Thanks for listening, y'all. Again, this
is Robin. Stay angry, stay informed, and I'll talk to
(37:33):
you next week.
Sunny spaces, smiling faces, happy places. But every sunny space
holds a shadow. Behind every smile, our sharp teeth, and
every happy place has something sinister lurking just below the surface.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome to We Saw the Devil, the podcast diving deep
into the chilling realms of true crime. Join your host
Robin as she unravels mysteries that have left investigators baffled
and armchair sleuth's obsessed. Be forewarned, dear listener, We Saw
the Devil is not for the faint of heart. Our
unflinching exploration will take you to the darkest corners of
(00:41):
the psyche and through the unimaginable depths of human darkness
to unearth stark secrets. To the harsh light of day.
Nothing will be left untouched. Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Are you sure?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
We Saw the Devil?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Hello every one, and welcome back to Red White and Bruce.
Courtesy of We Saw the Devil. This is the show
where I dissect us politics with a delicacy of a sledgehammer.
I'm your host, Robin, and holy shit, do we have
a packed episode today. So first, we have the Tennessee
special election that's somehow competitive, and this is competitive in
a district that Trump won by twenty two points. It's
(01:22):
absolute insanity. Then we have a defense secretary who apparently
thinks the Geneva conventions are more like Geneva suggestions. Luigi
Mangioni also had a court appearance. His legal team is
fighting to keep damning evidence out of court. And then, finally,
I want to touch on Trump's revenge tour against James Comy.
It's hitting some shall we say, constitutional speed bumps along
(01:46):
the way. So grab your coffee, grab your wine, whatever,
three drinks you need, you know, one for hydration, one
for taste, one for whatever. Let's dive in. First, I
want to start with the amazing news from which is
Tennessee's seventh congressional district and the special election. No early
voting has been a thing, but it's over as of tomorrow, December. Second,
(02:10):
and I need to talk about why this race has
me more excited than a kid on Christmas who wanted
a pony and then actually got one, Because guys, this
is a barn burner. The Democrat running is Afton Bean. Now,
she's a thirty six year old state representative from Nashville,
I believe. Courtesy of Knoxville and guys, she is chef's
(02:30):
kiss everything Republicans hate and are terrified of. She's young,
she's beautiful, she's smart, she's progressive, and she doesn't apologize
for it. And again, this is a district Trump won
by twenty two points last year, twenty two. It should
be a cake walk for the Republican nominee. Now that
(02:52):
is Matt Van Epps, who surprise, surprise, has Trump's endorsement
and is running on this standard MAGA playbook. Now what
I need you guys to understand, and as someone who
was born and raised literally ten minutes from this place,
you have Nashville proper, right like the city of Nashville.
Davidson County is the county it's in. You have Nashville proper.
(03:13):
Then you have a crap ton of suburbs that aren't
actually Nashville but are kind of lumped in and considered Nashville.
It's very very very very very very let me get
a couple others for good measure, very very very very white.
It is very very very very very Republican. And what's
so interesting about this is that the most recent poll
(03:34):
as of yesterday, has Van Epps at forty eight percent
and often being at forty six percent, there's a two
point difference within the margin of error. And again, this
isn't a Trump up twenty two district. Let that sink
in for a second. And obviously Republicans are losing their
collective minds over this race, which is always a good
(03:56):
thing and a good sign. They've dumped over three million
dollars into the district in this final stretch. The RNC
is in full panic mode, and they're doing what Republicans
always do when they're scared. They just try to dig
up old clips and try to manufacture scandal and controversy.
So here's the scandal that she's been embroiled in. Back
(04:18):
in twenty twenty, Bean was co hosting a podcast because
of course, we millennials love our podcast, and she said,
and this is a direct quote, I hate the city.
I hate the bachelorettes, I hate the pedal taverns, I
hate country music. I hate all of the things that
make Nashville apparently an it city to the rest of
(04:38):
the country. Republicans pounced on this like it is the
smoking gun that proves that she is unfit for office.
Trump even jumped in calling her the AOC of Tennessee,
like that's supposed to somehow be an insult God, I
fucking wish, But new Splash Donnie boy AOC has a
seventy percent approval rating in her district and raises money
(05:01):
like she's got a money printer in her damn basement.
Last I checked, your approval rating doesn't even come close
to that, maybe even fifty percent of that. But here's
the thing. If you are a Nashville native, you know
exactly what she's talking about. Exactly what she's talking about.
I grew up in Nashville, born and raised here, went
(05:21):
to school here, the Nashville of my teenage years now.
I have always been a liberal. I'm so sorry. Back
ten years old, I've always been you know, I was
talking politics with my parents and whatnot, like I've always
been a Democrat. But old Nashville had character, it had personality.
Everyone knows. I'm obsessed with music. I play instruments, I
(05:42):
seeing I record like I'm obsessed with music. Old Nashville
had dive like cool dive bars, true dive bars, small
venues for a couple hundred people. I was at a
concert every single night of the week almost It was
basically my full time job as a kid. All of
that is gone now, you know. I went away for
so many years and then was forced back because of
(06:05):
COVID and my parents. Nashville lost all of that. They
tore down or closed all of the small concert venues
in favor of the nice, big, shiny, new three five
ten thousand person theaters. Now we have petal taverns. And
I don't know if any of you Nashville's known for it,
but what it is, it's a pedal tavern where a
(06:25):
bunch of drunk girls get on, usually for a bachelorette
party because we're the bachelorette capital, and they just get
drunk and they vomit and they pedal all over the
city of Nashville and hold up traffic. Everything that often
said about Nashville is accurate, And it doesn't matter if
you're a Democrat or Republican, fucking purple crayon, it doesn't
(06:47):
matter if you live here. You feel the same way, period,
full stop. So the fact that Republicans are trying to
turn this into something is hilarious because if you live here,
you know that everyone hates the same things. But the
thing about it is that she's right. And here's why
I love her response to this. She didn't grovel, she
didn't issue some mealy mouthed topology. She said, yeah, bachelorette
(07:10):
parties are annoying, petal taverns block traffic, and as a Nashavilian,
I'm allowed to complain about tourist culture ruining my city.
This woman has a more authentic connection to Nashville than
most of these performative conservatives who moved here in the
last year because Joe fucking Rogan told them to. And
she's right. Every local in every major city in America
(07:31):
complains about tourists. If you live in New York, you
hate Times Square. If you live in DC, you hate
the Metro during cherry blossom season. If you live in Nashville,
you're allowed to be annoyed that your downtown has turned
into a bachelorette party factory. It's all drunk women in
matching T shirt and they're wearing these hideous ass cowboy boots.
And by the way, guys, if you visit Nashville, nobody
fucking wears that here, so please stop. You can pick
(07:54):
them out one hundred miles away and they just get
trash and they start screaming whoo. This is just manufactured
outrage at its finest, and being isn't falling for it.
And I love that for her. And here's why I
really love her though, and why you should too, even
if you're not in Tennessee. Her entire campaign is focused
on one thing. The economy is not working for working people.
(08:17):
She's been a state representative since twenty twenty three, and
one of her first acts was proposing to eliminate Tennessee's
grocery tax. Yeah, we have a seven percent sales tax
on groceries, which disproportionately hurts lower income families. It's a
regressive tax that hits the people who can least afford
it the hardest, and she's been fighting to repeal it.
(08:38):
She's also been organizing around corporate tax reform. Get this.
From twenty nineteen to twenty twenty two, forty percent of
companies in Tennessee paid only the minimum one hundred dollars
franchise tax forty percent, including twelve percent of companies with
income over one billion dollars. More than half of Tennessee's
(08:59):
state revenues come from that seven percent sales tax, all
the while massive corporations skate by paying basically nothing. Bean
comes from a family of accountants, and she shows up
to the Tennessee Legislature with spreadsheets and data. She's ready
to fight about tax policy. She's not some Twitter activist
(09:20):
who just learned what neoliberalism means last week. She's done
the homework, she knows the numbers, and she's built in
an entire campaign around affordability, health care access, and holding
corporate power accountable. This is the democratic playbook that actually
wends you, guys, not some consultant driven focus grouped bullshit
(09:42):
about reaching across the aisle restoring civility. Aten Bean is
running on life is as expensive as shit, corporations are
fucking you over, healthcare is nun affordable, and I'm going
to fight for you. That's it. That's the messaging, and
it's resonating. Early voting data show being winning by fourteen
points fifty six to forty two percent. Voters under forty
(10:05):
are overwhelmingly breaking for her, sixty four percent to thirty
six percent. Women are supporting her by six points. Trump's
approval rating in the district is underwater at forty seven
percent approval forty ninety percent disapproval. Look is she gonna win.
I don't know, honestly, probably not. It is still a
(10:25):
Trump up twenty two district. The Republican infrastructure is deep there, guys.
When I tell you it is deep, it is. Doe
Van Abbs will probably pull this out because partisan gravity
is real. But if she comes within five points, that's
a massive moral victory and a blue print for how
Democrats can compete in red districts either way. Often Being
(10:47):
is the kind of Democrat we need more of, period.
She's smart, fearless, unapologetic, and she's completely focused on material
conditions instead of performative bullshit. Whether she wins or loses
tomorrow or guess today as you're listening to this, She's
proven that Democrats can compete anywhere if they just have
the right messaging, if they have the guts to actually
(11:10):
fight for working people instead of just triangulating themselves into irrelevance.
I feel like we've been seeing a lot of that
over the last six seven months. And also Kamala Harris
campaigned for her here in Nashville as well. The DNC
is throwing resources at this race. I mean that tells
you everything you need to know about how competitive this
is and how much national Democrats are paying attention to her. Okay,
(11:33):
so that is my act in being LoveFest. If you're
in Tennessee's seventh district and you haven't go vote for her,
now it is your final day if you're not pleasing
all the talks and pairs because Tennessee so desperately freaking
needs this. I mean, it doesn't matter to me. I'm
selling my house and actually leaving the state anyway. However, Comma,
there are amazing people here that do not deserve the
(11:55):
republican quagmire that the state has become. If you want
to see why voting against your best interests looks like,
just come to the southern state.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
All right.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
So let's talk about Pete Hesa, you know, former Fox
News host, current Defense secretary, the guy who looks like
he would sertified at Applebee's. That asshole. Yeah, he may
have committed a war crime or multiple war crimes. The
details are still coming out, but here's what we know,
and y'all it's bananas. So on September second, the US
(12:29):
military conducted a strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat
in the Caribbean. The first strike was successful, but it
left two survivors clinging to the boat. Then, and this
is where things get legally and morally dicey, the military
conducted a second strike specifically to kill those survivors. This
is called a double tap strike, and it's extremely illegal
(12:51):
under the law of armed conflict. The Geneva Conventions explicitly
prohibit attacking survivors of a shipwreck who were no longer
able to fight. It's considered an archetypal war crime. Like
this is the example they use in law school when
teaching about illegal orders, by the way, which again Republican
hypocrisy never ceases to amaze me, considering the host of
(13:13):
Democrats who came out and said and made the statement,
you know, do not follow illegal orders. You don't have to.
You know, I can provide you a laundry list throughout history,
specifically in the nineteen forties, where obeying an order didn't
matter if it was illegal. But I digress. According to
reporting from The Washington Post and CNN, Defense Secretary Pete
(13:34):
Hegseth allegedly gave a spoken order to kill everybody on
the boat after the initial strike left survivors. Admiral Mitch Bradley,
who was commanding the operation ordered the second strike to
comply with Hegseeth's directive. Now here's where it gets messier.
Trump was asked about this on Air Force One and
(13:54):
he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, I don't know anything
about it. Pete says he didn't order and I believe him,
but I wouldn't have wanted that, not a second strike.
And then the very next day, White House Press Secretary
Caroline Levitt held a press briefing and she said, again paraphrasing, Actually,
the order to kill everyone came from Trump, and Hegseth
(14:15):
was just executing the president's directive. So within twenty four
hours we went from Trump doesn't know anything about it
whatsoever to Trump actually is the one who ordered it.
I mean, pick a lane, people. And in case you're
wondering if this is just a one off mistake, here's
a fun little detail. About a month later, on October six,
(14:36):
the military conducted another strike that also left survivors, but
this time they didn't conduct a double tap strike. Instead,
they rescue the survivors and sent them back to their
home countries, which raises an obvious question what changed between
September second and October sixth. Well, on October sixth, the
(14:56):
Admiral Alvin Holsley, who oversees US Southern Command and was
in charge of the region where these strikes were happening,
had a meeting with Hegseth and Joint chiefs of Staff
Chairman Dan Kine. According to CNN's reporting, Holsey clashed with
them over the boat strikes. The following week, Holsey announced
his early retirement after just one year in command. So
(15:20):
let me get this straight. We have a high ranking
admiral who, by the way, objected to how these strikes
were being conducted. He mysteriously retired right after disagreeing with
the Defense secretary, and after that the military changed his
policy to not kill survivors. Gee. I wonder if those
things are connected. And here's why it matters at all.
(15:44):
Setting aside the moral obscenity of executing the survivors, which
should be disqualifying on its own, this is flagrantly illegal.
Multiple lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Senator Roger Wicker
and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, have called for investigations. Even
some Republicans are saying this crosses a line. Senator Tom
(16:07):
Tillis or Republican said, if it is substantiated, whoever made
that order needs to get the hell out of Washington.
Senator Mark Kelly, who himself is a former Navy pilot
and astronaut, said he hopes the reports aren't accurate, but
that killing survivors clinging to a damaged vessel could be
over a line. Democratic Senator Chris Van Holland went further
(16:29):
and said that it is very possible there was a
war crime committed. Representative Seth Moulton called it blatantly illegal,
and look, I know we've become numb at this point
to Trump administration scandals. Every day brings a new outrage,
a new shit show, and it's exhausting to keep up with.
(16:49):
But this one is different. This isn't about tweets or
mean comments or policy disagreements. This is about whether the
US military is going to operate under the rule of
war law or whether we're just going to start executing
people because the President and his Fox News Defense secretary
think it sounds tough. And here's the kicker. The administration
is now claiming the strikes were lawful under the law
(17:12):
of armed conflict and conducted in self defense, but multiple
legal experts have said that's bullshit. Sarah Harrison, a former
Associate General counsel at the Pentagon. She told CNN they're
breaking the law either way. They're killing civilians in the
first place, and then if you assume their combatants, it's
also unlawful under the law of armed conflict. If someone
(17:35):
is no longer able to fight, then they have to
be treated humanly. So here's my take that you didn't
ask for. Pete Hegseth needs to resign or be fired
immediately yesterday. This isn't even a close call. If the
reporting is accurate, and multiple outlets with multiple sources have
confirmed the basic facts. Hegseth either ordered or condoned a
(17:58):
war crime. That's disqual and guys, I'm not pussyfooting around
this or making this up or trying to create scandal
where there is nothing. If the reporting is accurate, he
actually committed a fucking war crime, the actual definition of
a war crime. And honestly, this is exactly what Democrats
(18:19):
warned about when they released that video urging military members
to disobey legal orders. I'm gonna say that again. I'm
gonna say that again with my whole fucking chest. Remember
that just a couple of weeks ago, Trump and his
allies went absolutely ape shit accused Democrats of sedition, calling
for FBI investigations, them being hanged for treason. But guess what,
(18:41):
This is the exact scenario they were warning about. A
Defense secretary with no military judgment and a president with
authoritarian tendencies giving orders that violate the Geneva Convention. Senator
Mark Kelly was one of the Democrats in that video.
I've discussed at length, and Trump has now threatened to
have Hecseeth open up an investigation into Kelly for telling
(19:02):
troops to disobey orders. The sheer audacity of threatening the
guy who warned you not to commit war crimes while
you're actively being investigated for committing war crimes is just
It's like punching a firefighter while your house is burning down.
In any case, this story, in my opinion, I could
be very wrong. I'm wrong all the time. I don't
(19:24):
think this one is just going to float away. The
House and Senate Armed Services committees are investigating Admiral Bradley,
who ordered the second strike, is expected to testify this week,
and the more details that come out, the worse. This
looks if Hegseth even has a shred of integrity or decency, which,
let's be honest, that is a big if he should resign.
(19:47):
If Trump had any respect for the role of law,
again ample evidence to the contrary, he would fire him.
We all know that neither one of those things is
going to happen, So this is going to be really
interesting to see how this plays out. You know, in
the trump Land playbook, everything just gets swept under the
rug or people just you know, go back to their
(20:08):
own lives and misery and concerns and it never seems
to go anywhere. So that could also happen here. But
the war crimes are kind of a difficult thing to ignore,
so maybe we will get lucky. All right, So next
up on the docket is we need to talk about
Luigi Mangione because this story is absolutely wild too, and
it says a lot about where we are as a society.
(20:32):
Quick recap for all of you. Back on December fourth,
twenty twenty four, Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare,
was shot and killed outside a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
It was a very clear targeted assassination. The shooter fled
the city, and after a five day manhunt, police arrested
Luigi Mangione ed McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Now, Luigi is
(20:54):
a twenty seven year old Ivy League graduate from a
wealthy Maryland family. He's been charged with sex and degree
murder in state court and faces additional federal charges that
could carry the death penalty. And here's where things get weird.
A significant portion of the Internet has decided that Luigi
Mangion is a full hero. And I want to be
very very very very very very explicitly clear about something.
(21:17):
Murder is bad. Assassinating a CEO in broad daylight is bad.
Vigilante justice is bad. I'm not defending what Mangion allegedly did,
but I think we need to talk about why so
many people are defending him, because it's revealing something uncomfortable
about American society, and you can't deny that. When Mangione
(21:39):
was arrested, police found a notebook in his backpack. Prosecutors
say it's essentially his manifesto that's outlining his frustration with
the healthcare industry, and it talks about in that manifesto
his intent to carry out an attack. One entry allegedly says,
I finally feel confident about what I will do. The
target is insurance. It checks every bomb bus. The notebook
(22:02):
reportedly includes praise for Ted Kazinski, the unibomber, and justifications
for killing healthcare executives because of what he saw is
their role in a deadly greed fueled health insurance cartel.
And I mean y'all the number of people online who
responded to this story with some version of yeah, man,
(22:22):
I get it. And look, I'm not saying people are
right to feel that way or that they're wrong to
feel that way, but I understand why they feel that way.
United Healthcare denies claims at a higher rate than almost
any other insurer. The American healthcare system kills tens of
thousands of people every year through denial of coverage, medical bankruptcy,
(22:43):
and people rationing insulin because they can't afford it. The
system is designed to maximize profit, and CEOs like Brian
Thompson made millions of dollars by finding creative ways to
deny people the care that they need. In essence, the
more people they kill, the more money they make. So
(23:03):
when someone finally snaps and kills a healthcare executive. A
lot of people are reacting with, well, what the fuck
did you expect. It's not that they're necessarily celebrating murder.
It's that they're so angry and desperate about the healthcare
system that they can't muster sympathy for its architects. And
that said, and I cannot stress this enough, This is
(23:24):
not the answer. Killing CEOs doesn't fix the healthcare system.
It just creates martyrs and hardens the opposition. If you
want to fix healthcare, you organize, you vote, You elect
representatives who support Medicare for all, You pressure lawmakers, you
build coalitions. You don't assassinate people. But the fact that
so many people are at least sympathetic to Mangiun's motives,
(23:47):
even if they condemn his actions like that should be
a wake up call. When a significant chunk of the
population is so pissed about healthcare and the healthcare system
that they can't condemn a murder without adding but I
give it, that is a sign that the system is
fundamentally fogged. Back to the point. Mangione was back in
court this week for pre trial hearings that could determine
(24:10):
the shape of his trial. His defense team is arguing
that key evidence, including the gun and the notebook, should
be excluded because it was obtained illegally. Here's their argument.
When police approached Mangion at the McDonald's, they immediately started
questioning him without reading him his miranda rights. He wasn't mirandized.
(24:30):
Mangion allegedly gave them a fake ID, and they questioned
him for about twenty minutes before finally mirandizing him. The
defense says it's a constitutional violation and anything Mangione said
during that time should be inadmissible. The defense is also
arguing that police illegally searched Mangion's backpack without a warrant.
One officer allegedly said, at this point, we probably need
(24:54):
a search warrant, but another officer kept searching anyways. That's
not great for the pro secution. If the judge agrees
with the defense and suppresses the evidence, prosecutors could lose
access to the alleged murder weapon, the writings that establish motive,
and potentially key statements Mangione made. That would be a
huge blow to their case. The prosecution is arguing that
(25:17):
even if the search was illegal, that they would have
inevitably discovered the evidence during the normal discovery process anyway,
so it should still be admissible. And this is a
legal doctrine called inevitable discovery, and it's basically the legal
equivalent of saying, yeah, well, we broke the rules, but
we would have found it eventually, so it doesn't count.
I mean, courts sometimes by that argument. But it's a
(25:39):
very very tough cell. So here's where we are now
with that. Mangione's trial is going to be a media circus.
From help. There's already a fan club forming outside the courthouse.
People are wearing free Luigi sashes and shirts with his
face on them. Some supporters dressed up as the villain
from Super Mario Brothers because his name is Luigi hahaha.
(26:00):
So original people are holding signs that say when patients die,
profits rise. This case is going to force Americans to
confront some very uncomfortable questions about healthcare. Not only that,
but economic inequality and what happens when people feel like
the system has forsaken them and failed them so completely
that violence starts to feel justified. Honestly, I wish that
(26:23):
this case would force us to confront some things, but
If it's anything that I know as an American, it's
that our attention span is short lived and we do
not give it shit. Just give us a new, shiny
object and we will forget about anything and everything. And
I don't have any easy answers here anyway. I just
know that if we don't fix the healthcare system, and
(26:43):
I mean actually fix it, not just tinker around the edges,
we're going to see more of this. Not because murder
is justified, but because desperate people do desperate things, and
our current system is making a lot of people very desperate. Okay,
So last up, and this story made me very happy
this week. I may have actually squealed when I read
(27:04):
the news because it's a perfect example of why having
competent lawyers is a good thing.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
So.
Speaker 3 (27:10):
Donald Trump has been on a revenge tour since day
one of his second term. And this man is obsessed
with prosecuting his enemies, specifically James Comy, Letitia James, and
Adam Schiff. Those are the three that he is just
He's going to the ends of the earth to try
to find something or for something. Trump's been publicly pressuring
(27:33):
Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring charges, posting on True
Social that they're killing our reputation and credibility by not
moving fast enough. And for a hot minute, it looked
like Trump was going to get what he wanted. The
Justice Department indicted James Comy on two felony counts making
false statements to Congress an obstruction of justice. The charges
(27:54):
stem from testimony Comy gave back in twenty twenty about
whether he authorized FBI officials to leak information to the
media during the Russia investigation. Trump celebrated like he just
won the Super Bowl. He posted on Truth Social Justice
in America, one of the worst human beings this country
has ever been exposed to is James Comey. But here's
(28:15):
where it gets good. The indictment was brought by Lindsay Halligan,
a Trump loyalist with zero prosecutorial experience, who Trump installed
as the infim US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
And by installed, I mean he fired the previous US attorney,
Eric Sebert, who refused to bring charges because he didn't
think that there was enough evidence. Trump then appointed Halligan,
(28:38):
who immediately presented the case to the grand jury. It
was Halligan and only Halligan, who presented the case and
signed the indictment. No other prosecutors in the office touched it,
which is extremely unusual and a pretty clear sign that
the career prosecutors thought this case was also bullshit. Now
here's the problem. Halligan's appointment was illegal, Trump doing something illegal. Well,
(29:03):
I never under federal law, and interim US attorney can
only serve for one hundred and twenty days unless they're
confirmed by the Senate or appointed by the district judges.
The previous US attorney's one hundred and twenty day window
had already expired, which meant the Attorney General couldn't just
appoint someone new. The district judges should have appointed the
(29:23):
interim US attorney, not Pam Bondi. Comey's lawyers immediately filed
a motion to dismiss, arguing that Halligan didn't have the
legal authority to present the indictment, and on Monday, US
District Judge Cameron McGowan Curry agreed. She ruled that Halligan's
appointment was unconstitutional, which means everything Halligan did as US attorney,
(29:44):
including securing the indictments, was invalid. But the judge didn't
just dismiss the case, she voided the indictment, which is
a much stronger ruling. It means the indictment never legally
existed in the first place. Judge Curry wrote, quote, uote
the cosmous Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment.
I will grant mister Comy's motion to dismiss all actions
(30:07):
flowing from Miss Halligan's defective appointment, including securing and signing
the indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must
be set aside. I mean. She also threw in some shade,
describing Halligan as quote a former White House aid with
no prior prosecutorial experience, which, like fair fam fair Comy
(30:29):
responded with the video on Instagram, saying, my heart is
broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great
confidence in the federal judicial system and I'm innocent. He
also predicted that Trump will probably come after me again,
but said he's not afraid. The same judge dismissed the
charges against Letitia James for the exact same reason. Halligan's
(30:50):
appointment was unconstitutional, so the indictment is void now. The
Trump administration is currently in full damage control mode. Over this,
Pam Bondi said the Just Department would immediately appeal. White
House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt went on Fox News and said,
everybody knows that James Comy lied to Congress. It's as
clear as day. This judge took an unprecedented action to
(31:12):
throw these cases out to shield James Comy and Latitia
James from accountability based on a technical ruling, which, like, bitch,
it's not a technical ruling, it's the fucking Constitution. The
appointment was illegal according to the law. You can't just
ignore the Constitution because it's inconvenient. And I long for
the day where these dumb Republican fox who are constantly
(31:35):
screaming about the Constitution, the Constitution, role of law, role
of law, but yet they want to break it constantly.
They do break it constantly. I mean, spend ten seconds
in a local news station comment section, right, because I
realized that myself almost all of my friends ninety percent
(31:56):
of my friends are left leaning. I'm not saying necessarily progressive,
but at least left leaning. Right like would never vote Republican,
and they will be the very first to admit that
Republicans are on this like. Remember the Tea Party Republicans
and how they all they had copies of the pocket Constitution?
Didn't Paul Ryan have that? Who else did? Like literal
(32:17):
pocket copies of the Constitution because they worshiped it so much,
But yet half of what they do breaks it. I
will never understand that, like this right, like James Comey's
stuff or even the strikes, any of it. And you
ask a typical Trump supporter and they're like, yeah, fuck ya,
I support it. Why it's illegal? It's not, you know,
or Trump did it like Orange Daddy did it, so
(32:39):
it means it must be good. Like I, guys, I.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Don't get it.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
I don't get it. Anyway, anyway, back to it. Sorry
that was a tangent. But here's the best part. The
Justice Department is now scrambling to figure out what to
do next, and they do have a few options. They
could appeal the ruling, but that would take months and
they'd probably lose. They could try to reindict Komy with
a properly appointed US attorney, but that's also a problem
(33:05):
because the statute of limitations on the charges has expired.
Oh so sad Komey's testimony was in September twenty twenty,
and there's a five year statute of limitations on the charges.
The window closed on September thirtieth of this year. The
only reason Halligan was able to indict Coomy at all
was because she rushed to get the indictment right before
(33:26):
the deadline. Now that the indictment has been avoided, the
statute of limitations has run out. Comy's lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald
said the judges ruling indicates that because the indictment is
avoid the statute of limitations has run and there can
be no further indictment. When you thought it was over,
the Justice Department thinks that they may have actually found
a loophole, some obscure law that could extend the statute
(33:50):
of limitations, but legal experts are skeptical. And even if
they managed to reindict Komy, his defense team has about
a dozen ways to challenge it, including arguable that it's
selective and vindictive prosecution. Because it is. But here's the thing.
Trump publicly, and what I mean publicly, I mean very publicly,
pressured the Justice Department to Prosecutekomy. He fired the previous
(34:14):
US attorney for refusing to bring charges. He installed a
loyalist with no experience to do his bidding. That's textbook
evidence of vindictive prosecution. And it's going to be really,
really hard for the Justice Department to convince a judge
that this case is being brought in good faith. So
where does this leave us? Well, Comy and Latitia James
(34:35):
are free for now. The Trump administration is scrambling to
figure out how to revive these cases without running into
more constitutional roadblocks, and FBI Director Cash Pttel is going
on right wing media, promising multiple responses and telling people
to stay tuned. I mean, the whole thing again, is
a beautiful example of what happens when you let incompetent
(34:57):
loyalists run the Justice this department. If Trump had just
let career prosecutors handle this, they may have actually built
a case that could survive judicial scrutiny. Instead, he installed
a lackey with no experience whatsoever. She rushed illegally dubious
indictment to beat the statute of limitations, and then the
whole thing collapsed into a puddle because nobody bothered to
(35:21):
check whether the appointment was even legal to begin with.
I mean, I am so here for that incompetence guys,
it is beautiful. But that is it for today, y'all.
Let's just do a really quick recap. First. Apton Bean
is making Tennessee Republicans sweat in a race that they
should win by at least twenty points. And again, I
(35:41):
love her. I love her so much. And whether she
wins or loses, I mean she's showing Democrats right now,
like take a page out of her book. She's running
on economic populism instead of consultant approved bullshit, and it
is glorious. So far later today, as you guys are
on your phone or get news notifications whatever, depending on
(36:04):
whether she wins or loses, you'll just so you know,
you'll know if I'm gonna be in a good mood
or not. It'll be clear, So think about that. Also
to recap, don't forget Pete Hegseth might have committed a
war crime and the investigation is just getting started into this.
And again I will scream this from the rooftops. If
the reporting holds up, he needs to resign immediately, like
(36:28):
effective immediately. In GTFO. Also, Luigi Manngione was in court
and it's going to be an absolute circus. It's going
to be an absolute circus, so stay tuned on that,
and then all and then lastly, we talked about Trump's
revenge tour against James comeey. This administration is so incompetent
they can't even prosecute their own enemies properly, I mean,
(36:51):
thankfully right for the most part. But y'all, look, it
has been a year since Trump took office again and
things are not great, but there are bright spots. Courts
are still checking executive power. We have candidates like Afton
Bean that are showing up and fighting for everyday people.
(37:11):
Democracy is messy and exhausting, but it is not dead yet.
So vote, organize, support good candidates, donate to them as
you can, and for the love of God, y'all don't
lose hope, because the moment we give up hope is
the moment they win. Thanks for listening, y'all. Again, this
is Robin. Stay angry, stay informed, and I'll talk to
(37:33):
you next week.
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