November 12, 2025 • 38 mins
It's been a wild week in American politics.
The Supreme Court declined to overturn marriage equality, leaving Kim Davis (the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples) stuck with a $360,000 bill and zero sympathy. Meanwhile, after 43 days of chaos, the government shutdown is finally ending, but Democrats caved without securing protections for the 20+ million Americans about to lose their health insurance subsidies. And just when you thought it couldn't get messier, new Epstein emails dropped, directly contradicting Trump's claims about his relationship with the convicted sex trafficker.
Robinbreaks down all three stories: Why Kim Davis is still the worst person from 2015, what the new Epstein emails reveal about Trump's knowledge of "the girls," and how Chuck Schumer managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on healthcare.
It's a mixed bag of news: one win, several losses, and a whole lot of political dysfunction.
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The Supreme Court declined to overturn marriage equality, leaving Kim Davis (the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples) stuck with a $360,000 bill and zero sympathy. Meanwhile, after 43 days of chaos, the government shutdown is finally ending, but Democrats caved without securing protections for the 20+ million Americans about to lose their health insurance subsidies. And just when you thought it couldn't get messier, new Epstein emails dropped, directly contradicting Trump's claims about his relationship with the convicted sex trafficker.
Robinbreaks down all three stories: Why Kim Davis is still the worst person from 2015, what the new Epstein emails reveal about Trump's knowledge of "the girls," and how Chuck Schumer managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on healthcare.
It's a mixed bag of news: one win, several losses, and a whole lot of political dysfunction.
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.
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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 unearthed stark secrets, to the harsh light of day.
Nothing will be left untouched. Are you ready? Are you
sure We Saw the Devil?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Hey, guys, it's wrong. You are listening to Red, White
and Bruised, a new show that is on We Saw
the Devil, where I talk about politics and things going
on in the world because I have thoughts and opinions,
and I know that a lot of you do as well.
How has everyone's week been going so far? Mine's been
a ride like I'm exhausted. Everything has been urgent and busy.
(01:20):
I put out the last episode for this podcast. I
mentioned this in a previous episode that I put out
earlier today, but I put the last one out shortly
before news came that the shutdown was likely ending because
the Democrats caved, and then a couple hours beyond that,
the Supreme Court decided not to take up gay marriage.
So my timing again remains impeccable. For today's episode. I
(01:41):
just have a couple things to cover. First, the Kim
Davis Scotis Supreme Court stuff, because have to have to
not gonna lie. I was holding my breath and clenching
my boohole for a few minutes waiting on that to
come back. Then we have the Epstein Final Saga, because
that's continuing to get messier and more damning by the day,
with new EA dropping literally today. That are well, we'll
(02:04):
get there. And then, lastly, after forty three days of
absolute chaos, the government shutdown is finally appearing to end.
It only took airports turning into hellscapes, millions of people
losing food assistants, and Democrats caving and fucking us all,
but hey, Congress got there. Eventually, I guess. But before
we get into it, let's just get some quick house
(02:25):
keeping out of the way. You are listening to Red
White and Bruised, a new podcast only found on We
Saw the Devil. You can follow the show as a
whole at We Saw the Double podcast on Instagram, or
We Saw the Devil on Facebook and Twitter website We
Saw the Devil. And then if you have any questions, comments, concerns, compliments, anything, really,
you can email me directly at info at We Saw
(02:46):
the Devil and I will respond I'm here for you, guys.
But now that that's out of the way, let's start
with something that's not completely depressing, and that is the
Supreme Court declining to overturn marriage equality. So on Monday,
the Court tossed aside an appeal from Ken Davis. Remember her,
that Kentucky County clerk who in twenty fifteen refused to
(03:08):
issue marriage licenses to same sex couples because of her
quote unquote religious beliefs. The one with the big forehead
and novel hair. Yeah, she's been back, and she wanted
the Supreme Court to overturn Oberschfel v. Hodges. As we
all know, that's the landmark twenty fifteen decision that recognized
same sex marriage as a constitutional right. The Court said no.
They didn't even explain their reasoning. They just declined to
(03:31):
hear the case. And honestly, that's the best possible outcome
because it means that this wasn't even close. If there
was serious consideration, we would have gotten opinions, it would
have taken a little bit longer. Instead, it was basically
like lol, no, and they moved on. And this is huge, y'all,
because a lot of LGBTQ plus advocates were genuinely terrified,
(03:52):
and for good reason. This Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
Wade three years ago, ending almost fifty years of precedent
protecting abortion rights. Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly wrote in his
concurring opinion that the Court should reconsider other substantial due
process cases, including Obersfell. The court that decided Oberschfell in
(04:13):
twenty fifteen was completely different. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote
the beautiful majority opinion, retired in twenty eighteen and then
was replaced by Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died
in twenty twenty. She should have stepped down. I was
so angry. God love her, but she should have fucking retired.
She died in twenty twenty and was replaced by Amy
(04:34):
Coney Barrett in one of the biggest travesties, and the
three current Justices, Chief Justice Roberts, Thomas, and Alito were
in dissent when Oberschfell was decided. So yeah, people were scared,
and rightfully so. But apparently even this Supreme Court wasn't
willing to blow up the marriages of nearly six hundred
thousand same sex couples who have married since twenty fifteen.
(04:58):
Justice Barrett told The New York Times last month that
there are very concrete reliance interests at stake with same
sex marriage, which is basically legal speak for a lot
of people have built their lives around this shit, and
overturning it would be awful. I wanted to go through
the history of Kim Davis, like, have a little brief
history of her being an absolute piece of shit, just
so we can all remember, okay, because this woman is
(05:19):
fucking awful, and I know that we haven't seen the
last of her. Back in twenty fifteen, after the Supreme
Court decided obersfell. Kim Davis was the elected county clerk
of Rowan County, Kentucky. Her job, literally, her whole entire job,
was to issue marriage licenses. That's it, sign paperwork, collect fees,
give people their licenses so they can get married and
(05:39):
move on with their lives. But when same sex couples
started coming to her office to get marriage licenses, she refused,
not just to gay couples, she refused to issue licenses
to all couples, gay and straight, because she said issuing
licenses to same sex couples would violate her religious beliefs.
She was sued by multiple couples. A federal judge her
(06:00):
to do her job, and she also refused, so the
judge held her in contempt and threw her in jail
for five days. And do you guys remember that when
she went into jail and then came out of jail
and all of the Republicans were there and screaming and
support and getting there five seconds of TV soundbites for her. Yes,
because that's where we were back then, you guys. Again,
(06:22):
Republicans hated marriage equality so much they flocked to support
Kim Davis and her little thing. Do not forget that
they supported Kim Davis. Now she wasn't fired, So when
she got out of jail, she still refused to do
her job, but she allowed her deputy clerks to issue
licenses instead. But then she had them remove her name
from the licenses because she didn't want to be associated
(06:44):
with same sex marriage. Eventually, she lost her reelection bid
and got voted out of office. Justice a jury ordered
her to pay three hundred and sixty thousand dollars in
damages and legal fees to the couple she discriminated against.
And now that's what this decision was. She's appealing that,
asking the Supreme Court to say that her religious freedom
(07:04):
gives her the right to discriminate while working as a
government official. And the court said, fuck you, bitch. So
now Kim Davis owes three hundred and sixty thousand and
will remain a cautionary tale about what happens when you
think that your personal beliefs are more important than other
people's constitutional rights. Because fuck her, She even met with
the pope. You guys, she became a right wing celebrity.
(07:28):
She turned being a bigot into a brand. It's been
ten years since Ober's fall, ten years and Kim Davis
is still trying to overturn it, still trying to avoid
paying the damages, shows still trying to position herself is
some kind of religious freedom warrior and martyr. Move the
fuck on, Kim, you lost marriage equality one and not
(07:51):
only that that, Probably the part that I'm most pissed
off about is the fact that she made me defend
this Supreme Court. I spend most of my time criticizing
the Supreme Court for being too conservative, right, too willing
to overturn precedent, too captured by right wing ideology, Like
I am really not a fan of the Supreme Court
at all, But when they decline to hear Kim Davis's appeal,
(08:12):
I actually had to say, good job, Supreme Court. And
do you know how much I resent that Kim Davis
made me praise the Supreme Court? And that alone is unforgivable.
But what does this mean going forward? Well, marriage equality
is safe for now, it would appear, And I say
for now, because the Supreme Court declining to hear this
case doesn't set precedent. If another challenge comes along, they'll
(08:35):
consider it from scratch. And this Court has shown its
willing to overturn major precedents. They did it with Roe,
they could theoretically do it with Oberschfell, based on the appeal.
That being said, though, y'all, the fact that they declined
to hear this case, that even the conservative justices signal
that they weren't interested in revisiting Oberschfell, that is a
good sign. And it suggests that even this Court recognizes
(08:58):
that marriage equality has become deeply embedded in American life.
Like I said earlier, almost six hundred thousand couples have
gotten married, Families have been built, kids have been born
and adopted, Homes have been bought, like lives have been
lived in this last ten years. Overturning Oberschfeld wouldn't just
be an earthquake in society. It would be a human catastrophe.
(09:21):
It does make me sleep a little bit better knowing that,
at least for now, this Supreme Court isn't willing to
do that. So yeah, good news for once marriage equality stands.
Kim Davis is a perpetual piece of fucking shit, and love,
actual love, not Kim Davis's twisted rebranding of it, wins.
Now let's move on to the crazy news of the day,
(09:42):
and that is this morning breaking news. There are emails
that resurfaced Wednesday morning. This morning, literally as I started
writing the update on gay marriage, House Democrats on the
Oversight Committee released new emails from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. And
these aren't just a random course. These are emails that
directly reference Donald Trump and raise some pretty serious questions
(10:06):
about what he knew and when he knew it. Let
me walk you through what we're dealing with here, because
this is messy, like I'm gonna put my hair up
on a ponytail level of messy. Okay, So email one.
The first email is from twenty eleven between Jeffrey Epstein
and Julane Maxwell, you know, his partner in crime who's
currently serving twenty years for sex trafficking. Who, by the way,
(10:28):
it came out yesterday that Trump is literally trying to
commute her sentence so she's released. We have the President
of the United States quite literally trying to get a
sex trafficker that he has very long standing ties to
out of prison. Because that's cool, right, we all love that.
So again, the first email is from twenty eleven, and
in this email, Epstein is discussing Trump and he writes
(10:52):
that Trump is quote the dog that hasn't barked. He
mentions that a victims spent hours at his house with Trump,
and that Trump and has never once been mentioned by investigators.
Let that sink in for a second, y'all. Epstein is
essentially bragging to Maxwell that Trump has kept quiet about
what he saw or knew. The dog that hasn't barked
(11:14):
is a reference to someone who who should be making
noise but isn't, someone who knows something but is staying silent.
Maxwell's response, I have been thinking about that. Cool cool, cool, cold,
nothing sinister about that at all. Our current sitting president
possibly could have done something heinous or witness something heinous,
(11:35):
never reported it, but is very clear that he witnessed something.
The second email is from January of twenty nineteen, so
Trump is already well into his first presidential term at
this point. This one's between Epstein and Michael Wolfe, the
author who wrote multiple books about the Trump presidency. In
this email, Epstein is discussing Trump's claim that he kicked
(11:56):
Epstein out of mar A Lago for being inappropriate with
young women who worked there. Trump has told this story
multiple times that Epstein was stealing employees from the SPA,
that he was being a creep, and that Trump banned
him from the club. But here's what Epstein wrote to Wolfe.
Quote Trump said, he asked me to resign. Never remember. Ever,
(12:16):
of course he knew about the girls as he asked
Jelaine to stop, So, according to Epstein, Trump knew what
was happening. Trump asked Elaine Maxwell to stop recruiting, which
means that Trump was aware that recruitment was happening in
the first place. Now does this prove that Trump participated
in anything illegal. No, but it does completely contradict the
(12:38):
narrative that Trump thought Epstein was a creep and kicked
him out. According to Epstein's own words, Trump knew about
the girls and specifically asked Maxwell to stop whatever she
was doing. The third emails from December twenty fifteen, right
in the middle of Trump's presidential campaign, Woolf writes to
Epstein with the heads up that CNN is planning to act
(13:00):
Trump about his relationship with Epstein, either on air or
in a scrum afterward. And here's where it gets really interesting.
Wolf writes back the next day with advice. He says,
quote I think you should let him hang himself. If
he says he hasn't been on the plane or to
the house, then that gives you valuable pr and political currency.
(13:20):
You can hang him in a way that potentially generates
a positive benefit for you. Or if it really looks
like he could win, you could save him generating a debt.
You could save him generating a debt. This is Wolfe,
a journalist who had extensive conversations with Epstein about Trump,
(13:40):
essentially outlining how Epstein could use his knowledge as leverage
over a presidential candidate. Either let Trump lie and then
expose him, or stay quiet and hold that information as
a favor Trump would owe. This is the kind of
thing people talk about in mob movies, you guys. This
is leverage. This is blackmail material being discussed openly. So
(14:02):
how has the White House responded to all of this? Well,
exactly as you would expect. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt put
out a statement this morning saying that Democrats selectively leaked
emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative
to smear President Trump. She called it nothing more than
bad faith efforts to distract from President Trump's historic accomplishments
(14:24):
and a hoax. A hoax. These are Epstein's own emails
from his own estate, obtained through a legal subpoena. It
is not a hoax. These are real emails. The White
House also pointed out, and Republicans on the Oversight Committee
confirmed that the redacted victim's name in the emails is
(14:45):
Virginia Guffrey, one of Epstein's most prominent survivors, who died
by suicide just a couple months ago, back in April.
That here's the thing. She never accused Trump of any
wrongdoing in her memoir. She actually described Trump as friendly
when she met him at mar A Lago. Her father
worked there, got her a job in the locker room,
and Trump asked her if she liked kids and if
(15:07):
she babysat. She did not accuse Trump of participating an abuse,
but her family has since said that Trump's comments about
Epstein stealing her from mar A Lago make them wonder
if Trump was aware of what Epstein and Maxwell were doing,
because if he was aware enough to tell Maxwell to
stop recruiting there direct quote fucking recruiting there, then he
(15:28):
knew that something was wrong and what they were doing
now all of this all, that's what's happening right now.
I have to set the scene. It's happening against the
backdrop of a by partisan effort both Democrats and Republicans
to force the Justice Department to release the full Epstein files,
represented as Thomas Massey, a Republican from Kentucky, and Rocanna,
(15:50):
a Democrat from California, had been leading a discharge petition
to force a House vote on releasing all the documents.
The DJ has on Epstein and his associates. A discharge
petition is a procedural move that forces legislation to the
floor for a vote. It bypasses leadership. You need two
hundred and eighteen signatures a majority of the House to
(16:12):
trigger it. And guess what, Guess what, babes. As of
this afternoon, they got their two hundred and eighteenth signature.
Representative elect Adelita Grihalva from Arizona was finally freaking sworn in.
If you recall, Senator Mike Johnson delayed her swearing in
for more than fifty fucking days. Fifty days. She won
(16:34):
a special election back in September, and Johnson just didn't
swear in. He kept the House purposefully out of session
for seven weeks during the shutdowns, just so he could
avoid having to deal with this vote. But Grihalva campaigned
on signing this discharge petition, and the second she was
sworn in, she signed it. So now the House is
(16:55):
required to hold a vote on whether to compel the
DOJ to release the Epstein file, all of them, the
full investigation, the full client list, the full investigation notes,
all of it. And here's why this is such a
big deal. Trump campaigned on transparency. He promised to release
the Epstein files along with the JFK files and other
(17:15):
classified documents. He presented himself as the guy he was
going to expose the powerful people hiding the truth. That's
why a lot of people ended up voting for him.
He made a lot of these promises and we were
over here telling you guys, he's not going to release that.
He's not going to do that. He's not going to
do that, and of course he hasn't. He's a criminal, literally,
(17:37):
he is a convicted felon. Like what were people expecting
from that? And now that he's in office, he's been
radio silent. In fact, his administration has actively worked to
delay and avoid releasing these files. Attorney General Pam Bondi
released a memo in September saying they'd reviewed the case
and found no reason to release additional documents. Just an
(17:58):
unsigned memo, no detail, no explanation, just well we lioten
to it. There's nothing to see her by E and
Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, literally kept
Congress out of session and delayed swearing in a newly
elected representative just to avoid this vote. If there's nothing
damaging in those files, why fight so hard to keep
(18:19):
them hidden. The White House keeps calling this a distraction
in a hoax. But these are Epstein's own words. These
are factual. They weren't planted, they weren't created. These are
Epstein's own words. These aren't allegations from political opponents or
conspiracy fringe conspiracy theorists for the Internet. These are private
emails where Epstein himself discusses Trump's knowledge of his crimes
(18:43):
and talks about using that knowledge as political leverage. And now,
because of this discharge petition, Congress is going to have
to vote on whether the American people deserve to see
the full truth in the full case files. Every representative
will have to go on record yes or no should
we release the Epstein files. My guess it's going to
be really interesting to see who votes each way, and
(19:06):
I have a feeling that it's not going to be
as simple as we all think it is. There are, again,
this is bipartisan Republicans. There are some Republicans that are
fighting tooth and nail for this to be released. So
it's going to be really really interesting to see how
this actually ends up playing out along party lines. And
what these emails do show is that the relationship between
(19:27):
Trump and Epstein was deeper and far more complicated than
Trump has admitted. They show that Trump knew what was happening,
or at least enough to tell Maxwell to stop recruiting
at his club. They show that Epstein viewed Trump as
someone who could be leveraged and someone who owed him silence.
And they raised the question, if Trump really had nothing
(19:48):
to do with Epstein's crimes, why is his administration working
so fucking hard to keep the files from being released.
The victims of Epstein's trafficking deserve answers, the American people
deserve transparency, and if the President campaigned on releasing these documents,
then he should release them as a campaign promise. Instead,
(20:08):
we're getting denials, delays, and then accusations that asking questions
is now somehow a hoax. This is not transparency. This
is an attempted cover up. And furthermore, I don't care
if it's a Republican or Democrat. I don't care. What
I find so interesting is on social media and all
of these posts. It turns and it turns into a
(20:30):
bunch of what aboutisms? Well what about Bill Clinton? Well
what about this? What about this? Bring them all down,
all of them left right? Sent her purple like I
don't give a shit, let's go. You know that gift
of Judge Judy tapping her wristwatch because she's like, let's go,
let's get you know, over with, Like, let's go. I
don't care. Why would we have party loyalty in dealing
(20:52):
with something like this? And last item on my list today,
you guys, is let's talk about the government shutdown, which
is officially about to end after forty three days of
absolute batschittery and just a recap here. The government shut
down on September thirtieth because Congress couldn't agree on a
funding bill. The main sticking point is that Republicans refused
to extend the Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that help
(21:15):
over twenty million Americans afford health insurance. Those subsidies are
set to expire at the end of December, and if
they're not extended, people are going to see their premium's skyrocket.
We're talking about hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year.
People are already getting letters. Some people are talking about
the subsidies and whatnot, Like some people are going from
(21:36):
three hundred to twenty six hundred dollars a month in
health insurance and they're going to have to drop it
because they can't afford it. Democrats initially said they wouldn't
vote to reopen the government without a guarantee that those
subsidies would be extended. Republicans said they would negotiate on
healthcare until the government was open, and so for forty
three days, the federal government was shut down while politicians
(21:56):
played chicken with people's lives. And let's talk about what
that Act actually meant for real people like you me
airport chaos, TSA agents and air traffic controllers for being
forced to work without pay, which led to massive staffing shortages.
Hundreds and hundreds of flights have been canceled. Delays have
been rampant. Some airports warned they might have to shut
(22:18):
down entirely if the shutdown continued for much longer. Food
assistants disappeared. The USDA announced in late October that no
Snap benefits would be issued for November. Forty two million
Americans rely on Snap to feed their families. Again, forty
two million Americans rely on Snap to feed their families.
The Trump administration claimed they couldn't use the contingency fund
(22:39):
Congress had allocated for exactly this kind of situation, which
was absolute bullshit. Multiple federal judges ruled that withholding Snap
benefits was illegal, and states sued to get benefits reinstated.
Some people did get their full benefits after court orders,
some got partial benefits. Some got nothing at all and
had to rely on food banks or just go hunger.
(23:00):
The lines around food banks that there have been nightly
news clips on this, in the first person videos as
well everywhere online. Food bank lines have been wrapped around
blocks and blocks. Lots of federal employees were ending up
at food banks trying to get food because they couldn't
feed their family. Wick, you know, the program that provides
food assistants to pregnant women, new mothers, and children. It
(23:23):
was about to run out of funding entirely. We're talking
about seven million people, most of them babies and toddlers,
who were going to lose access to formula and food.
And again, the federal workers, they missed paychecks. There were
over four thousand federal employees receiving reduction in forces notices
basically layoff warnings. People who were deemed essential had to
(23:44):
keep working without pay. People who were furloughed sat at
home wondering if they'd ever get paid for the time
that they lost. Museums and national parks closed that are
in services were disrupted, social Security card applications were delayed. Basically,
any service that required the federal government into function just stopped.
And for what. So politicians can have a standoff over
(24:05):
whether poor people deserve healthcare. But after forty three days,
a group of moderate Senate Democrats broke ranks and struck
a deal with Republicans to end the shutdown. And here's
what's in that deal. The government will be funded through
January thirtieth via a continuing resolution basically a short term
funding patch that keeps thinking things running at the current levels.
(24:27):
Three agencies get full year funding through September, the Department
of Agriculture, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs, and the Legislative Branch.
So that being said, that means SNAP and WICK are
fully funded for the rest of the fiscal year, which
means that even if there is another shutdown in January,
food assistants won't be interrupted again. And here's the kicker.
(24:47):
Democrats did not get a guarantee that the ACA subsidies
will be extended. Instead, they got a promise from Senate
Majority Leader John Thune that there will be a vote
on extending the subsidies by mid December. A vote, not
an extension, not a guarantee, just a vote on a
bill that Democrats will write. Republicans can vote no. Hell,
(25:08):
even if some Republicans vote yes, Speaker Mike Johnson has
already said he's not committing to bringing it up for
a vote in the House. So what that means, you guys,
is that Democrats caved. They ended the shutdown in exchange
for a symbolic vote that probably won't pass and definitely
won't become law. Unsurprisingly, this deal has caused a massive
rift within the Democratic Party. But here's what makes it
(25:31):
even worse. It turns out this wasn't just eight moderate
Democrats going rogue. They were acting within the express approval
of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Yeah, the guy who
gave that angry speech about millions of Americans facing higher
health care costs. He was coordinating with the senators who
were negotiating the surrender. According to reporting from The American Prospect,
(25:54):
these eight Democrats Jean Shaheen, Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire,
Angus King from Maine, Katharine Cortes Mastow and Jackie Rosen
from Nevada, Dick Durbin from Illinois, Tim Kane from Virginia,
and John Fetterman from Pennsylvania. They were reporting to Schumer
daily about the negotiations. At a Democratic Caucus meeting last Thursday,
(26:16):
just two days off the huge Democratic wins, Shaheen, Hassan,
and Cortes Mosto told their colleagues that they had ten
votes to reopen the government in exchange for basically nothing,
just the promise of the vote on the ACA. The
rest of the caucus went ballistic. Some of the supposed
ten votes said they weren't actually willing to vote for
that deal. Only after the caucus meeting blew up did
(26:37):
Schumer pivot and publicly demand a one year extension of
the ACA subsidies as part of any deal. But by
then the damage was done. Republicans knew Democrats were willing
to cave cinem Majority leader John Thune accused Schumer of
brow beating his colleagues, but he also knew the Democratic
leadership was looking for an exit ramp. And here's the
thing that makes this so fucking infuriating. Democrats actually had
(27:02):
the upper hand here. They had just won major elections.
Poll showed a majority of voters blamed Republicans for the shutdown.
Republicans were divided. Trump was ranting on truth social like
a madman about sending money directly to the people instead
of two insurance companies, completely undercutting his own parties position.
Democrats were holding a royal flush and Schumer was trying
(27:25):
to fold anyway. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged House
Democrats to vote no, saying we are not going to
support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut
the health care of the American people. Progressive senators like
Tammy Baldwin and Elizabeth Warren argued that Democrats had leverage
and gave it away for nothing, and you know what,
(27:46):
they are absolutely right. Democrats had Republicans over a barrel.
Flight cancelations were making headlines every day, people were starving.
The chaos was undeniable, and it was happening under Republican control.
Chaos was undeniable, and it was happening under a Republican
control of government. But Schumer and the eight moderates decided
that ending the suffering was more important than holding out
(28:10):
for a guaranteed win on healthcare. Senator Tim Kane told
NPR there was no guarantee that waiting would get us
a better result, and there was a guarantee that waiting
would impose suffering on more everyday people. The mystery is
why Schumer keeps flirting with capitulation. He's facing a likely
primary challenge for his own Senate seat. You'd think he'd
(28:30):
want to look like a fighter, not someone who caves
at the first opportunity. In Jean Shaheen, She's not even
running for reelection in twenty twenty six. She's retiring, so
why is she leading the charge to give Republicans everything
they want? Apparently she's more concerned with getting appropriation bills
through her committee than protecting the most significant democratic health
(28:51):
care achievement of the fucking century. Even when dealt a
strong hand, these people fold. So who's right in this
the pragmatists who ended the suffering or the fighters who
say Democrats gave up their leverage for nothing. Honestly, I
do see both sides. You know, on one hand, people
were suffering, real people, not abstract political casualties, but families. Everyday.
(29:14):
Families were beginning to go hungry. Federal workers were missing
mortgage payments, Airports were on the verge of shutting down.
Every day to shutdown continued, the damage got worse. But
on the other hand, what did Democrats actually win a
vote that won't pass a promise from Republicans who have
repeatedly shown they don't keep promises. And in January when
(29:35):
the Continuing Resolution expires, we're going to be right back
where we were going to be, right back here having
the same fight, except now Democrats won't have the leverage
of Snap and Wick funding to use as political pressure
because those programs are already fully funded through September. Republicans
got everything they wanted. They avoided extending the ACA subsidies.
(29:56):
Why because they don't want you to have health care.
They reopened the government. They reopen the government on their terms,
and they get to blame Democrats for the shutdown, even
though Republicans control the House, Senate, and the White House.
So what happens next and who gets fucked? Well, the
Senate passed this deal Monday night, sixty to forty. The
House is voting on it today, and Speaker Mike Johnson
(30:17):
says he's very optimistic it will pass. Trump is indicated
that he'll sign it, which means about tonight or tomorrow
the government will officially be open again. But here's what
doesn't happen. The ACA subsidies don't get extended. They are
still set to expire on December thirty first. Senate Republicans
have promised to vote in mid December, but that vote
is certainly going to fail, and even if it doesn't,
(30:39):
Johnson can just refuse to bring it up in the House.
In fact, he's already said he's not committing to holding
a vote. So let's talk about what that means for
real people like you and me. If Congress doesn't extend
these enhanced premium tax credits, and it's looking increasingly day
by day that they won't, over twenty million Americans are
going to see their health care insurance more than double.
(31:01):
That's not hyperbole, that's actual fact. Premiums are going to
literally double on average for subsidized enrollees. The people who
get hit hardest by this two groups. First, higher earners
who currently get some subsidy help. They are going to
see massive increases and likely drop coverage entirely. And then
the other half would be lower earners who will see
(31:22):
smaller dollar amounts but can't afford even a small increase
on their type budgets. And where it gets worse is
that when younger, healthier people drop their insurance because they
can't afford the premiums, who's left in the pool older
sicker people who need more care. Insurance companies will respond
by raising premiums even more to cover the higher costs
(31:43):
of a less healthy population. It's quite literally a death spiral. Also,
when more Americans are uninsured and end up in emergency rooms,
they can't pay for that, so those costs don't just disappear.
They fall on hospitals and then eventually on taxpayers through
increased government health care spending. So even people who don't
(32:04):
use marketplace insurance will feel impact. So even if you
think you have nothing to do with this, you absolutely do.
People are already seeing the sticker shock here. Open enrollment
for twenty twenty six coverage started on November first, and
the prices being quoted assume the subsidies expire now. Typically,
Congress could still extend the subsidies even after they expire.
(32:26):
They could pass something in January making it retroactive. But
the problem is that by then people will have already
made other decisions. They'll have looked at these high premiums,
decided they can't afford insurance, and either drop it or
try to make other plans. Getting those people to come
back and enroll again is going to be really difficult,
even if subsidies are eventually restored in About three quarters
(32:47):
of Americans, including almost half of Republicans, support extending these
tax credits. This isn't some partisan wishless item that only
Democrats want. This is a broadly popular policy that helps
tens of millions of people afford healthcare. The Republicans would
just rather let the subsidies die and replace them with well,
(33:07):
nobody fucking knows, because they have yet to come up
with any even shred of health insurance policy. Trump posted
on truth Social on Saturday, saying the money saved by
ending the subsidies should be sent directly to the people
so that they can buy much better health care. He
didn't even bother explaining what that means or how that
will work, because once again he's blowing a trumpet out
of his ass. Senator Bil Cassidy from Louisiana, chair of
(33:30):
the Health Committee, pitched an idea for pre funded federal
flexible spending accounts accounts that people could use for health
expenses like dental care, prescriptions, preventative services. Senator Rick Scott
from Florida said he's working on a similar plan with
health savings accounts. And these are all initial ideas, far
from becoming actual legislation, and there's no indication whatsoever that
(33:52):
they would save people anywhere close to what they're about
to lose from the expiring subsidies. It's the replaced part
of repeal and replace. But they're not even bothering with
a real replacement, just vague concepts of plans, like how
people sometimes describe seltzer tasting like a wisp or a
sniff of a fruit. So, come January first, which we're
(34:14):
heading there, millions of Americans are going to lose their
health insurance subsidies. Premiums are going to skyrocket, people are
going to drop coverage, and Republicans are going to blame
Democrats for not compromising, even though Democrats literally shut down
the government trying to save those subsidies and got nothing
in return. And we're gonna do this whole song and
dance again in January. I'm probably on the thirtieth because
(34:35):
when the Continuing Resolution expires, it'll be another funding fight,
another potential shutdown, another round of political chicken, and then you,
me and all of our neighbors are going to get screwed.
And then to close up this episode, I just want
to quickly touch on Mike Johnson, Speaker Johnson for a second,
because his press conference this morning was something fucking else.
Johnson called a shutdown a national nightmare and apologized to Americans.
(35:00):
He apologized for the flight delays, food and security, miss paychecks,
so on and so forth. But then he immediately blamed
Democrats for all of it. They have a lot to
answer for, he said. Democrats, the party that doesn't control
the House, the Senate, or the White House, the party
that has been trying to extend healthcare subsidies to help
people afford insurance. That's who's responsible for the shutdown, according
(35:22):
to Johnson. Not Republicans they refuse to negotiate on healthcare.
Not Trump, who could have stepped in at any time
to broker a deal. Not Johnson himself, who kept the
House out of session for seven entire weeks and delayed
swearing in a newly elected representative just to avoid political
embarrassment in the Epsteine files. No, it is the fault
of the Democrats. This is the playbook, folks. Republicans create
(35:46):
a crisis, they blame Democrats for not fixing it fast enough.
They or the Democrats are doing their best for the
American people. The Republicans block it while still blaming the
Democrats for any pain cause. And then when the Democrats
cave in for the sake of the peace. And then
when Democrats finally cave in and are like, fine, fuck it,
let's just get a budget out the Republicans take credit
(36:06):
for the crisis ending, and you know what it works.
It's brilliant politically speaking strategically, it's brilliant because most people
don't actually follow the details. They just see the headlines.
Government shut down ends after Democrats cave. Never mind that
Republicans controlled every single lever of power and still couldn't govern.
(36:27):
Never Mind that they chose tax cuts for the rich
over food stamps for the poor. Never Mind that they're
about to let health insurance subsidies expire for twenty million
people while pretending to give a shit about affordability for
me and you. It is exhausting. And here's what this
shutdown proved. Republicans are willing to inflict maximum pain on
ordinary Americans to get what they want, and what they
(36:49):
want is to gut social safety net programs like food assistants,
health care, anything that helps poor people survive. They didn't
shut down the government because of some principled stone on
fiscal response's ability. They shut it down because Democrats wouldn't
let them take health care away from millions of fucking people.
That is why they shut it down. And when the
suffering got too intense, when airports started shutting down, people
(37:11):
started starving. They didn't compromise. They literally just waited for
Democrats to blink. First Republicans put up a wall and said, fine,
come atus, that's not governance, that's hostage taking. And now
after forty three days, we're right back to where we started,
except people are now more desperate, more scared, and less
able to afford the health care that they need. So, yeah,
(37:33):
the shutdown is ending. Let us all be clear on that.
But congratulations, I guess we did it. Go team. We
reopened the government just in time to start fighting about
it again in six weeks. And that's all that I
have for you guys today. It's been a hell of
a couple of weeks. Mixed bag of news, you know,
one genuinely good thing, the rest ranging from frustrating to
(37:54):
Tourett's inducing. I guess I don't know that has been
twenty twenty five. Do you guys feel, on a side
note and tangent entirely that post COVID, like post twenty twenty,
that things are just weird now? I don't know. I
feel like we all went through the lockdowns and everything
that transpired in twenty twenty and then things have just
been strange since. But if you're feeling exhausted by all
(38:17):
of this, guys, I get it. I'm exhausted too, but
we have to stay focused. We cannot afford to check
out of this. Thank you for listening to Red White
and Bruce. New episodes drop whenever I feel like it,
probably two a week. If you want more true crime content,
then check out the other show on the same feed,
just the primary show. We Saw the Devil again. You
(38:38):
can find us on Instagram, We Saw the Devil podcast
on Facebook and Twitter. At We Saw the Devil website
is we sell thedevil dot com And if you have questions, compliments, complaints,
anything like that, shoot me an email I actually read them.
You can do that at info at wesell thedevil dot com.
Talk to you guys later,
Sunny spaces, smiling faces, happy places. But every sunny space
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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
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the psyche, and through the unimaginable depths of human darkness,
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Nothing will be left untouched. Are you ready? Are you
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Speaker 3 (00:59):
Hey, guys, it's wrong. You are listening to Red, White
and Bruised, a new show that is on We Saw
the Devil, where I talk about politics and things going
on in the world because I have thoughts and opinions,
and I know that a lot of you do as well.
How has everyone's week been going so far? Mine's been
a ride like I'm exhausted. Everything has been urgent and busy.
(01:20):
I put out the last episode for this podcast. I
mentioned this in a previous episode that I put out
earlier today, but I put the last one out shortly
before news came that the shutdown was likely ending because
the Democrats caved, and then a couple hours beyond that,
the Supreme Court decided not to take up gay marriage.
So my timing again remains impeccable. For today's episode. I
(01:41):
just have a couple things to cover. First, the Kim
Davis Scotis Supreme Court stuff, because have to have to
not gonna lie. I was holding my breath and clenching
my boohole for a few minutes waiting on that to
come back. Then we have the Epstein Final Saga, because
that's continuing to get messier and more damning by the day,
with new EA dropping literally today. That are well, we'll
(02:04):
get there. And then, lastly, after forty three days of
absolute chaos, the government shutdown is finally appearing to end.
It only took airports turning into hellscapes, millions of people
losing food assistants, and Democrats caving and fucking us all,
but hey, Congress got there. Eventually, I guess. But before
we get into it, let's just get some quick house
(02:25):
keeping out of the way. You are listening to Red
White and Bruised, a new podcast only found on We
Saw the Devil. You can follow the show as a
whole at We Saw the Double podcast on Instagram, or
We Saw the Devil on Facebook and Twitter website We
Saw the Devil. And then if you have any questions, comments, concerns, compliments, anything, really,
you can email me directly at info at We Saw
(02:46):
the Devil and I will respond I'm here for you, guys.
But now that that's out of the way, let's start
with something that's not completely depressing, and that is the
Supreme Court declining to overturn marriage equality. So on Monday,
the Court tossed aside an appeal from Ken Davis. Remember her,
that Kentucky County clerk who in twenty fifteen refused to
(03:08):
issue marriage licenses to same sex couples because of her
quote unquote religious beliefs. The one with the big forehead
and novel hair. Yeah, she's been back, and she wanted
the Supreme Court to overturn Oberschfel v. Hodges. As we
all know, that's the landmark twenty fifteen decision that recognized
same sex marriage as a constitutional right. The Court said no.
They didn't even explain their reasoning. They just declined to
(03:31):
hear the case. And honestly, that's the best possible outcome
because it means that this wasn't even close. If there
was serious consideration, we would have gotten opinions, it would
have taken a little bit longer. Instead, it was basically
like lol, no, and they moved on. And this is huge, y'all,
because a lot of LGBTQ plus advocates were genuinely terrified,
(03:52):
and for good reason. This Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
Wade three years ago, ending almost fifty years of precedent
protecting abortion rights. Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly wrote in his
concurring opinion that the Court should reconsider other substantial due
process cases, including Obersfell. The court that decided Oberschfell in
(04:13):
twenty fifteen was completely different. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote
the beautiful majority opinion, retired in twenty eighteen and then
was replaced by Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died
in twenty twenty. She should have stepped down. I was
so angry. God love her, but she should have fucking retired.
She died in twenty twenty and was replaced by Amy
(04:34):
Coney Barrett in one of the biggest travesties, and the
three current Justices, Chief Justice Roberts, Thomas, and Alito were
in dissent when Oberschfell was decided. So yeah, people were scared,
and rightfully so. But apparently even this Supreme Court wasn't
willing to blow up the marriages of nearly six hundred
thousand same sex couples who have married since twenty fifteen.
(04:58):
Justice Barrett told The New York Times last month that
there are very concrete reliance interests at stake with same
sex marriage, which is basically legal speak for a lot
of people have built their lives around this shit, and
overturning it would be awful. I wanted to go through
the history of Kim Davis, like, have a little brief
history of her being an absolute piece of shit, just
so we can all remember, okay, because this woman is
(05:19):
fucking awful, and I know that we haven't seen the
last of her. Back in twenty fifteen, after the Supreme
Court decided obersfell. Kim Davis was the elected county clerk
of Rowan County, Kentucky. Her job, literally, her whole entire job,
was to issue marriage licenses. That's it, sign paperwork, collect fees,
give people their licenses so they can get married and
(05:39):
move on with their lives. But when same sex couples
started coming to her office to get marriage licenses, she refused,
not just to gay couples, she refused to issue licenses
to all couples, gay and straight, because she said issuing
licenses to same sex couples would violate her religious beliefs.
She was sued by multiple couples. A federal judge her
(06:00):
to do her job, and she also refused, so the
judge held her in contempt and threw her in jail
for five days. And do you guys remember that when
she went into jail and then came out of jail
and all of the Republicans were there and screaming and
support and getting there five seconds of TV soundbites for her. Yes,
because that's where we were back then, you guys. Again,
(06:22):
Republicans hated marriage equality so much they flocked to support
Kim Davis and her little thing. Do not forget that
they supported Kim Davis. Now she wasn't fired, So when
she got out of jail, she still refused to do
her job, but she allowed her deputy clerks to issue
licenses instead. But then she had them remove her name
from the licenses because she didn't want to be associated
(06:44):
with same sex marriage. Eventually, she lost her reelection bid
and got voted out of office. Justice a jury ordered
her to pay three hundred and sixty thousand dollars in
damages and legal fees to the couple she discriminated against.
And now that's what this decision was. She's appealing that,
asking the Supreme Court to say that her religious freedom
(07:04):
gives her the right to discriminate while working as a
government official. And the court said, fuck you, bitch. So
now Kim Davis owes three hundred and sixty thousand and
will remain a cautionary tale about what happens when you
think that your personal beliefs are more important than other
people's constitutional rights. Because fuck her, She even met with
the pope. You guys, she became a right wing celebrity.
(07:28):
She turned being a bigot into a brand. It's been
ten years since Ober's fall, ten years and Kim Davis
is still trying to overturn it, still trying to avoid
paying the damages, shows still trying to position herself is
some kind of religious freedom warrior and martyr. Move the
fuck on, Kim, you lost marriage equality one and not
(07:51):
only that that, Probably the part that I'm most pissed
off about is the fact that she made me defend
this Supreme Court. I spend most of my time criticizing
the Supreme Court for being too conservative, right, too willing
to overturn precedent, too captured by right wing ideology, Like
I am really not a fan of the Supreme Court
at all, But when they decline to hear Kim Davis's appeal,
(08:12):
I actually had to say, good job, Supreme Court. And
do you know how much I resent that Kim Davis
made me praise the Supreme Court? And that alone is unforgivable.
But what does this mean going forward? Well, marriage equality
is safe for now, it would appear, And I say
for now, because the Supreme Court declining to hear this
case doesn't set precedent. If another challenge comes along, they'll
(08:35):
consider it from scratch. And this Court has shown its
willing to overturn major precedents. They did it with Roe,
they could theoretically do it with Oberschfell, based on the appeal.
That being said, though, y'all, the fact that they declined
to hear this case, that even the conservative justices signal
that they weren't interested in revisiting Oberschfell, that is a
good sign. And it suggests that even this Court recognizes
(08:58):
that marriage equality has become deeply embedded in American life.
Like I said earlier, almost six hundred thousand couples have
gotten married, Families have been built, kids have been born
and adopted, Homes have been bought, like lives have been
lived in this last ten years. Overturning Oberschfeld wouldn't just
be an earthquake in society. It would be a human catastrophe.
(09:21):
It does make me sleep a little bit better knowing that,
at least for now, this Supreme Court isn't willing to
do that. So yeah, good news for once marriage equality stands.
Kim Davis is a perpetual piece of fucking shit, and love,
actual love, not Kim Davis's twisted rebranding of it, wins.
Now let's move on to the crazy news of the day,
(09:42):
and that is this morning breaking news. There are emails
that resurfaced Wednesday morning. This morning, literally as I started
writing the update on gay marriage, House Democrats on the
Oversight Committee released new emails from Jeffrey Epstein's estate. And
these aren't just a random course. These are emails that
directly reference Donald Trump and raise some pretty serious questions
(10:06):
about what he knew and when he knew it. Let
me walk you through what we're dealing with here, because
this is messy, like I'm gonna put my hair up
on a ponytail level of messy. Okay, So email one.
The first email is from twenty eleven between Jeffrey Epstein
and Julane Maxwell, you know, his partner in crime who's
currently serving twenty years for sex trafficking. Who, by the way,
(10:28):
it came out yesterday that Trump is literally trying to
commute her sentence so she's released. We have the President
of the United States quite literally trying to get a
sex trafficker that he has very long standing ties to
out of prison. Because that's cool, right, we all love that.
So again, the first email is from twenty eleven, and
in this email, Epstein is discussing Trump and he writes
(10:52):
that Trump is quote the dog that hasn't barked. He
mentions that a victims spent hours at his house with Trump,
and that Trump and has never once been mentioned by investigators.
Let that sink in for a second, y'all. Epstein is
essentially bragging to Maxwell that Trump has kept quiet about
what he saw or knew. The dog that hasn't barked
(11:14):
is a reference to someone who who should be making
noise but isn't, someone who knows something but is staying silent.
Maxwell's response, I have been thinking about that. Cool cool, cool, cold,
nothing sinister about that at all. Our current sitting president
possibly could have done something heinous or witness something heinous,
(11:35):
never reported it, but is very clear that he witnessed something.
The second email is from January of twenty nineteen, so
Trump is already well into his first presidential term at
this point. This one's between Epstein and Michael Wolfe, the
author who wrote multiple books about the Trump presidency. In
this email, Epstein is discussing Trump's claim that he kicked
(11:56):
Epstein out of mar A Lago for being inappropriate with
young women who worked there. Trump has told this story
multiple times that Epstein was stealing employees from the SPA,
that he was being a creep, and that Trump banned
him from the club. But here's what Epstein wrote to Wolfe.
Quote Trump said, he asked me to resign. Never remember. Ever,
(12:16):
of course he knew about the girls as he asked
Jelaine to stop, So, according to Epstein, Trump knew what
was happening. Trump asked Elaine Maxwell to stop recruiting, which
means that Trump was aware that recruitment was happening in
the first place. Now does this prove that Trump participated
in anything illegal. No, but it does completely contradict the
(12:38):
narrative that Trump thought Epstein was a creep and kicked
him out. According to Epstein's own words, Trump knew about
the girls and specifically asked Maxwell to stop whatever she
was doing. The third emails from December twenty fifteen, right
in the middle of Trump's presidential campaign, Woolf writes to
Epstein with the heads up that CNN is planning to act
(13:00):
Trump about his relationship with Epstein, either on air or
in a scrum afterward. And here's where it gets really interesting.
Wolf writes back the next day with advice. He says,
quote I think you should let him hang himself. If
he says he hasn't been on the plane or to
the house, then that gives you valuable pr and political currency.
(13:20):
You can hang him in a way that potentially generates
a positive benefit for you. Or if it really looks
like he could win, you could save him generating a debt.
You could save him generating a debt. This is Wolfe,
a journalist who had extensive conversations with Epstein about Trump,
(13:40):
essentially outlining how Epstein could use his knowledge as leverage
over a presidential candidate. Either let Trump lie and then
expose him, or stay quiet and hold that information as
a favor Trump would owe. This is the kind of
thing people talk about in mob movies, you guys. This
is leverage. This is blackmail material being discussed openly. So
(14:02):
how has the White House responded to all of this? Well,
exactly as you would expect. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt put
out a statement this morning saying that Democrats selectively leaked
emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative
to smear President Trump. She called it nothing more than
bad faith efforts to distract from President Trump's historic accomplishments
(14:24):
and a hoax. A hoax. These are Epstein's own emails
from his own estate, obtained through a legal subpoena. It
is not a hoax. These are real emails. The White
House also pointed out, and Republicans on the Oversight Committee
confirmed that the redacted victim's name in the emails is
(14:45):
Virginia Guffrey, one of Epstein's most prominent survivors, who died
by suicide just a couple months ago, back in April.
That here's the thing. She never accused Trump of any
wrongdoing in her memoir. She actually described Trump as friendly
when she met him at mar A Lago. Her father
worked there, got her a job in the locker room,
and Trump asked her if she liked kids and if
(15:07):
she babysat. She did not accuse Trump of participating an abuse,
but her family has since said that Trump's comments about
Epstein stealing her from mar A Lago make them wonder
if Trump was aware of what Epstein and Maxwell were doing,
because if he was aware enough to tell Maxwell to
stop recruiting there direct quote fucking recruiting there, then he
(15:28):
knew that something was wrong and what they were doing
now all of this all, that's what's happening right now.
I have to set the scene. It's happening against the
backdrop of a by partisan effort both Democrats and Republicans
to force the Justice Department to release the full Epstein files,
represented as Thomas Massey, a Republican from Kentucky, and Rocanna,
(15:50):
a Democrat from California, had been leading a discharge petition
to force a House vote on releasing all the documents.
The DJ has on Epstein and his associates. A discharge
petition is a procedural move that forces legislation to the
floor for a vote. It bypasses leadership. You need two
hundred and eighteen signatures a majority of the House to
(16:12):
trigger it. And guess what, Guess what, babes. As of
this afternoon, they got their two hundred and eighteenth signature.
Representative elect Adelita Grihalva from Arizona was finally freaking sworn in.
If you recall, Senator Mike Johnson delayed her swearing in
for more than fifty fucking days. Fifty days. She won
(16:34):
a special election back in September, and Johnson just didn't
swear in. He kept the House purposefully out of session
for seven weeks during the shutdowns, just so he could
avoid having to deal with this vote. But Grihalva campaigned
on signing this discharge petition, and the second she was
sworn in, she signed it. So now the House is
(16:55):
required to hold a vote on whether to compel the
DOJ to release the Epstein file, all of them, the
full investigation, the full client list, the full investigation notes,
all of it. And here's why this is such a
big deal. Trump campaigned on transparency. He promised to release
the Epstein files along with the JFK files and other
(17:15):
classified documents. He presented himself as the guy he was
going to expose the powerful people hiding the truth. That's
why a lot of people ended up voting for him.
He made a lot of these promises and we were
over here telling you guys, he's not going to release that.
He's not going to do that. He's not going to
do that, and of course he hasn't. He's a criminal, literally,
(17:37):
he is a convicted felon. Like what were people expecting
from that? And now that he's in office, he's been
radio silent. In fact, his administration has actively worked to
delay and avoid releasing these files. Attorney General Pam Bondi
released a memo in September saying they'd reviewed the case
and found no reason to release additional documents. Just an
(17:58):
unsigned memo, no detail, no explanation, just well we lioten
to it. There's nothing to see her by E and
Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House, literally kept
Congress out of session and delayed swearing in a newly
elected representative just to avoid this vote. If there's nothing
damaging in those files, why fight so hard to keep
(18:19):
them hidden. The White House keeps calling this a distraction
in a hoax. But these are Epstein's own words. These
are factual. They weren't planted, they weren't created. These are
Epstein's own words. These aren't allegations from political opponents or
conspiracy fringe conspiracy theorists for the Internet. These are private
emails where Epstein himself discusses Trump's knowledge of his crimes
(18:43):
and talks about using that knowledge as political leverage. And now,
because of this discharge petition, Congress is going to have
to vote on whether the American people deserve to see
the full truth in the full case files. Every representative
will have to go on record yes or no should
we release the Epstein files. My guess it's going to
be really interesting to see who votes each way, and
(19:06):
I have a feeling that it's not going to be
as simple as we all think it is. There are, again,
this is bipartisan Republicans. There are some Republicans that are
fighting tooth and nail for this to be released. So
it's going to be really really interesting to see how
this actually ends up playing out along party lines. And
what these emails do show is that the relationship between
(19:27):
Trump and Epstein was deeper and far more complicated than
Trump has admitted. They show that Trump knew what was happening,
or at least enough to tell Maxwell to stop recruiting
at his club. They show that Epstein viewed Trump as
someone who could be leveraged and someone who owed him silence.
And they raised the question, if Trump really had nothing
(19:48):
to do with Epstein's crimes, why is his administration working
so fucking hard to keep the files from being released.
The victims of Epstein's trafficking deserve answers, the American people
deserve transparency, and if the President campaigned on releasing these documents,
then he should release them as a campaign promise. Instead,
(20:08):
we're getting denials, delays, and then accusations that asking questions
is now somehow a hoax. This is not transparency. This
is an attempted cover up. And furthermore, I don't care
if it's a Republican or Democrat. I don't care. What
I find so interesting is on social media and all
of these posts. It turns and it turns into a
(20:30):
bunch of what aboutisms? Well what about Bill Clinton? Well
what about this? What about this? Bring them all down,
all of them left right? Sent her purple like I
don't give a shit, let's go. You know that gift
of Judge Judy tapping her wristwatch because she's like, let's go,
let's get you know, over with, Like, let's go. I
don't care. Why would we have party loyalty in dealing
(20:52):
with something like this? And last item on my list today,
you guys, is let's talk about the government shutdown, which
is officially about to end after forty three days of
absolute batschittery and just a recap here. The government shut
down on September thirtieth because Congress couldn't agree on a
funding bill. The main sticking point is that Republicans refused
to extend the Enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that help
(21:15):
over twenty million Americans afford health insurance. Those subsidies are
set to expire at the end of December, and if
they're not extended, people are going to see their premium's skyrocket.
We're talking about hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year.
People are already getting letters. Some people are talking about
the subsidies and whatnot, Like some people are going from
(21:36):
three hundred to twenty six hundred dollars a month in
health insurance and they're going to have to drop it
because they can't afford it. Democrats initially said they wouldn't
vote to reopen the government without a guarantee that those
subsidies would be extended. Republicans said they would negotiate on
healthcare until the government was open, and so for forty
three days, the federal government was shut down while politicians
(21:56):
played chicken with people's lives. And let's talk about what
that Act actually meant for real people like you me
airport chaos, TSA agents and air traffic controllers for being
forced to work without pay, which led to massive staffing shortages.
Hundreds and hundreds of flights have been canceled. Delays have
been rampant. Some airports warned they might have to shut
(22:18):
down entirely if the shutdown continued for much longer. Food
assistants disappeared. The USDA announced in late October that no
Snap benefits would be issued for November. Forty two million
Americans rely on Snap to feed their families. Again, forty
two million Americans rely on Snap to feed their families.
The Trump administration claimed they couldn't use the contingency fund
(22:39):
Congress had allocated for exactly this kind of situation, which
was absolute bullshit. Multiple federal judges ruled that withholding Snap
benefits was illegal, and states sued to get benefits reinstated.
Some people did get their full benefits after court orders,
some got partial benefits. Some got nothing at all and
had to rely on food banks or just go hunger.
(23:00):
The lines around food banks that there have been nightly
news clips on this, in the first person videos as
well everywhere online. Food bank lines have been wrapped around
blocks and blocks. Lots of federal employees were ending up
at food banks trying to get food because they couldn't
feed their family. Wick, you know, the program that provides
food assistants to pregnant women, new mothers, and children. It
(23:23):
was about to run out of funding entirely. We're talking
about seven million people, most of them babies and toddlers,
who were going to lose access to formula and food.
And again, the federal workers, they missed paychecks. There were
over four thousand federal employees receiving reduction in forces notices
basically layoff warnings. People who were deemed essential had to
(23:44):
keep working without pay. People who were furloughed sat at
home wondering if they'd ever get paid for the time
that they lost. Museums and national parks closed that are
in services were disrupted, social Security card applications were delayed. Basically,
any service that required the federal government into function just stopped.
And for what. So politicians can have a standoff over
(24:05):
whether poor people deserve healthcare. But after forty three days,
a group of moderate Senate Democrats broke ranks and struck
a deal with Republicans to end the shutdown. And here's
what's in that deal. The government will be funded through
January thirtieth via a continuing resolution basically a short term
funding patch that keeps thinking things running at the current levels.
(24:27):
Three agencies get full year funding through September, the Department
of Agriculture, Military Construction, and Veterans Affairs, and the Legislative Branch.
So that being said, that means SNAP and WICK are
fully funded for the rest of the fiscal year, which
means that even if there is another shutdown in January,
food assistants won't be interrupted again. And here's the kicker.
(24:47):
Democrats did not get a guarantee that the ACA subsidies
will be extended. Instead, they got a promise from Senate
Majority Leader John Thune that there will be a vote
on extending the subsidies by mid December. A vote, not
an extension, not a guarantee, just a vote on a
bill that Democrats will write. Republicans can vote no. Hell,
(25:08):
even if some Republicans vote yes, Speaker Mike Johnson has
already said he's not committing to bringing it up for
a vote in the House. So what that means, you guys,
is that Democrats caved. They ended the shutdown in exchange
for a symbolic vote that probably won't pass and definitely
won't become law. Unsurprisingly, this deal has caused a massive
rift within the Democratic Party. But here's what makes it
(25:31):
even worse. It turns out this wasn't just eight moderate
Democrats going rogue. They were acting within the express approval
of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Yeah, the guy who
gave that angry speech about millions of Americans facing higher
health care costs. He was coordinating with the senators who
were negotiating the surrender. According to reporting from The American Prospect,
(25:54):
these eight Democrats Jean Shaheen, Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire,
Angus King from Maine, Katharine Cortes Mastow and Jackie Rosen
from Nevada, Dick Durbin from Illinois, Tim Kane from Virginia,
and John Fetterman from Pennsylvania. They were reporting to Schumer
daily about the negotiations. At a Democratic Caucus meeting last Thursday,
(26:16):
just two days off the huge Democratic wins, Shaheen, Hassan,
and Cortes Mosto told their colleagues that they had ten
votes to reopen the government in exchange for basically nothing,
just the promise of the vote on the ACA. The
rest of the caucus went ballistic. Some of the supposed
ten votes said they weren't actually willing to vote for
that deal. Only after the caucus meeting blew up did
(26:37):
Schumer pivot and publicly demand a one year extension of
the ACA subsidies as part of any deal. But by
then the damage was done. Republicans knew Democrats were willing
to cave cinem Majority leader John Thune accused Schumer of
brow beating his colleagues, but he also knew the Democratic
leadership was looking for an exit ramp. And here's the
thing that makes this so fucking infuriating. Democrats actually had
(27:02):
the upper hand here. They had just won major elections.
Poll showed a majority of voters blamed Republicans for the shutdown.
Republicans were divided. Trump was ranting on truth social like
a madman about sending money directly to the people instead
of two insurance companies, completely undercutting his own parties position.
Democrats were holding a royal flush and Schumer was trying
(27:25):
to fold anyway. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged House
Democrats to vote no, saying we are not going to
support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut
the health care of the American people. Progressive senators like
Tammy Baldwin and Elizabeth Warren argued that Democrats had leverage
and gave it away for nothing, and you know what,
(27:46):
they are absolutely right. Democrats had Republicans over a barrel.
Flight cancelations were making headlines every day, people were starving.
The chaos was undeniable, and it was happening under Republican control.
Chaos was undeniable, and it was happening under a Republican
control of government. But Schumer and the eight moderates decided
that ending the suffering was more important than holding out
(28:10):
for a guaranteed win on healthcare. Senator Tim Kane told
NPR there was no guarantee that waiting would get us
a better result, and there was a guarantee that waiting
would impose suffering on more everyday people. The mystery is
why Schumer keeps flirting with capitulation. He's facing a likely
primary challenge for his own Senate seat. You'd think he'd
(28:30):
want to look like a fighter, not someone who caves
at the first opportunity. In Jean Shaheen, She's not even
running for reelection in twenty twenty six. She's retiring, so
why is she leading the charge to give Republicans everything
they want? Apparently she's more concerned with getting appropriation bills
through her committee than protecting the most significant democratic health
(28:51):
care achievement of the fucking century. Even when dealt a
strong hand, these people fold. So who's right in this
the pragmatists who ended the suffering or the fighters who
say Democrats gave up their leverage for nothing. Honestly, I
do see both sides. You know, on one hand, people
were suffering, real people, not abstract political casualties, but families. Everyday.
(29:14):
Families were beginning to go hungry. Federal workers were missing
mortgage payments, Airports were on the verge of shutting down.
Every day to shutdown continued, the damage got worse. But
on the other hand, what did Democrats actually win a
vote that won't pass a promise from Republicans who have
repeatedly shown they don't keep promises. And in January when
(29:35):
the Continuing Resolution expires, we're going to be right back
where we were going to be, right back here having
the same fight, except now Democrats won't have the leverage
of Snap and Wick funding to use as political pressure
because those programs are already fully funded through September. Republicans
got everything they wanted. They avoided extending the ACA subsidies.
(29:56):
Why because they don't want you to have health care.
They reopened the government. They reopen the government on their terms,
and they get to blame Democrats for the shutdown, even
though Republicans control the House, Senate, and the White House.
So what happens next and who gets fucked? Well, the
Senate passed this deal Monday night, sixty to forty. The
House is voting on it today, and Speaker Mike Johnson
(30:17):
says he's very optimistic it will pass. Trump is indicated
that he'll sign it, which means about tonight or tomorrow
the government will officially be open again. But here's what
doesn't happen. The ACA subsidies don't get extended. They are
still set to expire on December thirty first. Senate Republicans
have promised to vote in mid December, but that vote
is certainly going to fail, and even if it doesn't,
(30:39):
Johnson can just refuse to bring it up in the House.
In fact, he's already said he's not committing to holding
a vote. So let's talk about what that means for
real people like you and me. If Congress doesn't extend
these enhanced premium tax credits, and it's looking increasingly day
by day that they won't, over twenty million Americans are
going to see their health care insurance more than double.
(31:01):
That's not hyperbole, that's actual fact. Premiums are going to
literally double on average for subsidized enrollees. The people who
get hit hardest by this two groups. First, higher earners
who currently get some subsidy help. They are going to
see massive increases and likely drop coverage entirely. And then
the other half would be lower earners who will see
(31:22):
smaller dollar amounts but can't afford even a small increase
on their type budgets. And where it gets worse is
that when younger, healthier people drop their insurance because they
can't afford the premiums, who's left in the pool older
sicker people who need more care. Insurance companies will respond
by raising premiums even more to cover the higher costs
(31:43):
of a less healthy population. It's quite literally a death spiral. Also,
when more Americans are uninsured and end up in emergency rooms,
they can't pay for that, so those costs don't just disappear.
They fall on hospitals and then eventually on taxpayers through
increased government health care spending. So even people who don't
(32:04):
use marketplace insurance will feel impact. So even if you
think you have nothing to do with this, you absolutely do.
People are already seeing the sticker shock here. Open enrollment
for twenty twenty six coverage started on November first, and
the prices being quoted assume the subsidies expire now. Typically,
Congress could still extend the subsidies even after they expire.
(32:26):
They could pass something in January making it retroactive. But
the problem is that by then people will have already
made other decisions. They'll have looked at these high premiums,
decided they can't afford insurance, and either drop it or
try to make other plans. Getting those people to come
back and enroll again is going to be really difficult,
even if subsidies are eventually restored in About three quarters
(32:47):
of Americans, including almost half of Republicans, support extending these
tax credits. This isn't some partisan wishless item that only
Democrats want. This is a broadly popular policy that helps
tens of millions of people afford healthcare. The Republicans would
just rather let the subsidies die and replace them with well,
(33:07):
nobody fucking knows, because they have yet to come up
with any even shred of health insurance policy. Trump posted
on truth Social on Saturday, saying the money saved by
ending the subsidies should be sent directly to the people
so that they can buy much better health care. He
didn't even bother explaining what that means or how that
will work, because once again he's blowing a trumpet out
of his ass. Senator Bil Cassidy from Louisiana, chair of
(33:30):
the Health Committee, pitched an idea for pre funded federal
flexible spending accounts accounts that people could use for health
expenses like dental care, prescriptions, preventative services. Senator Rick Scott
from Florida said he's working on a similar plan with
health savings accounts. And these are all initial ideas, far
from becoming actual legislation, and there's no indication whatsoever that
(33:52):
they would save people anywhere close to what they're about
to lose from the expiring subsidies. It's the replaced part
of repeal and replace. But they're not even bothering with
a real replacement, just vague concepts of plans, like how
people sometimes describe seltzer tasting like a wisp or a
sniff of a fruit. So, come January first, which we're
(34:14):
heading there, millions of Americans are going to lose their
health insurance subsidies. Premiums are going to skyrocket, people are
going to drop coverage, and Republicans are going to blame
Democrats for not compromising, even though Democrats literally shut down
the government trying to save those subsidies and got nothing
in return. And we're gonna do this whole song and
dance again in January. I'm probably on the thirtieth because
(34:35):
when the Continuing Resolution expires, it'll be another funding fight,
another potential shutdown, another round of political chicken, and then you,
me and all of our neighbors are going to get screwed.
And then to close up this episode, I just want
to quickly touch on Mike Johnson, Speaker Johnson for a second,
because his press conference this morning was something fucking else.
Johnson called a shutdown a national nightmare and apologized to Americans.
(35:00):
He apologized for the flight delays, food and security, miss paychecks,
so on and so forth. But then he immediately blamed
Democrats for all of it. They have a lot to
answer for, he said. Democrats, the party that doesn't control
the House, the Senate, or the White House, the party
that has been trying to extend healthcare subsidies to help
people afford insurance. That's who's responsible for the shutdown, according
(35:22):
to Johnson. Not Republicans they refuse to negotiate on healthcare.
Not Trump, who could have stepped in at any time
to broker a deal. Not Johnson himself, who kept the
House out of session for seven entire weeks and delayed
swearing in a newly elected representative just to avoid political
embarrassment in the Epsteine files. No, it is the fault
of the Democrats. This is the playbook, folks. Republicans create
(35:46):
a crisis, they blame Democrats for not fixing it fast enough.
They or the Democrats are doing their best for the
American people. The Republicans block it while still blaming the
Democrats for any pain cause. And then when the Democrats
cave in for the sake of the peace. And then
when Democrats finally cave in and are like, fine, fuck it,
let's just get a budget out the Republicans take credit
(36:06):
for the crisis ending, and you know what it works.
It's brilliant politically speaking strategically, it's brilliant because most people
don't actually follow the details. They just see the headlines.
Government shut down ends after Democrats cave. Never mind that
Republicans controlled every single lever of power and still couldn't govern.
(36:27):
Never Mind that they chose tax cuts for the rich
over food stamps for the poor. Never Mind that they're
about to let health insurance subsidies expire for twenty million
people while pretending to give a shit about affordability for
me and you. It is exhausting. And here's what this
shutdown proved. Republicans are willing to inflict maximum pain on
ordinary Americans to get what they want, and what they
(36:49):
want is to gut social safety net programs like food assistants,
health care, anything that helps poor people survive. They didn't
shut down the government because of some principled stone on
fiscal response's ability. They shut it down because Democrats wouldn't
let them take health care away from millions of fucking people.
That is why they shut it down. And when the
suffering got too intense, when airports started shutting down, people
(37:11):
started starving. They didn't compromise. They literally just waited for
Democrats to blink. First Republicans put up a wall and said, fine,
come atus, that's not governance, that's hostage taking. And now
after forty three days, we're right back to where we started,
except people are now more desperate, more scared, and less
able to afford the health care that they need. So, yeah,
(37:33):
the shutdown is ending. Let us all be clear on that.
But congratulations, I guess we did it. Go team. We
reopened the government just in time to start fighting about
it again in six weeks. And that's all that I
have for you guys today. It's been a hell of
a couple of weeks. Mixed bag of news, you know,
one genuinely good thing, the rest ranging from frustrating to
(37:54):
Tourett's inducing. I guess I don't know that has been
twenty twenty five. Do you guys feel, on a side
note and tangent entirely that post COVID, like post twenty twenty,
that things are just weird now? I don't know. I
feel like we all went through the lockdowns and everything
that transpired in twenty twenty and then things have just
been strange since. But if you're feeling exhausted by all
(38:17):
of this, guys, I get it. I'm exhausted too, but
we have to stay focused. We cannot afford to check
out of this. Thank you for listening to Red White
and Bruce. New episodes drop whenever I feel like it,
probably two a week. If you want more true crime content,
then check out the other show on the same feed,
just the primary show. We Saw the Devil again. You
(38:38):
can find us on Instagram, We Saw the Devil podcast
on Facebook and Twitter. At We Saw the Devil website
is we sell thedevil dot com And if you have questions, compliments, complaints,
anything like that, shoot me an email I actually read them.
You can do that at info at wesell thedevil dot com.
Talk to you guys later,
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