High High Hopes For Impeachment

The Trump Administration is quickly ramping up its efforts to arrest and deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible, now that extra money is starting to roll in thanks to President Donald Trump’s new tax and spending law. It set aside more than $170 billion in new funding for immigration enforcement, including $45 billion to build and expand detention centers and $29 billion to help hire new immigration agents. The most notorious symbol of the administration's immigration crackdown is the pop up detention center in the Florida Everglades the administration calls ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ But more facilities are popping up all over the country, as are allegations of horrific conditions. Katie Blankenship is an attorney and co-founder of Sanctuary of the South, which provides legal services and civil rights representation throughout the region. She’s currently representing clients in ICE detention centers, and joins us to talk about what she's hearing from them.And in headlines: Trump and embattled Fed Chair Jerome Powell publicly bicker during a tour of the central bank headquarter’s ongoing renovations, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country would recognize the state of Palestine, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Jeffrey Epstein’s former fixer Ghislaine Maxwell.Show Notes:Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

25 Heinä 28min

While pressure mounts on the White House to release documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, President Donald Trump is doing his damndest to turn the public’s attention to his latest conspiracy (which is really just a remix of an old one). The president is alleging, despite zero evidence, that former President Barack Obama and members of his administration lied about Russian efforts to swing the 2016 election for Trump and made up intelligence to support those claims. This time, though, Trump’s wild allegations are being fueled by his own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. She’s been releasing documents she says contradict the intelligence community’s well-established conclusions about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, claiming they’re proof of a ‘coup’ to undermine Trump during his first term in office. Atlantic Staff Writer David Frum, host of the new podcast ‘The David Frum Show,’ joins us to talk about the return of ‘Russia, Russia, Russia,’ and what Trump’s willingness to go after his political opponents– including a former president – says about where his second term is headed.And in headlines: The Justice Department reportedly informed Trump his name appears in the so-called Epstein files, a federal judge ruled a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador should be freed from custody at the Tennessee jail where he’s currently being held, and President Trump announced a new tariff deal with Japan.Show Notes:Check out David's podcast – https://youtu.be/0kISxha7bJA?feature=sharedCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

24 Heinä 22min

House lawmakers will start their Summer break a few days early today, vacating the capital until September. They’re leaving early because Republican Speaker Mike Johnson is trying desperately – desperately – to avoid holding any votes on releasing materials related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Over at the White House Tuesday, President Donald Trump did his best to turn attention away from Epstein and toward his latest conspiracy de jour, which is really just a remix of his favorite first-term conspiracy surrounding Russia’s interference in the 2016 election (A.K.A. Russia, Russia, Russia). But House Democrats say no dice. California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, talks about what Democrats are doing to keep the Trump administration in check.And in headlines: Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba is out of a job…maybe, Trump announced a new trade deal with the Philippians, and the United Nations delivered a stark warning about mass starvation in Gaza.Show Notes:Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

23 Heinä 21min

Despite President Donald Trump's best efforts, his administration can't escape the conspiracies swirling around convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — conspiracies Trump and his allies helped stoke before he returned to the White House.On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not permit a vote this summer on a non-binding resolution calling for the release of documents and records related to Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 before his federal sex-trafficking trial. And on Friday, Trump sued The Wall Street Journal for billions of dollars over a story alleging he sent Epstein a lewd birthday card in the early 2000s, when the two were known to be friends. Trump has always denied any knowledge that the disgraced financier was abusing underage girls and young women, but there's no denying the two men frequently hung out together, often in the presence of young, attractive women.Matthew Goldstein, a New York Times business reporter who covers white collar crime, joins us to talk about the backstory of Trump and Epstein's friendship, and why the administration can't make this story go away.And in headlines: Some foreign travelers will have to pay a new $250 fee to enter the U.S. thanks to a provision in Trump's new Big Beautiful Law, a new Human Rights Watch report alleges 'dehumanizing' conditions across immigration detention centers in Florida, and Texas Republicans kicked off a special legislative session to potentially redraw the state's congressional map to help Trump in next year's midterm elections.Show Notes:Check out Michael's piece – nytimes.com/2025/07/19/us/politics/inside-trump-epstein-friendship.htmlCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

22 Heinä 23min

As artificial intelligence programs become more widely accessible, so too do increasingly sophisticated deepfake scams that take advantage of the technology. Earlier this month, the State Department confirmed reports that an imposter pretending to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached out to at least five high-ranking government officials. It wasn’t the first time a member of the Trump administration had been impersonated by AI; in May, the White House confirmed a similar incident involving Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. But these days, you don’t even have to be a big-name politician to end up on the wrong side of a deepfake scam. If your image and voice exist on the internet, enterprising bad actors might be able to use them against you. Reporter David Gilbert, who covers disinformation and online extremism for Wired, joins us to talk about the risks deepfakes pose to the public and how all of us can protect ourselves.And in headlines: President Donald Trump sued The Wall Street Journal for $20 billion over an article claiming he sent a lewd birthday card to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Israeli troops killed dozens of Palestinians seeking food in Gaza Sunday, and CBS is pulling the plug on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.’Show Notes:Read David's stories: https://www.wired.com/author/david-gilbert/Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

21 Heinä 20min

Alligator Alcatraz, a pop-up immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, has been touted by members of the Trump Administration as an ‘efficient and low cost way’ to carry out the president's mass deportation agenda against ‘criminal illegal aliens.’ But an investigation by the Miami Herald found hundreds of the people at the facility have no criminal convictions or pending charges at all. And according to detainees and staff, the conditions in the makeshift facility are horrible, with reports of floors flooded with waste water, food ridden with worms, and clouds of mosquitos. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost visited Alligator Alcatraz. He joins us to talk about his experience, and how he thinks Democrats should respond.And in headlines: An Israeli strike hit the only Catholic church in Gaza, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin slammed Trump’s judicial nominee Emil Bove as “unqualified,’ and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem hinted carry-on liquid limits could change.Show Notes:Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

18 Heinä 25min

President Donald Trump spent Wednesday refuting reports he plans to imminently fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The president has been complaining about him for months, accusing Powell of unnecessarily keeping interest rates high. But Trump’s frustrations seemed to reach a new peak this week amid reports he had a letter drafted to oust the man he appointed to the job back in 2017, then asked a group of House Republicans whether he should do it. Firing Powell would undermine the Federal Reserve’s independence. It’s also potentially illegal. Bloomberg Senior Editor and friend of the pod Stacey Vanek Smith stops by to talk about interest rates, inflation risks, and Trump’s very focused campaign of loathing against Powell.And in headlines: Vice President J.D. Vance hit the road to put some proverbial lipstick on Trump’s pig of a new tax and spending law, the Trump administration deported five migrants to the small African nation of Eswatini, and the senior vice president of PBS Kids says the network will have to scale back new programing if Congress lets Trump claw back funding.Show Notes:Check out Stacey's work – x.com/svaneksmith?lang=enCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

17 Heinä 22min

On the 2024 campaign trail, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly claimed he could end Russia’s war in Ukraine ‘on day one.’ Roughly 180 days into his second presidential term, the war has only escalated. What has changed is Trump’s attitude toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. This week, Trump announced a new deal to send U.S. weapons to Ukraine, after weeks of complaining about Putin’s increasingly destructive attacks. Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama and co-host of Pod Save the World, discusses the significance of Trump’s pivot. He also weighs in on the latest fault lines in the ongoing ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel, mass layoffs at the State Department, and looming cuts to foreign aid.And in headlines: The House joined in on the Jeffrey Epstein discourse, the Supreme Court greenlights mass layoffs at the Department of Education, and former National Security Adviser Mike Waltz testifies at his Senate confirmation hearing to be US ambassador to the United Nations.Show Notes:Check out Pod Save The World – https://tinyurl.com/mrapf4a4Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

16 Heinä 25min