Press Sec. LOSES IT When Reporter Won't Back Down! by John Iadarola The Damage Report Jul 11, 2025 #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurks
MAGA is reeling after Attorney General Pam Bondi backtracked on her previous statements about a certain "client list". The Damage Report's John Iadarola breaks it down.
Transcript
Donald Trump is falling apart as reporters, and even many of his own supporters, are refusing to stop asking questions about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein. The DOJ and FBI have now concluded there was no Jeffrey Epstein client list. What do you tell MAGA supporters who say they want anyone involved in Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes to be held accountable?
[Karoline Leavitt] This administration wants anyone who has ever committed a crime to be held accountable. And I would argue this administration has done more to lock up bad guys than certainly the previous administration. And the Trump administration is committed to truth, and to transparency. That's why the attorney general, and the FBI director pledged, at the president's direction, to do an exhaustive review of all of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and his death. And they put out a memo in conclusion of that review.
Marjorie Taylor Greene holds up censored photo of Hunter Biden and a prostitute. Foxnews.com
There was material they did not release because frankly it was incredibly graphic and it contained child pornography, which is not something that's appropriate for public consumption. But they committed to an exhaustive investigation. That's what they did, and they provided the results of that. That's transparency.
[Fox Reporter] Okay. So, the FBI looks at the circumstances surrounding the death of Jeffrey Epstein. According to the report, this systematic review revealed no incriminating client list. So, what happened to the Epstein client list that the attorney general said she had on her desk?
[Karoline Leavitt] Well, I think if you go back and look at what the attorney general said in that interview, which was on your network on Fox News ...
[Fox Reporter] I have the quote. John Roberts said, "DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients. Will that really happen?" And she said, "It's sitting on my desk right now to review."
[Karoline Leavitt] Yes. She was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. That's what the attorney general was referring to, and I'll let her speak for that. But again, when it comes to the FBI and the Department of Justice, they are more than committed to ensuring that bad people are put behind bars. They have an operation going on right now called Summer Heat, which has our murder rate trending in the lowest direction in United States history. Their emphasis on violent crime and locking up violent criminals has led to the arrest of 14,000 violent criminals. That's a 62% increase from the same time period last year. So, this attorney general and the FBI director are committed to putting bad people behind bars where they belong. They promised an exhaustive review. That's what they did.
[Donald Trump] Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years. You're asking -- we have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things. And are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable. Do you want to waste the time on it? Do you feel like answering?
[Pam Bondi] I don't mind answering.
[Donald Trump] I mean, I can't believe you're asking a question on Epstein. At a time like this, where we're having some of the greatest success, and also tragedy, with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration. But you go ahead.
[Pam Bondi] Sure. Sure. First, to back up on that, in February I did an interview on Fox and it's been getting a lot of attention, because I said I was asked a question about the client list, and my response was, it's sitting on my desk to be reviewed, meaning the file, along with the JFK, MLK files as well. That's what I meant by that. Also to the tens of thousands of video, they turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein. Child porn is what they were. Never going to be released, never going to see the light of day. To him being an agent, I have no knowledge about that. We can get back to you on that. And the minute missing from the video. We released the video showing definitively -- the video was not conclusive, but the evidence prior to it was showing he committed suicide. And what was on that, there was a minute that was off the counter. And what we learned from Bureau of Prisons was every year, every night, they redo that video. It's old, from like 1999. So every night the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing. So we're looking for that video to release that as well, showing that a minute is missing every night. And that's it on Epstein.
[Don, Jr.] I'm fine with all the other lists, and as long as I'm not on the Epstein list, we're good, right? Speaking of which, how is it that my father can be convicted of 34 crimes, but no one on Epstein's list has even been brought to light? How, I'm trying to figure out how that's possible, right? But it's almost like they're trying to protect those pedophiles for some reason. I can't imagine why.
[Fox Reporter] The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients. Will that really happen?
[Pam Bondi] It's sitting on my desk right now to review. That's been a directive by President Trump. I'm reviewing that. I'm reviewing JFK files, MLK files. That's all in the process of being reviewed, because that was done at the directive of the president, from all of these agencies.
[Fox Reporter] So have you seen anything that you said, "Oh my gosh"?
[Pam Bondi] Not yet."
[Fox Reporter] Okay. Well, we'll check back with you.
[Steve Bannon] This is supposed to be about the most transparent administration ever.
[MAGA WORLD reporter] What on earth is going on? Was Pam Bondi set up by deep state FBI career officials? Is she stupid? Is she so click-thirsty that she got out over her skis trying to make news, being a Fox News star?
[Alex Jones] Pam Bondi, all of it. All those videos are saying, "Yeah, she's seen the videos. It's all coming out." And then now, it doesn't exist? I mean, what? What?
[Dan Bongino] The Jeffrey Epstein case, you do not know all the details of this thing, I promise. There are a lot of really obviously powerful people. This part, you know, but the specific names we may not.
[Alina Habba] There were so many individuals that were hidden and kept secret, and have not been held accountable.
[Pam Bondi] What you're going to see, hopefully tomorrow, is a lot of flight logs, a lot, a lot, of names, a lot, a lot of information.
[Fox Reporter] The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients. Will that really happen?
[Pam Bondi] It's sitting on my desk right now to review. That's been a directive by President Trump.
[Dan Bongino] I'm just telling you what we see in the file. I am, I just want to be crystal clear on this. I am not asking anyone to believe me. I'm telling you what's there, and what isn't. Right? There is nothing in the file at this point on the Epstein case. And there's going to be a disclosure on this coming shortly. We are working through some, there is video. That is something the public --
[Reporter] There's video of him killing himself?
[Dan Bongino] No, no, not the actual act, but the entire MCC bay. It was only one camera. There's video, that when you look at the video, and we will release -- that's what's taken a while on this -- we are working on cleaning it up to make sure you have an enhanced -- and we're going to give the original so you don't think there were any shenanigans -- you're going to see there's no one there but him. There's just nobody there. So, I say to people all the time, if you have a tip, let us know. But there's no DNA, there's no audio, there's no fingerprints, there's no suspects, there's no accomplices, there's no tips, there is nothing. If you have it, I'm happy to see it. There's video clear as day. He's the only person in there, and the only person coming out. You can see it.
"Absence of Evidence Is Not Evidence of Absence" – A Shared Caution Among Thinkers by chatgpt 7/12/25
The phrase "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" is widely associated with the late astronomer Carl Sagan, who invoked it in discussions about scientific skepticism, especially regarding extraterrestrial life. Sagan used it to remind audiences that just because we haven't found evidence of alien life doesn’t mean it doesn't exist. In The Demon-Haunted World (1995), he emphasized, "Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true." Though not a direct citation of the phrase, it echoes its caution against assuming nonexistence without adequate investigation.
Another prominent male figure who employed this phrase is Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S. Secretary of Defense. During a 2002 Department of Defense briefing, he stated, "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, or vice versa," when discussing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. His use of the phrase sparked controversy, as critics argued it was used to justify action without solid proof, highlighting the phrase’s susceptibility to political manipulation.
Among women, physicist and science communicator Dr. Lisa Randall has echoed similar sentiments in her work on dark matter and extra dimensions. In interviews and writings, she stresses that the current lack of direct detection of dark matter doesn’t invalidate its existence. While she may not quote the phrase verbatim, her arguments align with its epistemological caution.
Likewise, philosopher of science Dr. Susan Haack has addressed the principle in her writings on evidence and inquiry. In Manifesto of a Passionate Moderate (1998), she explores how negative results must be contextualized, warning against the fallacy of assuming that no evidence implies nonexistence—a nuanced reinforcement of the quote's meaning.
Together, these thinkers—Sagan, Rumsfeld, Randall, and Haack—demonstrate how the phrase transcends disciplines, reminding us that absence of evidence is a weak foundation for firm conclusions.
***
In criminal trials, defense lawyers sometimes invoke the idea that *“absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”*—a maxim popularized by figures like Sagan and Rumsfeld—to argue that a lack of proof should create reasonable doubt. Let’s explore confirmed uses:
Usage in Criminal Defense Strategy
1. Clayton T. Robertson (Criminal Defense Lawyer)
Robertson, in a blog post about cross-examination, describes the tactic of identifying “negative cues”—raising doubt by pointing out what prosecution witnesses and experts *didn't* observe or testify about. He emphasizes that this method is used in *criminal defense cross-examination of officers and experts* ([evidenceattrial.com][1], [RobertsonLitigation][2]).
While not quoting the phrase directly, defense attorneys have sought—and courts have often rejected—jury instructions that allow drawing negative inferences from *relevant* witnesses not called by the defense. For example, **Griffin v. California** and related case law prevent prosecutors from arguing that a defendant's silence indicates guilt, but some defense lawyers push back, citing the defendant’s silence as rational explanation .
3. People v. Montgomery / People v. Green (California)
Courts discussed that a defendant’s *failure* to flee doesn't strongly support innocence—an early recognition that negative evidence can be ambiguous. This principle has influenced trial tactics, as defense counsel sometimes urge jurors not to assume guilt or innocence based on what wasn't shown .
Criminal Cases Applying the Principle
While explicit quoting in published opinions is rare, defense attorneys often indirectly rely on it:
Cross-examination tactics: Lawyers challenge prosecution experts by highlighting missing data—e.g. “You didn’t test this sample,” or “You didn’t ask about that in your report.”
Closing arguments: They remind jurors that a complete lack of evidence—say, a forensic test that wasn’t performed—does not resolve reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s favor.
Conclusion
Yes, criminal defense lawyers have used this argument, though typically they frame it strategically rather than quoting Sagan. Clayton Robertson acknowledged its use in cross-examining experts ([RobertsonLitigation][2], [Reddit][3]). Court rulings on missing-witness instructions and the weight of negative evidence show awareness of the concept, even as they impose limits on drawing adverse inferences ([law.justia.com][4]).
So while no blockbuster criminal case quote may echo Sagan verbatim, the epistemological principle is deeply woven into defense strategy and legal doctrine.
[John Iadarola] The fallout from this absolute PR disaster has been amazing to watch. Seeing all of his sycophants realizing in real time that there's a reason that Trump doesn't want the truth to come out. We all remember the little black book that Gawker published way back in 2015, right? As the walls close in, his enablers are finally being forced to reckon with what they've defended all these years. The spectacle isn't just about one man's corruption. It's a reminder of how easily power can warp reality itself when enough people are willing to look the other way. For many of his supporters, this is another chance to practice their unique brand of mental gymnastics. But for some, this could be the start of a realization that Trump isn't interested in justice or protecting children. He's interested in protecting himself and his wealthy friends. Here's hoping, anyway. [Music]
Parliament discusses the latest developments in the Middle East European Parliament Streamed live on Jul 8, 2025
The debate follows recent escalations, including US and Israel airstrikes on Iranian targets, which triggered missile retaliation attacks from Iran against Israeli cities.
In addition, MEPs are expected to repeat calls for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and a hostage release agreement.
In a plenary debate on 16 June 2025, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that Iran, as the main source of regional instability, must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. She also defended diplomacy as the best way to address Iran's nuclear programme in the long run.
Transcript [Edited to delete Right-Wing Speakers]
Commissioner colleagues. The European Union stands at a crossroad. The recent reports confirms what we can no longer ignore. grave violations of human rights by Israel, including attacks on hospitals, the blockade of humanitarian aid, and forced displacement. Over 17,000 children have been killed in Gaza, according to UNICEF today. There is no doubt, colleagues, these acts breach article two of the EUI Israel Association Agreement, and international courts have spoken. So if we fail to act now, we not only undermine our own laws, we erogate our global credibility. Therefore, I call for the immediate suspension of the association agreement. No trade, no cooperation, no impunity. This until the international law is upheld. Let us prove that our values are not for negotiation. and colleagues, if this is not happening, maybe we really should give a strong signal and not vote for the discharge of the council in October. Thank you very much. [Applause]
Thank you very much president. So before our eyes we see a European policy which is seems to be characterized by this Chamberlain syndrome. In other words, one of appeasement and nothing else. Moral verticality uh as concerns Russia with Trump uh al-Sisi Ayahu Netanyahu and so on and so forth. It's the only European policy that we have without any proper principles in place. Here we are sitting like a sitting like an ostrich like a turkey almost just looking at Putin and we see a situation which is totally unacceptable and catastrophe as far as foreign policy. Israel is a good example. The system of protecting human rights supposedly is is resulting in destruction. It is resulting in humanitarian catastrophe and nothing less than that. It is creating hunger, destruction of schools and this is the American policy which is in place right now. Now the question is not the the agreement that we have with Israel. The question is how can we sit by and watch young people, children, women, men dying? How are we going to deal with this situation like Chamberlain did or like Churchill did in the past?
Madame president, Minister, Commissioner and colleagues. Uh yesterday we bore witness to the very grotesque image of Benjamin Netanyahu presenting Donald Trump with his nomination papers for the Nobel Peace Prize. The words that come to mind are beyond parody, beyond ridicule, perversity, incomprehensible. Because on the same day, Israel Katz, the minister for defense, proposes that to move gazans to an enclosed area in Rafah, perhaps satirically referred to as humanitarian city. George Orwell could not have invented this kind of language. Described as well by Israeli academics and lawyers as I quote a blueprint for crimes against humanity. Close quote. Eventually all gazans will have to go there. Even the professor of Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Amos Goldberg said the plan was for, and I quote, "the creation of a concentration camp or a transit camp for Palestinians before they expel them." I think the one thing that we can agree on in this divided house is that the Nobel Committee in Oslo will not dwell too long in those nomination papers. Thank you.
I'm going to speak in Danish. or dear me. I'm always surprised when I hear the far right talking about the pain on the Israelis but can't understand the losses for the Palestinians in a situation where it becomes more and more desperate for the Palestinian people in Gaza on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Israeli bombardment are leaving Gaza in ruins. people without homes, without hospitals, without schools. It's a collective punishment of a whole people for the terrorist attack on the 7th of October. Israel is blocking everything, food, water, medicine, fuels, and in the few distributions there is, they are being shot at. People are going hungry, they are being killed, and we're just looking at it. And that's why the resistance against the war is growing in Europe and in Israel and everywhere. In order to get the fighting to stop and to get the hostages home, we have to make the Israeli government stop the bombardments. Thank you.
Thank you, Madame President. Commissioner Minister, you would have read the same headlines as me. Israel wants to have 600,000 Palestinians moved to a camp in Gaza. It's like three times the size of Shalawa, three times the size of Lege in a camp. The ultimate objective in the Israelis words themselves is to actually expel these immigrants, these Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Israel is now reopening the worst pages of European colonial history. Let us not forget well before the horrors of the Second World War, colonial Spain had already established co concentration camps in Cuba with hundreds of thousands of people dying from poverty and famine and illness. The UK had them in in South Africa. The Germans in Namibia and the French as well. So, it's a concentration camp and if that doesn't shake your support for Israel, then that is unacceptable. In the meantime, we've been fighting for human rights. We've been fighting against colonialism. But you stay faithful as partners to Israel, in fact, privileged partnerships that some of you continue to defend, that's unacceptable today. Let us sanction Israel urgently.
So when one looks at the the Jewish heritage of Karl Marx and Rosa Luxembourg, put that aside and we have to make it quite clear that Israel is a country which is going to have to be dealt with in a very very very stiff fashion. Israel is conducting genocide right now. Children, women are being killed over the last six months, it's been clear what's been going on in Palestine. A record number of people have been killed in a very very short period of time and Washington is helping out and Vanderline seems to so as well even understanding for all of this what's going on what Israel is doing but we have to say quite clear that uh Rome Berlin and Tokyo were the axis of evil in this during the second world war. Here we have a new axis between Washington, Tel Aviv, and it's quite clear that what we're seeing right now is the genocide of the 21st century. There are sanctions against Russia, but with regard to the Israelis, nothing is being said, not a single word, nothing has been done.
Madame Commissioner, in December, the peace envoy said, "Don't be surprised if we see an increase in tourism over the next few years." The Europole report said that there will be a security impact on the on the EU because of what's happening in Gaza. Europe is not looking to the Middle East, but the Middle East is looking to Europe. The tragedy in Gaza is a tragedy for those who are present in Gaza, and it is a tragedy for anyone who turns a blind eye to this. Respect for human rights is an essential element in the EU Israel agreement. firing on people who are seeking humanitarian assistance undermines indeed violates that agreement blatantly and those deaths may well end up being considered war crimes. Any assessment of any agreement will be incomplete if it does not take account of that fact. We should rectify that.
Thank you. Mr. Bulgalo, you referred to war crimes committed by Israel where adults and children are being assassinated in cold blood when they're seeking food and humanitarian assistance. What more does the EU need to suspend the association agreement with Israel? What more do you need? What more assessment or external opinion or anything else do you need to point the finger of responsibility at those who are committing these horrors in Gaza and have been doing so for so long? What else do we need to end the association agreement?
Dear fellow member, I assume you're addressing the European Commission rather than myself. I myself support the suspension of that agreement following proposal made by council to the commission. So when I was referring to assessments, I was referring to that process and I think it's taken too long already.
Madame President, what was it one two three hours ago Thomas to on behalf of the EPP was talking about the victims of communism. The only difference between us is that we never make difference between victims and victims. It should not be controversial to assert that killing, starving, mutilating, and slaughtering children constitute a clear violations of international law. That is what is happening right now in Gaza. What the far right government of Israel is doing against the children of Gaza. Make no mistake, history will judge each person that refused to act to end the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Hate is not the opposite of peace. Apathy is. Apathy equals complicity. Those who don't want to be complicit to the genocide on the Palestinian people must demand suspension of the EU-Israeli Association agreement, now.
When Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu saying that the Palestinians should have the capacity to govern themselves but not harm Israel, is correct except except if that actually means and there every reason to fear that that for him this actually means the Palestinians should not have a state of their own. This people will hope to find themselves in Jerusalem as their capital. They won't give up that dream not even 10,000 years of waiting. And it's not peace, it's peace really that needs to prepare that path. So we need to have negotiations for peaceful co coexistence between the two states and this would allow them to have a level of security through this approach because they they have won. They can make this the last war if the prime minister finally can be convinced of this.
Gaza, Palestine and Middle East for 21 months we've been discussing these places here. We've been talking about evidence of a genocide which is under way away. evidence of apartheid, ethnic cleansing. We've identified all of that. But what have we done? I talk about starving children, destroyed hospitals, people being killed while bread is being handed out. I normally talk about all of that. Today, I'd like to talk about us in Europe, a mirror of our impotence. Following Trump's interference, we're seeing attacks in these countries that are not allowing us to uh in Greece, France, Italy not arresting Netanyahu, not actually acting. We could have allies globally. We have international law on our side. We could stop Netanyahu and his murderous actions. We need to wake up. I say this to Miss Kalas. I say to this to my friends in the EP. Wake up. Security and sovereignty are easy to say, but you can't have one without the other and history will judge you.
Thank you, Madame President. Chami, Neya, Camela, Mansour, Milufa, Masour, Abed, Ahmad, and thousands of others. These are innocent civilian victims that we all deplore their loss regardless of their origins. They died in Israel at the hands of terrorists, assassinated while food was being handed out in Gaza. They've been targeted by the the regime in Israel, in Tehran uh where there's not not real viable target and understanding of what they want to achieve by this. Their lives are worthy of our indignation. Madame Commissioner, I'm formally addressing you. Human rights are universal, but sometimes we see a level of hypocrisy and sometimes even complicity. Thank you.
Dear President, dear colleagues, in the Middle East, the crisis is spreading fast from Palestine to Lebanon to Yemen and now to Iran. People need urgent help, but peace feels farther away than ever. This is already our sixth debate on the Middle East since our new mandate began last July. And honestly, it feels like we keep saying the same things. We call for peace. We ask for actions but very little changes. Each time we meet the situation gets worse and each time our words stay the same. We are stuck in helpless debate while the humanitarian help is so much needed needed while lives are lost. So I ask our high representative when will we finally see a real EU plan for peace? We need strategy. The European Union cannot just watch from the sidelines. You must do more and we must do it now. Thank you.
The Middle East is enduring a change of geopolitics and of the geopolitical map. And one of the main elements for this change is to hold Iran accountable for its sponsorship of terrorism and destabilization across the region. We know that appeasement doesn't work with this regime and we know as well that direct military intervention is not advisable either. What will work will be international isolation based upon hardening of the sanctions against this criminal regime as well as political and diplomatic pressure. At the same time, we have to recognize and support the democratic opposition of Iran which will be the only one that will put an end to this regime. As far as as Gaza is is concerned, we reiterate our call for an unhindered access of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people as well as a kind of future for them. It has to be without Hamas. Hamas cannot be in the future political framework of of the Palestinian and to bet on the ceasefire immediately. Concerning my my colleague Bautena from left, I must say that Spain never set up concentration camps in Cuba. He has to review his history, his history books, because the communist regime of Fidel Castro and his followers, who has forced millions of Cubans out of his country and oppressed them and bring them misery and repression. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I think you need to check your history. The Spanish colonial history and the fight with the United States. There were at the end of the 19th century concentration camp setup. But this is okay. You will check. Let me ask you a real question. Iran replied to an Israeli illegal attack by bombing Israel. Okay. It's easy to condemn Iran as you have done time and time again. But over the last years, Israel has bombed what is it? Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Yemen. Of course, Palestine is illegally occupying Palestine, parts of Syria, illegally occupying parts of Lebanon. Are you able to condemn this or do you say, "No, I fully stand with Israeli violations of international law. Do you have these double standards or do you adhere to international law?" [Applause]
Thank you dear colleague for your intervention. It's totally unbalanced and true. Spain again never set up concentration camps in the modern time in Cuba. I mean the real oppressors of Cuba has been the communist regime of under Fidel Castro and his successors and you know that millions of Cuban has left the country because they cannot live in Cuba. These are the oppressors of Cuban. The communist regime that you represent. The second point concerning I have not said anything about Israel. have said that Irani is the head the head of the monster with destabilize the entire region and without this regime probably we will live better the region and ourselves and you as well.
Thank you president. The situation in the Middle East continues to reflect a disregard for international order and multilateralism and it is also a symbol of a collective failure. In Lebanon, the terms of the ceasefire agreement are not being respected and Israel has carried out new air strikes. In Iran, US bombing has delayed the development of nuclear weapons, but has led to the suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and to the country's further isolation. And in Gaza, where more than 20 Israeli hostages remain in the hands of Hamas, the epicenter of the humanitarian tragedy continues. After 33 months of war, attacks on schools and hospitals, forced displacement, and thousands of civilian deaths, people are dying of hunger every day. Uh there are children hospitalized every day for malnutrition in the cues for humanitarian aid now in the hands of Gaza humanitarian foundation. 500 people have died and 4,000 have been injured in the struggle for food. That is why today we're once again echoing the voices of European citizens who are questioning the European institutions about the reasons for postponing the review of the association agreement and we ask the foreign ministers of our member states. Ministers, what position will you take when you discuss the suspension of the association agreement?
In Gaza, Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war and it is killing men, women, and children who are seeking food. Israel is forcing refugees to leave refugee camps and it's assassinating Palestinians with its policy genocide, ethnic cleansing and the EU maintains an association agreement continues providing EU funding for arms companies in Israel. That is a policy of complicity and do you endorse that or do you believe that we should take firm action with Israel to end this genocide of the Palestinian people?
Thank you very much for that question honorable member. We are all concerned about the current situation the people of Europe and the EU institutions.
Thank you, Madame President. 21 months of ethnic cleansing. While in Gaza, you seeing the rubble still smoking. It's not just bombs that are killing people. It's actually systematic uh famine. Those trying to get aid are being shot. They're being targeted. This is a policy of destruction. uh completely inhumane. This camp is meant to be humanitarian, but actually it's just a place to transport people. The idea is to wipe Palestine off the map. They want a great a greater Israel and are worsening the situation in the whole Middle East. In Germany, they're crocodile tears, but pro they're providing weapons. They're talking about using narratives that legitimize this. And Israel is actually doing our dirty work. The idea is that the whole objective of the new order in the Middle East is what they're talking about. But this order is being built on sand. Get your hands off the Middle East.
President, ladies and gentlemen, at least a thousand, that's the number of victims in Gaza since the 26th of June, the last time the commission discussed this conflict. So thousands of lives, many of them women and children, thousands and thousands of lives which are still in the balance because of famine, because the Netanyahu regime is organizing and orchestrating that famine. And there's a a report being drawn up that's too late for us to bring pressure to bear to stop the association agreement. And nothing came of this. So a letter from the heads of state government to ask uh them to allow humanitarian aid and one day later Netanyahu stopped the admission of aid in North Gaza. The lack of power from Europe is shameful. It's undefensible. How long commission is this going to go on? Another thousand deaths? Maybe 2,000? [Applause]
Senior President, colleagues, the 7th of October was a horrific date. Israel was attacked. A bloody bloody terrorist uh act which in an attempt to erase Israel from the map. But we cannot uh we cannot ignore what is going on right now. children, women destroyed, mutilated, food distributed as if it was some sort of luxury good. Uh totally unacceptable situation and I think the moral voice of Europe ought to be raised at this point. We have to suspend immediately these particular bombardments. Uh and uh Hamas must release the hostages. Innocent lives have to be saved and two the two sides ought to be able to live in dignity without fear and it is only there that mothers Israeli and Palestinian mothers will be able to have any hope whatsoever for their children in the future. Thank you.
Thank you dear colleagues. Every day in Gaza and across Palestine, people are injured, killed, displaced, land is stolen, humanity denied, life suppressed. How did we get to this point? And what is our responsibility? This is not just a matter of international politics. It is also a matter of political economy, of capital, greed and profit. Private corporation actively fuel and profit from the Zionist setter colonial project, the occupation and the ongoing genocide. This is the key message of latest UN report by special reporter Francesca Albanese. A powerful capitalistic machine of profit is feeding destruction. Arms manufacturers like Lockheed Martin, Leonardo and Tales supply the weapons and fuel military escalation. Tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Meta enable mass surveillance and repression with no ethical restraint. Construction and machinery firms like Caterpillar and Volvo deliver the bulldogers that demolish Palestinian homes. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a coordinated system of profit. This is rational colonial capitalism. Genocide continuous because it is profitable. But we have a duty. The European Union must suspend new Israel association agreement now.
Thank you Madame President. colleagues now together as looking at the proposal of Trump as a noble candidate uh and particularly with regard to the peace project that has been put together by the uh White House uh and references to uh uh the displacement of Palestinian people in peace and the transfer of these individuals It's has to be clear that uh what's the point here is that the Palestinian the Palestinian state will fall into the hands of the Israelis. What is the result of this? What is this? There is no possibility of having some sort of lasting peace under these particular circumstances. This particular US strategy beginning in the 1990s has been based on a series of failures which involve regime change, regime change and nothing else. Because we have to understand that uh these particular approaches cannot be successful under any circumstances whatsoever. 500,000 men in Iraq tried to implement uh regime change and uh of course there is no way that uh 80 million Shiites will be the will be able to be uh any sort of subject to any sort of regime change by a small Israeli contingent. That is something totally unrealistic.
Thank you madame chair. The world record changed on 11 September, so the terrorist attack of Hamas against Israel on October 7th, 2023 has started a chain events which changed relations on the Middle East. Netanyahu is fostering conflict to transform Israel by establishing domain over a wider area. It is reckoning only not only with Hamas terrorists but with the entire Palestinian people. At the same time, internal repression in Iran has grown after the external intervention and this has brought the regime to the brink of the abyss. But can the EU move away from its concerns over the situation in the Middle East because it was not able to agree on a common stance. The European Union as a soft power cannot obviously mediate in a hard power conflict. The EU is considering available measures including the suspension of the agreement on stabilization and accession between EU and Israel. The Middle East is at a critical crossroads which requires more decisive action. Our role in achieving the JCPOA shows that EU when united can achieve important global diplomatic successes.
President, I stand here rather desperate to be honest, especially also listening to the commission council. But let's try one more time to find unity on one point. One point on humanitarian values, empathy, and respect for lives of innocent people. We here should as a minimum agree to the need to open Gaza, immediate and unrestricted access of humanitarian aid, food and medical supplies into Gaza by independent international respected organizations. This parliament, it seems, and for sure a large majority of our citizens wants this. Our citizens have lost respect for Europe's inaction over Gaza and Europe's double standards. There are no excuses. After all, the well-documented violations of international law, the lack of recommendation to suspend all or part of the agreement is a violation of the commission's role as guardian of the treaties, and the HRVP knows that. And equally, the council's lack of action in it inexplicable and undermines protection of rules-based international order. We should find the political resolve to ensure that Europe acts now to open Gaza. Thank you.
Dear colleagues, I do sometimes wonder what world we're living in. Benjamin Netanyahu is calling on Trump to be given the Nobel Peace Prize. While Trump is talking about forced displacement still of Palestinians outside Gaza, thirst, starvation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation trying to give out food and assistance. 613 people killed. Israeli soldiers speaking out about the horrors of war, feeling betrayed by Netanyahu. We hear them say, "I'm ashamed of this war." Ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu is seized by the desire for reprisals and even now he's refused for a Palestinian state to be created and for Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip over time. This is complicity with war criminals and we should suspend the EU-Israel association agreement to show that we do defend a two-state solution people living side by side in freedom and security.
colleagues people in Gaza and the in the Middle East are still being killed every day in hospitals in refugee center and in the alliance for humanitarian aid we may have no narrow avoided the escalation last month in Israel Iran conflict into a full-scale war. But the region remains far from peace. The people are still suffering with a very little hope. A ceasefire must be achieved now. The review of the EU-Israel association agreement confirmed violation of article 2. Next week, the EU foreign ministers must urgently come to a decision on concrete measures. Suspend the agreement, sanction those responsible for a war crimes, stop trade with illegal West Bank settlements, impose an arms embargo on Israel, ban Israel accessing EU funds and programs, and protect the international law and institutions. Europe must act now. If not, EU leadership and institutions including foreign foreign ministers will be criminal responsible for their complicity under international law. Not in our name. Thank you.
First of all, high representative Callus should apologize for what she recently said about the history of Ireland. She said that our experience is not the same as various states in the east, those that lost their culture and their languages. She should study the history of Ireland a little and question why English is spoken in Ireland and why there are millions of people with Irish surnames all over the world as a result of violence, poverty and and hunger. Such as many others, we know what it means to have your language, your culture, and your very identity suppressed. We know what it means to live under occupation, to have foreign powers dictate your fate. This is why we have a deep sense of solidarity with Palestinian people and why we stand here calling for action from the EU. When EU ministers meet on July 15th, we must scrap the EU-Israel association agreement and we must sanction Israel now. Freedom for Palestine.
Uh, we're now at a point where gunning down hungry people as they desperately try to get aid is a daily occurrence. There was international shock the first time. But just like with the bombing of the first hospital, when there are no consequences for Israel, they are emboldened and they carry on. 700 Palestinians have now been slaughtered at aid sites. Baby formula is blocked. They are literally starving babies to death. And still the EU does not act. In fact, instead of holding Israel to account, President Vanderline has Netanyahu, a war criminal, on speed dial, and she's actively encouraging to carry out illegal strikes on Iran. There is more outrage from EU leaders about artists calling out a genocide than there is against those who are actually carrying out that genocide. Solidarity with Palestine is being criminalized and the EU is sacrificing its civil liberties to support Israel. But Palestinian solidarity grows stronger every day. The people won't be silenced. The people are demanding suspension of trade with Israel. The people are demanding sanctions against Israel. The people are demanding an end to their complicity with Israel's war crime and its genocide and they are demanding that their EU leaders act and listen to them. [Applause]
President. But within a couple of years, the new generations are going to ask those of the future, what have you done? What was done when a genocide was taking place in Gaza? And I know what I'd say, Madame Flunderline, Madame Kalas, you were kind of on the periphery. Although the International Court of Justice issued decisions concerning this, you remained on the side leaving no mark whatsoever. And the 70,000 people more than that that have died in Gaza, they can't get up and point at you, but you and other governments continue to provide arms for this machine of annihilation of genocide and destruction that of Netanyahu as well. And we saw what happened with the flotilla, the freedom flotilla. We are not going to stop. We're not going to stop until those who are responsible are held accountable, held accountable at this terrible moment. Thank you.
Thank you, Madame President. Israel is continuing with its extermination plan. And just like the Nazis, it is imposing its final solution on Palestine on the ruins of Gaza. It wants to build a concentration camp. It was called a ghetto in Warsaw. It was what the Nazis were doing. There are legal implications here. There are treaties on arms trading. We should not be selling arms to those engaging in genocide. We should not have trade relations or investment in Israel. There are legal rulings to that effect. So why are EU countries still buying and selling arms with Israel? Why are we still trading with companies who are supporting the illegal occupation of Palestine and genocide now alongside the US and NATO the main Netanyahu client launching attacks on Iran together, these are the main threats to peace and security in the world. Rearmament is complicity with genocide, Ladies and gentlemen. The Spanish rearmament plan includes buying Israeli military equipment. We should comply with international legal rules. But what you're doing is uh being complicit in genocide which converts you into criminals.
If I understood what you just said, you were accusing people of being criminals. I'm going to have to pass that on to be checked. We have to show respect with each other in the chamber.
Dear members of the European Parliament, I wonder every day and I would like to put the same question to you. Who in the world decided that there are countries that are entitled to have nuclear weapons and the others are not entitled to have it? Iran is being bombed for pursuing that program. But according to Iran, this is an Iranian enrichment project for peaceful purposes. According to Israel, Iran is the threat. We're not bombing Russia or China. Are they democratic countries? No. But those countries are entitled to have a nuclear weapon. Who has decided that? If Ukraine didn't give up on its nuclear program, the Budapest protocol never would have been signed and Russia would never have attacked them. Thank you very much. after. So uh so two uh clarifications uh uh first of all uh of course I'm concerned about the issue of uh the nuclear program in Iran but uh let's not forget that we have also on the other side Israel which has not signed the non-par proliferation treaty there are no inspectors going there so I think indeed everything has to be done in so that uh so that the issue not only concerning Gaza and the West Bank as well that everything be done in order to allow for assistance to be provided and of course for the necessary controls to be conducted. We're speaking about behavior. We're speaking about international law. Uh indeed we cannot cooperate with a country that is violating international law and indeed criminals are at are at foot here. Thank you. Thank you very much. The next speaker is and then in the near east we're also talking about persecution of Christians. One of the most persecuted groups in the world in Egypt and in other countries there are brutal attacks on churches. They're burnt down. Priests are assassinated or abducted. Churchgoers who refuse to give up their faith are assaulted. We're seeing attacks in Alexandria in Egypt. There were deaths recently at a time of church ceremony. There was a bus with 33 uh mortalities. A bus attack with 33 mortalities. The Christian community was deprived of a monastery. This is systematic planned terrorism. There are terrifying figures here. There's one Christian dying around the world every six minutes. And the Middle East is one of the most dangerous areas for Christians. that if we believe in human rights in Europe, then we must protect Christians and speak out against this, not become accompllices. Thank you. I smell blood and death, but above all, I smell hypocrisy. building a city on the ruins of Rafa Gaza. This is the latest thing that Netanyahu has come up with. Yet another dimension to this genocide. What more do we need? What more evidence of genocide do we need? Miss Kalis is not here today, but how can the UN humanitarian aid system that Trump and Netanyahu want to turn into a business? There's a Trump and Netanyahu business going on here to transfer humanitarian aid. Destroy the UN system and destroy UNRA. This is what Mazal Banz is saying. Don't take my word for it. 33 months of genocide, starvation, and repression. All we need to do is comply with international law. comply with what the international criminal court has said, sanctions and the end of the agreement. The council is here too. I say to council, take measures on the 15th of July. The council of the European Union and the commission cannot continue being accompllices to this. Thank you very much. Now for the commission, Commissioner Dan. Madame President, honorable members, the European Union will continue actively to contribute to all diplomatic efforts aimed at deescalating tensions and achieving a lasting solution. We stand ready to engage constructively with Iran, remaining firm in our expectation and united in our resolve. A sustainable and credible resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue is only possible through a comprehensive, verifiable, and durable agreement. We are also committed to find ways to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. and together with the foreign affairs ministers, we will assess the way forward at the next foreign affairs council on the 15th of July. With that, I thank you very much for the debate. Thank you very much on behalf of the council, Minister Ba. President, honorable members, commissioner, the European Union reaffirms its commitment to regional peace and stability. We urged continued restraint and adherence to international law and we renew our commitment to all diplomatic efforts to bring about a lasting solutions to the Iranian nuclear issue. We will do so in coordination with our international partners as we have recently done in the context of the G7. Your interventions today were clear about the need to bring an end to the humanitarian catastro catastrophe in GISA as a matter of urgency. In order to do so, the European Union will continue to support the efforts of the mediators to reach a sustainable ceasefire. Furthermore, you can rest assured that the council will follow up on the views of Israel compliance with article 2 of the EU Israel association agreement. The matter will be on the agenda of the next foreign affairs council next week. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. That brings the debate to a close. I have some announcements. The SN group has informed the presidency about changes in composition of committees and delegations. They've been noted in the minutes and they will come into effect tomorrow. The inter committee has put forward a recommendation not to raise an objection on the announcement made on the 7th of uh July. There was no objection raised. That means pursuant to our rules, it will be deemed approved and will be published with the other texts. And finally, pursuant to rule 251 parap 4 of the rules of procedure, I'd like to tell you that there's a corendum from the Monday the 7th of July in announcement. There wasn't a request for a vote on that. So, the corendum will be confirmed and will be published on the parliament's website. That brings us on to the next item on the agenda, statements by the commission and council on the situation in Bellarus, in particular the release of political prisoners. First of all on this, I'd like to give the floor to Minister Bier once more. President, honorable members, commissioners, let me start by my intervention by reaffirming the EU's steadfast commitment to supporting the people of Bellarus in the legit legitimate aspirations for a free, democratic, sovereign, and independent country. Following the fraudulent presidential election of August 2020, the Bellar Russian authorities have pursued a widespread campaign of persecution against all segments of society, including civil society organizations, independent media, human rights defenders, and peaceful pro protesters. The continued crackdown on dissenting voices is unacceptable and must end.
TOTAL CHAOS is UNLEASHED as Trump SNATCHES UP citizens by Ben Meiselas and Hary Litman MeidasTouch Jul 13, 2025 Harry Litman
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump unleashing chaos in the streets of America as not even US citizens are safe as all laws are being violated by Trump and his goons and Meiselas speaks with Talking Feds host Harry Litman about his viewed on all of this.
Transcript
So, it's total chaos in California right now as Donald Trump has sent ICE dressed in military gear with military equipment and tanks to do these raids of farmers. We were talking about blueberry farmers and cannabis farmers. We see these militarized helicopters landing in the farms and people who are there working, running away as like ICE agents are chasing them and shooting non-lethal weapons at him. But non-lethal is a term of art. It could actually kill um we know that there's been at least one death of a farm worker from some of these raids. And so everywhere from Santa Barbara County to Ventura County to Fresno County and in Riverside County, of course in Los Angeles County and and really throughout California. But it's just a very sick thing that you have this regime, this dictatorship. California is the fourth largest GDP. Uh, if it was a country, it's a state, but if it was a country, fourth largest GDP in the world, and like Trump's attacking it like like you would invade like a country. I mean, I I live in California and it's a strange thing. You know, it's it's like martial law without saying martial law with all these militarized people um out here. You know, one of the people who were arrested um recently was a disabled veteran, United States citizen. His family can't get in touch with him right now. who was apparently just profiled. He worked as a security guard at this company called the Glass House, which has the location in Camaro. It has a location in Santa Barbara County as well uh for cannabis growing licensed. They do it lawfully run by actually I think a guy who's a Trump supporter who who was funding the recalls against Newsome also. uh but a a businessman who went to USC um who supported lots of Republicans and they're going after they're going after him and and and they're escalating this and they're provoking the communities and trying to terrorize the communities, you know. So, let me just show you a brief clip from our local news, Harry Litman from the Talking Feds YouTube and podcast about this uh veteran, disabled vet citizen. And we're hearing a lot about this. It's not just migrants and it's not just migrants who aren't criminals, which is a lot of it. It's American citizens who are Hispanic are getting arrested just because they're getting profiled by ICE and then they're disappeared. Their families like where are they here? Let's watch this. Just an extremely emotional scene here. The minute that we arrived outside Glass House Farms, uh we met a sister and a wife of a man who works as a security guard here, George Reis. He is a disabled US veteran. He is a US citizen. Uh and they are desperately looking for him. They haven't heard anything uh about his whereabouts from yesterday. Uh they do say that he was taken in the raid. We want to show you a picture of 25-year-old George Reddis, a US Army veteran uh who his family again says is disabled. They saw via Air 7 yesterday that he was trying to leave the scene in his white vehicle. Take a listen to what his sister and then his wife told us. I thought he was probably part of the protest and he wasn't. He was trying to reverse his car. They broke his window. They pepper sprayed him. They grabbed him, threw him on the floor. They detained him. His wife's been trying to call and ask where he is. They don't know where he is apparently. They no one associates with nobody. So now we don't we don't know what to do. We're just asking to like let my brother go. He's a US citizen. He didn't do anything wrong. He's a veteran disabled citizen. It says it on his car and I just want to know where he's at because I have not seen him and I heard from him since yesterday and I called LA. These are real lives. These are real human beings behind this. And uh I'll show you from Tom Hman from on Friday where he's like we don't need probable cause. My my Tom Hman impression is borderline offensive, but I think I actually do a pretty decent Tom Hman because he actually sounds like that is we don't need probable cause. We're just going to do whatever it is that we want. We just do whatever we want here. Just play Tom. I've got to get your reaction to this Biden appointed federal judge out in Los Angeles apparently expected today to issue a temporary restraining order halting your lawful operations. She says I think it's important for the court not to burden otherwise lawful law enforcement activities. Your reaction there look people need to understand ICE officers and board they don't need probable cause to walk up somebody briefly detain them and question them. They just need so totally the circumstances, right? They just got through their observation, you know, get articulable facts based on the location, the occupation, their physical appearance, their actions, like a uniform board walks up to them at at for instance their their physical appearance. I mean, what what he's describing there is just he's saying racial profiling. I wonder if that gets in to any of these court cases as well. Um but Harry um you know we're seeing not the regime going after the criminals. They're going after people who are not criminals. They're going to Home Depot parking lots and restaurants and they're going to factories and and vendors on the street and they're going after American citizens. I did a report yesterday of the Alligator Alcatraz concentration camp. you got someone there, DACA recipient, 36 years old, lived in America his whole life, good job and uh he got a suspended license. So, he ended up in Alligator Alcatraz in a concentration camp right now, you know, suffering, you know, and I watched those videos and I think Harry also about some of the polling that's out there right now. And, you know, only 34% of people support Donald Trump's policies on immigration right now. 79% of Americans are pro-immigration right now. It's a very overwhelming support of America being a nation of immigrants. And it it saddens me that it took this kind of disturbing situation to wake the country up. But here we are, Harry. Here we are, Ben. And uh yes, it's been turned on its head, but this is disgusting and repugnant on multiple levels. First, just the Roarshark test of looking this is our country and you see basically military uh bullies in mass going in and busting heads just for starters. even if what they were doing was legit, it is foul and that it's being done in our name is is really uh head spinning. But second, I um forgive my I don't do a good Tom Hman's uh uh imitation either, but I can tell you as a as a former DOJ guy and a professor, he he would flunk criminal procedure outright. They don't have any, what he's saying is they don't have any special powers. They're not cops. They're not law enforcement. They are simply administrative officers. And like any administrative officer, you can make an arrest if there's probable cause. Of course, if you're wrong, it gets thrown out. And what he's now talking about is what you and I, Ben, know as Terry stops, meaning if you have a reasonable suspicion. Guess what isn't a reasonable suspicion? courts have said again and again and again, it's exactly what you say, the ethnic identity. So he the the ignorance of this guy on Fox News saying it really makes me want to vomit. But I assume these are the instructions who've been that have been given to the people who are there. And by the way, if you have that reasonable suspicion, meaning there's a reason, not somebody's uh, you know, skin color, not where you find them. Uh, that's at most, as he says, you can walk up and ask them something, not bang their windows in, pepper spray, drag them away. There's just no chance that this was a legitimate action. And they didn't give a crap that it's an American citizen. The truth is, if it weren't an American citizen, it would be in some sense equally outrageous because it's such a trashing of the Constitution. But the combination of what they're doing and their legal ignorance for doing it and just the the image of what is happening in the in the United States, it's just foul. And it's I'm not surprised, but that's remarkable, right? Trump seems to have continued to get support for very benited policies, but this has been literally turned upside down. So, he is now pressing this point just, you know, all the money in the big beautiful bill to keep continuing this that America is now revolted by. They've seen and they're revolted by and and I just want to say it's not just callous. It's not just bogus because as you pointed out, these are not criminals. These are people who may not have papers and not even that. But it's completely legally idiotic that that guy really uh well he's not a lawyer. If he were he he'd be disbarred. It is really really foul. Now let's talk about Harry also. you know, the detentions and, you know, all of these prison cases, these civil rights cases regarding what the facilities have to provide and what they can look like, what's cruel and unusual punishment, what what what what provides people with due process, what also becomes just an unlawful form of like there's there's a lot of case law on this. When I was a civil rights lawyer, I had handled some cases involving, you know, prisoners who I'll just give you an example. There was a case that I once did where um the the way they made the prisoners change in front of them and be naked in front of the opposite sex changing guards who would pat them down would be viewed as something that was was a constitutional violation. Um and there was lot there were there was lots of rules, you know, about this. So when I think about, you know, the literal concentration camps we have in the United States and I'm hearing these stories like the alligator concentration camp in in the Everglades where the where the people are like, you know, we're not getting food. If we do, the food has maggots in them. These mosquitoes are the size of elephants. They're probably not actually the size of elephants, but those gigantic Everglades mosquitoes, which are probably the size of like a hawk. They are like that big. Um, and people saying how hot it is. They can barely breathe there. They're not given access to their lawyers. There's no place for the lawyers to show up to. So, you know, all of this e every aspect of this, you know, is El Salvador in the United States and not the United States in the United States. And it it's just it's odd to me, Harry, that you know, there are so many great groups doing great work here and civil rights groups who are on the front lines fighting this, but just the fact that, you know, we have concentration camps in the United States and the corporate news is, you know, talking about let's talk about why Zoron Manni, his statement in 2009, look, the guy's talking about, you know, he's got his platform in New York City. He's a New York City mayor candidate. We have concentration camps in the United States right now. Hello everybody. So, can you speak to just the civil rights violation? Yeah. Well, first, it's not only El Salvador and the United States. It's the United States in El Salvador. We have El Salvador reporting to the United Nations. Our Sec prison, that's all the United States. We're just uh to we have a contract. Uh we they pay us money. We put up our prisoners and all the things we know. Brago in his papers has said, you know, they make them st kneel all night and beat them if they fall over. They make them not go to the uh bathroom for hours and hours. They do all kinds of things that are plainly torture. And they want to create this zone. But El Salvador itself says exactly contrary to what the US was saying. In fact, the judge just today said somebody's lying. Either El Salvador is lying to the UN or the US is lying to me. And the the facts of the matter is right now you can't even say who is lying so bad has the administration's reputation been tarnished. But yes, you're you're totally right. There's many ways to think about this. But this I want to tie it to what I just said before because who are these immigration types? They're not law enforcement. They're not Fourth Amendment. They're not taught. They don't give Miranda rights. They want to eat their cake and have it too. And what's their cake? saying, "Oh, we're just doing uh administrative actions. That's why this is an administrative warrant, which gives us no rights at all." That's as I was just saying about Tom Hman. That doesn't give, you know, they want to be sort of law enforcement types and tough uh brutes. And yet be they're they're saying everything they do as a legal matter is not punishment. Deportation is not punishment. It's just regulation of immigration. So in fact they go to town on a brutal regime undercover of that and then they turn around and and want to uh you know act like the kind of uh law enforcement baton wielding uh you know bootwearing uh kind of kind of hard hitters that they in fact are. So really, this is this is just an attempt to make the worst face on something that shouldn't be law enforcement, but they're turning it into more cruel and and more um getting around the Constitution than the worst of law enforcement that we see in this country. There'd be, you know, if you get food with maggots, you go into court, you're a prisoner, the Constitution applies, and they'll say every time, "Oh, this is just administrative." It's it's really a a um a revolting regime overall that they're trying to propound. We all have to stay in the fight. We have to educate ourselves on the rights and we've got to stay in the fight, you know. Um go subscribe to Harry Litman's YouTube channel, the Talking Feds YouTube, his Substack, the Talking Feds Substack, and his podcast, The Talking Feds Podcast. Harry was one of the top DOJ officials before and he was the top federal prosecutor in the Western District of Pennsylvania. Knowledge is power and then you can learn, spread the knowledge and and that helps the resistance. That helps us resist. We know what their moves are going to be and we can also educate other people about what's going on as you and I against the law. I know I got hot and bothered on this one, but man, it is head spinning what's being done in this country. Well, look, if we, you know, lots of people say, and I'll leave everybody with this, but you're just talking about it. You're just, well, we're a news network, so that's what we do. We talk about things. Um, but we also turn talk into action, and we make sure that we're supporting the right types of groups and giving them platforms who are on the front lines doing the work, filing the lawsuits, leading the marches. That's part of movement building. And I think there's a reason why when you look at the polling data, 79% of Americans now are supportive of immigration. Donald Trump's approval on these issues is 34%. It's because we're getting the knowledge out and we're defeating the propaganda. So there's a utility to this. And I'll leave everybody with that. Subscribe to Talking Feds YouTube right now. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thank you everybody. Thank you Harry. Thank you Ben.
Game of Thrones Actor Liam Cunningham Condemns Gaza Genocide: "I Cannot Shield My Eyes" by Glenn Greenwald Jul 10, 2025
This is a clip from our show SYSTEM UPDATE, now airing every weeknight at 7pm ET on Rumble. You can watch the full episode for FREE here: https://rumble.com/v6w047c-system-upd...
Transcript
[Music]
[Glenn Greenwald] William Cunningham is an award-winning Irish actor. As I said, best known for his role on HBO's series Game of Thrones, and various outlets, including the Irish Times, have called him one of Ireland's greatest actors. But he's also become increasingly known. He's actually been a political activist for decades. But recently for activism surrounding the people of Gaza, he helped to organize and become a spokesperson for the Freedom Flotilla where Greta Thunderberg and other colleagues were arrested and deported by the Israeli government for attempting to deliver aid to the people of Gaza when the IDF was blockading it. I followed his work for some time, especially his political work. And we are delighted to have him as his debut appearance. Hope it's not the last on the show. Liam, it's great to see you. I know it's so late in Dublin. I really appreciate you staying up to talk with us. No, that's fine. It's way past my bedtime, but an absolute for you, sir. Anything. I really appreciate that. Uh, all right. So, let's begin with what I just mentioned, which is the role that you played in kind of helping to organize and becoming a a very well-known spokesperson person for the boat that was intended to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza as a way of circumventing the IDF blockade of food and water and medicine and the like. You know, it was I think a lot of people didn't realize at the time what an actually dangerous and courageous mission it was. I remember in 2011 a very similar flotillaa attempted essentially the same thing to deliver the people of Gaza food when there was a blockade there and the IDF actually attacked that ship, killed 10 people on board. You had Nobel Prize winners, Holocaust survivors, and the IDF just didn't care. They violently attacked it. um what was the impetus for your involvement in this particular action even knowing how kind of dangerous and and provocative it might be? Um well it's it's it's a moral choice as it as it is with any of these things. Um and I suppose first of all I mean I get asked quite a few times uh what is it with the Irish? Why are they so up in arms about the uh their concern for the Palestinian cause? Uh so uh by way of a little bit of background um I suppose most of your viewers and listeners would uh know that Ireland was occupied for 7 800 years by the British. But during that time we suffered two genocides when Oliver Cromwell and his new model army in the 17th century came in and British figures estimated that between between 20 and 40% of the Irish population were slaughtered were were murdered and again we had the famine which we romantically in Ireland called the great hunger and that was in in the 1840s. Um, and we lost a million people to starvation. And and it's one of the main reasons or it is the reason that there's so many Irish Americans u at the moment and so many Irish in America uh was because we had to abandon our country because the people that were occupying us at the time uh um were slaughtering us wholesale. They did the same thing in India as well. So um our sympathies are very much with the plight of the Palestinian people and uh and uh and therefore um I feel I have a duty to speak up for um the people who are who are being occupied and and I've never been a fan of injustice. Uh so therefore the the lack of u the lack of u real action um from this side of the water u led to uh the fine people who were on that boat uh including the wonderful Greta Thumbberg. Um I probably would have been on that boat because I never came to it but we only managed to get um eight people on board and four crew. So there was only 12 people uh able to go because of the drone strike the previous the month before. and your reference to uh Mavi Mura when 10 10 people the people who were involved in the flotilla at that time told me that some of the Israeli soldiers when they absiled on and started the murder they were carrying photographs uh given to them by their superiors of who not to kill. I mean that's that's how cynical that was. Yeah. And I should note there too that there was uh an American citizen among one of the 10 people who was dead. He was uh of Turkish origin, but it was yet another case of the IDF using American weapons, American monies to kill American citizens that they do constantly all the time. And so many self-proclaimed uber patriots in the United States seem to side with Israel even when they kill American citizens as they've, as I said, done with with some degree of frequency. uh you know, let me dig into that a little bit. The the history of of Ireland and occupation and the like because I do think this is something that a lot of times people in countries that don't quite have that history have difficulty understanding. There's of course like a big debate about whether Israel is an apartheid state. I don't think it's a debate. I think it's indisputably true. Many top Israeli officials have said that as well, including Netanyahu's own chief of the MSAD from 2015, who said it a month before the October 7th attack. Um, in in the United States and in the West, it's depicted, if you use that word, is proof that you're anti-semite. But I took my kids I don't know maybe a year ago to to South Africa and and you there's a lot of uh apartheid museums and I've thought Israel was an aparttheid state before but when you go and look at the kind of residue of South Africa apartheid the the similarities are so striking which is why so many South African leaders it's not just go ahead it's not just it's not just the it's not just the similarity I mean in in the mid80s I lived in Zimbabwe which was an anor is a partid state and I arrived in Zimbabwe 4 years after um uh the end of Rodesia. Um but uh I think you're being overly generous uh regarding the debate about apartheid because many many South Africans have said that the apartheid in Israel was worse than anything uh South Africans suffered under the apartheid regime there. And that's the that's the current leadership. Uh the uh the indigenous um uh government officials and inclus including Desmond Tutu and including Nelson Mandela um have said that the apartheid in Israel was worse. Um so I mean if the South Africans are saying that it's time to sit up and I think it's um it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that that's exactly what's what's going on. Yeah. Mandela, I remember he went on this tour of the United States and the West and could have been, you know, the most beloved hero of the West and he came and, you know, said exactly those sorts of things. He visited Cuba and talked about how they were one of the few allies when they were in their struggle. Um, so I think the individual countries history has so much influence on how people in those countries see the Israeli uh Palestinian conflict. But let me ask you about uh the the conflict with the British because I think one one thing that a lot of people know about it is the struggle of Northern Ireland for independence, the use of violence to resist occupation and the like. Um you know, people always talk about Israel's right to self-defense. I I guess my question for you is how do you see the Palestinians right to self-defense in terms of using violence in terms of and how does do you see that with the IRA as well? Well, in in the case of the Palestinians, it's enshrined in international law that anybody under occupation is the is is under international law allowed to use any method to uh to end the oppression. Um and uh I mean that's a that's that's a fact. Um and to the best of my knowledge, I think out of 193 I mean everybody talks about mass being a terrorist organization. Uh the United Nations as to the best of my knowledge refers to Hamas as a political movement and there's only 35 of 195 countries that refer to that have prescribed Hamas as a terrorist organization. So it's not a it's not a given. Uh the West's perception is not the world's perception of of what Hamas is. And it doesn't matter what what my position on that is. But as regards international law, they have every right to resist an occupation. And we call it the occupied territories. The United Nations calls it the occupied territories. And under occupation, you have a right to resist your oppressor. That's that these are facts. These are not opinions. Uh and they must be respected. And that's one of the reasons I'm um um desperately apoplelectic with the um the disrespect to international law and the support that the Palestinian people should have to remove the occupiers from their land. One of the things I think it's important to note about you for people who don't know this is that you know in your expression and people probably have the sense already from the first couple of of answers you've given that you're not just a critic of Israel um but paying lip service to their right to exist as a state or whatever. You I think are very very uh one might say radical relative to western discourse not just relative to western discourse. Not that that's a high bar to clear, but you know, in terms of what you were even just saying, like the right of of Hamas to use violence to resist Israeli occupation, the fact that they're more a political movement than a terrorist organization. I mean, these things are well really out there. And and you are a working actor and and and have worked in in film and television for a long time. And I don't think it's any secret that within Hollywood, within western entertainment more broadly, lots of people have been punished. I'm talking about people of big stature. Susan Sandon had her talent agent dropped drop drop her after some mild comments protesting this. There's a lot of examples. Is that something that you ever consider or or have been concerned about that it might prejudice your ability to work? Um, no, not really. Uh because I I take my job extraordinarily seriously. If somebody has has the um the judgment to employ me, uh it's my um belief that I've got to work to the best of my ability. I think that's what a reasonable employee does to do the best job that they can that when people have put faith in in in in you uh to employ you because I mean I am the product so to speak. I'm not producing anything. Uh I don't make any widgets. I am it. Uh and uh I'm very committed to any job that I that I do. Um which is why I'm a bit fuzzy about these things because I'm very careful about what I commit to. But um I I cannot I cannot shield my eyes to uh to what I'm seeing. Um and it's it's it's primarily cowardice uh on everybody's part. Everybody's afraid to upset um the the oppressors, the occupiers. Um I I don't see that. I mean the bottom line is I mean if you take a step back and be objective about what I do is I play dress up for a living. I mean that's that's what I do. I take it very seriously but that's what I do. And some things more important than that. And it's and just uh to give you the full picture, it's I've had a an extraordinarily extraordinary dislike of injustice. And um the first time I visited refugees was for Syrian refugees when we went over with HBO and the International Rescue Committee and we visited um uh Greece in Thessalonian Legos. And from there I uh the South Sudin refugees. because I was in northern Uganda and South Sudan. In fact, during the last season of Game of Thrones when we were filming, I didn't tell them I was going. And uh on the first night in Juba, there was gunshots just outside the compound we were staying in, which worried me intensely because we wouldn't have been able to finish the show, especially as I hadn't told him I was going. I was on a break. So it's the the plight of the people with no voice who have been stepped on for geopolitics and for uh the race for resources and land grabs and that sort of stuff. I I find nauseating and um and it's not it you know it's I mean we see it at a pinnacle at the moment with the genocide that's going on now. But but we I've watched it with s with you know Syrian refugees and as I said with South Sudanese refugees. Um, it's a it's a worldwide problem, but but my my heart at the moment obviously is very much with the Palestinian people and with obviously what's going on in Sudan as well, which is obscene, but uh but we something has to be done about this because the world order is breaking down as we speak. I want to let me let me ask you about that because you are somebody who has spoken for many causes often with some degree of risk in the sense that you know if you take any if you if you defend any cause that's at all controversial it has various risks that that can come to you. I think that's not a controversial statement to make. Um, but one of the things that I've been, I guess, heartened by, and it's hard to find anything to be heartened by when we're talking about Gaza, is the fact that there's are a huge number of people who previously weren't particularly engaged in politics generally or at least avoided the Israel issue out of all kinds of fears or or other uh instincts of self-preservation who feel like this is unlike other kinds of injustices that they've seen in terms of scale and scope and dehumanization, at least in so far as ones that the West to support it. How do you and you are somebody who has seen up close things that you were just describing that are atrocious and maybe it's hard to rank these things, but in the scope of just kind of dehumanization, war crimes, genocide, utter dehumanization, where do you rank this in terms of other things that you've seen in your lifetime? Oh my god, it's Listen, it's it's up there. I don't know. It's up there with the Vietnam War, I suppose. ex except this is this is systematic. That was armies on the ground and it was uniform people on on both sides. Um but uh but what I mean what we're seeing now uh and it's in it it's in 4K uh on TV. It's we have a live stream genocide and and ethnic cleansing uh going on. I mean there was just a a mass exactly 100% 100%. And only in the last what 48 hours the the Israelis have said these concentration camps I mean even Harets the Israeli newspapers uh have have announced that uh these concentration camps that they're building the Israelis have announced that anybody who is outside them is to be eliminated. I mean it's an official um order now from the Israeli government. I mean, what sort of a world are we living in when uh when our leaders, our international world leaders, as in the EU, are standing by and still waffling and still talking to each other and still arguing about what they're going to do in the hope that Israel will stop doing it or or a ceasefire will come along so they don't have to discuss it anymore. That's what I'm astonished at. Uh and you mentioned briefly about the about more people getting involved. Yes, they are. the streets. I mean, you have to look at the streets around the world. People are getting sick of it because the masks are off political leaders, the people who are who are all talk and literally no action. Um, and uh and people are getting really tired of it. The protests are not going away. They're getting bigger. They're getting larger. They're they're becoming more sustained. And there will come a tipping point. Uh I don't know when it's going to be, but it you can feel it. it's getting closer. Um when when uh I I I mean I don't know what's you know social disruption whatever whatever it may be um is coming because our political leaders are not doing what we want them to do and that is to assist in stopping this carnage. No matter how old you are, I think it's uh something that a lot of people have become to realize, certainly more so than ever before, which is a good thing that taking care of your physical health and your mental health are extremely important. Um especially if you're aging. Now, I can't say that I'm one of those people who aging. 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Why does Israel want to prolong the war on Gaza? | The Bottom Line by Steve Clemons Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera is funded in whole or in part by the Qatari government. Wikipedia Jul 13, 2025 #aljazeera #aljazeeraenglish #aljazeeranewslive
Israeli columnist Gideon Levy tells host Steve Clemons that almost all Israelis believe their country “has the right to do whatever it wants”. This includes war crimes and plans to create concentration camps for Palestinians in Gaza, in preparation for expulsion.
Levy argues that it makes no difference if a Republican or Democratic administration were in power in the United States or if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or a different politician were in power in Israel.
“The same war might have taken place, and the same crimes of war would have been committed,” he said.
Transcript
Hi, I'm Steve Clemens and I have a question. Whether it finally signs a temporary ceasefire or not, what's Israel's endgame in Gaza? Let's get to the bottom line. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington for his third victory lap this year with US President Donald Trump. There wasn't a lot of daylight between the two sides. Well, maybe a little bit on Iran, but the White House was pushing for progress in the indirect talks between Hamas and Israel. In those negotiations, the devil's really in the details. Much rides on how far Israel is going to withdraw from Palestinian territories during the ceasefire and whether it will sideline the Israeli run food delivery system that's literally killing hundreds of starving Palestinians and concentrating them into areas where the Israeli army wants them to be. So whether a short-term deal is reached or not, what does Israel want to achieve? Can the US trust Israel to stand by an agreement? And as the US and Israel reshape the Middle East, where do the millions of Palestinians fit into the picture? And today, we're talking with Gideon Levy, a columnist with the Israeli newspaper Harets, and the author of several books on Israel's occupation, most recently, The Killing of Gaza: Reports on a Catastrophe. Gideon, thank you so much for being with us today. Listen, I want to start out uh listening in on an exchange between Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and President Trump. Let's listen. Do you think that there can be a two-state solution that creates an independent? I don't know. I'd ask maybe that question. You have the greatest man in the world to answer that age-old question. Two state. Go ahead. You give him your honest answer. I think Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us. And that means that certain powers like overall security will always remain in our hands. Gideon, did we just hear the president of the United States finally end the the commitment to a two-state solution uh for Israel and the Israeli prime minister being being given the latitude to actually dictate that there would never be any real sovereignty uh in Palestine again? Is that the way you read it? I think it is dead long time ago. Now it was the official declaration of the death and it has some benefits I must tell you because this masquerade which lasts now for 20 30 years in which we all say there will be one day a Palestinian state. Not today, not now, not with those Palestinians, with some other Palestinians, but one day it will be. while the settlers are taking over any any piece of land in the West Bank must come to its end. We have to face it. There will never be a Palestinian state and we have to draw the conclusions and the consequences, namely to think about a different vision because continuing to speak about it again and again. You saw I mean the the president looks at it as if it's it's a joke. He doesn't take it seriously. And you know what? He's right. There is no serious chance for a Palestinian state as long as the the occupation continues and above all as long as the settlement project continues and Israel has intention to put an end to it. Netanyahu has been on a roll with things and I'm just interested what is the alternative vision that I think many of you and your colleagues have about security. Have you not seen Netanyahu move Israeli security forward with these things? What what is the biggest criticism uh of his security equation from your perspective? By the way, I am not the ultimate critics critic of of Netanyahu and I really think quite different than most of my colleagues about him. But let's really answer your question which is a very important one. What came out out of all this? Whatever you were mentioned was a real enormous success. It can feed endless Hollywood films. The walkietalkies, the bombarding of the bankers in Iraq, the bombarding of the bunker of of Nasala in Lebanon. Really wonderful action films. What do we get by the end of the day? What do we get by the end of the war? Do you really think that Israel is today a more secure place than two years ago? I don't think so because you ignore the price. First of all, Israel is turning into a par state and this is also one factor of security for a state. To be a par state makes it a very unpleasant place to be in and also dangerous. Secondly, what did we achieve with Iran? It's very clear now that Iran can still run for the bomb and maybe much faster now. So what did we get for all the destruction that we got here in Israel and the loss of people? What is the benefit for the long run? I mean is Israel going to live on its sword forever? There's not one country in history which lived all its life only on its military power and Israel will not be able to survive if it goes only to this direction and right now Israel believes only military power. This has no no future. You said when we last spoke right before the u uh first ceasefire that was negotiated between Steve Witoff, the uh envoy of the president of the United States, the Qataris in Israel, that a ceasefire would be signed and then broken by Israel. And you were exactly right that happened. We all saw it happen. Uh now we're back at another moment. And I have to tell our viewers that right now as we're listening, Prime Minister Netanyahu is in Washington DC. He's been here for days. There has been no result as the time of this discussion here. But I'm interested in your prognostications again. Do you believe a ceasefire will be secured again? And what is your prediction about the solveny and dur durability of that ceasefire? Nathaniel does not want this war to end. And therefore my prophecy last in our last conversation will be repeated now is the same prophecy. As long as he can continue the war, he will continue it. Will his motivation be whatever they will be? Many of his rivals say it's only for his political survival. I also believe that he has some ideology behind it. He really does not believe in any compromise with the Palestinians, any negotiations, any agreements, nothing. Only living on the sword. But in any case, he didn't give up this war and he will continue it as long as Donald Trump will let him. And therefore I am I'm very concerned that even if a ceasefire will be achieved now, Israel will violate it again after getting back the first 10 hostages, Israel will violate it again. Gideon, you know, this seems to me to be just a very odd negotiation where I know Hamas is on one side of the table. I know the Qatar is there, but this increasingly looks like an ego match between Trump and Netanyahu. And Trump is increasingly told, you know, he he wants to be the peace president, get out of all these conflicts. And everyone, every foreign leader that meets him, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, says, "You ought to get the Nobel Peace Prize." And I'm just interested in how you see the ambitions and motivations of these two men. Uh, you just said that Netanyahu wants this war to go on. I think it's pretty clear Donald Trump may not care about Palestine, but he doesn't want this war to go on. How how do you see the ambitions and incentives of these leaders right now? First of all, you mentioned this idea of nominating Trump for president for Nobel Prize. Let me be very clear. The Nobel Prize Committee will never accept a recommendation of someone who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. So if if Natala really meant to promote the nominee, he did only damage because Netanyahu and we have to remember it is wanted by the international court, the criminal court. And we we tend to forget this. Now their ambitions are quite similar even though they are obviously differences. They are both populists. They are both not real democrats. Both of them not. They both are Nazis Nazarist as we know. They are both thinking first of all about their own career and about their own fate. the personal one. Now, Netanyahu wants the war to continue. Trump would like to see some kind of stability in the Middle East. If the war will not disturb this, he couldn't care less. I mean, as you rightly said, the last thing that interests him is international law, genocide, the transpair, the fate of the Palestinians in Gaza, the starvation, the mass killing. All those things really don't matter for him at all. He wants to have stability in order to go for his huge project. If it will disturb him, he will put a pressure on Netanyahu. Netanyahu wants the war to continue because he understands that nothing was achieved in this war until now. And like a gambler who goes to the casino and loses all his money, but he thinks if he will replay again, then he will make the big hit. Net think that what was not achieved in 21 months of mass killing will be achieved in another 21 months of of of killing without having any clue what will happen then I mean let's say the ultimate victory is achieved and what then who is going to run Gaza who is going to rehabilitate Gaza who is going to do all that has no clue so both of them and this is the last comparison And most of them don't really care about the outcome. They are mainly interest for the short run to show how big they are, how wonderful they are, and what heroes they are. Gideon, Egypt has been putting forward a plan for um Arab states to have a presence in Gaza to take over from Hamas. Do you think this has any chance of actually happening? No, because Gaza is today such a beaten place with so much agony and and pain and really people lost their their their their humanity there. I talked to some friends there. You must understand they are after 19 years of siege and after 21 year months of of horrible war. What will Egyptian force do there exactly? it. They have to to to first of all to have a ceasefire to have some kind of peaceful reality in order to start to think and then they need their own leadership. Nobody can lead them. Why? Why do we always think that foreign forces can lead other people's? It never worked in history. you you mean to change one occupation with another occupation, it will not. When you look at the decimation, destruction, the killing, the death, the Gaza humanitarian foundation now centralizing uh aid centers and so many be people being killed going to them. Doesn't this become a self-fulfilling prophecy at one point where even though ethnic cleansing is something that is abhorrent and it's a violation of the UN charter, the world may let it happen. The world may let it happen with one restriction. Nobody is going to take that. Nobody is going to take 2.3 million Palestinians. Nobody in the world will be ready to absorb them. and they have no place to go and therefore all the rest is totally irrelevant. I can understand this sentiment let's relocate them and they have new life you know with prosperity all of them working in high-tech and they study medicine and they will all start a new chapter in their lives. This is not realistic because those people I must remind ourselves they are grandson and grandsons of people who went through one relocation who went through one ethnic cleansing in 1948 by Israel. Most of them are refugees from Palestine from the place that I talk to you now from. They lived here before me. So they are still carrying the wounds of 48 and now you suggest them another relocation another transfer. I really ignore the legal question the moral question but even in practical terms where will they go? Well, the defense minister of Israel, um, Israel Katz has his own, uh, suggestion, which is not to export Palestinians, but rather to concentrate them, uh, into a camp on the ruins of Rafa, 600,000 Palestinians after security checks, and not allow movement or for them to leave. Is this not what we saw happen to Jews before World War during before and during World War II? I mean, does concentration camps of this sort which have now been proposed by the defense minister of Israel not bring back haunting memories of the Holocaust? How can they the minister of defense of Israel who is a total marginal figure in Israeli politics? Because all the real decisions are made by Netanyahu and only by Netanyahu. All the others are puppets. But the Minister of Defense by himself is a son of Holocaust survivors. I really would like to know what would his parents say when most of their families was exterminated. All the Holocausts in history started with evacuations of populations. The Jewish Holocaust started like this when the Jews were forced to move toward the east from Germany. The Armenian Holocaust started also by evacuation of masses of people and then when you see doesn't work comes the next stage, God forbid, extermination. It repeats itself again and again. And it is unbelievable how Israelis after the 7th of October lost really any sense of humanity and any sense of selfawareness. Those are exactly the concentration camps of our parents and grandparents. What's the difference? The difference is only because in this case cuts does not mean to solve the problem. He means to tyrannize those people in this humanitarian city to tyranize their life so much until they will break and say and surrender and say okay take me out wherever you take me to the Sahara to other desert just let me out from here from this hell. This is not a solution. This is really a satanic idea. Those are human beings, you know. Those are not sheep and I wouldn't care. I wouldn't treat sheeps like this. How do you see this uh situation from Israel looking at US politics? We've seen people like Senator Chris Van Holland, uh Senator Bernie Sanders make the argument that the United States is complicit uh in what is unfolding in this, you know, ongoing disaster uh in Gaza. We've had I've had um General David Petraeus on this show just say that, you know, the claim that one can obliterate or wipe out Hamas is just specious. That there's no way that Hamas is a is a brand. Hamas is an ideology. Hamas is not a list of characters. So when you kind of look at this and look at the long-term security side of this, but also what it's doing to, you know, the American side of this equation, I'm just be interested in your perspective. I, you know, I I have to be honest. You know, I asked myself if Kla Harris was was president of the United States today, would this situation look any differently? And I'm really not sure it would. I'm not sure either. And same, by the way, I can tell you about the Israeli alternative, the Israeli opposition. I'm almost sure that would it wouldn't it be Netanyahu, the same war might have taken place and the same crimes of war would have been committed. I'm not sure it's such a big difference between them. But getting to your question about the United States, right now we are facing a very totalitarian system in the United States. Namely, it's all about one man, Donald Trump. And we cannot rely on anything he says because he might change his mind from today to tomorrow. One day Zalinski is a friend, the next day he's an he is an enemy and then he's back a friend. We supply you supply him with arms. You don't supply him with arms. It is not serious with all the respect. It is not serious. And therefore what what American are saying is very important. But finally it will be Donald Trump to decide. And right now he seems to be fascinated by Netanyahu which might change very quickly. Right now he gives him a cod blanch a green light to do whatever he wants. supplies him with all the weapons. By the way, the Democrats supplied Israel with all the weapons in the world without any conditions. We have to remember Barack Obama signed on the biggest aid plan for Israel for years. There's not much difference when it comes to Israel between the two parties in the United States. Only the style is different. And I believe that Trump right now is a great blessing for Netanyahu. But as I said, it might change. We're seeing the sanctioning of individuals at the United Nations by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others for continuing to raise concern about the plight of those uh victims in Gaza today. And so there is a kind of thought control scramble going on in the United States. Israel seems to have a more robust debate than Washington does. Is that are you in agreement with that? Absolutely. Basically, and I know it will sound weird to you, but basically, and especially after the 7th of October, Israel is speaking in one language and is holding one basic. It is true that Israel is divided today to two sects. One sect which believes that anything that Netanyahu does is holy and that he is God. No, not less than this. And he can do whatever he wants. they will stick to him. And the other sect thinks the opposite that he is the Satan and whatever he will do is wrong. Even if he will bring us peace and prosperity, he will always be accused by the the other sect. That's the main argument in Israel. Netanyahu, yes or no. But when it comes to the war, the crimes, the apartheite, the occupation, the atrocities in Gaza, basically everyone supports it. There is one camp who wants to end the war, but only because of the hostages. We have to face it. They don't want to end the war in order to stop the killing of the Palestinians, in order to stop the destruction, horrifying destruction of Gaza. No, it's all about the 20 living Palestinians, Israelis, sorry, in captivity. I must remind you and your viewers that in every half an hour, no, I I made the other calculation. Yeah. In every six hours there are average 20 Palestinians killed in Gaza for months now. Every 6 hours 20 Palestinians are losing their lives. That's exactly the number of living hostages in the captivity of the kamas. You know it makes you think I mean I obviously it's horrible the story of those hostages and they should be released should be released but by the time we are talking another 20 people and another 20 people innocent both are innocent are killed. So, Israelis changed so much ever since the 7th of October. Basically, almost all of them think that after the 7th of October, Israel has the right to do whatever it wants. And basically, most of them think that there is no room for any kind of humanity, mercy, pity, solidarity, empathy toward the Palestinians in Gaza. They don't interest most of the Israelis. And the media is collaborating it with it by not showing Gaza at all. You know that in Israeli media except of my newspaper, you will not see Gaza at all. Nothing. Nothing. You will not see what you see over there. The average Israeli never saw. Well, fascinating. We'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much, Gideon Levy, author and columnist with the Israeli daily newspaper Harets. Really appreciate your cander and for being with us today. Thank you, Steve, so much for your wonderful questions. It was pleasure being with you. So what's the bottom line? On paper, the negotiations are between the Palestinians and the Israelis, but in reality, they're between the United States and Israel. So if the Palestinians in Gaza ever get a respit from the siege of starvation and demolition, bombings and killings, it's going to be a bankshot, an unintended consequence of bigger tectonic movements. Trump couldn't care less about Palestine or Palestinians, but he doesn't want forever wars. and he doesn't want conflicts using US bombs on his watch. And he'd like to get some global applause for his actions. Netanyahu wants different stuff. He wants an ongoing conflict for a lot of reasons, but none of those reasons from either side have anything to do with fairness for Palestinians or resolving things in a long-term stable way that actually works. And that's the bottom line. [Music]
OMG! Ghislaine GOES NUCLEAR as Trump COVERS IT UP by Ben Meiselas MeidasTouch Jul 14, 2025 The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on how Donald Trump’s latest rant may have provided Ghislaine with a golden ticket to get a retrial in her criminal conviction as Trump seeks to further cover up his dark past.
Transcript
It is an undisputed fact right now that Donald Trump is covering up his dark and sick past behavior. And there's a major development this week that's also explaining why Donald Trump likely directed Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche's number one and number two at the DOJ to say that the Epstein list doesn't exist. and to shut down the investigation, and to shut down the efforts to release the Epstein files. And that is the United States Supreme Court is getting ready to hear the final appeal opportunity by one of Donald Trump's former best friends, Ghislaine Maxwell, who sex trafficked for Jeffrey Epstein. She was convicted in connection with the trafficking, and basically put in jail or prison, for the rest of her life. She's appealing that conviction and that prison sentence. And now it's going all the way up to the Supreme Court. And according to the Daily Mail, and other sources, she says that she's got the list, she's got the files, she wants to drop names, and she's willing, and able, and ready to do it, depending on if a deal can be worked out with the Trump regime and the Trump DOJ. So, we need to follow what's going on in the Ghislaine Maxwell criminal appeal, all the way up to the United States Supreme Court.
This is the headline right now from the Daily Mail. This is their exclusive. Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is ready to reveal the truth of the pedophile client list, says insiders. So why are Republicans blocking her?
Adam Cochran explains it as thus. Well, there you go. Maxwell is appealing to the Supreme Court. Sources who have spoken on her behalf to news outlets in the past say she's ready to share the Epstein list in exchange for a nonprosecution deal. She's signaling to Trump she's ready to talk, and if the Supreme Court appeal doesn't go her way, she'll release the list unless something is worked out. This is likely why he is suddenly so desperate to bury the list. If the list is "fake" or "doesn't exist," then Maxwell's trial was on false grounds, and false pretext, and she'd be eligible for a retrial, where a lot of evidence was thrown out. There is a genuine chance that she now may be able to walk as a result of Donald Trump saying that the Epstein list doesn't exist, and that there are no Epstein files.
Let me break that down so you understand it. So, at first, Donald Trump's Department of Justice, it was actually Donald Trump's criminal defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, who became the number two, the deputy attorney general. He works directly under the attorney general, Pam Bondi. And they released that memo, which he said they released with Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, the FBI director, and deputy FBI director, respectfully, saying that there is no Epstein list. There are no Epstein files. And the FBI was shutting down all of its investigative work.
So then the MAGA people were freaking out, and they were pissed off. They were saying, "Why did you bring the MAGA influencers to hold up phase 1 Epstein list binders? Why did you say you had the Epstein list on your desk, Pam Bondi? Why have all of these MAGA influencers been grifting off of the release of the Epstein Files, and now you're saying it doesn't even exist? So, were you lying about a list to cover up for pedo and for sex traffickers? I mean, that's what you were doing, or does this list exist, and Trump is covering it up because he's on the list?
We all know that Donald Trump is deeply connected to Jeffrey Epstein. I've done numerous videos on that, right? But then on Saturday, Donald Trump does that post where Trump says the files do exist. Remember, he says they do exist, but it is a Democratic hoax. He says, "And Obama and Hillary Clinton and uh James Comey and others created the files as part of a massive hoax to hurt Donald Trump and to hurt Republicans."
Now, the MAGA Republicans weren't buying that. But I just want you to put yourself in the shoes now of Ghislaline Maxwell. She's been convicted in a trial, where all of this evidence was introduced about her aiding and abetting Epstein's conduct, and that there was a list, and that they were involved in all of these things together, and involved in sex trafficking together. And by the way, a lot of what went down went down at Mar-a-Lago. More on that in a moment.
So now, one of the arguments that she'll be able to make, is that the president of the United States is now saying that the Epstein situation is a hoax, that it isn't real, that it was made up by Democrats, by Obama and Clinton, and that none of this is real. And so she'll say, "If the president of the United States is making public statements that none of this is real, I should have been able to introduce that at my criminal trial. I wasn't. I deserve a retrial."
Do you make the connection now? By saying that, could Donald Trump be helping Ghislaine get the retrial? And that will silence her from releasing the list if the United States Supreme Court does not grant her appeal to re-evaluate her sentencing, or to overturn her conviction? You see how that works?
I mean, it's a horrific thing that Donald Trump's post may now allow Ghislaine Maxwell to get a retrial. What it is also allowing, not may but is, is that you have Prince Andrew, who was previously basically banned from coming to the United States. Andrew is now able to head to the United States. He's one of the people on the list that Donald Trump claims doesn't exist. He was one of the people with Ghislaine Maxwell. He was being investigated in his connections with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. And now he's out and about, partying. He's like, "Woohoo! I'm going to go to the United States now. I can go wherever, because Trump and the FBI just did me a solid. I am free. I no longer have to worry about any of this."
I have a basic question. You know, Donald Trump is D174 in connection with a lot of these civil cases against Epstein. He's number 174. So, if there's a 174, wouldn't there be 173 and 175 and 1 2 3 4? So, wouldn't that be a list of people just right then and there?
And I've done this analysis over and over again, but for those just watching for the first time, let me just do it super quickly.
About 10% of all of the Epstein files have been released. There's about 90% that haven't, cuz there have been civil and criminal cases where the judge has released some things. From that 10%, I would say, if you run it through chat GPT, and say, "What's the name of someone who's on those documents more than anybody else," you'd probably get the answer of Donald Trump. Why? In 2020, in 2002, Donald Trump said Epstein's a great guy. He likes women on the younger side. Virginia Giuffre, an underage girl who recently died by suicide, was underage at the time. She was trafficked from Mar-a-Lago. You had Ghislaine Maxwell, the sex trafficker for Epstein, went to Mar-a-Lago. Virginia was working underage at Mar-a-Lago and then Ghislaine Maxwell found her, brought her to Epstein, and she was sex trafficked. Here's what Virginia Giuffre had to say about being sex trafficked by Ghislaine Maxwell. Here, play this clip.
[Narrator] Virginia Roberts was working in the spa at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, when British socialite, Ghislaine Maxwell, introduced her to multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
[Virginia Giuffre [Roberts]] The training started immediately. I mean, it was everything down to how to give a blow job, how to be quiet, be subservient, give Giuffre what he wants. A lot of this training came from Ghislaine herself. And being a woman, it kind of surprises you that a woman could actually let stuff like that happen, but not only let it happen, but to groom you into doing it. And then there's Jeffrey who's telling you, "I want it this way. No, go slower, and don't do that, and do this."
[Ben Meiselas] Now, Donald Trump is on Epstein's flight logs and again, only a small portion have been produced about seven times. He's all over the Epstein depositions, from victims of Epstein who had been sex trafficked by him. They said, "Look, we're going to the Trump Atlantic City." And Epstein's calling Trump at Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal trial. Now a woman, at the time an underage girl who was 14 years old, she said that Epstein and Ghislaine introduced her to Donald Trump. In 2024, Donald Trump used Epstein's jet for the 2024 Trump campaign. They just wrapped it in Trump 2024 letters.
I can do 174. I can go on, and on, and on here, but here was Donald Trump on Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking case saying that he wishes her well when he was asked, "What do you want to say to her?" Here, play this clip.
NBC Reporter] Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison, and a lot of people want to know if she's going to turn in powerful people, and I know you've talked in the past about Prince Andrew, and you've criticized Bill Clinton's behavior. I'm wondering, do you feel that she's going to turn in powerful men? How do you see that working out?
[Donald Trump] I don't know. I haven't really been following her too much. I just wish her well, frankly. I've met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well. Whatever it is. I don't know the situation with Prince Andrew, just don't know. Not aware of it.
[Ben Meiselas] So then when he was asked by Axios, "Why'd you wish her well? She's a sex trafficker. Why wouldn't you wish her bad? Why would you wish sex traffickers well?" Here, play this clip.
[Axios Reporter] Mr. President, the other day a reporter asked you about Ghislaine Maxwell. You said, quote, "I just wish her well, frankly. I've met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, but I wish her well, whatever it is." Mr. President, Ghislaine Maxwell has been arrested on allegations of child sex trafficking. Why would you wish such a person well?
[Donald Trump] Well, first of all, I don't know that.
[Axios Reporter] But I do know that. She has. She's been arrested for that.
[Donald Trump] You know that. Her friend, or boyfriend --
[Axios Reporter] Epstein --
[Donald Trump] -- was either killed or committed suicide in jail. She's now in jail.
[Axios Reporter] Uh huh.
[Donald Trump] I wish you well. I'd wish you well. I'd wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty. I mean, do you know that --
[Axios Reporter] Oh, so you're saying you hope she doesn't die in jail. Is that what you mean by wish her well?
[Donald Trump] [Screeching hysterically] Her boyfriend died in jail. And people are still trying to figure out how did it happen? Was it suicide? Was he killed? And I do wish her well. I'm not looking for anything bad for her. I'm not looking bad for anybody. And they took that and --
[Axios Reporter] I mean, she's a child sex trafficker.
[Donald Trump] -- big deal. But all it is is her boyfriend died, he died in jail. Was he killed? Was it suicide? I do. I wish her well.
[Ben Meiselas] Yeah, that was another massive red flag right there. And by the way, Donald Trump's biographer, who was also going to be Epstein's biographer, but he never ended up writing the biography for Epstein, Michael Wolff, he recently sat down and did an interview and he said, "I've seen the photos with Trump and Epstein with the naked girls." I mean, he said he's seen them. Here, play this clip.
[Michael Wolff] I know that these pictures exist, and I can describe them. There are about a dozen of them. The ones I specifically remember is the two of them with topless girls, of an uncertain age, sitting on Trump's lap, and then Trump standing there with a stain on the front of his pants, and three or four girls kind of bent over in laughter -- they're topless too -- pointing at Trump's pants.
[Ben Meiselas] And then we had Michael Wolff on the Meidastouch, and he said, "When I was interviewing Trump, I was specifically told that you could basically talk to him about anything, but you can't talk to him about Epstein. If you talk to him about Epstein, he's not going to answer the questions. Here, play this clip.
[Michael Wolff] No. And I think the thing you have to return to here is that Donald Trump has gotten away with literally everything. And it turns out to be one of his greatest gifts. And what is that? You know, because it's the incredible advantage of utter shamelessness, or I remember Steve Bannon said to me once that if the if the famous "Pee" tapes were ever found, Trump would just say, "That's not me." And it wouldn't matter if it looked like Donald Trump, if he walked like Donald Trump, it wouldn't matter. He would just deny it. And somehow, again, hiding in plain sight, this long relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and Trump has just waved it away, swept it under the rug, ignored it, and gotten away with it. Does that change? Probably not, but maybe.
[Sidney Blumenthal] You know, he is a master of distraction, to distract people from all the problems he's created, and at the same time he is distracted by this one question, maybe others, but this one for sure --
[Michael Wolff] You know I think it's a difficult question for him. Once when I was in Mar-a-Lago, I went to sit have a sitdown with him, and his aids just asked me for a rough outline of what I wanted to talk about. And I had a lot of subjects, but I also said Epstein. And they said, "You know, if you ask about that, he'll just stop the interview, and you won't get anything.} So this person said, "I recommend you can ask about anything, but I really recommend you not ask that if you hope for this interview to go on."
[Ben Meiselas] And of course, we also learned that during his first term, Donald Trump was considering pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell. And by the way, it's not just Trump. Others in his administration have ties to Epstein as well. RFK Jr., here's what he had to say. Here, play this clip.
[Fox News Jesse Waters] You weren't ever on Jeffrey Epstein's jet, were you?
[RFK, Jr.] I was on Jeffrey Epstein's Jet two times. I was on it in 1993, and I went to Florida with my wife and two children to visit my mom over Easter. My wife had some kind of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, and they offered us a ride to Palm Beach. So I went then, and on another occasion, I flew again with my family, with I think four of my children, and Mary, my wife, to Rapid City, South Dakota, to go fossil hunting for a weekend. But otherwise I was never on his jet alone. I've been very open about this from the beginning. This was in 93, so it was 30 years ago. It was before anybody knew about Jeffrey Epstein's nefarious issues. And I agree with you that all of this information should be released. And we should get real answers on what happened to Jeffrey Epstein, and of the high-level political people that he was involved with. All of that should be open to the public. It should be absolutely transparent. And you know, I don't see why any of those records would have any redactions in them. Why would we be hiding that from the American public?
[Ben Meiselas] So, this is a big development now, because the Supreme Court has the opportunity to hear Ghislaine Maxwell's case. We'll see what they do. That's going to be decided soon. Is she then, regardless of what the outcome is before the Supreme Court, does she now go and say, "Hey, I need a retrial. The president of the United States says that my entire case was a hoax, and isn't real, and I got an unfair trial," because listen to what he has to say. I wonder if she goes in that direction, and does she now hold the list over his head, and Donald Trump effectively, you know, now is subservient, is going to do whatever she wants to do basically. So we will see.
Well, I'll keep you posted every step of the way. The word I was looking for was "subverting the national interest in favor of someone who was convicted of sex trafficking." And then what about all the victims out there?
