DOJ Uses Secret Subpoenas to Get Project Veritas Personal Information
Emerald Robinson: The Department of Justice is accused of obtaining secret subpoenas and using them to spy on journalists. The city of Shanghai, China, is on an extreme lockdown. The Chinese Communist Party is murdering family pets and dragging COVID-positive family members out of their homes. Plus, a formal pharmaceutical shortage may be looming as a result. Today is April 14, and you're in on The Absolute Truth. To start the day out, we have some developing news to bring to you. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has just offered to purchase Twitter. He is offering to purchase the company for $41.39 billion. That's roughly $54.20 a share. When Musk made the offer, shares were going for $45.85 each. Musk is saying he is ready to transform Twitter into a private company. Last month, we told you about the Department of Justice's successful attempt to obtain the communications and contacts for eight Project Veritas journalists. The DOJ's appalling behavior didn't stop there, however. Apple and Google both just came forward to report the DOJ's shakedown didn't stop at just Microsoft. The DOJ demanded that both companies turn over Project Veritas as journalists' and security details' personal information. The Department of Justice issued nine secret subpoenas and warrants. This occurred just days after Joe Biden won the 2020 election until March of last year. Both companies were instructed not to report these secret subpoenas to Project Veritas. And now, Project Veritas is responding by filing a motion demanding that all their property be returned. Joining us now is Project Veritas spokesperson RC Maxwell. RC, so good to see you again.
(Guest)
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: Thanks for having me on.
Emerald Robinson: Even if circumstances end up that the DOJ has ordered spying on your personal communications. When we had you on the program last month, we were happy to have you back, but there are some disturbing latest developments. Just days after Joe Biden claimed victory in the 2020 election and was installed at the White House. The DOJ went after your colleagues. What were they looking for, RC?
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: Well, I think that's a question that the DOJ still has to answer. You know, keep in mind that the subpoenas and the warrants have still been filed. The Reporters Committee and, of course, Project Veritas has been asking for this to be unsealed per the United States statute. You can't seal the warrants of a journalist and say that this is justified action because we're investigating a crime. These statutes and the reporter shield exist to prevent this exact kind of circular reasoning. What they're looking for is they're apparently looking for evidence of a crime related to our investigation into Ashley Biden's diary. Ashley Biden is the daughter of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. We didn't publish a diary, as your audience knows we could not authenticate the content of the diary, so we didn't publish it. In fact, we returned the diary to the authorities. Apparently, the Department of Justice thinks a proportionate response to our actions is not only to secretly subpoena Microsoft for our email communications for what we're doing with Uber. But they've also gone around the back of the US district judge, and they have subpoenaed Apple. They've subpoenaed Google for wide swaths of information. According to our filing, we think this is a violation of the Privacy Protection Act. In no way is this a proportionate response. In fact, they're getting browser data and they're getting payment information. They're getting everything, your photos, everything from Apple. So, this is definitely scary. This has been one of those issues where regardless of your political affiliation, there has been outrage on all sides. The AP has covered this, and Google spokespersons issued a statement saying they firmly stand behind customers' private data. But Project Veritas is left scratching our heads.
Emerald Robinson: That's surprising that there has been some coverage of it and a little bit of outrage from what we consider more the left-leaning media to a certain degree, but still not quite enough. Wouldn't you say?
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: Yeah, of course. You take a look at the freedom of the press crowd who was going on and on for the past four years about mean tweets. You saw quite literally outrage amongst journalists saying that the freedom of the press was under attack. Well, here you have agents with their hands on guns, weapons actually drawn, entering the homes of journalists who are probably deemed as hostile to the current administration. And you have journalists quiet on the matter as if the same thing can't happen to them. So, some organizations have spoken up, Emerald. Of course, the ACLU has spoken up. The Reporter’s Committee has filed a motion on our behalf, but we definitely need to see a lot more. I mean, this is similar, and it parallels the freedom of press issues you're seeing with Julian Assange. In fact, worse because, in this instance, we're not talking about cybersecurity and national security hacking of any sorts of computers. We're quite literally talking about a diary that was abandoned.
Emerald Robinson: So, RC, what is the next step in trying to get what you need? The information from the DOJ or holding them accountable. What should we be looking out for?
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: Well, we filed an incredible document, a motion to get back our property. In this document, we outline how the action from the Department of Justice is not only a violation of the First Amendment but also the Fourth Amendment and the Privacy Protection Act. We outline everything in this document about how Project Veritas committed no unlawful act and how everything we've done is general newsgathering activities—literally supported under Bartunek and the Supreme Court. So, what we're asking for is we're asking for all of our devices back that were unlawfully seized. We're also asking the judge to make a ruling on whether or not she thinks this action from the DOJ is questionable. You know, we think we're in a very good position. Recently, the judge has ordered the government to respond to us. They've given the government quite a bit of time to respond. So, we think the government is not going to just wash this away. People need to be held accountable for this, Emerald.
Emerald Robinson: So, you mentioned that the DOJ went behind the back of the US District Court judge. Was there outrage from the judge for that move?
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: We don't yet know what the judge has to say about that action. However, again, we think because the government has been essentially ordered to respond to our motion in full, we do think that votes well for us. I mean, look, the government said that we weren't journalists. A judge said they are. Everything must go through a filter team. They have the journalistic privilege. Then after that, the DOJ went around and tried to keep secret orders that they had on tech companies to get access to our communication to surveil us. So, this has essentially been explicitly forbidden by the judge. It only remains to be seen if the government is going to be held accountable.
Emerald Robinson: Well, I think probably the DOJ has a bit of a different definition of journalism than you all do, given that mostly they see journalists as stenographers for the administrative state. I can tell you that from sitting in the DOJ and the White House for quite some time.
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: Of course, whenever the government wants to issue a press release, they don't issue their own press release. They go directly to their friends in the media, and those friends in the media don't do their due diligence as reporters to verify what the government says. They just report it. That's not what we do, and because that's not what we do, we get hostile treatment.
Emerald Robinson: Well, I want to turn to the developing news we mentioned at the top of the hour. The fact that Elon Musk could buy Twitter potentially and turn it into a private company. You all have been targeted by Twitter, censored, and taken offline. What do you say about this idea that Musk could buy the platform and turn it private?
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: This is a hot topic today to speculate on Elon Musk's proposal to buy Twitter. Look, Elon is talking about Twitter having some very deep problems and needing to be transformed. You're not going to hear an argument for me. I was previously a person verified on Twitter. I was suspended for violations I'm still unclear of. Of course, the company I work for, Project Veritas, has been suspended, including our founder, for simply quoting other people in their own words. They don't ban CNN for saying that they're propaganda. They don't ban members of the FDA for saying that they're essentially rubber-stamping vaccines. No, they ban us. So, Elon Musk's proposal to buy Twitter is probably definitely something where people are waiting on the sidelines, seeing what is going to happen. Because I think this is definitely an opportunity for Musk to promote free speech internationally, globally with his stated intentions with Twitter.
Emerald Robinson: I believe you all have a lawsuit against Twitter, isn't that correct? Where does that stand?
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: We have some pending litigation against Twitter. It's very difficult to sue a tech company. There's anti-SLAPP, and there are a lot of issues with a proper venue. Though was the last update regarding our lawsuit with Twitter. There were some venue issues, and I do believe that we have an opportunity still to appeal. So, we're just still in those pending stages. But on Project Veritas, we have a very tenacious legal team. We don't let things go. So, we're certainly standing by and watching this Twitter news eagerly, and we're waiting to see what happens. Because what happens with Elon Musk certainly not only changes our Twitter strategy, but it might change our merchandise strategy. Emerald, you know, we have the Twitter hats.
Emerald Robinson: Yeah, saying that you all don't let things go is somewhat of an understatement, and Alex Berenson also has a lawsuit against Twitter trying to sue his right back on the platform. I'm banned as well. I haven't thought about going that far, but who knows? It'll be interesting to watch and see if this might happen with Musk.
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: Certainly. The shareholders are going to take a close look at the proposal and take it seriously, and they should, because if they don't, they may have a problem on their hands with Elon Musk's shareholder status. So, I'm definitely a huge free speech issue with the purchase of a private tech company, and that's just the world we live in.
Emerald Robinson: It is. That is the crisis, the crisis of free speech and what is allowable speech, which you all know better than anyone. Thanks for sharing today the status of the current situation with the DOJ and their spying on you and enlisting companies to help them spy on you. Thanks for being here, RC.
R.C. Maxwell, From Project Veritas: Of course, and thanks for having me again.
Emerald Robinson: Coming up, Shanghai, China, is under an extreme COVID lockdown. We bring you the very latest from the region next.
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Video Clip: (Robot dog walking down the street broadcasting to the residents of Shanghai, China)
Emerald Robinson: In Shanghai, China, which today looks like a dystopian nightmare. The government warning that anyone who violates the latest COVID restrictions will be punished as it says its case count hit 25,000 on Wednesday. Video after video emerges showing people screaming from balconies and starvation as the whole city remains on a COVID lockdown. The media and certain government health officials like Dr. Tony Fauci had praised China's zero COVID policy previously but didn't have much to say this time, except for, finally, The New York Times in an op-ed from yesterday suggesting that, quote, "The fear in China now is that the zero COVID policy has become another Mao-style political campaign that is based on the will of one person." The country's top leader, Xi Jinping, and that it could end up hurting everyone. As we learned in 2020, it's hard to believe what you see and hear both out of China from the corporate media. So, here to help us better understand China is expert Gordon Chang. Welcome, Gordon. You're also the author of several books and pieces. You've always been a go-to in China. What exactly is happening in Shanghai and other cities across the Chinese China country?
(Guest)
Gordon G. Chang: Well, Shanghai is locked down. The rules are the strictest ever, stricter than, for instance, the lockdowns in Wuhan and Xi'an, but they're not working because we see record daily COVID cases each day, including today, Thursday. Xi Jinping, the Chinese ruler, says that they're going to maintain that zero-covid policy. But really, what this is, it's becoming about control of people rather than control of the disease because the Zero-Covid policy is not working, and it's causing untold damage not only to the Chinese economy but also to Chinese society, as well. So, this is the reason why people are starting to chafe. We see these large breakouts where people just flooded the streets in defiance of the COVID rules because they're hungry, desperate, and they're just angry.
Emerald Robinson: So, this video, the footage we're seeing out of China, is actually an accurate portrayal of what is happening. Is that correct?
Gordon G. Chang: That's right, and we're seeing as people, for instance, these robot dogs, but they're also flying drones, and they're flying drones while people are on their balconies and at their windows shouting out curses to the Communist Party. The drones are telling people to stay quiet. They got speakers on the drones as well as those robot dogs, which you showed. Really, this is full-on totalitarianism. A lot of very smart people say, well, China is authoritarian. Well, at one time, it may have been authoritarian, but right now, it is heading back to full-on totalitarianism.
Emerald Robinson: What is prompting this behavior from Xi Jinping. Does he feel vulnerable or that his power hold is at risk?
Gordon G. Chang: I actually think so. He probably will get his precedent-breaking third term as general secretary at the end of this year at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party. But I don't think it's a near certainty thing that everyone has been talking about because, especially in the last year, he has come under intense criticism. Not only from his political adversaries and enemies but also just a lot of Chinese people when they can express their views, for instance, on Weibo, the Twitter-like service. He is considered to be the author of the Zero-Covid policy. So, he's not allowing any criticism of it because this has become a political matter.
Emerald Robinson: Now, the last time that we saw China in such extreme lockdown, it influenced the rest of the world, and some people say that was part of the reasoning behind China doing such severe lockdowns and suggesting the zero COVID policy was actually to influence the rest of the world to do the same and hurt economies. Is there any of that motivation at play in this situation as well?
Gordon G. Chang: Well, there could be. Right now, this is obviously affecting Shanghai, the world's biggest container port. Volumes there were down 40% last week, probably more this week as the COVID restrictions have continued. Also, air freight through the Pudong airport is down 97%. So, this is a real indication that this is going to ripple through. You know, China can't ship what it doesn't produce, and factories not only in Shanghai but around the country are operating at low capacity, or they're just shut entirely. So, right now, this is affecting China when the economy is already stagnant.
Emerald Robinson: Well, that seems counterintuitive to what Xi Jinping needs to maintain power. Would it not? Because it's rare, you could probably clarify better to see the Chinese people go to the streets like that in defiance. So, isn't this counterproductive to his ultimate goal?
Gordon G. Chang: Yes, and it's counterproductive in another way, a broader sense, because this affects the Communist Party as a whole. That is in the early parts of the pandemic when we go back to February and March 2020. The party was making the point that its form of governance was superior to American democracy because they were better able to control the disease. Now, we've gotten largely past it, and China is in the middle of this Omicron BA.2 infections. And right now, the Communist Party can't make that argument anymore. So, they see Beijing's every case of infection and every death to be a mortal threat to the Communist Party's legitimacy and therefore rule. So, you put this all together, and I think you got Beijing in a panic because they realized that with ineffective vaccines, they couldn't really control what is occurring.
Emerald Robinson: In 2020, the data that we saw out of China was not accurate, as we know, was the 25,000-case count yesterday? Is that inaccurate, or is it more or less?
Gordon G. Chang: It is probably an undercount. What is really being undercounted is not so much the case infections, I believe, but really the number of deaths. During this most recent wave that has hit all of China, they've reported two deaths. That is unlikely, considering we have tens of thousands of infections a day. Prior to these two deaths being reported, they hadn't reported deaths since January of last year, and that just defies belief. Because otherwise, if we were to believe that, we would have to believe that SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen that causes COVID 19, acts entirely differently in China than it does everywhere else in the world. That is something that most people are not willing to accept.
Emerald Robinson: Now, I have to ask you because I think this has posed a bit of fear in some Americans, given the PTSD of 2020 that started in China. We saw the lockdowns in China, and then they made their way across the globe into the United States. Do you believe we are at risk for another similar lockdown, given that we see these headlines out of China?
Gordon G. Chang: Well, we have health authorities in the Biden administration that want to lock down, want to control people, and they believe that isolation is the way to actually solve this. I think that we are probably not going to get too much in the way of infections from China because China has closed itself off and is doing a pretty good job of isolating itself from the rest of the world. Forget about COVID for the moment. This is part of Xi Jinping's plan to isolate China from the international community, and he's been doing it in a number of different ways. So, COVID has really been very convenient for him because he's been able to impose even harsher measures. In the US, I'm not an epidemiologist. You know, we could have another Omicron wave. This is a very transmissible disease. It also mutates very fast. But I think, for the most part, we've gotten away with this disease, and the reason is that we've got effective vaccines, and we've got herd immunity. We are pretty much past this, so I think we're going to be okay. But China, they're going to still have weeks and maybe months of Omicron waves and the waves of the next variant.
Emerald Robinson: Final question for you, Gordon. Does the situation in Ukraine with the Ukraine Russian border and what's going on have any factoring into what we're seeing in China right now? Is that also putting some fear or concern in Xi Jinping that would make him act out again in this way?
Gordon G. Chang: Yes, Xi Jinping is probably taking some lessons from Ukraine, which are not going to be very helpful. For instance, he saw the massive failure of deterrence, even though the forces arrayed against Russia were far stronger. The US, EU, and Britain had an economy last year that was more than 25 times larger than Russia's, yet we could not stop him from invading. That is a lesson that Xi Jinping has learned. The other lesson he's learned is that although we've imposed sanctions on Russia, those sanctions were partial and have not accomplished what we had set out. I think that Xi Jinping believes that no one would want to impose sanctions on China if it were, for instance, to invade Taiwan, Japan, or whatever. So, I think that although our narrative is brave, Ukrainian people have saved the day that brave Taiwanese would as well. The Taiwanese are brave and are prepared to defend their country, but that is not, I think, what Xi Jinping has taken away. I think that he really believes that, given what Russia has done, he's in a better position to attack Taiwan. He won't do it this year, I think, because of the 20th National Congress coming up. But if he does get his third term and becomes dictator essentially for life, then watch out.
Emerald Robinson: Yeah. Definitely, something to look out for. Well, thank you, Gordon Chang, for being here. You're always very insightful and help us understand. I think Americans will also have to be watching this supply chain as a result of what's happening in China. Now, you can go to Twitter to follow Gordon, who also puts these insights on social media. I believe that's Twitter @GordonG.Chang. Is that correct, Gordon?
Gordon G. Chang: That's right, Emerald, and thank you very much.
Emerald Robinson: Thank you. Now, as I just said, the situation in Shanghai is causing concerns for the global supply chain, especially for pharmaceuticals. Syed Haider will be here to discuss what medicines you should be prepping after the break.
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Emerald Robinson: So, it begins the warnings of supply chain disruptions due to these extreme Chinese lockdowns. Apple is being forced to close a plant. Auto parts and automakers are also looking in a pinch. Tesla and Volkswagen are closing plants in the country as well. Goldman Sachs is warning that the ongoing COVID lockdown in China is putting a significant strain on economic activity and production could and most likely will affect the global supply chain, as you can see in this graph showing the seven-day moving average. But perhaps the area most concerning could be related to pharmaceuticals. China has captured over 97% of the US market for antibiotics and pharmaceuticals. Joining me now to discuss how you can be prepared for your family in the event of such a crisis is Dr. Syed Haider. Thank you, Dr., for being here.
(Guest)
Syed W. Haider: Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure.
Emerald Robinson: I think the question I have because often we speculate about shortages. Is there an actual pharmaceutical shortage inevitable and looming, or is it just a possibility at this point?
Syed W. Haider: So, it is a possibility. I don't think it's inevitable. You know, it's always going to be kind of a tail risk or a black swan event that I think should be planned for just because it's a pretty significant possibility. Right. If they have 97% of our antibiotic supply and continue to insist on zero COVID policies or if something else happens in China, right. If there's another pandemic, another wave that's even worse, or a war breaks out; anything could happen. If the Internet, for example, went down. Like the World Economic Forum planned for COVID a few months before it happened. Then the next kind of thing they war-gamed out was a takedown of the Internet. What if a virus spread across the entire Internet and took it all down? Supply chains would be entirely disrupted in the entire world. If the Internet went down, nothing would be working. So, a natural disaster could hit China. It could hit the US. So, there are a lot of different ways that supply chains can break down. But there is this one really weak link that we're relying on one country for almost everything when it comes to pharmaceuticals. So, just having that one weak link there, if China goes down, everything goes down, I think should concern everyone. I know there are millions of Americans who consider themselves ready for anything they can. You know, 20 million Americans apparently can survive for 30 days without any outside help. Like they have enough food, they have enough water. Maybe they have solar panels or something, a generator, but not many people have a supply of their own prescription drugs that they take every day, and those can be a life-threatening situation if you run out in the middle of some kind of supply chain crisis or emergency. Then antibiotics, just in case antibiotics, don't take a whole lot. You basically need six antibiotics, and they can cover almost any eventuality. So, yeah, I think it's a really important thing that people need to consider having because it can be as important as food and water.
Emerald Robinson: You know, doctor, I wasn't aware that China has such a monopoly on the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry until the 2020 COVID pandemic and the Trump administration. Remember when there was a back and forth over who's responsible, the origins of COVID. China was mad about all the rhetoric coming out of the Trump administration, and they threatened to withhold antibiotics and not send them to the United States. Then there was a scramble. I can tell you behind the scenes. There was a scramble in the Trump administration, realizing that we have a major supply chain problem potentially here. We've let them have control of all of this, and they tried to look at fixing it. That really didn't happen, but it was at least a conversation, and I don't think it is anymore. The average American didn't understand that and most probably still don't unless you were paying attention then. So, you said there are six antibiotics that you can essentially keep on hand that would be sufficient for probably most of your medical needs in regards to antibiotics. Where do you find those? You have a site, right? MyGoToDoc.com, we have a scroll of that. Do you list that information there? And then how long can you keep these? What's a shelf life, or how do you properly store it?
Syed W. Haider: Yeah, just to address China, they are basically our enemy like you pointed out. They can hold this over our heads at any time, right? Just the way we're doing with Russia, right? Like we give sanctions to Russia, what if China goes after Taiwan, or there is some kind of face-off against China, and China holds this gun to our head. Like, you mess with us, we'll mess with you. So, I think that was a good point, definitely. In terms of the six antibiotics, you can register basically for free on my website and request a free e-book. It lists all the antibiotics. I think I have failed so far to put up all six on my website, but maybe it's in the frequently asked questions. If it's not there, just ask me. Again, people can register for free and ask questions for free. So, you can just register and ask these medical chat questions. What was the third question? It was, which antibiotics are they?
Emerald Robinson: My question is, how do I properly store these, and what are their shelf lives?
Syed W. Haider: Oh, right, the shelf-life question. Yeah, so this is a really important question. Actually, the US government studied this question decades ago. They found that almost all medications, especially antibiotics, will last for 20 years with no more than a 10% drop in their efficacy. To put that in perspective, if somebody told me this medicine is 90% effective, I wouldn't change the dose. I would still give a patient the same dose. You can even do better than that if you put them in an airtight food storage container. So, you can get those for like five bucks, ten bucks on Amazon, put them in there, and then put them in the fridge or put them in just a cool, dry place, and those will keep even better. So, with antibiotics, certainly, I know that that's the case. There are all different kinds of medications coming out every year, new ones. So, I don't know that's the case with every single newer medication. I would assume that it is generally the case. I know that's the case for antibiotics. For other medications that people have, if you have a four to six-week supply extra on hand, you can always recycle it out and start using it. You know, you go to your doctor every three or four months, and they give you another three or four-month supply of your high blood pressure, diabetes, and other medications. You can switch out the four to six-month supply of extra medications with each new batch that you get from your primary care doctor. But the antibiotics, I think you can just keep on hand, and they'll last for a really long time.
Emerald Robinson: You know, I had no idea. When I get antibiotics for my kids, I'm so paranoid that they're going to expire even before I finish the cycle with them. So, that's reassuring just as a mom without the aspect of China and having to prep for the future. So, that's good to know. Is there anything else, medically, that people should have on hand in the event, as you mentioned, the World Economic Forum warning of a possible cyberattack that could take down major infrastructure? What else should people have on hand to protect their families?
Syed W. Haider: So, all the over-the-counter drugs are a good thing to have in a first aid medkit, and then bandages, iodine for disinfecting, hydrogen peroxide for disinfecting. So, all that stuff. Then obviously, while you're preparing, a little bit of food and water doesn't hurt for sure. But other things that would be important would be a pulse oximeter so you can check your oxygen, a thermometer to make sure everything's working, and a blood pressure cuff. So, those kinds of things, because if you still have access to cell service, you can always call up a doctor in today's world. You can call us up. You can have a telemedicine console and be like, hey, I think I'm coming down with something. What do you think? Then you can get all this information and give it to the doctor over the phone or a video chat. So, if you have access to all those supplies, it’ll help boost the amount of information you're able to share and improve the diagnostics that can happen online.
Emerald Robinson: I used to give my husband a hard time about keeping so much stuff on hand in the event of a national emergency or an international emergency, and I stopped giving him a hard time now.
Syed W. Haider: Yeah, I think people have started to realize that these just-in-time supply chains are really a threat to have to rely on that kind of stuff. Hopefully, in the next decade, we'll start reshoring a lot of our productive capacity, but we haven't gotten there yet. Every time the supply chain crunch hits, we start talking about it again. Then we just back off and forget about it, but unfortunately, the world is polarizing. You know we may not be that friendly with China in the next few months or next year. Any time things could really go south, and then they could hold this whole supply chain issue as a gun to our head that, like, hey, you're going to sanction us, we'll sanction you right back.
Emerald Robinson: Yeah. Now I have to agree with you on that. There's like a forgetfulness that DC has until it's a relevant topic, and unfortunately, I don't think this administration is looking too hard and that onshoring solution right now. But thank you, Dr. Hider, for being here. As I said, you can go to MyGoToDoc.com and see the information he's talking about. Thank you.
Syed W. Haider: You're welcome. My pleasure.
Emerald Robinson: Now it's time for your daily roundup. The suspect in the Brooklyn subway terror attack has been arrested. Sixty-two-year-old Frank James was arrested yesterday afternoon by the NYPD. James called the police and provided them with his location. NYPD Commissioner Eric Adams is taking full credit for his apprehension. James was apparently roaming the street for 29 hours after the shooting. James is currently being accused of lighting a smoke bomb in a subway car and shooting ten riders. James posted dozens of hate videos online and was apparently on the FBI's radar in 2019. And a defense attorney has just revealed that at least 20 FBI agents were embedded around the US Capitol riot. The disclosure was made in a motion seeking to dismiss seditious conspiracy and obstruction charges against ten oath keeper defendants. Now, let's turn to a heroic story. We like those. A teacher in New Jersey is being praised as a hero after saving a choking student. Take a look at the moment a student got a bottle cap lodged down his throat. He raced over to his teacher to help free the cap. The teacher successfully began giving the boy the Heimlich maneuver. Thankfully, she was successful at freeing the cap from his throat. Side note, it's wonderful that this classroom has cameras in it. Maybe this should happen at schools all across the country. And that's your roundup. Coming up, you'll never guess what we just dug up on Tik Tok. We'll show you next with Sophia Bowen.
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Emerald Robinson: Welcome back. It's time for one of my personal favorite segments of the show, Libs on TikTok. Joining us now is the editor-in-chief of the Bucalupo newsletter, Sophia Carbone. Sophia, welcome back. Let's just jump right into your first clip.
(Guest)
Sophia Carbone: Hey, Emerald. Thanks for having me. The first one, I'm going to say we're starting it off big with this one. I'm sure you have young children I know, and gender reveal parties have been all the rage nowadays, but apparently, they're not just for children anymore.
Tik Tok Video Clip: Throwing myself a gender reveal party. So, of course, the first thing I did was the cake. See, it turned out a lot better than it started. It always happens with things like that, and then I decided I wanted a balloon pop. So, I cut out a bunch of little they/thems and put them into a balloon. So, I took the white one. Then I made my family do a couple because I knew they wouldn't know what flag it was. - Oh, it's gray. - It’s supposed to be purple. - Oh, purple. - Right now, you were at my gender reveal.
Emerald Robinson: I remember it was politically incorrect for parents to have gender reveal parties, but apparently not in this scenario, huh?
Sophia Carbone: No, now it's totally okay if you are a fully grown person, you can throw your own gender, reveal party and come out to your family as whatever gender you wish. It's no longer just coming out as gay or bi or trans. Now it's coming out as an entirely different gender.
Emerald Robinson: Yeah, I remember Kate Hudson, who got so much pushback about her gender reveal with her last baby. Then she apologized and said, "Oh, I'm just going to let it live, however, you know, but she likes dresses."
Sophia Carbone: Another old trend, an old school of thought that has been redone, is that we used to think that obesity wasn't healthy for you, that it caused heart disease, and caused a lot of health issues, which there's a ton of evidence and studies to support. But apparently, now that is sexist, misogynistic, and it's not okay anymore.
Tik Tok Video Clip: It's not healthy, and here's why. Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States. - Are you a doctor by chance? I'm going to go ahead and say, no, you're just a stupid haircut. But since you're so well-versed, do you know what one of the leading causes of heart disease is? Huh? Smoking. That's one of the leading causes of heart disease. Do you know if any of these women smoke?
Emerald Robinson: Yeah. I keep saying this everywhere.
Sophia Carbone: Yes. They're definitely just redoing the science on this one. I totally understand the smoking point, but you can't just discount one of the main leading factors simply because it doesn't fit your personal will for how you want to live your life. You can't just change the definition of healthy, and you can't just change statistics.
Emerald Robinson: It’s interesting. I could understand some of it, but you see this now in the catalogs, too, where they're trying to sell you the things - you know - yeah.
Sophia Carbone: Yeah. In the next video, we see people that are trying to sell you the things that are pushing, the educational material that is teaching about the patriarchy. Teaching women and people of different races that they're oppressed, they're teaching them critical race theory. They're pushing these agendas on them, and it's not just obesity. It is everything now, and it's definitely a weird approach.
Tik Tok Video Clip: Break the bias. There are so many biases that keep us down racism, queer and trans hate, sexism, and other garbage. I break the bias by making anti-oppression education accessible. That way, we can know where these biases come from, confront them, and fight them. I break the bias by citing the patriarchal art world and sharing the tradition of radical feminist artists. Break the bias by amplifying the voices of people who have been systemically silenced.
Emerald Robinson: You know, Sophia, it's funny that you pulled that one because just last week, I got a message on my LinkedIn from a woman who looked like one of those women saying, you're a shame, you're a patriarchal expletive.
Sophia Carbone: Yeah, that's their favorite thing. If a woman disagrees with their mainstream narrative, we're no longer independent, and we're now just brainwashed mouthpieces of the patriarchy, apparently. So much for supporting all women.
Emerald Robinson: Exactly. Support all women. But you know what? They always have a certain look when you get those kinds of messages from them.
Sophia Carbone: Oh, yeah, always.
Emerald Robinson: Well, thank you so much for bringing this to us, Sophia Carbone. I mean, it's kind of sad, but it's fun, too. You got to have fun with it.
Sophia Carbone: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Emerald.
Emerald Robinson: And check out her site, Bucalupo.com. Yesterday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki answered flippantly when asked about a bus full of illegal immigrants arriving in DC at the Capitol.
Video Clip: The first bus of migrants arrived in DC today. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is making good on his promise. Can you give us any reaction to this busload of migrants arriving here in DC?
Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary: Well, these are all migrants who have been processed by CBP and are free to travel. So, it's nice the state of Texas is helping them get to their final destination as they await the outcome of their immigration proceedings.
Emerald Robinson: Well, that was Psaki's press briefing. Well, here is my briefing. What Psaki failed to mention is that the Biden administration has been quietly transporting illegals to small, mostly Republican towns across the country for months in a blatant attempt at demographic change. The Texas governor simply decided to go ahead and transport them himself to a Democrat stronghold, the nation's capital. Since there's not much, they can do at this point to stop the flow of migrants across its border. And the Texas border is clogging, as the state has to focus attention on illegal immigration, slowing down international trade between the US and Mexico. Now, according to Customs and Border Protection, there have been over 300,000 got aways at the border in the last six months. Maazel 62,000 of those got aways, and what Psaki didn't explicitly say is that the Biden administration actually plans to grant basically immediate asylum to all of those illegal border crossers. And that's your better briefing. Coming up, parents are winning the culture war. We discussed the latest development in the story next.
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Emerald Robinson: There's more good news today in America. The culture war is alive, and it's well. Conservatives are winning it right now; 2022 is shaping up to be the year of the parents' revolt. This revolt started last year when concerned parents started showing up at school board meetings to protest masks and critical race theory. That fight became so intense that the FBI was sending agents to these meetings and threatening angry parents like domestic terrorists. As Democrats in Virginia will admit, that tactic didn't go over very well in the last election when a Republican was elected for governor. This year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis passed an anti-grooming law and picked a fight with Disney over it. This is a fight that Disney has lost badly. When you go to their theme parks, you see protests like this one.
Video Clip: Grooming is wrong. (chanting) Grooming is wrong. Grooming is wrong.
Emerald Robinson: Now, I have to ask you. Do you really want to spend your family vacation in the middle of a pro grooming protest? Recent polling shows that 68% of Americans are less likely to do business with Disney after their pro-pedophile political stunt. The fight between parents and Disney over-grooming laws has broken out on social media into a larger revolt against the perversions embraced by the Democrat Party. Here's another problem. The LBGT community is full of pedophiles. This is a real thing. There are dozens of Tik Tok videos of gay and trans teachers complaining that they'll quit teaching if they can't talk about their sex lives with small children in our public schools. In other words, these people are pedophiles. They want to groom your kids. They're not ashamed about it. They're angry that you want to complain about it. This is not simply a PR nightmare for Democrats and the gay community in general. It's a moral reckoning; what we see now is that these people are evil. The more the Democrats complain about being called groomers as they defend Disney, the more you see that they really support pedophiles. It's not a misunderstanding. It's just simply who they are. And that's The Absolute Truth.
