The Briefing With Jen Psaki 7/22/26 | 🅼🆂🅽️🅲 Breaking News Today July 22, 2026

[00:00:00]The couch markets are betting uh who Lawrence O'Donnell is going to have on.

[00:00:04]They bet on everything, right? It's kind of incredible. They bet on races. They bet on I don't know what else. Where you're taking your wife on a date this weekend. Who knows? It could all be on.

[00:00:12]It could all be there.

[00:00:14]>> Or words words that are about to appear in a Donald Trump speech, which would be a very, very useful set of bets to make if you're the teleprompter operator for Donald Trump.

[00:00:24]>> Sure. A guy they found by googling teleprompter operator. So, you can't make it. I'll look forward to listening to that. That'll be a good one.

[00:00:31]>> Yeah. Good night.

[00:00:33]>> All right, Chris. Have a good night.

[00:00:35]>> Okay, it is primary night in Arizona where polls close just about an hour from now and there are a lot of eyes on the race for governor in that state where Republicans are voting to choose who is going to face off against Democratic Governor Katie Hobbes this November. And Donald Trump's favorite candidate in that primary race is a guy by the name of Congressman Andy Biggs.

[00:00:55]You may have heard of him. He is a longtime leading election denier. I mean, the guy spoke at the stop the steel events before January 6th. And because that guy is running for governor, that means that tonight there is also a primary race to see who will be the Republican nominee to replace Andy Biggs in his congressional district. Now, Andy Biggs represents a very, very Republican district. Trump won Andy Bigg's district by 20 points back in 2024. And so that means even in a year where Democrats might win, and I think they could very well win a whole bunch of seats, whoever wins today's Republican primary in this particular district I'm about to talk about will likely go on to win the general election. So there was no reason for Donald Trump to really spend much political capital here or effort, right?

[00:01:44]But Trump of course decided he wanted to get involved in this race and he decided to endorse this guy who's the former Pinnol County Sheriff Mark Lamb. That's his name, Mark Lamb. A MAGA dieard running with the campaign slogan God family freedom. Yep. Just in case you weren't sure what his campaign slogan is, they really put it out there for you. And I just want you to keep that slogan, God, family, freedom, in your mind as you learn a little bit more about this guy.

[00:02:15]>> Former Panal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is now facing sexual misconduct allegations.

[00:02:21]>> Former Panel County Sheriff Mark Lamb, now fifth district congressional candidate, is embroiled in a seedy texting scandal. Lamb engaged in racist and homophobic text exchanges and also sent inappropriate and threatening messages to women.

[00:02:37]>> Only the finest over there they're nominating. So, the God family freedom candidate Mark Lamb has spent the last few months embroiled in scandal after the Arizona Republic obtained what appeared to be illicit texts and Facebook messages Mark Lamb sent to women who were not his wife. And I'm going to show you some of those messages. But before I do, I just want to warn my fellow parents out there that if you have small children in the room with you, this might be the moment to tell them to cover their ears. And if they can read, please cover their eyes, too. And even for the adults out there, a warning this these alleged messages and this guy overall are yick ick. Okay, but there was this message where an account appearing to belong to Mark Lamb tells a woman, quote, "I would normally talk so much dirtier to you, but I don't trust Facebook or my phone." After the woman replies with much with more flirtatious banter, he sends her a pornographic screenshot that we cannot show you on air. Or there's this message where another account appearing to belong to Lamb tells a woman named Tammy, quote, "I would love to see that video of you performing an explicit act I'm not going to say on television."

[00:03:45]Okay, it's just I'm not going to repeat it, but that's was in the text. Followed by two smiley face emojis, one heart eyes emoji, and curiously an American flag emoji. And I don't I don't really know what that is all about and I'm not going to try to explain it to you. Now, according to the Arizona Republic, the messages women say Lamb shared with them include a close-up picture of a penis with an offer to measure it, a similar penis picture he showed off on his phone, a photo of an unidentified couple having intercourse with a text telling the recipient to think about that being you, punctuated with a devil emoji. This guy really likes emojis. And the questions about Mark Lamb's behavior go well bond beyond just his private life.

[00:04:28]I mean, at least one woman claims that then Sheriff Mark Lamb actually threatened to send the state police after her in order to stop her from going public with the sexual messages she says he sent. Lamb was even reportedly investigated by his own church over the allegations. Now, a spokesperson for Lamb's campaign told the New York Times that the allegations were quote lies and slanderous and come from long discredited individuals. Okay.

[00:04:52]Then now you would think that in 2026 this would be the kind of candidate Mark Lamb that national parties would want to distance themselves from. You would think they would want to use their influence to push him out of the race or at the very least endorse one of his primary opponents.

[00:05:12]But in the party Mark Lamb belongs to a lur sexing scandal gets you this >> big news in the race for Congress.

[00:05:21]President Trump endorses Sheriff Mark Lamb. Trump says, "Mark strongly supports our incredible law enforcement." Trump gave Mark Lamb his complete and total endorsement. My complete and total endorsement.

[00:05:35]>> Trump has not backed away from Mark Lamb at all, in case you were wondering. In fact, Trump recently reiterated his endorsement of Lamb more than a month after Lamb secting scandal became public.

[00:05:48]And this is not just some one-off for the Republican party right now. I mean, Republicans have rallied around a number of candidates with allegations ranging from inappropriate to downright freaking dark. I mean, there's Trumpbacked Ohio Congressman Max Miller, who's currently facing serious allegations of domestic violence from his ex-wife, who happens to be the daughter of Ohio's Republican Senator Bernie Moreno. This week, Mother Jones obtained records from a lawsuit Miller is facing over the allegations.

[00:06:14]And at one point, Miller's ex-wife told investigators that she recalled her daughter saying, quote, "Daddy's house is scary."

[00:06:23]Just last week, Miller was hit with another lawsuit related to another allegation of domestic abuse from another woman. That domestic violence allegation comes from former Trump press secretary Stephanie Gisham, who briefly dated Miller. Congressman Miller has denied ever committing violence against women and specifically against his ex-wife in Gisham. But with multiple allegations from multiple Republican women, you would think that the Republicans would consider whether they really want Max Miller representing them this November.

[00:06:55]Don't hold your breath on that one. Then there's Trumpbacked Florida Congressman Cory Mills, who's also seeking re-election this year. He's facing allegations of dating violence uh from an ex-girlfriend as well as a number of other allegations over campaign finance violations, accepting improper gifts, financial disclosure violations, and misusing congressional resources.

[00:07:15]Allegations he strenuously denies. But today, Email was first to report that Cory Mills is now facing a criminal investigation from the Department of Justice. Yes, this Department of Justice. And that's according to two sources familiar with the matter. We don't know what the Justice Department is investigating Mills for, but we do know that at least as of this hour, Donald Trump has not withdrawn his endorsement of the man his own Justice Department is investigating.

[00:07:39]And it's not just Trump who's reluctant to drop these guys. I mean, here was House Speaker Mike Johnson when asked about House ethics investigations into both Mills and Miller just earlier today.

[00:07:51]two members of your [clears throat] conference, Max Miller and uh Cord Mills, face domestic violence allegations. Why would you Republicans keep them in the conference whereas Democrats are dropping somebody accused of credibly accused of sexual harassment?

[00:08:04]>> Well, the [clears throat] the the key word there is allegation. We have a process here. The House Ethics Committee works on those things. If if allegations are made, they work through a process.

[00:08:13]So, I I'm not in the business of commenting on investigations as they u as they're in process, and we'll see how that shakes out. That's how this always works. And by the way, it's done for Rs and D's on both sides of the aisle.

[00:08:25]>> Is that the way it's done on both sides of the aisle, Mike Johnson? Is it really? It's not. Because at this, as that reporter just pointed out to him, it seems like Democrats handle these issues quite differently from Republicans these days. And whether it is allegations of sexing, infidelity, or full-blown domestic violence, the Trump era Republican party has shown a real willingness to not just look the other way, but to really embrace some of these people. Joining me now are two great campaign brands. Jim Msina ran Barack Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 is now and is now the CEO of the Msina Group and Chuck Rocher, president of Solidarity Strategies, was a senior adviser to Bernie Sanders presidential campaign and is currently a senior adviser to Democratic Senate candidate James Telerico. You've also worked in Arizona. I can't do your whole bios, but just so people know, let me start with you, Jim. It feels political scandals are not new, I should say, right? They they have occurred for decades. It feels like we are hitting though a new high of these lows, right? And it has started to become the mantra of the Republican party almost that they are becoming minis of the guy that they are modeling themselves after. What do Democrats do with that though?

[00:09:35]>> Well, first of all, it's a tale of two parties, right? Because as you've said, Democrats, this is the end of your political career. Eric Swallwell in California, allegations gone. Uh in Maine, Graham Platner dropped out of the race. This is the way the Democratic party handled it. The Republican party handles it very very differently. You just had that amazing montage of all these people and the Republicans don't care about it. And why don't they care about it, Jen? Because they've decided the only issue that matters in the modern Republican party is loyalty to Donald Trump. He says it in his own endorsement tweets. He's like he will be a loyal member of the caucus for me.

[00:10:11]Loyalty is the only thing the president understands. So you can commit crimes.

[00:10:15]You can do all this. In fact, all it gets you is a reendorsement to help you get through the scandal. That is what Donald Trump has remade the modern Republican party into. It's now MAGA. It is now his party. And so, it's no surprise that these candidates would start to start to imitate him, that would start to do his behavior, and they get rewarded for it. They get to go back to Congress for it. And meanwhile, you have Speaker Johnson who doesn't seem to care at all who's in his caucus as long as they vote him for speaker. I mean, some of them when they're asked questions about these allegations, they say, "Well, Donald Trump has endorsed me as if the endorsement of Donald Trump is some sort of morality approval or something, which is so crazy. I wish more people would call that out." Chuck, let me ask you, I mean, you know what it's like, you both do, really, to run against a certifiably crazy person in running against Carrie Lake. You were an adviser to Senator Ggo's campaign back in 2024.

[00:11:12]I'm curious about how you don't get distracted by all of these al, you know, allegations, moral failings. What is the balance of what these campaigns should focus on?

[00:11:22]>> I think it's really important to know that Lamb, who you were just talking about, ran against Carrie Lake in that Republican primary. We had a whole book on him. We knew he was crazy. You know, back when me and Jim were younger, we were used to crazy. Now, you got to get used to good and crazy, like stuff you can't dream up in a million years.

[00:11:39]whether it was Reuben or James Tarico or one of the 20 House races we're on, the American people right now are sick and tired of being sick and tired and this builds on itself. And what they see is a a whole government around cost and corruption. Everything costs more and everything looks corrupt. I don't know everything that's going on as they try to catch five minutes or they're looking at this thing and they're scrolling.

[00:11:59]They just know that don't seem right. It don't seem to Jim's point when we see something wrong, you're out of here.

[00:12:04]You're gone. Sure, you need to have the court of law, but there's a high threshold in the Republican party for being good and crazy, and I think the American people are up to here with it.

[00:12:12]>> It seems I mean, the corruption story has become such a dominant. Let me ask you about Arizona, because Arizona, loyalty is such a key part of this, and loyalty for Trump, I think, also means being an election denier that it's become like number one on the loyalty test. There are candidates who may well win. We will see for governor, for secretary of state, for attorney general in Arizona right now who are all election deniers. And this is something that hopefully the Democrats will defeat them. But take us to 2028 and and what the impact of having more and more election deniers who are running on the Republican tickets and may also win some of these seats. What does that look like?

[00:12:49]>> The problem is that voters start to look at all this and start to say, is the whole system corrupt? They start to believe some of what they're hearing and these allegations. That's the damage they are doing to democracy. Democracies only work when people believe in the system and they are inherently trying to subvert the system to win elections. You know, in the short term, it's great for us in Arizona, right? They're about to nominate the worst possible candidate they could have for governor of Arizona in a state where we must control the Arizona governor's seat to stop Republicans from trying to do the steel in 2028. So, it's great they're going to nominate a bad person, but you have the right thing, which is now across the country is becoming a litmus test for Republicans to say out loud over and over the election was stolen when they know A, there's no proof of that. B, it didn't happen. But what they are trying to do is convince people that the system is rigged against them, so they won't vote.

[00:13:43]>> You are you've been advising James Telerico, one of the most interesting races, I think, in the country. So you you're a little ahead of Arizona in terms of the impact of a Trump endorsement. A lot of these Republican candidates will be like, "I was endorsed by Trump. I'm good." In some districts, they may be, but there are drawbacks for sure when it's a swing district. Talk about some of the drawbacks when candidates are carrying around a Trump endorsement.

[00:14:06]>> When you look at the general election and you look at these voters in the middle, I'm not talking about if you got a let's go Brandon flag on your boat.

[00:14:12]I'm not talking if you got a Bernie Sanders tattoo. I'm talking about folks that are just trying to make it every single day. When you have that endorsement, folks, they they're watching from afar and they're seeing him tear down a piece of the White House. They see him put his name on everything in this town when all they want are two things is what I'm finding.

[00:14:28]They want to make more money when they go to work and they want stuff to cost less. And they nothing out of this White House is addressing either one of those.

[00:14:35]And so when that comes up on the teleprompter there where you see that they're endorsed by somebody, that's the first thing that they think of. And in Arizona tonight, watch Arizona's first district and sixth district. Both of these two districts could flip to Democrats very easily in the midterms coming up here in just a few months.

[00:14:50]>> Yeah, that is very interesting to watch.

[00:14:52]I I want to ask you I want to get to Arizona, but I want to ask you about Maine, too, because >> here we are. I mean, a couple weeks ago or less than a couple weeks ago, time is a space continuum here. Uh it I think Democrats were understandably freaked out, right? Obviously, Platiner could not stay in this race for all of the re all the moral reasons of course, but then it was like what is this going to look like? Troy Jackson was ahead by three points in a poll today. What does his What does his path to victory look like? What does that look like in a state like Maine?

[00:15:21]>> Well, look, you and I know I love my math and I love my models. You cannot model a Democratic United States Senate without Maine. You Democrats have got to win Maine. And the way you win Maine is two ways. You win women voters. Susan Collins continues to overperform in a state where Kla Harris won by seven points in a Democratic wave year because she can hold on to those women voters.

[00:15:41]So, the suburbs of Portland are the most important place to go. And you've already seeing in the very first thing he did, Jackson is out there going straight at this. The second thing are these swing voters. These voters who, as Chuck was saying earlier, don't care about politics. They they are cost of living voters and they are sick of the corruption. Corruption, Jen, nationally has gone from a top 10 issue to the number two issue in these races. It's now cost of living and corruption. And the way you win in Maine is making very clear why the corruption that's happening in Washington is costing voters real money, tying it to things.

[00:16:16]You can't talk about reflecting pools in DC. They don't care. You have to talk about the corruption that costs them money every time they fill up their tank, every time they go to the grocery store, every time they spend money with their kids. That's the way you win in Maine.

[00:16:29]>> I think everybody watching right now wants to know everything about the races and wants to know, can Democrats win the Senate? because the House is feeling good though. We got still got some time to go here. You're very close to the Texas race. Tell us for people who haven't been watching it day by day like you have been. What is going on in that race? What What is Ken Paxton struggling with? What are the challenges? What should people know about it?

[00:16:50]>> I want to back up and tell you something that was crazy in the primary in Texas.

[00:16:53]30% of Democratic primary voters that showed up there. Jim knows this is crazy. Had never voted in a Democratic primary ever. 30% of those 12% of them had a history of voting in a Republican primary. That don't tell you that we're going to win, but it tells you something's really happening. I've been running campaigns for 36 years going back to Annne Richards. I've seen a lot of Texas races and I've seen a lot of folks hollering that Texas is going to turn blue. But this year, at this point in time, when you're talking about cost and corruption, you got a guy like James Tarico who can quote the Bible, but also looks like he just got out of college and every mama in Texas says, "You know what? That looks like a nice young man.

[00:17:29]James, he James Terico, nice young man.

[00:17:32]This nice young man may be a US senator because he's running one heck of a campaign.

[00:17:36]>> The interesting thing about that is that Texas is a state we last won my senior year in college. I'm now a member of the AARP. But we're on the offense in Texas.

[00:17:46]We are on the offense in Ohio, in Iowa, in Alaska. All states where Donald Trump won by over 10 points. And the fact that all those races are tied shows you the momentum and shows you how angry voters are this year.

[00:17:58]>> I I so appreciate both of you. I know we jumped around a lot there. Both of you are just political brains and everybody watching at home is like, "How are we going to win? What's going to happen?

[00:18:07]How do we hold these people accountable?" So, that was a very helpful summary of all the things. Thank you both so much for joining me.

[00:18:12]>> Thank you.

[00:18:12]>> Okay, coming up, senators grilled Defense Secretary Pete Hexet today over the escalating war in Iran, demanding he disclosed whether objectives have been met, how many much money and resources the war is costing, and how much longer the fighting will last. His answers were not great, but Michigan Senator Gary Peters was there. He had one of the most memorable exchanges of a very spicy hearing and he joins me after a quick break.

[00:18:40]Tonight, the Pentagon has identified Sergeant Angel Rampers of New York as the third service member believed to have been killed by an Iranian strike in Jordan last Friday. And this now brings the death toll of US troops since the start of Trump's war with Iran to 18.

[00:18:54]And now this afternoon, 144 days into this war, Defense Secretary Pete Hegath testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee and estimated that the total financial cost now sits at $37.5 billion. And while that number is $8 billion, more than what the Pentagon estimated back in May, it is dwarfed by the Pentagon's own internal estimates, which according to NBC News is anywhere between 80 and hundred billion dollars. And these figures are made even more glaring by the fact that the reason Hexets was on the Hill today in the first place was to ask for more money for this war without laying out any strategy or clear objective for the war. Well, at the same time, the Washington Post reports that the Pentagon is apparently running out of money and so far that has resulted in military exercise and as in trainings that help keep units prepared for combat being limited or canceled according to four current and former officials. It's almost like a former Fox News weekend host wasn't exactly prepared to oversee the Department of Defense. Well, at any time, but during wartime. And today, multiple senators questioned Hex's need for additional funds, the lack of any coherent strategy, the premature claims of victory, and also the everchanging objectives of this war, including Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who channeled what I think millions of Americans are feeling right now. Take a listen.

[00:20:15]Secretary Hegv, despite your failure to win this war, uh you are back now before Congress asking for almost 70 billion dollars in additional funding. You're asking the American people for a blank check because once again, the Trump administration's efforts have been an utter and complete failure to win this war to this point. So my question for you, sir, is how is your strategy different than what we've seen in the past? I think your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless. Uh and I think it's irresponsible and I think it smears the sacrifice of the troops that are out there making on behalf of the American people to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a failure and then you want to turn around and say you support the war fighter capable of doing >> he did you if you listen to my comments you told you would have heard me say how amazing our war fighters are. I heard failure. The word heard I I heard exactly.

[00:21:09]>> I will tell you how I use the word failure because I use the word failure to their leaders. You, sir, are the failure.

[00:21:17]>> Joining me now is Michigan Senator Gary Peters, member of the Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committee. And as I told you, I think really channeled what a lot of people were feeling who have been deeply worried about this war, which is the majority of Americans. Um, Senator, I just showed people um, really a sliver of the hearing today for people who didn't watch the totality of the hearing. Give us your take on Secretary Hegs performance. Um, did he answer any of the questions you really needed him to answer? And where did you think he really fell short?

[00:21:46]>> He didn't he didn't answer the questions. You know, he he's a guy that can give out talking points. Uh, and the talking points are not based on any kind of reality of what's actually happening.

[00:21:54]We we've heard from the president. We've heard from Secretary Hexaf that the war is over. over the last few months. The war is over. We're winning the war. And yet, as we know that we've got tragically and sadly, we've got war fighters that are going to come back tomorrow to do who are going to be greeted by grieving families because they've lost beloved uh members of their of their family. People are dying. A war is not over when American service members are dying. The war is not over because, according to the Trump administration, they wanted to deal with the the nuclear material that's in Iran.

[00:22:27]It's still there. That is still not secured. The that material is there.

[00:22:31]They've said that well, we've destroyed their missiles. We've destroyed their ability to strike. And yet that attack showed that actually Iranian missiles are not only more lethal, they're actually more maneuverable. Something is going on. And then of course we have the Strait of Hormuz, which was fully open before the war. Oil was flowing, gas prices were low. And then after the war started, that was shut off. They did not prepare to protect the strait as they should have and now oil price or gas prices are going back up again. This war is turning into a forever war because there's not a strategy to win the war.

[00:23:06]And that's what I why I took on Secretary Heg is that it's a failure of leadership. I want to say again as we're on air here, the men and women who serve in the military are absolutely amazing folks. They are heroes each and every day, but you have to have good leadership at the top. And that's the commander-in-chief, President Trump and Secretary Hexf. And they are failing.

[00:23:26]And that's why they're coming back with uh uh looking for more money to continue this war and drag this out as American consumers pay more at the pump through all of their uh purchases. Uh and we lose service members. It's unacceptable that we are not going to give them more money until they come with a better plan than they have now. And I don't think they have one.

[00:23:47]>> And just to be clear, I listened to the entire exchange. You you said that proactively before you even he started answering questions about honoring the men and women who served. Let me ask you about the cost here because there is so much dishonesty that we're getting from the administration as you've just outlined there. They're not being honest about the number of troops who have been injured. They're not being honest about operational challenges. They're not being honest about maybe they don't know what the goals and objectives are, how they're going to end this war. Hex has confirmed that the new cost of war that that there it has cost 37.5 billion dollars. That is significantly lower than what a bunch of journalists including NBC News have reported. What what do you believe here? What should the American people understand about the actual cost?

[00:24:30]>> Uh it's got to be a lot more than that.

[00:24:32]It's we have to be able to find out what it is and check it. But there's a lot that isn't in that cost if we haven't had a chance to really look at the breakdown of how they determine that.

[00:24:41]But they've also we know the Iranians have hit military facilities or cost associated with repairing those facilities. I don't think some of that is uh in those estimates. So certainly it is a lot higher. But I think it's also when we're talking about cost remember it's not just the cost to the federal treasury. It's the cost to consumers uh in America. What is the cost of of paying considerably more at the gas pump? It's hurting people who already now feel they're drowning with inflation and the higher cost are paying more every single day for gas. Grocery prices are up. Farmers are paying tens of thousands of dollars more because of fertilizer that's not coming through the straight of Hormuz. So the costs are certainly to the Treasury and now they're asking for more war which by the way will just add to the deficit which will also increase interest rates. So what you pay for a mortgage, what you pay to b to buy a car, all those costs are reflected because of this war and the tremendous cost both to the federal treasury and to the pocketbooks of Americans all across this country.

[00:25:40]>> Senator Gary Peters, thank you for being here. Um, thank you for trying to make s not make sense of, but really share more information than we often get from the administration about this war.

[00:25:49]Appreciate it.

[00:25:50]>> Thank you.

[00:25:51]>> Okay, up next, Todd Blanch can't afford to lose a single Republican vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee. if he wants to be confirmed as attorney general. But there are still a lot of unanswered questions about his very unusual interview with convicted sex trafficker Galain Maxwell. And now a recently uncovered podcast sheds new light on Blanch's very chummy relationship with Maxwell's [music] lawyer. And unless you are one of the roughly 170 people who've listened to it on YouTube, I'm willing to bet you haven't heard this one yet.

[00:26:19]That's coming up next.

[00:26:23]Republicans really bucking Trump these days. But when it comes to Trump's nomination of his former personal attorney, Todd Blanch, to permanently take over the job of attorney general, all it would take is one single Republican to tank that nomination. Just one one of the Senate Judiciary Committee's 11 Republicans would have to vote no for that nomination to fail. And amazingly, there is not just one, but two members of the group we like to call the YOLO caucus on the Republican side of that committee. Texas Senator John Cornin and North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis. Both senators who are on their way out of office and both senators who have been snubbed by Trump in their own ways. Senators who would have every reason to just say yolo and vote against the confirmation of someone like Todd Blanch. And late last night, Politico reported that the White House is of course aggressively courting both Cornin and Tillis. Of course they are. They need at least one of them trying to paper over their concerns, trying to see how they can make it worth their while to just, you know, look the other way and confirm someone who is so clearly unfit for the office of attorney general. And today, these two though got pressure from the other side because today more than two dozen accusers of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sent a letter to Cornin and Tillis urging them to vote no. See, among the laundry list of reasons why Blanch shouldn't even be considered for the role of attorney general was his role in the Justice Department's less than transparent handling of the Epstein matter. In particular, Blanch's decision to interview Epstein co-conspirator Galain Maxwell himself while he was the deputy attorney general. And yesterday, nearly a week after Blanch's confirmation hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee released Blanch's written responses to their follow-up questions, which appear to show that Blanch is still being less than transparent on that front, to put it mildly. In response to a question from Senator Cory Booker, Blanch wrote that the purpose of his interview with Glenn Maxwell was to quote explore any possible investigative leads involving Jeffrey Epste and possible co-conspirators.

[00:28:25]But according to Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman's very well sourced book regime change, that's not at all true because according to the book the White House came up with the Maxwell interview as a PR stunt to help Trump. The thinking was that quote it might help the president if Maxwell was willing to state that Trump had not been part of any wrongdoing with Epstein. Now the book also reports that Blanch spoke up and offered to interview Maxwell himself which is highly unusual. And that according to the book, Blanch even quote raised the possibility that Maxwell's lawyer might expect something in return for her quote cander. So that Blanch inter So Blanch interview Maxwell happened July of last year back in 2025.

[00:29:05]A week later, Maxwell was transferred to a minimum security prison. How nice for her. And now that makes that reported mention of Maxwell's lawyer potentially wanting something in return for that interview even more intriguing. And the thing that makes it more intriguing is that Blanch is friends with the man who was Maxwell's lawyer at the time. Here was Blanch speaking to the man who would end up representing Galain Maxwell a year before Blanch interviewed Maxwell.

[00:29:31]>> I know a lot of people that have worked with you. I know a lot of people who know you very well. I now consider you a friend and someone who I know pretty well. You are by far um the the best out there and I'll always say yes to this podcast.

[00:29:46]You might call that gushing. I mean, that friendship probably explains why Blanch was asked to provide the Senate Judiciary Committee all communications and correspondence between the Justice Department and Maxwell's lawyer from before the Maxwell interview. But B Blanch sidestepped that request, just saying that the interview itself had been made public without agreeing to disclose any communication the Department of Justice may have had with his friend who represented Maxwell. Now, in another episode of Maxwell's Lawyers podcast, in which he yet again interviews Todd Blanch, his buddy, an episode, I would note with fewer than 200 views, Maxwell's lawyer said something else that I think deserves some attention. He said that he had previously represented Galen Maxwell and that whenever he went to visit her in jail, she was being followed 24/7 by a camera crew.

[00:30:34]I don't think I've told this story before on the podcast, but I um I represented Glenn Maxwell on appeal for her for her bail appeal. And I went and visited her once. It's at MDC in Brooklyn because of what happened with Epstein. There was a crew that followed Glenn around wherever she went with a camera 247. They had a handheld camera.

[00:30:59]Even when I was meeting with her in the little room, they sat outside the room with a camera.

[00:31:07]>> Now, that's interesting because according to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Justice Department was supposed to release all materials they had related to Glenn Maxwell, but they did not seem to release those tapes. But over and over again in his written response to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Todd Blanch says that the Justice Department has produced all known responsive records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a lot of things here aren't adding up to state the obvious. I mean, even if you ignore all of Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman's reporting and ignore which you should not and ignore all the shadiness around Maxwell's transfer to a swankier prison, which there are lots of questions about. If you take Blanch at face value that the purpose of his interview with Glenn Maxwell was to quote explore any possible investigative leads involving Jeffrey Epste and possible co-conspirators, then he certainly did not make much progress on that front, now did he? Here was Blanch today having his feet held to the fire, I should say, on the subject last week by Senator Corey Booker.

[00:32:10]>> Did your interview with Miss Maxwell lead to a single additional person being charged? Yes or no?

[00:32:18]>> No.

[00:32:18]>> Did it lead to a single new investigation? Yes or no?

[00:32:26]>> I can't talk about whether there's any investigation.

[00:32:30]Senator Corey Booker joins us live next.

[00:32:37]Right now, Todd Blanch's big hopes of becoming the permanent attorney general, I should say Donald Trump's hopes as well, are in the hands of the two outgoing Republican senators on the judiciary committee, Tom Tillis and John Cornin. And there is plenty that should give them both serious pause. I mean, take for example the holes I just mentioned in Blanch's explanation of Galain Maxwell's prison transfer or his sidest stepping on questions about Trump's scandalous IRS settlement agreement. Not to mention that Blanch has just flat out crossed many lines that Republican senators have drawn in the sand themselves, like this one from Senator Tillis a few weeks before the hearing.

[00:33:14]>> If there's even a whiff of a of a lack of independence, then then that could influence my vote.

[00:33:23]Well, we will see if that actually does influence Senator Tillis's vote because Blanch was questioned about something he said on the that subject in April.

[00:33:31]Quote, "There's this model out there that somehow the Department of Justice is independent from the President of the United States. That is not true." Asked recently if he stood by that quote.

[00:33:39]Blanch simply responded, "Yes." That's quite telling. Joining me now is Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. He's a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. And I just played for you right before we took a break, Senator Booker grilling Blanch um about Maxwell and and that was not a big focus of the hearing necessarily, but you really pressed on it. And I we're going to get to Tillison and Cornin because I certainly want to ask you about them, but you decided you wanted to press Todd Blanch about communications he or other DOJ employees had with Maxwell or his lawyers before his interview with her.

[00:34:12]You also asked follow-up questions about it. People are consuming so much information right now about this and other things. Why is that so important to get to the bottom of?

[00:34:20]>> Well, it breaks so many different policies. DOJ policies, uh, the Bureau of Prison policies to take a convicted sex offender and put them in a sense the lowest minimum security prison camp uh that is against the Bureau of Prison. So why why did she get this special treatment and this particular attention that's really unprecedented from the acting head of the Department of Justice? And there's a lot sketchy here.

[00:34:46]It led to no new uh convictions uh no new uh indictments and we could not get him to say whether it even led to new investigations. But she got a cushy deal. All while he broke the law when it came to the bipartisan law we passed on releasing information in the timely manner and actually releasing it in a way that was fair. In other words, he went to great lengths to redact very powerful men, but then released all of these women, these survivors, personal information, images of them, telephone numbers, addresses, retraumatizing them and making them a subject of hate. any of those issues alone should be disqualifying and we wanted to bring that out.

[00:35:27]>> I mean, the women who have come forward and been battling this for decades are really the center of all of this and it's just so painful to continue to watch. We just played a couple of clips from a podcast that Todd Blanch did with the lawyer who's his good buddy, his words, not mine, who represented Galain Maxwell. That alone should give people significant pause. I mean, it is it is kind it should be shocking to people.

[00:35:54]What questions do you have about their friendship?

[00:35:56]>> Well, again, it brings out a lot of contradictory evidence. He called him in in a written question to me. He said, "He's a professional acquaintance."

[00:36:04]Well, you just played it. It doesn't sound like a professional acquaintance.

[00:36:07]Looks like they had a close relationship. And when the president's team pulled together a war room to deal with the Epstein files and the impact it might have on the president himself and his reputation, we know he's in there dozens, if not hundreds of times.

[00:36:20]He steps up, his personal lawyer steps up and says, "I'm going to use my position to do what's necessary to help the president in this case." That casts a shadow over this independence of that office. It's yet another example of why this man is not there to pursue justice is to do whatever I can as a shield for the president. And then that doesn't even begin to talk about how he's a sword for the president too, bringing charges against my colleagues in the Senate, Fed people with the Fed, uh u uh uh a guy who puts seashells, Comey, who puts seashells on the ground. So this is why it's very frustrating to me that my colleagues, all of them, not just Tillis and Cornin, cannot see that this is one of the more dangerous people. This is the exactly the position Donald Trump wants to make sure he has a deep loyalist that will do his bidding because Donald Trump has things he needs shielded from his to truth about his taxes. What happened really with the Epstein files and things he wants to make sure that should he have another moment. Remember his last attorney general said the elections were decided fairly. He wants somebody that's going to do what he wants them to do whether it's about the fairness of elections or some of the corrupt dealing. This is a person again that's approving mergers for people that often have business deals with the president of the United States. This is the last place you want a loyalist. You really need an independent person why Republicans should be voting no.

[00:37:45]>> Cornin and Tillis. I mean that I've called them occasional members of the Yolo caucus as I like to say. They've spoken out at times. Trump has spurned them in different ways. Um they're getting pressure from the survivors of course and other sources as well. I'm sure a number of their colleagues. Is it really about just pressure from Trump, pressure from the White House? That's not insignificant, but what else would be preventing them from voting where clearly they may want to go?

[00:38:11]>> Yeah, they've asked important questions.

[00:38:13]I I can't get into their psychology, but this is a moment that's going to test them and really be a part of their record for the rest of their lives.

[00:38:22]Remember, it was Cassidy that said, "I have problems uh with Kennedy, but I'm going to let it go." And now he regrets that decision. It was Collins that got all these promises and assurances on protecting Roie Wade and then she saw what the person she trusted is. What are they going to do about putting a p person in place that could literally be determining whether elections are fair, whether we pursue justice or pursue uh uh the the vendettas of a president.

[00:38:49]There are so many issues that the head of the Department of Justice touches that they're going to have to own if they vote for this person. And I hope they see clearly a simple law of life.

[00:38:58]If someone tells you who they are, believe them when they tell you. Whether it's Trump's taxes and the slush fund, he's told them that he's with Trump, not with the people. When it comes to what's happening with Colleen Maxwell, he's with Trump and not the truth. When it comes to persecuting Donald Trump's enemies, that he's already told you, I'm going to go after people. Even if every independent judge or or or lawyer says these are trumped up charges that will go nowhere, he's bringing them anywhere.

[00:39:23]What else do my colleagues need to stand up for once and show their loyalty to the Constitution and not this corrupt president?

[00:39:31]>> And for anyone out there arguing, well, he could he's going to be made acting anyway. That is Todd Blanch. He can't do that permanently. And Trump wants him to be the attorney general through the end of the term, which is important. Let me just ask you, you you and your not giving up here. You are still pressing on it. You're here talking to me about it. You and your fellow Senate Judiciary Democrats are holding a spotlight forum on Blanch's nomination featuring former DOJ officials and a sex trafficking expert and a survivor. Tell us about that and what people can expect.

[00:39:56]>> I want to put more and more things into the public record. We're having a forum tomorrow. My team is organizing a number of very important witnesses, people that have served with him and have stories to tell, people that know the law and professionals and show time and time again how he has violated the law and supported Donald Trump. Then of course, Miss Stein, one of the incredibly courageous women who is a survivor, who has been dogged and determined, who's been targeted by uh people loyal to Donald Trump, but she's going to stand up again and talk more about the truth of what's happened. Why are you continuing to defend Glain Maxwell and her sweetheart deal? Uh you can right now as head of the Department of Justice move her back into the appropriate level prison. Why are you standing by her and not even until you're coerced to do it?

[00:40:42]Even willing to meet with us. Two days of meetings with her, not with us. She gets a cushy uh uh situation. You We get What do we get? Our private information leaked to the public where we get further targeted and further traumatized. I'm looking forward to her testimony tomorrow.

[00:40:56]>> Senator Cory Booker, thank you for being here and continuing to press on this.

[00:40:59]Means a lot to a lot of people.

[00:41:00]>> Thank you. Okay, we are just minutes away from the polls closing in Arizona where an election denier could soon be the Republican nominee for governor. And coming up, Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs is going to join the Last Word live to talk about how she plans to win in November. We'll be right back.