Walls are closing in on Trump as missing Epstein documents point to avenue of inquiry
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What dubious dealings are associated with Donald Trump's commerce secretary Howard Lutnick?
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We're also following the big news that a top Trump ally who already owns CBS has now officially inked a deal to acquire the parent company of CNN. I'll talk to my former colleague and the former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien about what that all means. And we're following big new revelations tonight about the Trump administration's efforts to try to derail the Epstein investigation and downplay Trump's ties to the notorious sex trafficker. That's new reporting, and it's coming as a Republican-led investigation into Epstein spent the day questioning a different president, Bill Clinton, about his alleged ties to Epstein. I'll talk to the reporter behind those new Trump revelations, as well as one of the Democratic members of Congress who was in the room during Bill Clinton's deposition in just a moment.
So, like I said, we got a lot tonight. I want to start with this question. Hope you're sitting down. This is a tough one. You might need a pen and paper.
What new revelations have emerged regarding Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein?
Who is the most corrupt member of Donald Trump's cabinet? I know, it's like I handed you a bag of M&Ms and asked you to tell me which one is the most chocolatey, right? But if one had to pick a cabinet member, excluding Donald Trump himself, who's engaged in the most outrageous self-dealing and influence peddling, the one whose personal conflicts of interest are most in need of oversight, if I had to ask you to pick one cabinet secretary, we'd have to go with this guy. The Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick. Now, hear me out on this one, because I think a lot of what Lutnick has gotten up to in recent weeks has flown completely under the radar. For starters, there's Lutnick's role in the Trump administration's very own Bridgegate scandal.
For years, the federal government's been involved in building a new bridge that runs between Canada and the United States, between Detroit and Windsor. That Detroit-Windsor crossing, by the way, is the busiest land border crossing not just between our two countries, it's the busiest land border crossing in the entire world. More stuff goes across that land crossing than anywhere else. Trump himself was a big supporter of the project during his first term. It's called the Gordie Howe Bridge. It's named after the legendary Canadian hockey player Gordie Howe, who played for the Detroit Red Wings. Again, a bridge between the two countries. Gordie Howe was that bridge. But the new bridge was going to compete against another bridge nearby that happened to be privately owned by a billionaire who collects toll money anytime anyone crosses it.
How are depositions from Bill and Hillary Clinton impacting the investigation into Epstein?
So that billionaire owner of the existing private toll bridge held a meeting a few weeks ago with the Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick. And within a few hours, all of a sudden, this bridge that Donald Trump liked, Trump was suddenly threatening to block that new bridge from ever opening to the public. The New York Times asked the Commerce Department for comment on the bridge decision. They didn't respond. And in another universe, that would have been huge front page news for weeks. It's a scandal. This massive bridge between these two countries, these massive trading partners. For Lutnick, it was just Tuesday.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What dubious dealings are associated with Donald Trump's commerce secretary Howard Lutnick?
0:00–1:50
2
What new revelations have emerged regarding Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein?
1:50–3:22
3
How are depositions from Bill and Hillary Clinton impacting the investigation into Epstein?
3:22–5:03
4
What role does Howard Lutnick play in the Trump administration's scandals?
5:03–6:35
5
What allegations have been reported about missing documents related to Trump and Epstein?
6:35–8:01
6
How is the political landscape shifting for Democrats in Texas ahead of the midterms?
8:01–9:30
7
What strategies are Democrats using to capitalize on Trump's unpopularity in Texas?
9:30–10:46
8
What implications does the new media consolidation have for journalism in America?
10:46–43:47
Speakers
8 identifiedMore from The Briefing with Jen Psaki
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