Transcription
Good Sunday morning, everyone. Welcome to Sunday Morning Futures. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. I'm Maria Bartiromo.
Today, dug in and emboldened, the Democrats play with fire as air travel comes to a ground stop. Food aid is in jeopardy, and federal workers miss a second paycheck, on the job now with no pay for more than a month. Another vote expected today to try and come together for a 15th time.
Meanwhile, Democrats are celebrating election victories this week, even as the economy takes a hard hit over a record-long government shutdown. The impact on the economy is far worse than we expected because it's gone on for so long. And so there are now, like, Goldman estimates that it's over a percent or percent and a half of GDP. I think we were thinking that we'd going to have at least 3% growth in the fourth quarter. I think now we're expecting something like half that because of the harm by the Democrats' policy. And so, you know, I think that they need to stop. They're harming Americans.
Coming up, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldon on the long-term impact of the shutdown and the job cuts to come at the EPA. Even as evidence of more dirty tricks emerge of Joe Biden's DOJ, strong-arming corporate America to hand over phone and bank records of Republican opponents. Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is here along with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, revealing the details of Jack Smith's dragnet to track and spy on Republican rivals, as Republicans fail to find more than two Democrats and one independent to support reopening government. Opening up once again the issue of the filibuster, as Democrat leadership isolates anyone who dares go against the party rule, just as John Fetterman told us here two weeks ago.
"I mean, for me, it's been very isolating. My kinds of positions are reasonable because I'm not going to follow, uh, just a party line. I'm going to think, hey, independently, this is important, and this is, I happen to believe that's true."
Republicans respond to Democrat playbooks. Dirty political tricks and policies America does not want. It's all right here, right now on Sunday Morning Futures.
And we begin this Sunday morning on the brink, the brink of a new deal potentially to fund government until the end of January. On this day, 40 of the government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. Conversations are underway this morning in Washington to agree on a clean continuing resolution with potentially three appropriations bills attached to fund government until mid-January. Republicans, so far, hard-pressed to find the five Democrat votes they need to pass the clean CR and reopen government after at least 14 tries. Democrats also unwilling to support Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson's bill this weekend to pay government workers who've been on the job unpaid since October 1st.
Air travel still snarled this morning, and in some cases, canceled across the country, as the FAA moves to shut down up to 10% of air traffic at 40 airports by Friday to ensure safety, as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned us to expect here two weeks ago. The Trump administration trying to cover food assistance for tens of millions who've lost SNAP programs, as essential federal workers are missing a second paycheck this week, now on the job almost six weeks unpaid.
But Democrats are riding a blue wave after last week's election victories, with progressive Democrats urging moderates in the party to hold the line, keep the shutdown going until Republicans agree to $1.5 trillion in new spending, which includes taxpayer subsidies for Obamacare and healthcare for illegal immigrants. Democrat leadership emboldened by Tuesday's wins, including incoming pro-socialism and anti-Trump leadership in New York. Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.
Join me now in this Sunday Morning Futures exclusive is former New Yorker and former New York gubernatorial candidate and current EPA administrator Lee Zeldon, with breaking news this morning on his plans of layoffs coming at the EPA. Lee Zeldon, great to see you. Thank you so much for being here.
"Thanks, Maria."
I want to get your thoughts on New York in a moment and the pivot towards socialism, but first, give us the news in terms of potential layoffs at the EPA should this government not reopen this week.
"Well, good morning, Maria. It's great to be with you. It was about three weeks ago where EPA had a 4,000 staff furlough kicked in, but now we're at the position where we're getting closer to this is the last pay period before a far more severe, drastic furlough is going to kick in at the EPA. Uh, we're going to see impacts for environmental protection across the board. Uh, the office of air and radiation, we're talking Clean Air Act. Uh, we're talking about air pollution, they're going to be operating at less than 15%. The office of water, which is responsible for the Safe Drinking Water Act, will be operating at less than 40%. Big impacts to the office of land and emergency management, think Superfund, brownfield, emergency response. Uh, the office of enforcement and compliance would be down over 70%. That is an enforcement and compliance of the environmental laws of this country. Uh, so I, I don't want to hear congressional Democrats in the future talking about how important it is to be dealing with Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and these other laws if right now they're talking about this environmental impact as leverage to be able to gain more power. Uh, we at the EPA want to be operating with the federal government that's open, employees at the office, and getting paid. Uh, unfortunately, we're at a crossroads moment where congressional Democrats are choosing to use this as leverage, and they're wrong."
How, how permanent are these cuts when you're talking about a much larger furlough situation? Are these permanent job cuts?
"Well, we're going through a reorganization all year at EPA. We came in with an employee staff size of over 16,000. By the end of this year, we'll be at 12.5. We're cutting about a quarter of the agency size. They'll save about $750 million annually. Uh, and, uh, we want to be more efficient. We'll actually do more with less, fulfilling our statutory obligations, fulfilling presidential policy priorities. Uh, it's about priorities and focusing on the clear language of the law rather than pet partisan projects and ideological priorities. Instead, we're going to focus on what the plain language of statute says to fulfill our mission."
And of course, President Trump has been focused on national security and ensuring that this country is not reliant on communist China. One of the issues is around energy, and that is one of the president's biggest priorities here. I just got back from the Permian Basin, and one of the big issues that was celebrated was the permitting, easier, making permitting easier for companies. That's gone away in this last month because we do not have a government open to issue those permanent permits. Here's the CEO of Chevron with me, as well as the CEO of Diamondback Energy, Case Van Hoff and Mike Worth. Watch this.
"We're seeing red tape eliminated from the permitting process. We've seen executive orders that streamline the process of getting from an application through to a permit. The thing that would be really most important now is to see those codified in legislation that ensures that they're durable."
"The American oil field workers, probably the most undervalued worker out there. You know, this is a true manufacturing business built in the United States."
"Yeah, we were standing in front of that huge pile of sand because they use the sand to get the oil out through fracking. Lee, that's not happening right now. How severe has this been in terms of stopping progress and work?"
"Well, the good news at the EPA up until now is that we've been able to operate off of carryover funding through this shutdown. So, a lot of our agency has still been at the workforce and to be able to get our job done. We've been getting permits at the Trump administration at Trump speed. The most durable solution, you heard that person you were interviewing with use the word durable, long-term. I, it's for there to be reform in statute where permits take less time, cost less money, and have more certainty. With President Trump in office, we've seen announcements of trillions of dollars of new investment in the country. I've been traveling the country. I've been to 48 states so far. And I've been there for where groundbreaking has already happened of multi-billion dollar projects from West Memphis, Arkansas to Idaho Falls, Idaho, Cheyenne, Wyoming, and that list goes on. Trillions of dollars pouring into this country because President Trump was in office. So, we're fulfilling that Trump mandate. The longer this shutdown goes on, though, and we have to furlough more employees, yes, we're going to start to see an impact across the board. And that's why this shutdown needs to end right now. I know you have Senator Johnson on today's show who's been leading this fight. It's important for moderate Democrats, if they still exist, to have the courage and support Senator Johnson and his colleagues."
Well, we're going to talk with Ron Johnson momentarily, but real quick, speaking of the Democrats, what do you make of what's going on in New York? You ran for governor of New York. You've got Zaron Mum Donnie trying to take on President Trump right now. How do you think New York City changes?
"Well, drastically. It's a sad moment where I feel bad for the New Yorkers who tried to stop it. I feel bad for the former New Yorkers who have fled. But I don't feel bad for those who voted for it and others who decide to stay on the sidelines. I mean, traditionally, we've had this battle between the right and left, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, where, you know, Republicans advocate for lower taxes, Democrats advocate for higher taxes. Republicans advocate for closed borders, Democrats are putting forth policies for open borders. You know, conservatives say there are two genders. Democrats are saying that there's 100 genders and counting and growing. But what's happened right now is that the Democratic Party chose to nominate a guy who is a socialist, who is a communist, who has talked about defunding the police, and will absolutely set New York City back. The Democrats chose to nominate a person for attorney general in Virginia, who is somebody who wants to shoot and kill political opponents. And you know, if they say, 'Well, we didn't know that when we nominated him.' When they found out after they nominated him, they doubled down in continuing to support. So, you know, this is a moment where the Democratic Party, we used to say, 'This isn't our grandparents' Democratic Party anymore.'"
"This isn't even the Democratic Party of a few years ago. The far left is, you know, tail wagging the dog here, and it's taken over the Democratic Party, and it's harming all of America because of it."
Unbelievable. Well, we'll be watching that one, of course. Lee, it's good to see you. Thanks very much. We'll be waiting to hear your next move at the EPA. Lee Zeldon.
Meanwhile, the 40-day shutdown sparking President Trump to call for the elimination of the 60-vote filibuster, which Senate Majority Leader John Thune is against, fearing that Democrats will use it to pass their agenda without Republican input in the future. But this is something Press Secretary Caroline Levit told us to expect regardless. She said it here last week. Watch again.
"These are radical left lunatics in charge of the Democrat Party today, and they will nuke the filibuster. They want to make Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico states. They want to pack the Supreme Court. They don't care about our sacred institutions in our country. And so Republicans need to play tough, and they need to play smart, and that's what President Trump thinks."
Joining me now is Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, fresh off of his efforts to get federal workers paid and opening this government. Senator, great to see you. Thank you so much for joining us. And I want to start right here on what you just heard from Caroline Levit, and that is about this filibuster debate, because I also spoke with Florida Congressman Byron Donalds on Friday, and here's what he told me. Watch this.
"In my view, the next time the Democrats have the trifecta, they are going to get rid of the filibuster. They are going to pack the courts. They're going to make D.C. a state. So my view is, let's actually get real policy solutions on healthcare, on energy, on regulatory reform, on real immigration visa reforms."
Senator, I realize that most moderates do not want to take away the ability for both parties to work together, but do you expect that the Democrats are going to do it anyway once they return to power?
"Well, good morning, Maria. Well, you may be talking about Republican moderates. Democrats, we already know they absolutely will nuke the filibuster. They purged the two members that to prevent that last time. Every last one of them in the Senate right now is pledged to nuke the filibuster. I can't imagine a Democrat Senate for Senate candidate not having to pledge that. So, when they gain power, and that's what we need to prevent, they can never gain power again. If they gain power, they'll nuke the filibuster to maintain power. So, I agree with President Trump. We've got a lot to accomplish. You can tell by the way they're obstructing, they are keeping government shut because they don't want the economy to do well. They don't want President Trump to get credit for these things. So, they will obstruct every good piece of legislation President Trump and Republicans want to pass. So, we better act first. That's the bottom line. We will use the 50-vote threshold for good things, to fully secure the border, secure our elections, to hopefully repair the damage done by Obamacare, transition to a system that actually works, have economic prosperity. Democrats will use the, you know, nuke the filibuster to maintain their power. It's all about power with Democrats."
Well, I mean, you've already changed the rules on nominations, right? I mean, you had to get the nominations, the president's nominations through, and you changed those rules. So, I mean, does John Thune, the leader, not expect the Democrats to nuke it when they return to power?
"I, I've got to believe every Republican believes they'll do that. But again, they they are clinging. Listen, I wish the Democrats respected the filibuster. It's a good thing for the institution, but they don't. So, you have to recognize that reality. I come from the private sector. A lot of realities sometimes you don't like to recognize, but if you don't, you're going to be in big trouble. And that's basically what President Trump is saying. We have to recognize that reality. If we want to do good things for the American public, we better end the filibuster on our watch."
Well, I mean, why don't you take a vote on it? I mean, do you believe you have the 51 votes within Republicans to nuke the filibuster?
"Yeah, I actually proposed that to Leader Thune as soon as we won the majority here. Let's take a vote on the filibuster. Let's see if Democrats are really serious that they want to get rid of the filibuster with President Trump in office. So, maybe our first strategy ought to be is try and change the rules the way the Senate should change the rules with 67 votes. Take that vote. It would be very interesting. Are Democrats dedicated to nuking the filibuster when the other side's in power or not? About the only thing that would restrain them from nuking it when they got power if they're on record of saying no when President Trump was in office."
So, what's your gut? Do you think you have the support within the Republican Party?
"Probably not now. But again, we didn't have the support to change the rules on nominations until the Democrats were so obstructive, so obnoxious, people realized he's not even going to get half of what a normal president would get in the first Congress. And so the entire conference finally said, 'We have to do this. This is just so obnoxious what the Democrats are doing.' My guess, I mean, look at how many days we've been in shutdown now when the House passed a very reasonable CR, the same type of continuing resolution the Democrats voted for 13 times under Biden at Biden's spending levels, and they are still holding firm, emboldened by Tuesday's election."
Wow. Senator, where are we? I know you're going to do another test vote later today. Do you expect government to open this week?
"I sure hope so. You know, Maria, you have to understand how profoundly broken the appropriation process is. I've been here 15 years. We should have passed 180 appropriation bills before the end of the fiscal year. We've passed six. It's a 96.7% failure rate. We have to recognize that reality. The real solution, the long-term solution is my Eliminate Shutdowns Act. We'd never have this conversation again. Short-term solution may be my Shutdown Fairness Act, which Democrats have now blocked, I think, three times. Let's hope they don't block it if they refuse to open up government today."
So, do you think you're going to have any success in terms of getting federal workers paid?
"Yeah, I don't know how Democrats can continue to say no. I mean, we had one senior Democrat staffer say, 'We're not going to open up the government until planes start falling out of the sky.' God, I hope that doesn't happen. I hope that's not what's required. Uh, I've always thought I've been making good progress with Democrats, but then they always throw up just one more concern about, you know, oh, we're not, we're not doing this. You know, my original Shutdown Fairness Act covered working the working federal, the people forced to work. Then I added furloughed workers. Then I've added all this kind of language to address their phantom concerns. I've gone the extra 10 miles to try and get this done. We're doing it overnight. Hopefully, we'll have a bill that they will finally embrace today if they if they don't vote for a continuing resolution to open up the government."
Senator, let me switch gears, ask you about the dirty tricks played, and I know you were among the senators that were tracked. Tell me about Jack Smith's net and how many Republicans he wanted to capture in terms of tracking them. He wanted bank records. He wanted phone records. What happened to you, and how do you see this impacting things going forward?
"Well, his primary target was President Trump. They almost got him. We want to certainly uncover all the coordination between his prosecution, Department of Justice, what was happening in Georgia, and also New York. And I know U.S. Senators get all upset about the outrageous violation of the separation of powers. There's no doubt about that. I think what I'm most shocked about is the enormous enemies list, the massive partisan dragnet. There were 38 Republicans. I mean, I know most of these people, they're little old ladies that have run county chairs for decades. They were the ultimate slate electors. Jack Smith tried to criminalize that. Judge Tupper, a man of integrity, represented President Trump for two months as his lawyer during a very legitimate challenge for all the irregularities in Wisconsin. Probably spent a million dollars in legal fees already. They have indicted him for felonies. They have weaponized the justice, they weaponized the Justice Department against ordinary Americans. That's the greatest outrage."
So, so you're talking about 38 Wisconsinites, not just Republicans, because I believe when you talk about Republicans, you're talking about 200 people, including groups. But you're zeroing in on 38 people from Wisconsin.
"Yeah, 38, 38 normal Wisconsinites, God-fearing, country-loving, law enforcement supporting people that just were involved in politics because they want to save this country. They were on the enemies list. They were targeted. They had civil suits. They had to settle. They incurred legal fees. That's what Democrats are doing. They're literally trying to, their political opposition. So, this was way beyond just targeting President Trump. This is a massive scandal, orders of magnitude worse than Watergate."
Wow. Senator, we're going to keep a spotlight on that, certainly. And we're talking with Devin Nunes about it coming up. Thank you so much, Ron Johnson. Good to see you, sir. We'll be watching.
Coming up, political dirty tricks. How big was that net to spy on Republican political rivals? Then why did Jack Smith entangle corporate America to do their dirty work of handing over phone and bank records of Republicans? Senator Lindsey Graham and former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes are here on Jack Smith's Arctic Frost investigation. Coming up, stay with us.
"You take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you."
Well, that was a flashback. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer with an ominous warning just weeks before President Trump took the oath of office for his first term back in 2017, as the Russia hoax was spiraling across the world. Smears of President Trump cheating and colluding going viral two weeks before he was about to begin his first term. Last week, federal prosecutors in their case against James Comey revealed evidence of a handwritten note written by the former FBI director in which he writes, "HRC Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to tie Trump and HRC health just weeks before the 2016 presidential election." The note was written 19 days after Comey received an investigative referral outlining a plan by Hillary Clinton's campaign to tie President Trump to Russia to distract from her use of her private email server while she served as Secretary of State.
Joining me now with reaction is the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Senator, it's great to see you this morning. Thank you so much for being here. I want to get back to that in a moment, but first, get your take on the government shutdown. Are you expecting any progress today?
"Yeah, I think this madness is today. You know, this political terrorism Democrats have been using, shutting down airports, people not getting paid, SNAP benefits, you know, going away, is backfiring. They want us to do two things by terrorizing the country: repeal the $1.5 trillion dollars in savings we had from the big, beautiful bill making Medicaid more efficient. They want to change the prohibition against illegals getting healthcare that we had in that bill. And they also want us to continue for another year Obamacare, which is the biggest scam on the planet. Under Obamacare, insurance companies' stocks have gone up about a thousand percent. Your premiums have doubled. The only winner under Obamacare is insurance companies. They sign people up, they get paid, and these people don't even make claims. 190,000 people were signed up on Obamacare and didn't even know it. So, it's a scam for insurance companies. It's not helping affordability. And Donald Trump gave us a breakthrough yesterday. Donald Trump, President Trump said yesterday, 'I will not accept continuing to give hundreds of billions of dollars to money-sucking healthcare insurance companies under Obamacare. I'm going to give the money to the people so they can buy better and cheaper healthcare.' And that broke the Democrats. Obamacare has been exposed for a scam. It's a reward to insurance companies at your expense. And I think the government's going to open today because cooler heads are prevailing on the Democratic side. Senator Shaheen, Senator Collins, Katie Britt, and many others. I think we'll have a breakthrough today. Then we'll talk about how to change Obamacare to give the money to the people rather than insurance companies."
Yeah, we saw President Trump's post on Truth Social about that for sure last night. So, just to be clear, you think today is the beginning of the reopening?
"Yes, today it will. The government will reopen today. We're not going to talk about healthcare until it does. And when it does, Donald Trump's going to lead this nation to change Obamacare where all the money goes to the seven top insurance companies in the world. They have been in America. They have been enriched from 500 to a thousand percent increase in stock, while premiums under Obamacare have over doubled. Trump's going to end that."
Senator, let me move on to Arctic Frost. You were among those who were tracked and spied on. You just saw that soundbite we played from Chuck Schumer back in 2017 saying that the intelligence community would get back at President Trump at some point. What is your assessment of where we are today with all these dirty, dirty political tricks?
"Well, here's my assessment. In 2016, James Comey at the FBI led an effort to bring down Donald Trump to continue a narrative right before the election that Donald Trump was an agent of Russia. That wasn't coming from intelligence. It was coming from Clinton's campaign. Comey was told in 2016 that the Clinton campaign was pushing the story that Trump is a Russian agent. They continued Crossfire Hurricane into 2017. It didn't work. Trump survived. In 2022, right after Trump announced, 'I'm going to run for 2024 president again,' Jack Smith was appointed three days after Donald Trump announced he was going to run for president in the 2024 cycle. Within eight months, they had 91 felony charges in New York, Washington D.C., Florida, and Georgia against him. It was the second time the FBI and the judicial system was used to try to destroy Donald Trump, and I got caught up in it. Arctic Frost was designed to stop his comeback. If Donald Trump had never announced his running for president in 2024, none of this would happen. They tried to take him down with Crossfire Hurricane. Arctic Frost comes along right after he announces for president in 2022. They go after my phone records in 2023 along with 10 other senators. The goal of Arctic Frost was to destroy Donald Trump, kill him in the cradle so he couldn't come back, charge him with a bunch of BS all over the country. And here's what I want to know: Was Jack Smith coordinating with Fani Willis in Georgia? Was he coordinating with Alvin Bragg in New York to trump up charges so Donald Trump couldn't win in 2024? That to me is a coup. This is the second time the FBI and the Justice Department entered into an effort to have a judicial coup in this country."
This is unbelievable. Why? Why stop Donald Trump? Why such hatred and aggression?
"Strzok said, 'Surely the government won't win because he's what the FBI.' Yeah. Well, look at he's a threat to liberalism. He's a threat to the status quo. Look at what Strzok and Page said in 2016. 'Surely to God, he won't win. He should lose 100 million to nothing.' These are the people in charge. James Comey was told by the CIA, 'We have intel that Clinton is behind the idea that Trump's a Russian agent.' He never told the FISA court that the man who gave the Steele dossier provided the information recanted to the FBI in January of 2017, and they still got warrants against Carter Page acting like he was part of a conspiracy with Trump to help Russia. Now, in 2024, when he announces for the 2024 cycle, within three days of saying I'm going to run again, Jack Smith is appointed special counsel. You have 91 felony charges coming within eight months, and they come after 10 United States senators' phone records, including mine. If this is not a coup, what would be?"
Will anyone be prosecuted here?
"God, I hope so."
Senator, we're going to be watching it. You were there the whole time. This 10 years, we will be watching this potential conspiracy. Thank you, Senator Lindsey Graham. We'll be right back with Devin Nunes on this. Stay with us.
And let's not forget, folks, yes, he's president now, but Judge Boasberg, Jack Smith, Merrick Garland, and the Democrats wanted Donald Trump in jail. That's what they wanted. And they would go to any lengths, spy on any American, spy on any elected official in order to do so. When you use the Justice Department to spy and to wiretap and to track the movements of your political rival, that is un-American. That's why Judge Boasberg needs to go. And that is Florida Congressman Byron Donalds with me on Fox Business's Mornings with Maria on Friday, calling for the House to impeach federal judge James Boasberg for signing off on multiple subpoenas to track Republican lawmakers as part of Jack Smith's Arctic Frost investigation. The same judge who also worked on the Russia collusion probe. Now, Attorney General Pam Bondi revealing that Biden's Justice Department seized President Trump's official cell phone from his first term. And they issued a subpoena for the president's personal call logs as well, as part of their Arctic Frost probe. Bondi did not say which phone carrier received the subpoena and if that company complied or challenged the subpoena.
Joining me now with more is former California Congressman Devin Nunes. He exposed the Russia hoax seven years ago on this program with me here while serving as the House Intelligence Committee Chairman. Devin, it is great to see you. Thank you so much for being here today. You are also the chairman of the President's outside advisory intelligence committee, and we appreciate you being here. Can you talk to us a bit about what happened to Truth Social and Trump Media and Technology Group during this Arctic Frost investigation?
"Yeah, Maria, thanks for having me. And one would think that Trump Media would not have been caught up into Arctic Frost at all. Largely because, Maria, we just became a public company in 2024, and we were nowhere around in 2021 on January 6th. So, why would Trump Media be subpoenaed at that time during this investigation? It doesn't make any sense. And you know, furthermore, when you look at this, JP Morgan, should they have complied with this knowing that we weren't around? They had to know that our company wasn't around on January 6th. We were never notified. Trump Media Company wasn't notified."
Now, what do you mean about, tell me about JP Morgan? What are you saying about JP Morgan?
"Well, when Arctic Frost went after our bank records at Trump Media, that's inexplicable because we didn't exist. So, what reason did they have to go after us? But I think furthermore, why did JP Morgan target us and not tell us? We're a Florida company. I mean, I don't, I can't believe this is not against Florida law, that it wouldn't be against federal law. But furthermore, during that time period, Maria, when we were a private company just going public, JP Morgan then debanked us at that time. Now, luckily enough, we had other banks in line, First Citizens. But right at the time that we were going public in early 2024, in the spring of 2024, right at the height of the campaign, we were trying to get our company that saves free speech, True Social, saving free speech, making sure that we all had a voice. At that time, JP Morgan inexplicably debanked us, and we need to know why that happened. You know, after discussing this with them for several months, going back and forth, it looked political at the time, but now we know that they were under subpoenas that they didn't tell us about as they were cooperating with the Biden Department of Justice."
Wow. So, wait. So, you're alleging, you are alleging that Jack Smith called JP Morgan and sent a subpoena to send Jack Smith's office your bank records from Trump Media. Now, JP Morgan gave us a statement back in August when President Trump attacked the banks to say that they were debanking. And JP Morgan told Fox, "We do not close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed." That is what JP Morgan Chase told us. What are you saying?
"Well, that may be their policy now, but I can't imagine that was their policy at the time because we know now. We didn't know. Now, what's new here is that we were caught up in Arctic Frost. We, Trump Media Company. Now, look, we're owned by hundreds of thousands of shareholders all around the world. You know, we had nothing to do with January 6th at all. There was no reason to go after us and subpoena our records. So the back and forth that happened between the Department of Justice, what was the reason for the subpoena, who did they talk to at JP Morgan? Because we know at that time we were going back at JP Morgan saying, 'Look, this sure looks political.' And then after this going on for months, then right when the damage could be maximized against our company, right when we were going public, what does JP Morgan do? They debank us. And I've seen, I've seen Jamie Dimon and others at JP Morgan say this over and over again that they don't debank people for political reasons. Well, then why the hell did you debank Trump Media? We didn't have anything to do with January 6th. So, look, we're going to do everything under the law, Florida law and federal law, to figure out what JP Morgan knew, when did they do it? Did they coordinate with anybody within the Biden administration or the Justice Department? This is easily knowable. All we need is all the communications that JP Morgan had as it relates to our account. But we know that what they did, and at the time, I think it's pretty clear they were trying to maximize damage on behalf of someone. We don't know who. But there was no reason for Jack Smith at this witch hunt, the Department of Justice, to ever target Trump Media. We were a company, Maria, at the time, by the way, that was just going public with $250 million and no debt. You know, we had a clean bill of health. We just got approval by the SEC. Why would you debank somebody that wants to deposit $250 million into your bank, supposedly one of the largest banks in the world with high integrity? These are questions that will be answered, and we will make sure as a company that they are answered. And look, we're one of, don't forget, we're one of hundreds and hundreds. You were just talking to the senators that got their phone records wrapped up in this."
Yeah, there's hundreds of Americans that were wrapped up in this dragnet.
"Well, I think it's absolutely extraordinary that Jack Smith went to corporate America to actually do the dirty work. We know that they went to Verizon. They went to AT&T, and Verizon and AT&T handled it very differently, demanding phone records from Republican lawmakers as well. I want to get back to what Jack Smith's overall modus operandi was. Let's take a break and come right back with former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. Stay with us."