Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Reid Hoffman Gives $500,000 to Super PAC Backing Zach Dembo's Congressional Run (10/19/26)

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Reid Hoffman Gives $500,000 to Super PAC Backing Zach Dembo's Congressional Run (10/19/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. Down in Kentucky, there's a contentious battle in
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  Speaker 1: the 6th District for that congressional seat. And the battle's
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  Speaker 1: between Zach Dembo, who's the Democratic nominee, and Kentucky State
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  Speaker 1: Senator Ralph Alvarado. And they've been going back and forth
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  Speaker 1: for quite some time. And one of the hallmarks, if
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  Speaker 1: you will, of Mr. Dembo's campaign... is to go after
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: dirty money. Well, it turns out that Mr. Dembo's campaign
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  Speaker 1: has received $ 500, 000 in money from Reid Hoffman. And if
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  Speaker 1: he's not part of the Epstein class, who the hell is?
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  Speaker 1: So today, we have an article from Fox News and
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  Speaker 1: the headline. Epstein-linked billionaire pours $ 500, 000 into super PAC back
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  Speaker 1: in Kentucky Democrat. Dirty Epstein class money. This article was
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  Speaker 1: authored by Alex Schemmel. A Kentucky Democrat campaigning against the
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  Speaker 1: influence of wealthy political donors is facing calls to disavow
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  Speaker 1: a $ 500, 000 contribution from billionaire Reid Hoffman to a super
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  Speaker 1: PAC supporting his congressional bid, with his Republican opponent blasting
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  Speaker 1: the financial support as dirty Epstein-class money. Well, there's no
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  Speaker 1: doubt about it, and I have the same criticisms that
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  Speaker 1: I had with Tolerico. You can't be up here talking
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  Speaker 1: about how you're going to be an agent for change,
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  Speaker 1: how you're going to do things different, how you're going
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  Speaker 1: to hold people accountable when you're taking money from the
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  Speaker 1: same people that you're supposed to hold accountable. Do you
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  Speaker 1: think that Reid Hoffman is just donating this money because
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  Speaker 1: he's a good guy? Or do you think he expects something?
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  Speaker 1: No different than Elon Musk. What do you think Elon
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  Speaker 1: Musk was just donating all that money because he's such
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  Speaker 1: an altruistic great dude? Or do you think he's trying
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  Speaker 1: to get a favorable condition for his business and for himself?
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  Speaker 1: And there's no difference with Reid Hoffman. Now, he might
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  Speaker 1: not come out and say that, but if you're paying attention,
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  Speaker 1: you know the truth. And in my opinion, people like
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  Speaker 1: Reid Hoffman should not be donating money to a candidate
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  Speaker 1: who's talking about going after people like, well, Reid Hoffman.
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  Speaker 1: Hoffman contributed $ 500, 000 to Kentuckians Not Corruption, an independent super
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  Speaker 1: PAC supporting Democratic congressional nominee Zach Dembo in Kentucky's 6th
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  Speaker 1: congressional district on September 24, 2026, according to Federal Election
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  Speaker 1: Commission records. The contribution came as the group was spending
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  Speaker 1: heavily on television advertisements supporting Dembo and opposing his Republican opponent,
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  Speaker 1: former Kentucky State Senator Ralph Alvarado. Advertising records filed with
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  Speaker 1: the Federal Communications Commission show the Super PAC's weekly television
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  Speaker 1: advertising orders on Lexington's WLEX-TV increased more than seven-fold between
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  Speaker 1: mid-September and early October, climbing from $ 14, 650 before Hoffman's contributions
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  Speaker 1: to $ 109, 990 for the week of October 6th. Well, that's
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  Speaker 1: always going to happen as we get closer to the election.
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  Speaker 1: They ramp that shit up. And the war chests open up.
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  Speaker 1: And take, for example, AOC. She fired off, what, a
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  Speaker 1: million dollars? To Mr. El-Sayed up there in Michigan? So
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  Speaker 1: that's the kind of thing that happens quite a bit
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  Speaker 1: as these elections get closer. My issue is, you can't
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  Speaker 1: run around talking about you're a change agent and you're
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  Speaker 1: going to go after these people and then rely on
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  Speaker 1: them to fund your campaign. Because they're not doing that
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  Speaker 1: just to do it. There's always a comeback, right? There's
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  Speaker 1: always some quid pro quo. This is really, it's dirty
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  Speaker 1: Epstein class money fueling Zach Dembo's campaign. Alvarado told Fox
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  Speaker 1: News Digital, it's offensive. Well, look, I won't go exactly
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  Speaker 1: that far, right? It's not like Reid Hoffman gave the
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  Speaker 1: money directly to Mr. Dembo. So it's not like, you know,
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  Speaker 1: Dembo went to him and got that money. I just
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  Speaker 1: want to be clear. He got the money through a pack.
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  Speaker 1: But for all intents and purposes, the outcome's the same, right?
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  Speaker 1: You're accepting dirty money from a dirty-ass dude who should
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  Speaker 1: have been investigated for his relationship with Epstein, and not
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  Speaker 1: because I think that Reid Hoffman was engaging in abuse,
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  Speaker 1: but I'm talking about financially. Was there some kind of
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  Speaker 1: side projects we don't know about? Were they working on
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  Speaker 1: things behind the scenes, like Lutnik and Epstein were? Those
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  Speaker 1: are all the things that were never investigated. So we
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  Speaker 1: don't know just how deep and how intimate that relationship
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  Speaker 1: really was, besides what we see in the emails, and
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't look good for Reid Hoffman. And frankly, it
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  Speaker 1: doesn't look good for Zach Dembo's campaign, accepting this tainted
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  Speaker 1: money from Reid Hoffman. If they want to do the
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  Speaker 1: right thing, they'll give it back. Or they'll donate it.
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  Speaker 1: If he has any integrity, he should, but he won't,
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  Speaker 1: disavow it. Alvarado added, Dembo will not disavow it. I
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  Speaker 1: don't even think I'll bother to ask. Again, the least
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  Speaker 1: they could do is apologize. Fox News Digital reached out
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  Speaker 1: to Dembo's team repeatedly about the contribution, but did not
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  Speaker 1: receive a response. And look, as voters, as people that
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  Speaker 1: are concerned about this issue, you should all be aware
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  Speaker 1: of everything that's going on. And it doesn't matter what
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  Speaker 1: team's doing it. The more information you have, the better
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  Speaker 1: off you're going to be. Because this myth, that one
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  Speaker 1: side or the other cares more about you than the
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  Speaker 1: other side, is exactly that, a myth. The criticism comes
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  Speaker 1: as Dembo is made combating political corruption and the influence
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  Speaker 1: of wealthy donors a central part of his congressional campaign,
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  Speaker 1: arguing on his website that big business and the ultra-wealthy
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't be able to buy influence in Washington and that
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  Speaker 1: we need to get rid of dark money and politics.
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  Speaker 1: But after I'm elected, elect me first and then we'll
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  Speaker 1: get busy on that. Like, come on, you want to
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  Speaker 1: be this big agent for change? You want to go
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  Speaker 1: after the Epstein class? Start by not taking their money.
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  Speaker 1: How about we start there? The Democratic candidate for Kentucky's
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  Speaker 1: 6th District has also criticized tax breaks for billionaires and
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  Speaker 1: coastal elites and pledged to fight for working families rather
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  Speaker 1: than wealthy political interests. Well, that all sounds good. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: who doesn't want to see people like Epstein and his
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  Speaker 1: buddies pay their fair share, especially as you write that
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  Speaker 1: tax check out in April? So I'm pretty sure everybody's
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  Speaker 1: on board with that. And as far as fighting for
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  Speaker 1: working families, hell, we need more of that in the Congress,
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  Speaker 1: that's for damn sure. I just have my doubts that
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  Speaker 1: a dude that's accepting money from Reid Hoffman's gonna be
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  Speaker 1: that guy. If you're willing to look the other way
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  Speaker 1: about where the money came from before you're elected, what
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  Speaker 1: are you gonna be willing to overlook once you get elected? Dembo,
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  Speaker 1: a former federal prosecutor and Navy veteran, is facing former
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  Speaker 1: Kentucky State Senator Ralph Alvarado... in the race to replace
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  Speaker 1: Republican Andy Barr, who is running for the U.S. Senate,
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  Speaker 1: seat being vacated by retiring Senator Mitch McConnell. Good old
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  Speaker 1: Mitch McConnell, huh? Could that have been any more of
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  Speaker 1: a joke, what was going on with him? Bro is
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  Speaker 1: absent for what, three months, four months? Can hardly walk,
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  Speaker 1: can hardly talk, but he's out here making decisions for
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  Speaker 1: the rest of us? There needs to be an age
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  Speaker 1: limit when it comes to politics. And we also need
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  Speaker 1: term limits. Now, of course, these people will never vote
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  Speaker 1: for that because they'll never vote for anything that takes
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  Speaker 1: away their power, right? They'll never see that power back.
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  Speaker 1: But that's what we need. You mean to tell me
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  Speaker 1: there's no one in this country that's better equipped to
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  Speaker 1: do the job than Mitch McConnell or Nancy Pelosi or
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  Speaker 1: Maxine Waters or insert any one of these old people here?
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  Speaker 1: And look, I don't have any beef with old people. Fuck,
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  Speaker 1: I'm on my way to being one myself. But at
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  Speaker 1: some point, you have to realize that the faculties aren't
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  Speaker 1: there anymore, and it's time to step back. But once
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  Speaker 1: you get corrupted by this power, and you've had a
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  Speaker 1: little taste, it's so hard to give it up. The
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  Speaker 1: Central Kentucky District, which includes Lexington, has been represented by
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  Speaker 1: bars since 2013, but has drawn increased attention from national
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  Speaker 1: political groups as Democrats seek to flip the Republican-held seat
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  Speaker 1: in November. Now, looking at the polling, I don't know
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  Speaker 1: how successful they're going to be doing that, And I
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  Speaker 1: think that this is a message that's going to be
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  Speaker 1: effective for Alvarado. Well, you see, we have a hypocrite here.
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  Speaker 1: He talks about going after Epstein's money while accepting it
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  Speaker 1: on the other end. So I think that's a message
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  Speaker 1: that's basic enough that will hit with voters, especially with
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  Speaker 1: a certain block of voters down in Kentucky, right? Hoffman's $ 500, 000
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  Speaker 1: contribution went to an independent super PAC, not Dembo's campaign committee.
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  Speaker 1: And federal records do not establish that Dembo solicited or
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  Speaker 1: directed the donation. Yeah, I don't believe he did. He
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  Speaker 1: probably didn't. There's other people that insulate him from those decisions.
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  Speaker 1: But that's not the point. Now that he knows about it,
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  Speaker 1: he should go to his team and say, look, I
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  Speaker 1: don't want that money. I'd rather lose than win with
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  Speaker 1: that money. You want to earn respect? You want people
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  Speaker 1: to look at you in a different light? You want
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  Speaker 1: to set the tone right away? That's how you do it.
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  Speaker 1: Federal advertising records show Kentuckians Not Corruption television's operation expanded
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  Speaker 1: in the weeks surrounding Hoffman's donation. Kentuckians Not Corruption booked $ 14, 650
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  Speaker 1: in television advertising on Lexington's WLEX-TV for September 15th through
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  Speaker 1: the 21st, before Hoffman contributed. Its weekly orders... climbed to $ 26, 450
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  Speaker 1: for September 22nd through 28th, the period during which Hoffman
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  Speaker 1: made his $ 500, 000 contribution and rose again to $ 35, 820 for
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  Speaker 1: September 29th through October 5th. So as they got the
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  Speaker 1: injection of cash, It ramped up. And that's how it works.
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  Speaker 1: Everything you want to do in politics revolves around money.
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  Speaker 1: And if you want to get that money, who do
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  Speaker 1: you have to go to? Oh, that's right. The financial sector.
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  Speaker 1: See where I'm going with this? The following week, the
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  Speaker 1: group's advertising orders surged to $ 109, 990 for October 6th through 12th,
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  Speaker 1: more than seven times its mid-September level. The purchases included...
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  Speaker 1: spots during NBC's Nightly News, Today, and local evening newscasts,
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  Speaker 1: according to FCC records. The group's advertising campaign extended well
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  Speaker 1: beyond WLEX. Kentucky Public Radio reported that federal filings show Kentuckians,
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  Speaker 1: not corruption, had spent approximately $ 1. 6 million on advertising in
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  Speaker 1: the race by mid-October, including commercials promoting Dembo and attacking
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  Speaker 1: Alvarado's record. Reid Hoffman is not just an associate... or
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  Speaker 1: in a casual acquaintance of Jeffrey Epstein, Alvarado said, he
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  Speaker 1: was one of his best friends. I mean, Hoffman was
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  Speaker 1: a guest on Epstein's private island. He was in his
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  Speaker 1: Manhattan townhouse. There's all kinds of images of those two together. Well, look,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not going to sit here and tell you they
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  Speaker 1: were best friends. They weren't. But they were certainly associates.
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  Speaker 1: And Reid Hoffman was a lot closer to Epstein than
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  Speaker 1: he ever let on. That's definitely for sure. But I
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  Speaker 1: think calling him one of Epstein's best friends is a
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  Speaker 1: bit of a stretch. Alvarado also accused Dembo of hypocrisy
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  Speaker 1: over his criticism of wealthy political donors and opposition to
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  Speaker 1: dark money, arguing that the Democrat was benefiting from the
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  Speaker 1: very kind of outside financial support he has publicly criticized.
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  Speaker 1: The hypocrisy is so thick from Dembo in which he
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  Speaker 1: claims he won't take it, but yet, here he is,
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  Speaker 1: Alvarado said. So look, I think the moral of the
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  Speaker 1: story is, when it comes to politics, they'll take whatever
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  Speaker 1: money they can get their hands on. I mean, how
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  Speaker 1: many people accepted money from Epstein when he was still
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  Speaker 1: alive and they were running for office? A whole hell
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  Speaker 1: of a lot. But I think the big criticism for me, anyway,
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  Speaker 1: is that you're running around acting like you're a champion
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  Speaker 1: of the people, but taking money from dudes like Reid Hoffman,
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  Speaker 1: even if it's indirectly. Because you have to know, or
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  Speaker 1: at least you know now, where that money came from.
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  Speaker 1: So my question is, now that you know where that
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  Speaker 1: money originated, what are you going to do about it?
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  Speaker 1: All of the information that goes with this episode can
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: be found in the description box.