Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / Take this seriously!_ Dem Rep. calls on Trump admin to put real experts in charge of Iran talks

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Take this seriously!_ Dem Rep. calls on Trump admin to put real experts in charge of Iran talks · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Joining me.
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  Speaker 2: Now we have Arizona Congressmoman.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, I'm in and sorry.
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  Speaker 2: She serves on the House Oversight and Natural Resources committees. Congressoman,
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  Speaker 2: it's good to see you again. So this new development,
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  Speaker 2: it's possible that two things can be true at once,
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  Speaker 2: correct because of the White House saying the talks have
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  Speaker 2: not been canceled.
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  Speaker 1: But then you can also have something.
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  Speaker 2: Delayed or as we've heard with Inzi Mom's reporting on hold.
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  Speaker 2: It makes sense, doesn't it when you have efforts at
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  Speaker 2: diplomacy on whatever level, lower level, upper level being sidelined,
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  Speaker 2: when you have strikes ongoing in both directions from both sides.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly.
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  Speaker 3: Unfortunately, none of this is really surprising. I think you
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  Speaker 3: know obviously from the very beginning this war has been
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  Speaker 3: absolutely catastrophic, led by the United States and Israel, and
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  Speaker 3: started in the middle of diplomatic negotiations around Iran's nuclear program.
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  Speaker 3: Sure you know, one hundred some days of war. When
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  Speaker 3: Donald Trump and Iran and Pakistan and other countries announced this, MoU,
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  Speaker 3: it was very clear that this is going to be
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  Speaker 3: a very bumpy ride. It is essentially an agreement to
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  Speaker 3: then have sixty days of negotiations and some of the
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  Speaker 3: thorniest issues have yet to be worked out, whether that
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  Speaker 3: be Iran's uranium enrichment, whether that be the fighting in Lebanon,
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  Speaker 3: and how to end the fighting in Lebanon, whether that
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  Speaker 3: be you know, the sanctions relief that you know Iran
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  Speaker 3: is fighting for.
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  Speaker 1: This is going to be very difficult.
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  Speaker 3: The other challenge here is that we have extremists in
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  Speaker 3: power in every government involved. You have the Islamic Republic
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  Speaker 3: still in power in Iran. Despite the fact that Donald
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  Speaker 3: Trump claims that there has been regime change and we
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  Speaker 3: have a new and better regime. That's not true. Donald
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  Speaker 3: Trump is an extremist, He's a warmonger. He has never
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  Speaker 3: been able to stay focused on an important issue in
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  Speaker 3: this country for more than two minutes because he's distracted
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  Speaker 3: by his ballroom in the reflecting pool. And then, of
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  Speaker 3: course you have Benjaminatanna, who in Israel, who also does
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  Speaker 3: not want to see an end to this conflict. So
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  Speaker 3: the circumstances are incredibly, incredibly challenging all around here, and
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  Speaker 3: the ultimate result is that lives are on the line,
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  Speaker 3: people suffer, the US economy is in shambles. Thousands of
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  Speaker 3: innocent people, including thirteen American service members and innocent civilians
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  Speaker 3: in Iran and Lebanon have been murdered. This war needs
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  Speaker 3: to come to an end. So my plea to the
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  Speaker 3: Trump administration is to take this seriously.
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  Speaker 1: Put real people in charge of these negotiations.
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  Speaker 3: Not your relatives or real estate guys like Wick kaff
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  Speaker 3: and Jared Kushner. We need adults in the room to
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  Speaker 3: handle this and bring this war to an end once
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  Speaker 3: and for all.
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  Speaker 2: You mentioned all the thorny issues, and among them, of course,
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  Speaker 2: the straight of horror moves and Aram said today that
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  Speaker 2: the MLU gives it authority to manage the strait. It
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  Speaker 2: warned against interference.
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  Speaker 1: In the waterway. So what do you make for some
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  Speaker 1: of all that?
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  Speaker 2: And what do these flaring hostilities between Iran and the
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  Speaker 2: US mean for the overall interim deal? Are you concerned
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  Speaker 2: at all that it could fall apart.
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  Speaker 3: I've always been concerned that I can fall apart again
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  Speaker 3: because of the individuals who are leading the processes, because
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  Speaker 3: of the erratic nature of our own president. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: the fact that he took again to social media to
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  Speaker 3: threaten annihilation of the country of Iran is a disgrace.
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  Speaker 3: It's absolutely ridiculous and embarrassment. There's no words for the
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  Speaker 3: way that our government and this administration are treating all
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  Speaker 3: of this.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you cannot be in.
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  Speaker 3: The middle of negotiations and every other day threatened to
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  Speaker 3: essentially threaten to use.
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  Speaker 1: A nuclear weapon.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, when you're talking about ending a civilization or
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  Speaker 3: ending a country, what does that mean? And so that
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  Speaker 3: is always a concern, and I think why I have
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  Speaker 3: continued to call for the twenty fifth Amendment because I
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  Speaker 3: think Donald Trump is completely unfit for office.
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  Speaker 1: And then back to the strait of horror moves.
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  Speaker 3: Per your question, it's important to continue to remind Americans
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  Speaker 3: that the strait of horror moves was open before this
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  Speaker 3: war began. There were no issues with the strait of
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  Speaker 3: horror moves.
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  Speaker 1: This is a.
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  Speaker 3: Catastrophe of Donald Trump's doing because he's unfit, because he's erratic,
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  Speaker 3: because he's a warmonger.
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  Speaker 1: And again, ultimately.
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  Speaker 3: The deals that the MoU that we've seen, Iran does
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  Speaker 3: hold the cards in that and I think most experts
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  Speaker 3: would agree that Iran has been more successful in the
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  Speaker 3: negotiations and they have the leverage because the United States
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  Speaker 3: was unsuccessful and whatever it was, we were trying to
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  Speaker 3: do by starting this war.
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  Speaker 2: Your voice may be among the most interesting and thoughtful
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  Speaker 2: about all this because you are the first Iranian American
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  Speaker 2: elected to Congress. What are you hearing from fellow Iranian
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  Speaker 2: Americans and any context that you have and Iran on
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  Speaker 2: where this stands today? Is there frustration with the way
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  Speaker 2: this war has ended for now given all of the
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  Speaker 2: blood and treasure lost from both sides.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think it's been an evolution for most people
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  Speaker 3: you know there.
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  Speaker 1: It is true that at the.
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  Speaker 3: Very outset of this war, especially even right before the
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  Speaker 3: war started, when when the massacres were taking place in Iran,
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  Speaker 3: the government you know, was cracking down. It's estimated they
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  Speaker 3: killed thousands and thousands of Iranian civilians who were protesting.
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  Speaker 3: And Donald Trump went out and said, keep fighting, help
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  Speaker 3: is on the way. That was his message to the
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  Speaker 3: Iranian people. And so for most people around the world,
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  Speaker 3: when you hear the President of the United States of
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  Speaker 3: America say something that means something, and you believe them.
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  Speaker 3: And so many Iranians inside the country, outside.
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  Speaker 1: The count in diaspora communities believe that.
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  Speaker 3: And so when you know, the war started with the
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  Speaker 3: killing of Ayatola Khamene many felt some hope that this
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  Speaker 3: may bring about a downfall of this horrific regime that
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  Speaker 3: has been in power for fifty years. But I think
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  Speaker 3: very quickly it became clear that that was not the case.
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  Speaker 3: The administration continued to change their public and private reasoning
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  Speaker 3: for the war. When I asked in a classified briefing
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  Speaker 3: very early on a few weeks in, I asked Secretary
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  Speaker 3: of Rubio if a democratic transition in Iran is one
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  Speaker 3: of the objectives of the mission, he very clearly told
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  Speaker 3: me no, it's not part of the mission. And Donald
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  Speaker 3: Trump has made that clear in recent weeks, as he
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  Speaker 3: has said, you know, we never cared about regime change,
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  Speaker 3: or there has already been regime change.
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  Speaker 1: Ultimately, the result.
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  Speaker 3: For Iranian people has been horrific because you now have
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  Speaker 3: a younger regime. I think that the fact that they
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  Speaker 3: were able to withstand US military aggression has emboldened them,
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  Speaker 3: has strengthened them.
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  Speaker 1: Thousands of people have.
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  Speaker 3: Been murdered, I mean businesses, apartments, homes destroyed in the process.
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  Speaker 3: Iran is also a country that is economically devastated because
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  Speaker 3: of the crippling sanctions that we have placed on them.
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  Speaker 3: For so many years that have largely hurt the people
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  Speaker 3: more than the regime because the regime is incredibly corrupt, right,
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  Speaker 3: so even with the sanctions, they are able to harbor
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  Speaker 3: most of the money.
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  Speaker 1: They run the most.
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  Speaker 3: Profitable businesses in the country, and so regular Iranians are
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  Speaker 3: the ones who hurt the most. So long term, you know,
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  Speaker 3: this war in the short term needs to end. But
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  Speaker 3: long term, I think we just really need to reevaluate
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  Speaker 3: our policy towards Iran and look at how we can
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  Speaker 3: actually support human rights and the people in the country
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  Speaker 3: and you know, hopefully encourage a better future for them.
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  Speaker 2: Let me ask you something completely different, and that being
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  Speaker 2: the Oversight Democrats who have launched a probe into the
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  Speaker 2: two companies awarded the no bid contracts to renovate the
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  Speaker 2: Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, following the many problems that it
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  Speaker 2: has developed since it's refurbishing. Government documents obtained by The
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  Speaker 2: New York Times undercut Trump's claims of vandalism. Have you
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  Speaker 2: seen any evidence of sabotage? And if incompetent work is
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  Speaker 2: to blame, will Congress look to hold the White House accountable?
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  Speaker 3: I can tell you that the Oversight Committee is going
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  Speaker 3: to be investigating every corrupt maneuver that this Trump administration
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  Speaker 3: has pulled, which which the list is long. This is
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  Speaker 3: the most corrupt administration in American history, and it's not
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  Speaker 3: even close. The fact that Jade Vance essentially admitted that
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  Speaker 3: himself by saying that Watergate would not last in today's
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  Speaker 3: media cycle, shows that he knows that they are extremely
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  Speaker 3: corrupt and they are getting away with so much every
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  Speaker 3: single day at the expense of Americans. These examples in
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  Speaker 3: terms of the contracts that Donald Trump is throwing out
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  Speaker 3: there for all of the White House renovations and the
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  Speaker 3: reflecting pool and all of this other app salute nonsense,
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  Speaker 3: is just the latest examples of the corruption. He is completely,
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  Speaker 3: completely deranged. I found the reporting recently about the fact
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  Speaker 3: that in the early days of the war he seemed
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  Speaker 3: more interested in talking to his staff about maple trees
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  Speaker 3: for the White House than how to end the conflict
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  Speaker 3: to be extremely telling, not surprising, everything that we need
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  Speaker 3: to know. Donald Trump is corrupt. He thinks he's a king,
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  Speaker 3: he's an authoritarian. And I look forward to when we
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  Speaker 3: are in the majority, because on the Oversight Committee, Democrats
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  Speaker 3: are ready to go with lists of subpoenas, investigations into
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  Speaker 3: the corruption, and we will hold all.
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  Speaker 1: Of these criminals accountable.
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  Speaker 2: Assass