Transcript

Trump TOP ICE AIDE gets EXPOSED under CROSS-EXAM at HEARING

From MeidasTouch · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 31 min · 5,251 words · 91 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Trump TOP ICE AIDE gets EXPOSED under CROSS-EXAM at HEARING", an episode of MeidasTouch published February 10, 2026 (31 min, about 5,251 words). It mentions 16 people, works and ideas, including Todd Lions, Donald Trump, ICE, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Eric Swallwell.

What this episode is about

During a recent Capitol Hill hearing, Todd Lions, the acting director of ICE, faced intense questioning from Democratic lawmakers, particularly focusing on instances of American citizens being required to prove their citizenship and drawing controversial parallels to historical regimes. The cross-examination highlighted concerns over ICE's practices and accountability, with pointed inquiries regarding the conduct of agency agents under his leadership.

Key takeaways

  • When officials start admitting their trips to infamous islands, you know hearings are about to get spicy!
  • Comparing ICE's questioning to Nazi Germany? Bold move, but it leaves a ghost of sensationalism hanging.
  • ICE acting director: more evasive than a magician, can’t even confirm one firing. What's the magic trick here?
  • Amazon Prime couldn't deliver a mom shot three times! Turns out efficiency doesn't apply to human lives.
  • If questioning the morality of ICE actions feels personal, maybe that's exactly the point for some Congress members.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Todd Lions, ICE, Amazon Prime, Donald Trump
  2. – 10:00: ICE, Lou Koreah, Todd Lions, Eric Swallwell
  3. – 15:00: Minneapolis, Donald Trump, Eric Swallwell, Chicago
  4. – 20:00: Todd Lions, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chicago, Minneapolis
  5. – 25:00: Donald Trump, Ghislain Maxwell
  6. – 30:00: Donald Trump

Notable quotes from "Trump TOP ICE AIDE gets EXPOSED under CROSS-EXAM at HEARING"

  • Senate. In the House, you had Todd Lions testifying before the Homeland Security Committee. Democratic Congress member Dan Goldman started cross-examining Todd Lions, the…
    about ICE · at
  • You said in your And we have Democratic Congress member Swallwell cross-examining the acting head of ICE, Todd Lions, play this clip.
    about Eric Swallwell · at
  • Director Lions, last year you said in Phoenix at the border security expo that you wanted to see a deportation process that was like quote Amazon Prime but with human beings. Mr. Lions, how many.
    about Todd Lions · at
  • People, young people asking me, What do I have to carry with me so I won't be deported? Is Mr. Lions carrying a passport? Is that enough so they won't be detained or deported in my district?
    about Lou Koreah · at
  • Sir, more exchanges taking place here between Democratic Congress member Goldman and Lions. Let's play this clip. 5 minutes of questions.
    about Dan Goldman · at
  • People who are proud of what they do aren't hiding their identity. We're a nation of laws and you, your boss, Secretary Gnome, and Donald Trump are not above the law. More for a magazer.
    about Donald Trump · at
  • Be used as pawns in Steven Miller's sick and twisted great replacement agenda. Now, I want to bring in Democratic Congress member Raja Krishna from the great state of Illinois.…
    about Raja Krishnamoorthi · at
  • Talk to us about what you observed for example during this deposition of Gila Maxwell. You sit in the House Oversight Committee and she previously refused to testify saying…
    about Ghislain Maxwell · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Todd Lions — Person · Referenced official / key witness in hearing clips · 5 mentions · first at
    Central figure in the episode’s Capitol Hill hearing clips; described as the acting head of ICE and questioned about masked agents, use of force, and alleged detentions of U.S. citizens.
  • Donald Trump — Person · Referenced political figure / subject of criticism · 7 mentions · first at
    Presented as the political leader tied to ICE’s posture and to alleged clemency discussions involving Ghislaine Maxwell; also referenced regarding tariffs and broader administration actions.
  • Raja Krishnamoorthi — Person · Main guest / interviewee · 1 mention · first at
    Brought on as the on-air guest to react to the hearing clips and discuss ICE masking/body cameras, authoritarian comparisons, and the Maxwell deposition/clemency issue.
  • Eric Swallwell — Person · Referenced questioner / member of Congress in hearing clips · 3 mentions · first at
    Featured repeatedly questioning Todd Lions about accountability, use of force, masked agents, and public fear; used as a primary vehicle for the episode’s critique of ICE tactics.
  • Dan Goldman — Person · Referenced questioner / member of Congress in hearing clips · 1 mention · first at
    Shown cross-examining Todd Lions and pressing on alleged street-level citizenship checks and comparisons to authoritarian regimes; described as a former federal prosecutor.
  • Ghislain Maxwell — Person · Referenced witness in Oversight deposition discussion · 3 mentions · first at
    Discussed in relation to a House Oversight deposition where she allegedly invoked the Fifth and floated cooperation contingent on clemency; framed as central to Epstein-related accountability debates.
  • Lou Koreah — Person · Referenced questioner / member of Congress in hearing clips (name uncertain) · 2 mentions · first at
    Depicted questioning Todd Lions about what U.S. citizens must carry to avoid detention and about alleged protester “databases.” The name appears to be a transcript/ASR misspelling.
  • Howard Lutnick — Person · Referenced administration official · 1 mention · first at
    Introduced as Trump’s commerce secretary and alleged to have made incriminating admissions about trips to “Epstein Island,” used to frame a broader narrative about officials testifying on Capitol Hill.
    Of course, earlier we reported on Donald Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnik, making stunning and incriminating admissions about his trips to Epstein Island with his children. But.
  • Vladimir Putin — Person · Referenced comparator (authoritarian leader) · 1 mention · first at
    Used as an analogy for brazen authoritarian messaging and implausible denials, to contextualize the guest’s critique of U.S. government conduct described in the episode.
    His version of ICE. Such an interesting example you give there of Putin because when all of these people start to die, you have Pescov who's their version of Caroline Levit or…

Companies & orgs

  • ICE — Company · Business focus · 4 mentions · first at
    Central to the discussion about immigration enforcement policies and practices under scrutiny.
  • Amazon Prime — Company · Case study · 2 mentions · first at
    Used as a comparison point in discussing the efficiency and ethics of ICE's deportation processes.
    Director Lions, last year you said in Phoenix at the border security expo that you wanted to see a deportation process that was like quote Amazon Prime but with human beings. Mr. Lions, how many.
  • ProPublica — Company · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Cited as a source of investigative journalism regarding ICE's detention practices.
    Recently, ProPublica obtained handwritten letters and drawings from children detained by ICE. These are letters from children describing what it feels like and what it does to them when the government locks them up.

Places & events

  • Minneapolis — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at
    Another location where ICE operations have been discussed in the context of community impact.
    Todd Lions who is refusing to unmask the ICE agents who are terrorizing communities like those in your district and others in Chicago, Illinois, and across this country…
  • Chicago — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as a location where ICE operations have impacted local communities.
    Okay. Now, this is a family of United States citizens who were out to get groceries at a Sam's Club in Chicago.
  • Epstein Island — Place · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in the context of discussions about individuals associated with Jeffrey Epstein.
    Of course, earlier we reported on Donald Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnik, making stunning and incriminating admissions about his trips to Epstein Island with his children. But.
  • Sam's Club — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a location where an incident involving ICE agents occurred.
    When they arrived, they could see that there was a chaotic operation in the parking lot. They turned their vehicle to leave, at which point your agents sprayed pepper spray out…

Full transcript with timestamps

These top Trump officials were going down one by one on Capitol Hill today. Of course, earlier we reported on Donald Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnik, making stunning and incriminating admissions about his trips to Epstein Island with his children. But in the House of Representatives, there were other hearings taking place as well. Lutnik was taking place in the Senate. In the House, you had Todd Lions testifying before the Homeland Security Committee. Democratic Congress member Dan Goldman started cross-examining Todd Lions, the acting director of ICE. And there were other officials from Border Patrol there as well. Goldman is a former federal prosecutor. Watch this cross-examination of the head of ICE or the acting head of ICE, Todd Lions. Let's play this clip.

Now you are aware of course and there's welldocumented uh numerous well-documented instances of people American citizens being asked to show and prove their citizenship. Do you know what other regimes in the 20th century century required similar proof of citizenship?

Yes sir. What sir? There's very nef various nefarious regimes that did that. Is Nazi Germany one?

Yes. But I Is the Soviet Union one? I honestly sir, I'm asking the questions. Is the Soviet Union one?

Yes, sir. But I I totally I totally This is the wrong type of question. You No. What's I'll tell you what the wrong type of Holocaust Museum. If you want to claiming my time, Mr. Chairman,

it's not the men and women of ice that are out there doing it every day. So to say that the men and women of Mr. I'm reclaiming my time. I would like my time back. Please,

please give me another 15 seconds because he was unnecessarily speaking. You said in your

And we have Democratic Congress member Swallwell cross-examining the acting head of ICE, Todd Lions, play this clip.

Three. None. How many ICE agents have been fired for their conduct under your leadership?

Sir, I can get you that data. I'll get that back to you. Is it more than one? I I'm not going to speak about personnel actions, but I'll get you that data.

Can you tell us if at least God I hope at least one person has been fired for their conduct since these operations have begun? Are you Are you telling us you can't even say one person's been fired?

Sir, I'm not going to talk about personnel actions, but we will get back to you.

But two people have been killed so far. Is that right? A nurse named Prey and a mom named Good. Two people have been killed so far.

Yes, sir. Then I like this questioning over here from Congresswoman MacGyver who herself was arrested after ICE and Border Patrol Gustapo fabricated charges against her when she was out there in the Delaney facility in Jersey. Watch this.

That you may be able to answer. Mr. Lions, do you consider yourself a religious man?

Yes, ma'am. Oh, yes. Okay. Well, how do you think judgment day will work for you with so much blood on your hands? I'm not going to entertain that question.

Okay. Of course not. Do you think you're going to hell, Mr. Lions? I'm not going to enter. How many govern the

gentle lady will suspend? The gentle lady will suspend. Chairman, as I a gentle lady will suspend. As I said, the issues we're debating here are important to ones that members feel deeply about.

While vigorous disagreement is part of the legislative process, members are reminded that we must adhere to established standards of decor and debate. The witnesses are here voluntarily and I will continue to remind continue to remind members that while oversight is important, aggressively attacking those witnesses personally is inappropriate and not in keeping with the traditions of our committee.

Mr. Chairman, I'm just asking a question. You all you guys are always talking about religion here in the Bible. I mean, it's okay for me to ask a question, right? But let me continue on. I got your notes.

All right. The gentle lady may Let me get back. Next, you have more cross-examination by Congress member Swallwell right here. Play the clip.

Director Lions, last year you said in Phoenix at the border security expo that you wanted to see a deportation process that was like quote Amazon Prime but with human beings. Mr. Lions, how many times has Amazon Prime shot a mom three times in the face?

None, sir. But you're also It's the square root of zero. That's right. Yes, sir. Yeah. But if if we're going to go down that route of my comment, I did say that comment. However, that comment was taken out. And if you go back and watch the video, I did say that we need to be more efficient when it comes to removing individuals from the United States because ICE doesn't detain punitively. We detain to remove. I don't want to see people in custody. At the end of my statement was at again to your point, it was a industry day for AI and efficiencies, but I did say at the end of it, but we deal with human beings, so we can't be like them.

That's the key part that you're leaving out. Well, speaking of human beings, how many times has Amazon Prime shot a nurse 10 times in the back?

None. How many times has Amazon Prime dragged a woman out of her car by her hair and then dragged her down the street?

None. How many ICE agents have been fired for their conduct under your leadership?

Sir, I can get you that data. I'll get that back to you. Is it more than one? I'm not going to speak about personnel actions, but I will get you that data.

Can you tell us? Then Democratic Congress member Lou Koreah cross-examined the acting head of ICE Todd Lions. Let's play this clip. People, young people asking me, "What do I have to carry with me so I won't be deported? Is Mr. Lions carrying a passport? Is that enough so they won't be detained or deported in my district?" Sir, an American citizen shouldn't carry or shouldn't feel the need to carry.

Let me tell you what some of your ICE agents have done. They pulled over a gentleman a pickup truck, showed his passport, they threw it to the side, detained him. What do we have to do to show that we're American citizens?

Sir, no American citizen falls on Title 8. No American citizen will be arrested for being an American citizen.

But you just said to my colleague that nobody has been fired because of violations of the law for disciplinary actions. Yet this is happening in my district. Mr. Lions, we're a very boring district. We work hard mind our own business. Ice in our streets now. People are terrorized. American citizens. Number of cases of Americans being detained, being taken in. some being held for 5 days. Sir,

more exchanges taking place here between Democratic Congress member Goldman and Lions. Let's play this clip. 5 minutes of questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Lions, what guidance have you given to your agents about asking people walking on the streets of America to show proof of citizenship? Sir, as I stated earlier, the men and women of ICE deportation officer special agents, we conduct targeted intelligence-driven operation. We don't walk around on the streets asking people about their American citizenship.

Really? So all of those individual American citizens who have been randomly asked are lying. Is that what you're saying,

sir? If the men and women of ICE are conducting an investigation, whether it be for Title 8 Immigration Enforcement or Title 18 cruel enforcement, they'll ask someone their nationality,

right? But that's not targeted because they're asking all sorts of American citizens including offduty law enforcement now. Have you directed any more from Congress member Swallwell? Let's play it.

Couple nights ago, I met with a woman who works as a cashier at a grocery store and I told her I was coming to see you, Mr. Lions. And she said, "Will you ask him?" And she didn't want to give her name. She was terrified to give her name, but she said, "When I get off my shift around midnight and I walk through the parking lot to my car," she said, "If somebody rolls up in an unidentified van and gets out wearing all black and their face is covered and they don't have any identification and they ask me to get into the van, how do I know who they are?

How does she know, Mr. Lions? How does she know if they're an ICE agent or bad guys?

Sir, ICE agents have identifiable placards on their uniforms as well as their badges representative. But you won't see ICE agents rolling through the parking lots and just snatching someone up. ICE does intelligence driven targeted enforcement operations.

Well, Mr. Hman and others have said that they target individuals based on the color of their skin and the accent that they speak and that's why people are running through the fields and factories where they work. Director Lions.

More from Congress member Kareah cross-examining lions killing US citizens today.

No sir. Those people protesting practicing this first amendment right. Photos of them data taken. They're not being placed in any kind of a database.

There is no database for protesters. Sir, one of your officers in Maine said to one of the individuals protesting, "We're going to put your face in a little database." What does that mean? Do you have a little database

of Americans? No sir, we don't. Then what do you think your ICE agent was doing to this individual when he said those statements?

I can't speak for that individual, sir, but I can assure you there is no database that's tracking genocide citizens,

sir. Well, actually, let's roll the tape here because as the Homeland Security Democrats say, um, somebody's lying here. This was the tape that was taken in Maine where the ICE and Border Patrol Gustapo agents said they were photographing a peaceful protester to put her on a database. Here, play this clip. Guys are doing here.

Yeah. Yeah. Look at them. Look at them. The IC is here, guys. Be careful. Be careful. We over here.

It's not illegal to record. Exactly. Right. Yeah. That's what we're doing. Yeah. Why you taking my information down? cuz we have a nice little database.

Oh, good. And now you're considered the domestic terrorist. SO, WE'RE videotaping you.

Are you crazy? Then we had more cross-examination here from Democratic Congress member Goldman. Let's play it.

Your opening statement that references to ICE as the Gestapo or the secret police encourages threats against ICE agents.

100%. The problem is you have it backwards, sir. People are simply making valid observations about your tactics which are unamerican and outright fascist. So a I have a simple suggestion. If you don't want to be called a fascist regime or secret police, then stop acting like one. But people are simply just observing what they are seeing. We've got Democratic Congress member Seth Magazer from Rhode Island. Let's play it.

This is video of what appears to be pepper spray thrown by a federal agent into Raphael Verza's car.

You okay, mama? You okay? Seconds later, he realized his daughter, one-year-old Ariana, was in the back seat also battling the chemicals. Are you familiar with this incident?

Yes. Okay. Now, this is a family of United States citizens who were out to get groceries at a Sam's Club in Chicago. When they arrived, they could see that there was a chaotic operation in the parking lot. They turned their vehicle to leave, at which point your agents sprayed pepper spray out of their vehicle and into the driver's side window of the Verazza's family vehicle. Is it proper procedure to aim pepper spray into the window of a moving vehicle? I'm not familiar. I don't have all the details on this. It's an ongoing question. But to answer your specific question, is it proper procedure? Try to avoid that. No, it is not.

Try to avoid it because you understand it's dangerous, right? Not just for the driver, but for pedestrians, for other people who could be hit by a car if a driver is blinded. Right.

I 100% understand that. But you're talking about intentional versus not intentional. Been in a vehicle in one of these situations.

Reclaiming my time from the video, this was clearly intentional. And you know as well as I do that in any other law enforcement agency, if an officer did this, they would be put on leave, investigated, and likely disciplined. Uh, were any of your agents ever investigated or disciplined for this incident?

I'll have to get back to you on this incident. I believe it's still an ongoing investigation, but we have at least

I'd like to show you another video. This one is from Minneapolis. More from Congress member Swallwell right here.

Yes, sir. Mr. lines. Will you apologize to the family of Renee Good for being called a domestic terrorist by the president and his leadership?

No, sir. Why not? Sir, I I welcome the opportunity to speak to the family in private, but I'm not going to comment on any active investigation.

Is she a domestic terrorist? Sir, I'm not going to comment on the investigation. And the president and secretary Gnome are elected officials. That's your right to their comments, but as law enforce career law enforcement, we won't speak to any.

Do you agree with their comments, sir? I'm not going to go ahead and talk about any ongoing investigation.

Will you apologize to the family of Alex Prey for also being called a domestic terrorist?

Sir, again, I'm not going to speak to any ongoing investigation. Mr. Lions, you're staying.

How about Congress member Kennedy, Democrat? Let's play it. Will you commit yes or no to immediately unmasking every agent conducting immigration enforcement and requiring them to wear standard uniforms with identifiable badges? No. Well, that's a sad response. Your answer is completely unacceptable. People who are proud of what they do aren't hiding their identity. We're a nation of laws and you, your boss, Secretary Gnome, and Donald Trump are not above the law. More for a magazer. So, as you can see, the agent sprayed pepper spray at close range directly into the face of an individual who had already been pinned to the ground by three other agents. And there's a picture of this behind me to give you a better view. Is this proper procedure for the use of pepper spray? I cannot comment on that because you're only showing one piece and that sub has clearly not been but this this is not the intended use of

this of this weapon. Correct. The intended use is to a is to try to avoid escalating. It's to deescalate the situation again.

Well, he was already pinned to the ground by three other agents. I think he had been deescalated. Is there any investigation into this agent for for doing this?

I'll get back to you. There are several open investigations. All right. Listen, there has been no accountability in your agency under the Trump administration. None. Your agents.

And here's what Congress member Walenshaw from Virginia had to say. In this administration, under your watch, ICE has booked nearly 4,000 children. In 1,000 of them have been held longer than the court ordered 20-day limit. Recently, ProPublica obtained handwritten letters and drawings from children detained by ICE. These are letters from children describing what it feels like and what it does to them when the government locks them up. This is Ariana. She's 14 years old, detained for 45 days. Since I got to this center, all I feel is sadness and mostly depression.

This is Mia, 7 years old. I don't want to be in this place. I want to go to my school. This is Scarlet, 17 years old. I feel very bored and overwhelmed because I am locked up. This is Gabby, 14 years old. I feel so much sadness and depression of not being able to leave. This is Maria, 9 years old. Me and Dilly am not happy. Please get me out of here. This is a 12-year-old going to the doctor and the only thing they tell me is drink more water. The water here is what makes people sick. And this one got me, Mr. Lions, because this is a 5-year-old, Louise Annie. My son's five. He can't write many words, but he can communicate through drawings like this. This is a picture of Luis Annie's family. And you might be able to see that none of the faces are smiling.

Child detention is not required by law. You know that it's not the only option available and it's not effective. We know that community-based alternatives can ensure compliance with proceedings without traumatizing these children. Yet you continue to detain and hold children for weeks or months, depriving them of school stability, leaving them afraid, sick, and confused. And one of the key reasons for your mass detention, including the detention of Liam and his father, is to pressure people to give up their legal opportunities and pathways to remaining in the United States. Liam's father was following the rules, following the legal process with a valid claim. Let me be clear. No child, not Liam Ramos, not Gabby, or any of these children should be used as pawns in Steven Miller's sick and twisted great replacement agenda. Now, I want to bring in Democratic Congress member Raja Krishna from the great state of

Illinois. Congressman, great to see you as always. So, I was showing clips there at the outset in the uh Homeland Security Committee cross-examining uh Todd Lions who is refusing uh to unmask the ICE agents who are terrorizing communities like those in your district and others in uh Chicago, Illinois, and across this country, Minneapolis, and of course in many other places. Uh what's your overall view though when you see you know someone like Todd Lions who runs ICE he reports to Chris you know just show up in there and just so brazenly you know he was asked questions by I think Congress member Goldman like are you aware that it was you know the Nazis who wore masks? Yep. And in Soviets they wore masks. Yep. And you see nothing wrong with you doing exactly what these fascists did? Nope. I don't see anything at all. Like it it it is so brazen and in our face.

It's it's kind of like in Russia where Vladimir Putin says, you know, people um you know, just walked off a ledge or walked through a window um that he didn't actually uh murder them. It's so in your face that it defies common sense. And that's the point. like they want you to just live with that and and um uh not challenge their authority, not challenge the facts as they frame them, not challenge any suppositions or their power. And that's completely outrageous. And um in my humble opinion, you know, the masks have to come off, the the body cameras need to go on, the ID has to go on, there can't be warrantless arrests.

Uh there have to be third-party investigations of the use of force and there can't be roving gangs of ICE and uh CBP agents stirring up trouble in cities. These are like common sense kind of reforms so to speak that have to happen. We have to abolish Trump's ICE, his version of ICE. Such an interesting example you give there of Putin because when all of these people start to die, you have Pescov who's their version of Caroline Levit or you know Sergey Lavrov who's their version of you know Hegsith or Rubio or whoever saying we don't know what happened. I guess he was you know just uh sleepwalking and that must be what happened. And the sinking feeling that people in authoritarian regimes must have when you hear those things and go okay we know he killed him. you know what that exists here. I mean you know talk to us about what you observed for example during this deposition of Gila Maxwell. You sit in the House Oversight

Committee and she previously refused to testify saying that she had to wait for the Supreme Court to rule on her appeal otherwise she would have to invoke the fifth. So MAGA Republican Chairman Comr says okay we'll let you delay it from last August until you know this past week. Then she shows up and she goes, "I'm going to have to invoke my fifth amendment because I've got a habius petition pending." Which any prisoner in the United States has a habius petition pending if they want to. But she says, "But guess what? If you give me clemency," that's what she said at the deposition. "If you give me clemency, Donald, I will exonerate you publicly."

Like she said that and I'm like, what? You were there. What was going through your mind? What?

It was surreal, man. It was completely surreal. F. First of all, when I looked and saw the screen where she's um doing her remote deposition from, it did not look like a prison. It looked like a dining room. It looked like some nice mansion or something where she was staying. And I just it just reminded me that she got this sweetheart deal from Donald Trump uh to basically put be put into what they call club fed in return for her silence or fabricating testimony or for quote unquote exonerating uh Donald Trump. And then the next thing that happened is she invoked her right to remain silent. And um you know essentially she has that right but basically what it means is that there are additional facts out there that she doesn't want to talk about that could be incriminating to her. It would expose her to additional criminal liability.

And so then she says but her lawyer says but if you were to give her clemency well then she would really tell you the whole truth. And it's like come on man this is completely backwards. In our country, um, you don't get clemency, you don't get a pardon, or you should not, um, unless you admit guilt, you show remorse, you cooperate, you try to do, uh, um, what, you know, law enforcement and the public want you to do to make things right. She's done none of those things. She's never admitted guilt. She's never shown remorse. And now she's saying she's only going to cooperate, so to speak, if she gets clemency. So, I've introduced a resolution saying she should never be given clemency. She should never get a pardon. Uh, she's a monster. She's a sex trafficking criminal. And so, that's where I stand on Gain Maxwell in case you in case you wondered.

But, you know, you ask people like James Comr and Tom Cole and these other MAGA Republicans, should she get CL Malotakis and Maliotakis when she was speaking to our reporter on Capitol Hill said, I can't answer that. I have to go see a physician. Uh you I mean Comr said, you know, I don't know. That's up to Donald Trump. Um Cole walked away and he said, "Yeah, I'm not going to be able to answer that question." How do you not answer? Like at a basic level, set aside Democrat, Republican, independent. At a basic level, how could the answer to should she get clemency be anything but no? when you're dealing with a child sex trafficker who in addition to being a child sex trafficker if there could be anything worse. we've seen the worst stuff in the files that have just been released and she lied through her teeth when she spoke to Todd Blanch several months ago and said I don't know anything about anything about it's like

you're all over the so if anything if it's like how do your conduct get worse it's gotten worse and then the Republicans like if Donald wants clemency then maybe we do it maybe we give the trafficker clemency you look some of my colleagues need a spinal transplant um and I think that they just lack the spine and backbone to say the thing even when it's staring them in the face. Now, given all that said, I do want to give credit where credit's due. I think that Mr. Massie on the other side has has really um shown some leadership on the Epstein files issue, and I think that uh there are others as well, but by and large, people are still uh frightened about being primared or worse by Donald Trump. Um, something tells me as these filing deadlines start to slide by in different states, uh, all of a sudden I think some of these people will muster more more courage. But right now, um, I'm I'm very disappointed to

say the Lisa that they can't they can't even say that Gileain Maxwell should not get a a pardon or clemency. That is completely unacceptable. You know, also the one of the big stories today is that Magga Mike Johnson wants to push through a rule that basically says Article One doesn't exist. that Congress, which has the power of tariffs, not the executive, that Congress should basically pass a rule and push forward uh a process where Congress can't opine at all on article one stuff, taxation, tariffs, and that should all be seated to article two, which what the hell is the point of a constitution? Not only that, but Magg is trying to fly in members of Congress as we speak in order to pass this rule to say we should not be able to pass any laws. So, we can't even get to the point where we have debate. That's what the rules of. We can't even get to the debate on Congress blocking the president's unlawful tariffs. And that's

what that that's their main that's what they're focused on today. like while the American people are going through all of this stuff, this is Maggamik's big initiative. It's pathetic.

This is this is their initiative today. And uh two two points. One, you know, of course, our president president says that he is doing an A++ job uh on the economy and every everyone I talk to says he's doing an F minus minus job on the economy and I I think the reason they say that is because prices are going through the roof for everything. And one of the reasons is he's imposed blanket tariffs on everything from everywhere. And when you do that, you hike prices on everything for everyone. And so understandably, there are Republicans on the other side who want to join with Democrats to curb his tariff chaos to put an end to it. And in this particular case, um I believe that we are going to take up tariffs on Canada. Um, and I and and so they want to put forward a rule that basically says we can't ever introduce similar legislation that would curb the the president's uh tariff power when of

course it's our power to begin with. It's a taxation power. That's what tariffs are. They are taxes on regular people in America and businesses in America. And so, um, I still think they're going to have a hard time passing this thing, but, um, you know, we Democrats have to stay united and against it.

You know, definitely people are focused right now. We we'll end with this. Like to the extent the American people were not paying attention then trying to avoid paying attention. I think we've gotten to the place now of hyper attention of like WTF whether it's ICE whether it's Epstein whether it's jobs losses. I mean, like you just had Peter Navaro uh saying we should now just be expecting 35,000 to 50,000 jobs is going to be great because of all the immigrants. I'm not even like, oh my god, what are you even saying? What are you even talking about?

And I just think that people are saying, "What the hell is happening here? Is AI going to be replacing us? It seems that's part of the people just there seems to be hyper attention to this moment right now." So before we go, what do you want to say to our six million subscribers? Oh, well, first of all, what an honor to be with you and I I think you called me part of the OG uh when when uh uh your podcast was just getting started and it's it's incredible how you've grown. Um look, I think that um there's hyper attention because people are getting hurt in a way that we haven't seen before. Whether it's 17 million people about to lose their health insurance because the quoteunquote big beautiful bill, I'll call it the large lousy law along with Republicans refusal to extend ACA tax credits is going to take health insurance away from them or its tariffs which are causing chaos for small businesses and working families. uh

raising prices for everyone or federal funding freezes on child care, health care, uh education programs just randomly across the country, even infrastructure and transit programs just because Donald Trump is going after his political enemies that hurts normal working people and now they're paying attention because it's hurting them and it's hurting their families and and and businesses. And so now it's time to do something about it. Um, I'm glad that uh people are taking note, but now it's time to take action, too.

Congressman Christian Mory, thanks for joining us as always. Thank you, sir. Everybody, hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. And a reminder, Congressman Christian Morphy is also he's also running for that Senate seat in in Illinois. And we're we're following that as well. Uh, thanks everybody for watching. Hit subscribe. We appreciate you.

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Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Trump TOP ICE AIDE gets EXPOSED under CROSS-EXAM at HEARING"?

Todd Lions (Guest), Dan Goldman (Guest), Eric Swalwell (Guest), Lou Koreah (Guest), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Guest), Christian Mory (Guest), Howard Lutnik.

What is "Trump TOP ICE AIDE gets EXPOSED under CROSS-EXAM at HEARING" about?

During a recent Capitol Hill hearing, Todd Lions, the acting director of ICE, faced intense questioning from Democratic lawmakers, particularly focusing on instances of American citizens being required to prove their citizenship and drawing controversial parallels to historical regimes. The cross-examination highlighted concerns over ICE's practices and accountability, with pointed inquiries…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

16 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Todd Lions, Donald Trump, ICE, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Eric Swallwell, Dan Goldman. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trump TOP ICE AIDE gets EXPOSED under CROSS-EXAM at HEARING"?

The episode runs 31 min; the transcript is about 5,251 words in 91 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated February 12, 2026.