Owen Report: Massie on His Final Days in Congress

In-office sit-down the day after the Hegseth articles: Massie on writing bills without lobbyists, Trump joining the uniparty, and being the last conservative who still acts like it.

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  1. 0:00 Welcome to the office
  2. 1:30 Drafting the articles
  3. 7:00 Privileged so it cannot die
  4. 10:30 Why Hegseth, not Blanche
  5. 14:02 Trump joined the uniparty
  6. 17:34 The reelection he refused
  7. 21:04 Bondi and the files
  8. 28:06 Iran war and the AI state
  9. 31:38 Awards going in the trash
  10. 42:00 Last one who acts like it

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  1. Well, ladies and gentlemen, the 119th Congress has certainly been fun and interesting. I'm not sure how productive it's been, but it's certainly been one
  2. to talk about. And there's one man, I believe, that will be talked about more from this congressional session than any other man. One man who made a name for
  3. himself and put more of a mark on this Congress than any other individual. I think the history records will agree with that. That man is Thomas Massie.
  4. >> Owen, how you doing, man? How do you like that intro? >> Welcome. It's uh Keep going. It sounded good to [laughter] me. >> I can keep going forever. >> Welcome to my office. >> You know, it's very nice. You have a
  5. great staff and it's so what's so refreshing is when you talk to so many of the staffers here at the Hill, they really they really are like the normal Americans. You wonder, it's like who do
  6. these Congress people even represent? You know, it's not us. Who do they represent? Well, maybe we know now, actually. I guess
  7. >> um you know, I got to brag on my staff just a little bit. You should >> up here in the other offices, mediocrity is the gold standard. Like if they can
  8. reach a level of mediocrity they're happy with by noon, they basically put their brains in neutral. And we work hard this from the morning until late in
  9. the evening. >> Yeah. >> We drafted and reddrafted uh the articles of impeachment like 50 times. And I changed my mind and my
  10. staff didn't walk out on me. You know, I changed my mind like four times and then changed direction. >> Is this the most recent article that you
  11. just filed? >> Eight articles of impeachment that I read for an hour and 20 minutes yesterday. >> Well, I do want to get to the details of that, but let me ask you this. Is that are how many other members of Congress
  12. are like you that even know what they're putting in their bills? I would I you I mean I would forgive
  13. members of Congress for not knowing exactly what's in their bill if it was their staff who wrote it. The the because the both the members and the
  14. staff of that member is working for people in the district. The problem is the member staff don't even know what's in the bill, right? like they don't even
  15. do a level of diligence at the staff level in these other offices that's that's necessary. Um so a lot of bills are written by
  16. lobbyists and what I think one thing people don't appreciate about the Epstein Files Transparency Act, it's the only bill I'm aware of that wasn't
  17. touched by a lobbyist or one of the permanent staff. I call him the deep congress up here in Washington DC. We wrote that thing and in secret and
  18. launched it and then the world could pick it apart. We had to do our level best to get it right. >> Well, you're still fighting too. I know the fight is not over
  19. >> and I you know we can we can get to that later but when I hear you say that it's it's it's like do the American people maybe now more than ever but do the
  20. American people understand that a lot of this legislation it's not even being written by the people that they voted for. It's it's being written and here's a perfect example. This is what I like
  21. to say when people are asking like, "Oh, why is this happening but not this happening?" You know, the war is the big issue right now. Say, "Well, why why aren't there Epstein files arrests? Why
  22. aren't the Epstein clients being hauled in and indicted and all this stuff?" I say, "Well, tell me how much money the uh Epstein arrests pack has, you know,
  23. does the Epstein does the Epstein arrest pack, are they well funded?" >> It's why I I said in my speech that I just gave on the floor, why is the Veterans Committee considered a C
  24. committee? They ranked them A, B, and C. You know, the Ways and Means Committee is an A committee, but the Veterans Committee is a C committee. It's because they don't have the money falling out of
  25. their pockets. The veterans don't like the lobbyists who are represented by the other committees do. I'll tell you how bad it is in terms of people getting
  26. bills written for them. Uh, one member of Congress came to me. I had voted against his bill, which is not an uncommon thing, right?
  27. >> Well, they give you a hard time for that, but that's because you're voting against pork. You just have a zero tolerance for pork. He came up to me and he said, "Why are you voting against my bill?" And it was an opioid bill. It was
  28. to deal with the opioid crisis. That was the biggest thing in the news like six or eight years ago. And um 30 or 40
  29. Republicans passed opioid bills in the House that went nowhere in the Senate. And so he said, "Why why are you voting
  30. against my opioid bill?" And they said, "Well, if this were national research or something, I could see the the federal nexus." I said, "But your this your bill
  31. sets up funding for centers like that provide health care to patients um you know, drug rehabilitation." I'm like, "That's a state or local function,
  32. not a federal function." And he looked at me, he says, "You're right." He said, "I'd vote against it, too, if it hold on a second." [laughter] He said, "I'd vote
  33. against it, too, if it weren't my bill." And they said, "Where'd you get this bill?" and he said, "Well, the leadership gave it to me and said if I passed this bill, it would help me get
  34. reelected." >> I'm not going to ask you to name names. I think if people want to find out, they can probably find out. >> He's still here. >> No, but the he is um basically held
  35. innocent in this story because I told you there's 30 or 40 Republicans. >> So, they'd have to really look. >> Oh, you got you'd have to scrub and then you'd only narrow it down to eight
  36. people because they probably got eight people to pass the same opioid bill. So, they could go back home. It's all fake. Yo, fight. Go back home and say, "I I
  37. got this bill passed and this is why you should reelect me. I care about you." >> So, I I saw the move that you made yesterday with the impeachment articles
  38. against Hagath. And I have to tell you, you I'm somebody that pretty much likes almost everything you do. Um I was a little I was a little skeptical of that. I I thought I don't know if this is the
  39. angle. And I asked you before we started this, I said, you know, what is the what is the thought process behind this? And you kind of talked about it. It's like, hey, you know, everybody here, and I was
  40. saying it from the outside, nine out of 10 of Americans don't trust government right now. Six out of 10 Americans don't trust information from the government right now. And I think that there's this
  41. attitude in in DC in the political media that it's like, oh no, you know, the leftright stuff still kind of works and sometimes you got to cater to the right,
  42. sometimes you got to cater to the left. And really, right now, I think the only thing that's catering to the vast majority of Americans is the whole system is corrupt. um the the the
  43. Congress, the White House, it looks like entire entirety of Washington DC doesn't work for the American people. Um and so right now, is the HEGA thing for you
  44. something that is more specific or directional or is a part of a broader campaign to say, "Hey, look, I'm one of the last people in Congress that agrees with the American people that this whole thing is corrupt and I'm just going to
  45. put it all out there before, you know, before the lobbyists that control this city give me the boot." Um it's a combination of things. By the
  46. way, I'm working on other stuff, right? Just because all you see is Hegath doesn't mean I don't have >> Well, I know Void Austin came up, too. >> Yeah. I don't It doesn't mean I don't
  47. have 15 or 20 bills I'm not working on at the same time. The reason you saw me doing HEGs is it's a privileged resolution or that's the form in which I
  48. presented it to. I could have put it in the hopper and then it gets referred to a committee and you never see it. And that's what happens with a lot of bills. I did this one as a privileged
  49. resolution, which meant once I started reading it, nobody could stop me. And within 48 hours of me finishing reading it, there had to be a vote, right?
  50. People back home want to see us doing something, right? Just don't just sit there, right? Which is so ironic that they say you do nothing and I'm like,
  51. you probably do the most. >> My first question to anybody who says what, you know, you're not doing enough or you don't do anything is who's your congressman?
  52. because I will show you the most worthless, laziest son of a in the world. He's probably your congressman. Let me let's go through what he's done. >> I was not just
  53. >> because it's some fake and gay bill. >> I wasn't just I wasn't just buttering you up. I'm serious. When we look back at this congressional session, your mark is going to be the the permanent mark. I
  54. don't think anybody's I mean the UAP stuff it's like they're not delivering anything on that. You were the one that that forced the Epstein files home. Obviously your counterpart Roana, you
  55. know, helped you in that effort, but I mean that to me that's like the big mark of this Congress. Um I talked I talked to Representative Nells. He thinks the big mark of success from this
  56. congressional session is going to be the big beautiful bill. >> I mean, you know, that depends on what you think about conservative spending. I guess >> we can't say that bill without me weighing in. But let me answer your
  57. question about why do the HEGset thing. Now, part of it is that's the thing you see because I'm able to force a vote and
  58. most people are afraid to force a vote, right? People are pissed off at me here. I'm not getting invited. I'm not getting invited to the fancy dinners tonight. Like, I got to take myself
  59. >> This is why we like Thomas Mass. >> Yeah. Because uh I pushed votes last night. They were supposed to be done by 6. And when I did the impeachment, they
  60. had to push everything to like 10:00. We were here till 10:00 last night because I did that. You don't make friends up here by getting things done. You got two
  61. choices. Sit on your ass and and everybody loves you or do something and then they're kind of ticked. And I picked the do something. So why
  62. impeachment? Why is the do something impeachment? Well, people said, "Why didn't you impeach Todd Blanch?" Okay, because I haven't exhausted every
  63. legislative solution other than impeachment yet. with Todd Blanch. I'm working on Epstein Files Transparency Act two and I'm doing a discharge
  64. petition and I do believe before the 119th Congress is over, we'll get a vote on that and I'll pass my second Epstein bill in the House. Like I'm running the
  65. tables on these guys and I'm passing legislation the uniart hates and I'm getting it on the president's desk and he hates it and he has to sign it. Like
  66. that's the hardest way to pass a bill in the world and I'm getting it done. So I'm not impeaching Todd Blanch even though he's done things that rise to
  67. that level because I'm not done using the other modes. Now with Pete Hegsath, we have we have exhausted every opportunity to stop a war that's burning
  68. up the world with inflation and shortages. We've done everything we can. We passed a concurrent resolution in the House and the Senate. I wrote a a war
  69. powers resolution to stop the war in Iran. We got a vote on it. We got a concurrent bill passed later, but the resolution in the House and the Senate. He's breaking the law right now. Like,
  70. we we passed a law to stop him from doing it, a resolution, and he's still doing it. And the White House is saying, "Well, we think the law that uh you are
  71. using to do that resolution is uh unconstitutional." there's not much more we can do to stop to stop this war. And then also Pete
  72. Hegsath, he's done a lot of things like if you're looking to give an award to somebody that's done the most unconstitutional and illegal things in the president's cabinet. Pete Hgsath is
  73. head and shoulders above the rest. >> I feel that's by design, though. I feel like Trump puts people in those positions intentionally as kind of a buffer.
  74. >> And you know, he's surrounded by a lot of people that I probably consider yesmen. And so it's easy to just, okay, Pete's gonna do everything I say. Trump views him as a loyalist. Pete may not
  75. even understand that some of the things he's doing could come into congressional issues. But and by the way, speaking of unconstitutional, are we in a war?
  76. Because I don't remember you guys voting on a war. So it's, you know, that's a strange thing. >> What is a war? Right. >> Exactly. What is a woman? What is a war? Nobody knows.
  77. >> Can't figure it out. >> My my friend Warren Davidson who votes for our war powers resolutions to stop the wars. great guy from Ohio. Uh he
  78. said that there should be a movie called What is a war? Because and it's clearly a war. I mean all the conditions of war are >> you know it's a war. Trump's called it a
  79. war. It's a war. >> And even if it's not a war, it's an extended use of military force with our troops engaged in battle and combat
  80. which requires the Congress to at least authorize it. We authorized the the Gulf War. We authorized the war in Afghanistan, aka global war and terror.
  81. You know, I I wouldn't I wasn't here when those things happened, but and I wouldn't have voted for them. And then we also Congress authorized the Iraq
  82. war. This is like the first war of this kind. There have been some scuffles. The first war of this kind where they've gone half a year, half we're half a year
  83. into this, six months. >> I would you could argue you're more than a year into it really. I think if you go back to the first operation, Midnight Hammer. Well, 47 years.
  84. >> I forgot. 47 years. This war is older than me. Yeah. [laughter] >> I'm gonna stop right here before. >> Well, let me You know what? Here's
  85. something because you've actually you've actually seen this from the inside. What's so strange watching how Congress is moving specifically on the Republican side of the aisle when Trump first got
  86. in in 2016 when I think he was doing good things. I think I think the agenda was better and it was more on track in 2016 and then he
  87. gets well 2017 I suppose after he got inaugurated. Part of his problem then was the Republicans. It was like the Republicans were kind of a big resisting force to
  88. Trump in the first half of his first administration. They were kind of hesitant. Maybe some of them still believe the Russian collusion stuff, you know? So, it was kind of like Republicans at that point, a lot of them
  89. didn't support Trump. Um, and it's kind of like you're kind of hands off. Now, it's like now it's to the point where they feel like they have to support Trump at every turn. It's like this
  90. crazy flipperoo that we've seen in in the last 10 years. You've seen >> Let me take an objection. Let me take an objection to some of the terminology.
  91. When Trump got here in his first term, the uni party didn't support him. >> Yes. >> And he he had resistance and nobody
  92. would show him where the keys to the car was. Like he would do tweets. He didn't realize you could sign that tweet and call in an executive order and get something done. Or he didn't try to work
  93. with Congress to get things done. So it was the uni party that resisted Trump in his first term. In his second term, Trump joined the uni party. That's why
  94. there's no resistance. Now he's still got, you know, some. So when he went with the uni party instead of against the uni party, now he gets 80% of
  95. Republicans on his side and the other 20% who should know better like on things. This let me now this is a good time for me to castigate the big uh
  96. >> budget busting bill. Uh there's 20% of Republicans who know better like uh who well they all know
  97. better but there's 20% who if it weren't Trump and they weren't intimidated they would have voted against that bill. >> I feel that that's true that that's how it feels from the outside >> and they got intimidated because the
  98. center of mass now center of gravity he's got it. Trump's got it because he he went with the Marco Rubios and and frankly the Mitch McConnell's and of the
  99. world to get, you know, to get favor here in DC. And that's I think that's the only uh argument I would have is the
  100. terminology. It wasn't really the Republicans who >> Well, I would agree. I would actually agree with your terminology. I I was I was more looking at it from the irony of the Republicans resisting Trump in the
  101. first half of the administration and now in in the first half of this administration it's like oh my gosh what can I do Mr. Trump? >> Let me shorten it.
  102. Uh in the first administration Trump resisted the part the swamp and in his second administration Trump embraced the swamp and that's
  103. what's going on now. >> It is ironic we talk about Trump got elected to drain the swamp. It looks like maybe the swamp drained him. >> He thinks it's a hot tub. [laughter]
  104. >> He might not be the only one. Mitch McConnell, he might he might think it's like a boiling pot. He's just ready to jump in like a >> By the way, do you know how easy it
  105. would have been for me to get reelected? Like if if when I look back on the last two years, >> if you would have just got if you would have played >> four four or five different things, all
  106. I had to do was different. And I could I wouldn't even, you know, I wouldn't have even had to spend $200,000 to get reelected.
  107. Um, I I could have voted for Mike Johnson to be speaker. I'm the only Republican. Didn't do that. I got off on the wrong foot. JD Vance sent me a text. Hey,
  108. would you consider voting for Mike Johnson? Isn't that weird? >> Was this Was this the original after Gates removed?
  109. >> This would be the beginning of this. Okay. After he got elected. Okay. >> Yeah. Technically, Congress is sworn in on January 3rd, then Mike Johnson was elected that day, and the president is
  110. sworn in on January 20th, but this was on January 3rd. The vice president was already whipping me to be for Mike Johnson. That should tell you Mike
  111. Johnson swamp material. Okay. Um, and then I was not for the the big bill. That got me in trouble. I didn't vote.
  112. Not only did I not vote for the fake resolutions that are virtue signaling for Israel, um I voted with Marjorie Taylor Green to
  113. cut funding to Israel, but also to Syria and Egypt and everybody else that gets >> everybody else everybody else that's taken advantage of us. >> Yeah, I I cut I vote to cut all foreign
  114. aid, but that's big sin up here. Um, and I could have not done the FT files. Like
  115. if I just done those things differently. And but by the way, if you back up, I'm doing all those things again the same way. There's no way in hell I don't do any of those. Well, you know, the
  116. Epstein thing is it's like that was part of the Trump campaign. He brings in people from his he brings in people from the media into his
  117. administration. Dan Bonino, Cash Patel, these are guys that were in the media doing interviews. They all talked about the Epstein files. They all said the same stuff that we'd be saying now. And
  118. so it's this weird thing. It's like, "Oh, now we don't care. Now we don't want to touch it. Now it's a hoax." I do think this kind of plays into what I was saying earlier where that really only
  119. works in DC. Like nobody outside of DC feels that way. Nobody outside of DC is looking at this and saying, "Oh, Trump's right. It's a hoax." Like, no. People
  120. are looking at it even more with more skepticism now because Trump is calling it a hoax. People are looking at it with even more skepticism because now you have Dan Bonino looking like he's just
  121. seen a ghost with Maria Barromo. He killed himself. Yeah. Yeah. He killed himself. Yeah. Well, you know, and that's what raised my suspicion was an
  122. interaction I had with Pam Bondi in her office. Uh, I'm on the judiciary committee which Jim Jordan chairs and for the first time
  123. in decades the DOJ invited the Congress Judiciary Committee to come have dinner with them. And we had dinner in Pam Bondi's office on DOJ China. And I asked
  124. Pam Bondi when we were going to get the phase two of the Epstein files, >> the binder gate. >> And she said, "Oh my gosh, there's
  125. nothing but pornography left. It's just a bunch of seam child sexual abuse material, and nobody wants to see that." And I thought, what
  126. do you say to that at dinner? Show me the porn. Like, show me the >> Nobody wants to see it. That's not the point. You want arrest. >> Well, the thing is it wasn't She was
  127. lying to me. Either that or they had told that lie to her and she bought it. >> Well, see, I'm kind of more on that side of it now. When I when I look back on
  128. how the whole thing progressed because the original binder gate, that was 100% her. Like nobody else in the DOJ or the White House knew that was going to happen. All of the members of the
  129. independent media that they invited to be there for that. None of them knew that that was going to happen, which is kind of another weird angle to it, too. But it all it's all like going down the same avenue, which is I think at that
  130. point Pam Bondi believed there was a there there. I think she knows whatever there there is. >> 100% in agreement with you. And I think that at that point in time, she was
  131. maybe not in the strongest communication with Trump on the issue specifically, but everybody was on the same page that this is what the American people want. This was part of the Trump administration's agenda. Now, she
  132. probably knew that what she gave those independent reporters was already out there. I'm assuming I don't think so. >> Maybe not. Maybe not. That would be a little embarrassing. I don't think
  133. surprised >> there. There was a moment where she sent an angry letter to uh FBI and maybe the
  134. US attorney and um where she realized she had been duped. She said they're withholding files. There was a tense moment. Was that the burn bags? I don't
  135. remember and I don't know what the term would be for it, but there was a moment where and you can go find this letter where she was like, you know, you withheld this, give it to me. She felt
  136. like she had been betrayed because what happened am totally in agreement with you. I think she got there and thought my job is to release the Epstein files
  137. and some deep state >> the law. >> Yeah. Some deep state DOJ people and Todd Blanch probably in on this >> were like just give her this stuff. It's
  138. already out there and it'll make her happy. And then she does that. She looks like an idiot. She looks like she's not in control. She demands to get the rest
  139. of it. they they tell her it's Cam material or they let her in on the joke that we never intended to release this stuff. You got to go out there if you
  140. care about Trump because there was panic, you know, and then into July, by the way, I asked her that question like in April or something or May or June,
  141. but into July, they they said we're going to shut it all down. Nothing here. They put out >> and that's when I believe Trump said it was a hoax. I think that was the first
  142. time he said it was a hoax at that big cabinet meeting in front of the press. >> And then a few days later, I put the Epstein Files Transparency Act in the
  143. hopper. And that's when they went really ballistic. The New York Times covered this article. They had somebody on the inside that probably had a recording of
  144. the whole meeting where they're talking about how to make this go away and cover it up. And then they I don't think they ever anticipated I would get to the finish line or that there was this much
  145. momentum behind it from the people. Yeah. Right. It wasn't my persuasive abilities that got 427 people to to one
  146. in the House and 100 nothing to the Senate. It was because we held press conferences and we brought the survivors in and you know got the power of the
  147. people behind us. And when they saw that coming, I think they went in and told, "Mr. President, you you got to sign this bill, if you even try to veto it,
  148. they're going to override your veto and it's going to look even worse." >> Yeah. Well, and I think too, and this is part of the bubble that I talk about, I think that there's still this an illusion, whether it's just Trump as a
  149. singular entity or the whole administration, that they really think Trump can just say something and it becomes true. At least in the eyes of the people, it's like that's not
  150. working. The influence isn't there. He gets away with it a lot. But it it he has fractured uh the
  151. coalition that he built. I'll give him credit for building it. He brought in slivers. This is like kind of what the Democrats typically do. They they take a bunch of disenfranchised groups and put
  152. them together. And >> now they have a voting base. >> Yeah. And they have a voting base. Well, Trump did this, but he brought in libertarians. He brought in uh anti-war
  153. Republicans. He brought in Maha. He brought in the conser fiscal conservatives who wanted the Doge stuff. He, you know, he brought all them in and
  154. now he's alienated them all. Like, you know, we're going to protect glyphosate. >> Be nice. He's stomped on them. >> We're going to eat pe pink slime from foreign countries and and and drink
  155. glyphosate and be happy. We're going to have data centers humming in our backyards and be happy with the flock cameras all around. We're going to have
  156. u a war in Iran. Also a war in Yemen and a war in Venezuela, don't forget. And we're going to do some things we're not going to call war. We're just going to
  157. kill some people in boats with our military. >> Didn't we strike Nigeria too randomly at some point? >> There's some random stuff in there.
  158. Yesterday, before I went and spoke on the floor to read my articles of impeachment, I I sat down and read every communication from the White House to Congress on the subject of war or the
  159. military. And I saw some random stuff and they're like, "Wow, I didn't know we were in Alers or whatever." Like wherever it was, Algeria.
  160. >> Yeah. >> Uh >> well, we got to secure those shipping routes. You know, help the Kushers. >> What I did find out though is this ruse. Just a little side note, it's kind of
  161. interesting to see it in reality when I read all the letters from the White House to Congress. So when they did the Iran war, they're required within 48
  162. hours to transmit a notice to Congress that we did something and then we've got 60 days. Now there they didn't reach the level of justification in the 1973 War
  163. Powers Act would let them act alone, but they pretended they did and they followed the War Powers Resolution by sending us a communication. Well, that starts a 60-day clock.
  164. >> And that was was that Operation Midnight Hammer when they first did that? This was not the one, not the first one, but the next one. I don't remember what the two
  165. things are called. Absolute resolve or something. >> Resolve. >> Okay. So, so it wasn't the original strikes. >> Not the original. >> Although I did write a war powers like
  166. rebuke then which sat in the hopper and because the it was 12 days or whatever and it was over. uh when he started this
  167. next war a year later, we just used my bill. The House was running around looking for a bill that had already >> reuse the same one. >> Yeah.
  168. >> 60 days now. >> Correct. So they got to 60 days and that's when they had the fake ceasefire >> that lasted a few days and
  169. >> stock market goes up >> and yes on Friday, Monday games >> and then they started the they started it again. Um, but now they treat, this is the
  170. ridiculousness of the legal argument. They didn't start another 60-day clock. They started something and sent us a letter. This is all documented in
  171. letters they sent. And then uh they had another little fake ceasefire and then they started something again in response to an unfl flagged vessel getting shot
  172. and then they had another little ceasefire. So, we got a stack of letters now where they've started the war and they call they call these discreet military actions. They say they have
  173. nothing to do with the first war that lasted 60 days >> which um >> isolated yeah isolated military operations outside of the larger scale
  174. war. Okay. And by the way, this the threshold in the war powers resolution 1973 war powers resolution is it for the president to act without Congress is an
  175. attack on our property or US. >> Don't tell them that. Don't tell them that [laughter] easy. It's easy. We got reporters in the
  176. media today saying we need another 911. That's how psychotic these people are. Well, if you read the letter from the the letters from the White House every time they try to start this independent
  177. little war that only last two or three days during the attacks and they're predicated on attacks on unfl flagged shipping vessels or neutral flagged
  178. shipping vessels in the Gulf that like that's not an that's not American property. The Iranians didn't shoot American ships. They shot somebody
  179. else's ships. And so then so we definitely any kind of imaginary predicate where is it's they didn't even satisfy.
  180. >> So it seems like the outs from the outsider perspective may be more of the dissident left dissident right. It feels like the only real priorities we can
  181. look at the campaign and we can look at all the promises and we can look at what we thought the vision was that we all like. You know we all like the vision from the campaign. It seems that the
  182. only real priorities of this administration is the war with Iran and building an AI surveillance state. That that seems to be the only priorities from this administration. And when you
  183. when you look at the the the long, you know, two years, we're almost complete with this um with the first two years of the Trump administration, what has really come out of it? You you get you
  184. he's always talking about war. It's war war. And then it's data centers, it's AI, it's flot cameras. is does do you get the same feeling that that's really
  185. the only agenda, the only priorities this administration cares about? Like they talk about lowering prices, they obviously don't care about that. >> I think it's it's a a corporatization of
  186. our government. And so it's not they don't really care about anything. They're Trump was a populist. He had no ideology. He'd been a Democrat. um he
  187. was a populist which as long as you're doing what the people want is not a bad thing. >> Sure. >> Um as long as it's not costic or to to
  188. our future or unconstitutional. And so that's why he was able to use populism to build the coalition of ideologues like libertarians and
  189. anti-war people in Maha and fiscal conservatives like he and also ideology of closed borders and and you know put
  190. America first like there was ide there was a coalition of different ideologies but he himself is a populist and he got to Washington DC and he became more of a
  191. corporatist. He's the He's the, you know, the multi-millionaire that we all trusted to rat out his Epstein friends. And and even though he had made his
  192. money, we thought he would be more like us. And he was in the first term. And in the second term, he decided to be more like the swamp and and more like his
  193. buddies on Epstein Island. You know, I find that as an undeniable fact, by the way, and and when I'm kind of dealing with the different, you know, media entities that will defend Trump at every
  194. turn, you know, forever Trumpers, it's like that's why I go back to that binder gate because it's like all of those people were excited. We were going to get the Epstein files. We're going to
  195. get the Epstein arrest. This is going to be a huge part of pulling the curtain from the deep state and draining the swamp. And most of them are, you know, almost completely silent on the issue now. But I don't want to go down that
  196. road. I do want to say um I want to I have a I believe and I've been saying this for a while. I'll leave the Senate out of it. We'll be nice to some of the
  197. senators. Do you think you are the last conservative left? I look at Thomas Massie as the last conservative in the House, maybe in Congress. We'll leave
  198. the senators out for this conversation. Do you believe you are the last true conservative of the House of Representatives? >> Um I'm the last one that acts like it.
  199. So I have friends here. They are conservatives. Uh they're afraid and and they're afraid of their next
  200. election. They're afraid of their career after they leave this place. They're afraid it will affect their statewide race that you know that's outside of
  201. Congress if they go outside of the the mafia, which is the Trump circle right now. Like they are so vindictive.
  202. >> Oh, believe me, I know. >> I mean, I still like it. I still have a warehouse of bots. Like my friends are like, "How do you get half a million
  203. views on on every post, no matter what it is?" I was like, "Well, come on. Some of those are in Bulgaria and >> they're foreign bot networks." Yeah.
  204. >> Like the the one good thing about it is they do up, you know, because >> Yeah. They force you into everybody's feed because >> Yeah. >> Um anyways, but let me give you an
  205. example of what they do. They shut off your money. So there's, let me give you uh Club for Growth. It's a conservative
  206. organization. I've got some of their awards back here. >> You've got quite a bit of accolades back here. >> Yeah. This is, by the way, these I didn't come here to get merit badges. So
  207. these will go in the trash when I >> No, don't say that. You're He's going to save these forever. >> No, when I go back to the farm, these are going in the trash. Like one day, a cleaning lady broke one of them.
  208. >> Don't say that. You need to protect these. You earned these. They were so worried about >> I'll tell you, you can smelt it down into like a hammer or something.
  209. >> Uh, okay. Well, there was some Club for Growth award. I can't read them right now. Um,
  210. US Travel, Freedom Works. I think what the Club for Growth just maybe they gave you a paper certificate. >> I'm not going to let I'm not You can't Hey, you cannot let him.
  211. >> No, these must be protected at all costs. Let me let me call >> this is a piece of congressional history here. >> Let me call these people out. >> Having you no reference for nostalgia. >> This is I'm gonna call this These people
  212. are going to hate me after your thing airs. Oh, I'm going to call them out. >> Club for Growth. This was the bastion of
  213. of conservatism uh fiscal responsibility. Okay. They they didn't care about uh gun rights or
  214. abortion or immigration. They were all about what is best for free markets. Okay, they're one issue thing. Um, now I
  215. care about all those other things, but I was always one of the highest scores on their scorecard. The problem is the people that are
  216. funding them are uh big Trumpers and so they have totally I don't even know if they do a scorecard now. Like how would they score anything? They
  217. >> uh they're currently out of commission until Trump is out of office. out of commission. >> There's no nobody's scoring anything now because >> Trump is scoring high scores, record high deficit, record high debt.
  218. >> Everybody would get an F. But anyways, these folks also would help you in a race like the if you came up here and you were conservative. These are private
  219. libertarian leaning Republican donors who would pull their money and help the little guys up here like Freedom Caucus
  220. guys. If they were conservative, they'd give you a good score on their scorecard and they would pull money from their donors and help you get reelected.
  221. In my last election, these guys ran like scared rabbits away from me. Didn't
  222. didn't put me on their website. They quit giving scorecards because the problem is they'd have to show I have the highest scorecard >> and Trump would get an F. >> Yeah. And they were all uh influenced
  223. basically by the donors that sit on their boards. But Club for Growth totally sold out. I don't know what they're going to be now. >> Well, you know what? It's it's
  224. incredible that you tell that story here because I know I know some other stories and maybe someday you'll you'll go public with some of this stuff. >> Yeah. >> There have been so many things behind
  225. the scenes where Trump has, you know, he's got he's got his fingerprints over all kinds of different operations and funding campaigns. the amount of
  226. isolation that they that they try to they put you in the isolation chamber is is how much influence Trump has over all of these institutions. Now >> I'm still calling them out. This is the
  227. organization American Conservative Union that organizes CPAC. >> Hold on. Let me read this. Let me read this. This is the So the this is the organizer of CPAC award for conservative
  228. excellence presented to the honorable Thomas Massie. Oh, that's you. for your commitment to America's foundational principles and the US Constitution in recognition of your conservative rating
  229. of 96% signed by Matt Schlap. 96%. That's got to be the highest. That had to be the highest that year. >> Okay. You got a couple of those.
  230. >> Are these all the same? >> They're for different years. >> Uh >> can't we submit these to like the congressional library or something? That's [laughter] what you should do.
  231. You should force them to put this in like a in a big giant display case in the congressional library. >> 96 92 88 85 93
  232. >> 85 What happened to you that year, Congressman? >> Well, well, they wereif they were wrong 15% of the time. >> 100%
  233. 100% 80% 100% 96%. >> All right, I'm doing the quick math in my head. I believe you averaged 95%.
  234. That's pretty good. >> That's an A. I think the only person that was uh anywhere near you from my recollection was Marjorie. >> So, um >> and we all know what happened to her.
  235. >> This these guys have sold out. Mashlap has sold out. Totally sold out. He's uh when I voted against the big beautiful
  236. bill, which it cuts taxes, sure enough, but it raises spending and it it blows the deficit all to hell and the debt.
  237. >> And we've seen that. >> And we've seen it. Everything I said would happen has happened. And he attacked me when I voted against the big beautiful bill and basically said I had
  238. it coming when other people attacked me that I shouldn't have voted that way. Um what are the what are they? This is this is like excellence. They're not
  239. excellent. >> Just shows it was hollow. It just shows it was always hollow. It shows that it never meant anything to anybody. And that, you know, I think that that's what's been so unfortunate watching
  240. everything that's transgressed in the last two years is that so many people didn't mean anything. They just, it didn't mean anything to them. What they said didn't matter. The actual issues of
  241. the campaign didn't matter. And now it's just like a bunch of cheerleaders that want to wear um, you know, wear the Trump outfit, wave the pompoms, do the high leg kicks when they're down 30 to
  242. nothing at halftime. Sorry, can't relate. Most of the American people can't relate to that. I don't know if there's anything else you want to say. Thomas has to race over to do some votes now. But um this has been this has been
  243. fun. You want to show off some of your other uh some of your hardware? >> Every year I got the Freedom Works Award. Okay. >> Um >> so this is from you've got 2013, 2016,
  244. 2018, 2015, 2017. What is that? 2019 >> 2014. Um >> Oh, that's even going back farther. >> So So what happened?
  245. It goes to 2017. What happened to this organization? They didn't sell out. They imploded. Trump like basically
  246. >> they had Trump donors that wanted to pull him in a certain direction and they tried not to go in that direction and it was a great Freedom Works, right? Great
  247. organization, had a scorecard. They no longer exist. Um, but that's that's another example of something that went south. Uh, and the difference here is I
  248. never changed. Like, run all my votes through an AI program, see if I ever changed on any of this stuff. Some of
  249. them are the same damn bills that were just brought up again, and now they're Republican bills, and they get in trouble for >> I love what Randy Fine did to you where you passed uh no no foreign citizens can
  250. serve in Congress. He came out and attacked you for that and then two months later wrote the exact same bill and presented it as his own and all the you know all the all the flunkies were
  251. like, "Oh, Randy Fine is so smart. He says no foreigners in government." You're like, "Yeah, that was my bill." >> Yeah. [laughter] I don't care. I don't care.
  252. >> It's funny though. It's funny for guys like me to watch that stuff happen because nobody else in the media calls it out. >> Here's another thing. So, we're talking about lobbyists write so many people's
  253. bills or the leadership gives you a bill and say, "Pass this opioid bill." Yeah, it's not what you ran on. It's not really that conservative. It's a little
  254. bit socialist, but pass it, we'll help you get reelected. You know what's happening right now? Uh, when I go to the floor of the House, there's people
  255. come up to me asking if they can have my bill when I leave. And I've got a dozen bills in high demand that that they I've got a national constitutional carry bill
  256. that is like it's the gold standard of second amendment bills up here. And I've been pushing this. I got so many co-sponsors. You know, I talk about it in judiciary
  257. committee where I uh where if there's any second amendment issue in judiciary, which is the venue 42A, they they toss me the ball and have been forever. So I
  258. got that bill. I got the prime act that would solve this meat issue and the far for the farmers raw milk bill an audit the fed bill
  259. >> like just I got to end the fed bill. Some of these I R&D ripped off and duplicated from Ron Paul >> and uh bill a bill to end pensions in
  260. Congress. The no tax on tips is still my bill. The no tax on social security still my bill. like uh people want they're coming up to
  261. me when you leave. Can I have your bill? Like well I told so and so they could have the bill or my bill on flop cameras
  262. which yes we know there's other brands and it covers all the brands that but it defunds any federal money for anybody
  263. that wants to buy those things. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know after I leave, >> a lot of your bills are going to >> Yeah. If I was doing such a bad job, my
  264. I got bad news for the people that are glad to see me leave. My bills are going to be here. The ones that haven't become >> Well, that'll be interesting to see the route that those go through. You know, I'm listening. I can't help but this You
  265. know what this reminds me of? When uh when the Democrats and the Biden administration sent me to federal prison, before you get out, everybody wants your stuff. Like, who who who's
  266. going to get your shoes? Who's going to get your sweatpants? who's going to get, you know, whatever other trinkets that you have. >> My my analogy is they're they're dividing up. >> So, you're getting out of prison kind of
  267. in a way. >> They're they're they don't come to the funeral because they're back at the house uh parting out grandma's jewelry like and she's not even in the ground
  268. and they're and they're picking through her jewelry. >> Yeah. Where's Sunny? She's at your she's in your, you know, closet right now. >> Yeah. Um and but I'm fine with that. You
  269. know, that's flattering. That's flatting flattering to me. It's flattery. Um, and it gives me a little bit of hope. >> Yeah, I would say the same for me. The
  270. fact that there's people that are interested in doing that tells me that, you know, maybe it's there's still a glimmer, a little bit of something. >> It's u it's bleak. Like, I don't want I
  271. don't know. I know. You know, I don't know that there's much hope for Congress at this point because it's u they're just all cowed and I'm
  272. not sure how much that's going to change um going forward. Here's another phenomenon you'll see. If we go into the minority,
  273. everybody's gonna be a raging conservative. Oh, all of a sudden, of course, >> like Club for Growth, Freedom Works, American Conservative Union, everybody
  274. when we were in the minority, everybody got 90 plus. Like even the biggest squish up here got a 90 plus because all you had to do was vote against Democrat
  275. bills. >> And those are almost universally bad or fiscally irresponsible. But then when Republicans get majority,
  276. that's when the the scores bifurcated. you would have the conservatives would have high scores and the squishes Republicans without a spine would have
  277. low scores whenever we were in the majority. So to answer your question, am I the last conservative here? I'm the
  278. last one who acts like it. >> And I and I don't mean the fake bills like the save act like I vote for those. I'll vote for your fake bills. It
  279. doesn't hurt me. It'd be great. It's a fairy tale. Um, but they're fake. Why don't you try to get something real done
  280. >> that's conservative? >> Or, you know, we we hear about all these crimes. Trump has said the word treason, I think, five times in reference to past administrations. He puts the auto pen up
  281. on the wall at the White House. It's like, okay, so we all agree there's massive criminal activity happening here. >> What time do the arrest start? >> We're still waiting. Tick tock. Tick
  282. tock. And by the way, Tik Tok, I know you got to get to the floor for a vote. Hey, one of the last great congressmen, Thomas Massie, it's been a pleasure. Owen, I love what you're doing, brother.
  283. Thank you.

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