1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,960 Well, the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, which is a front, of... 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,400 CIA, has been effectively shut down. 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:11,919 Now following an announcement by Elon Musk that President Donald Trump agreed to close 4 00:00:11,919 --> 00:00:13,280 the agency. 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:17,920 And just this morning, you can see all of the kerfluffle outside there. 6 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:23,080 I love their saying USAID saves lives, which is hilarious to me when you think about the 7 00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:26,000 regime change operations around the world and how many people have died. 8 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:27,000 How about the million? 9 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,160 Oh, no, they're just deciding whose lives they carry. 10 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:34,799 How about the million Ukrainians who've died at their hands as a result of the regime 11 00:00:34,799 --> 00:00:35,799 change there? 12 00:00:35,799 --> 00:00:40,079 So, yeah, these protests are additionally more than 600 employees reported being locked 13 00:00:40,079 --> 00:00:42,480 out of the agency's computer systems today. 14 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:44,200 The doors basically shuttered. 15 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,780 You can see Democrats holding a press conference there. 16 00:00:46,780 --> 00:00:49,039 They have a larger budget than the CIA. 17 00:00:49,039 --> 00:00:52,600 They're responsible for regime change operations around the world. 18 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:58,320 Like in Ukraine in 2014, they were given five billion dollars of your tax dollars to carry 19 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:02,000 out a coup in Ukraine, of course, led by Victoria Nuland. 20 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,719 President Trump was on the tarmac and he said USAID is run by lunatics. 21 00:01:05,719 --> 00:01:14,480 Well, it's been run by a bunch of radical lunatics and we're getting them out. 22 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:23,039 USAID run by radical lunatics and we're getting them out and then we'll make a... 23 00:01:23,039 --> 00:01:27,480 So Jamie Raskin, among other Democrats, were there at this little protest today to... 24 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,240 call Donald Trump a dictator and how we have to save USAID watch. 25 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:36,719 Elon Musk, you didn't create USAID. 26 00:01:36,719 --> 00:01:40,159 The United States Congress did for the American people. 27 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:48,719 And just like Elon Musk did not create USAID, he doesn't have the power to destroy it. 28 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,439 And who's going to stop him? 29 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:51,920 We are. 30 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:53,400 We're going to stop him. 31 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:59,960 Never mind the fact that JFK signed an executive order creating USAID. 32 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:01,240 So it wasn't Congress. 33 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,560 But don't let facts get in the way. 34 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:08,439 Here's Ilhan Omar, who also had something to say about the Trump dictatorship. 35 00:02:08,439 --> 00:02:09,439 Listen. 36 00:02:09,439 --> 00:02:13,640 We are witnessing a constitutional crisis. 37 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:19,319 We talked about Trump wanting to be a dictator on day one. 38 00:02:19,319 --> 00:02:21,640 And here we are. 39 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:26,439 This is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like. 40 00:02:26,439 --> 00:02:35,519 When you got the Constitution and you install yourself as the sole power, that is how... 41 00:02:35,519 --> 00:02:36,519 are made. 42 00:02:36,519 --> 00:02:37,519 Wow. 43 00:02:37,519 --> 00:02:41,399 It's almost like they're they're probably making a lot of money from USAID that they 44 00:02:41,399 --> 00:02:43,879 would get out in the cold weather and give a speech like that. 45 00:02:43,879 --> 00:02:45,239 They must be making some money. 46 00:02:45,239 --> 00:02:49,159 Let's ask Peter Schweitzer, president of the Governmental Accountability Institute, the 47 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,240 author of like 100 books. 48 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:52,359 Excellent books, by the way. 49 00:02:52,359 --> 00:02:54,240 Here's one, Secret Empires. 50 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:55,240 Here's another one. 51 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:56,240 Extortion. 52 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:57,240 Oh, they're extortion. 53 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,479 How politicians extract your money, buy votes, line their own pockets. 54 00:03:01,479 --> 00:03:05,519 And Peter, I think I interviewed you a number of years ago when your book on Clinton cash 55 00:03:05,519 --> 00:03:06,519 came out. 56 00:03:06,519 --> 00:03:13,000 And it's unbelievable to see how the Clinton Foundation tied to USAID, all these Democrats 57 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,639 out there in the cold complaining and crying about it. 58 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:17,800 It all kind of comes together, doesn't it, Peter? 59 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:18,840 Good to see you again. 60 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,960 Great to see you guys, too. 61 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:21,960 Thanks for having me, Leland. 62 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:22,960 No, you're right. 63 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:28,040 I mean, the Clintons are an example of how the political classes enrich themselves... 64 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,719 USAID, but they are hardly the only example. 65 00:03:31,719 --> 00:03:32,719 And that's the problem. 66 00:03:32,719 --> 00:03:33,880 It's really twofold. 67 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,860 Number one, there are certainly things that USAID has done. 68 00:03:38,860 --> 00:03:42,520 You talked about Ukraine that are very troublesome. 69 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:47,439 But it used to be that USAID was supposed to be an extension that protected American 70 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:48,520 interests. 71 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,400 Under Barack Obama, that changed. 72 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:55,919 It then became the focus of advancing the so-called millennial goals that have been 73 00:03:55,919 --> 00:03:56,919 established. 74 00:03:56,919 --> 00:04:00,919 So it no longer became about projecting American power, American influence. 75 00:04:00,919 --> 00:04:05,560 It became about, you know, affecting climate change and affecting migration. 76 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,919 So it totally went off of its original Cold War mission. 77 00:04:08,919 --> 00:04:13,800 The second problem is the one you alluded to specifically, which is a lot of the money 78 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,759 does not go to help poor people overseas. 79 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:22,000 It goes to consultancies in places like Arlington, Virginia or Bethesda, Maryland,... 80 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:28,439 run by former politicians that rake in cash doing, quote unquote, consulting work on 81 00:04:28,439 --> 00:04:30,120 development in these countries. 82 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:35,680 With the Clintons that happened in Haiti, with the Bidens, certainly Burisma, that... 83 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:41,519 energy company that Hunter Biden was involved in, they were getting support from USAID. 84 00:04:41,519 --> 00:04:46,680 So this is an enrichment program, not for poor people in the developing world, but for 85 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:48,920 the Beltway political class. 86 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:53,800 Now, most of this is run through the State Department in the same way they use the... 87 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:55,959 Endowment for Democracy to decide. 88 00:04:55,959 --> 00:05:01,280 And the guise of it is that other countries are so backwards, they don't know how to be 89 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:02,280 a democracy. 90 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:06,439 They don't know how to be progressive when it comes to women's rights and gay rights. 91 00:05:06,439 --> 00:05:12,960 And they need us to go and teach them this, which is an incredibly ethnocentric and... 92 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:13,960 mission. 93 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:15,160 So what do you think? 94 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:16,519 I mean, and it's false. 95 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:18,120 Also, it's a lie. 96 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:22,199 So what do you think these people protesting are actually protesting for? 97 00:05:22,199 --> 00:05:25,359 Is it just they don't want Donald Trump to do anything that he wants to do? 98 00:05:25,359 --> 00:05:28,639 Or do they actually like the idea of being the boss of the world? 99 00:05:28,639 --> 00:05:30,599 Yeah, it's a great question. 100 00:05:30,599 --> 00:05:32,199 Obviously, I can't look into their heads. 101 00:05:32,199 --> 00:05:33,199 I can speculate. 102 00:05:33,199 --> 00:05:37,319 But I would imagine some of the people there are probably true believers, right? 103 00:05:37,319 --> 00:05:41,879 They actually believe that US taxpayer money should be given to them and given to their 104 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:48,159 because, of course, a lot of this money goes to nongovernmental organizations upon which 105 00:05:48,159 --> 00:05:54,480 former USAID employees sit on the board or are actually collecting salaries. 106 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:58,519 But some of them may be true believers in saying they're entitled to this and they 107 00:05:58,519 --> 00:06:00,180 know how to run the world. 108 00:06:00,180 --> 00:06:04,839 But I would argue that probably a lot of it has to do with this class of people that have 109 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:11,759 set up consultancies, part of these public-private partnerships that exist, to... 110 00:06:11,759 --> 00:06:12,980 world. 111 00:06:12,980 --> 00:06:16,379 And the sad fact is it has not worked. 112 00:06:16,379 --> 00:06:21,639 It will not work because the problems in the developing world are oftentimes deep cultural 113 00:06:21,639 --> 00:06:24,680 problems related to corruption and other matters. 114 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,519 And pumping a lot of government money into those environments is not going to improve 115 00:06:28,519 --> 00:06:29,959 the situation at all. 116 00:06:29,959 --> 00:06:34,719 So there's a lot of self-interest here. 117 00:06:34,719 --> 00:06:41,259 International banks, Wall Street, they love USAID-backed projects because they're... 118 00:06:41,259 --> 00:06:47,539 They love USAID and other government-backed loans that happen in the developing world 119 00:06:47,539 --> 00:06:49,459 because it minimizes risk. 120 00:06:49,459 --> 00:06:53,819 And these are the people that are ultimately going to be hurt by ending USAID. 121 00:06:53,819 --> 00:06:54,819 Oh, yeah. 122 00:06:54,819 --> 00:06:58,019 Also, it's gender ideology training in Peru. 123 00:06:58,019 --> 00:07:02,939 I mean, the list is endless for how much, you know, US taxpayer dollars go to these 124 00:07:02,939 --> 00:07:06,759 ridiculous DEI programs around the world and all of this. 125 00:07:06,759 --> 00:07:08,659 And someone in our chat room here just made the point. 126 00:07:08,659 --> 00:07:10,980 Dana says, you know, it's not USAID. 127 00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:14,660 We need to remember that because you're hearing that, of course, all over TV. 128 00:07:14,660 --> 00:07:15,660 It's USAID. 129 00:07:15,660 --> 00:07:16,660 It's not. 130 00:07:16,660 --> 00:07:17,660 They're not. 131 00:07:17,660 --> 00:07:21,140 I think that we, you know, shove that name in there and make it sound like it's friendly 132 00:07:21,140 --> 00:07:22,500 and sharing it. 133 00:07:22,500 --> 00:07:25,780 But talk about the CIA connections here because Robert F. Kennedy kind of blew the... 134 00:07:25,780 --> 00:07:30,100 that, Peter, you know, a few months ago on Tucker's show when he talked about USAID... 135 00:07:30,100 --> 00:07:36,200 being a front for the CIA, larger budget than the CIA, responsible for regime change... 136 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:37,460 like in Ukraine. 137 00:07:37,460 --> 00:07:39,939 How connected is the CIA here in USAID? 138 00:07:40,899 --> 00:07:44,019 Yeah, well, the person in the chat room is quite right. 139 00:07:44,019 --> 00:07:45,019 It's not USAID. 140 00:07:45,019 --> 00:07:49,300 It's the US Agency for International Development. 141 00:07:49,300 --> 00:07:54,740 That is the official name, and it functions as supposedly developing in the developing 142 00:07:54,740 --> 00:07:55,740 world. 143 00:07:55,740 --> 00:07:59,959 And you're quite right that USAID is connected to the State Department. 144 00:07:59,959 --> 00:08:07,500 The State Department is kind of the preferred cover for CIA operatives operating overseas. 145 00:08:07,500 --> 00:08:09,139 They might be working in the embassy. 146 00:08:09,339 --> 00:08:10,579 They might not be in the embassy. 147 00:08:10,579 --> 00:08:12,680 They might be in an NGO. 148 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:18,699 But USAID offers them the opportunity to carry out those policies, and it also give... 149 00:08:18,699 --> 00:08:20,979 money, large sums of money. 150 00:08:20,979 --> 00:08:26,919 You know, back in the 1950s, before USAID, the CIA would have to take money out of its 151 00:08:26,919 --> 00:08:27,919 own coffers. 152 00:08:27,919 --> 00:08:32,419 It would have to get authorizations from the Intelligence Committee to spend half a... 153 00:08:32,419 --> 00:08:34,059 dollars somewhere. 154 00:08:34,059 --> 00:08:36,439 Now you can use aid dollars. 155 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:43,120 So if you want to do something in, say, Botswana, you simply provide grants and... 156 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:48,140 NGOs to your preferred political candidate in that country. 157 00:08:48,140 --> 00:08:49,360 So that's how it works. 158 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:54,320 So eliminating it is, I think, a great solution. 159 00:08:54,320 --> 00:09:00,360 Greater transparency on our overall aid program overseas, I think, would be a grea... 160 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,520 because there are others beyond USAID. 161 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:08,279 And I think we need to have transparency not only to know what ends that money is being 162 00:09:08,279 --> 00:09:14,159 given, but what the results are, because these programs are rife with corruption, a... 163 00:09:14,159 --> 00:09:18,840 don't find out about them because of their sort of secretive nature. 164 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:23,759 But something that the Trump administration has indicated is that some of the leftovers 165 00:09:23,759 --> 00:09:28,360 that does not poof into the ether will be absorbed into the State Department. 166 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,199 And we've seen signaling from Marco Rubio saying, look, we're staying in our own... 167 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,320 We're not going to go abroad and tell people how to think and how to live and try and 168 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:37,320 regime change. 169 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:38,320 Do you believe him? 170 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:39,320 Do we believe him? 171 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,840 I'm not sure I believe that, but I'm shocked to hear it out of a government official. 172 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:48,040 And so is there some, could that be true, that we now honor the idea of a multipolar 173 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,800 world, whereas live and let live, respect your neighbors and how they want to run their 174 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,560 own countries, sovereignty, that kind of thing? 175 00:09:54,560 --> 00:10:01,200 Or is there some kind of fear that this ethos would be absorbed by the State Department, 176 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:02,879 and we'll keep doing things like this? 177 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:06,559 Or that Marco Rubio is a neocon and then his true colors will show? 178 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,559 Well, you just led the witness. 179 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:10,559 At the end of the day. 180 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:12,080 Yeah, no, it's a good question. 181 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,840 I mean, I don't know exactly what Marco Rubio is going to do. 182 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:21,240 What I do know is this, the early signs from the Trump administration is that they're 183 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,100 going to deal with the world in a very simple way. 184 00:10:24,100 --> 00:10:30,720 If you are adversaries or are enemies, countries like Iran or China, you better b... 185 00:10:30,879 --> 00:10:34,120 because he's prepared to use military force if needed. 186 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,960 That doesn't mean putting a bunch of boots on the ground, but using things like missile 187 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:38,960 strikes. 188 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,560 If you were Iran and you were going to damage the United States, we're going to come after 189 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:43,560 you. 190 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:47,920 But what he's also showing is he's going to deal with American allies or ostensible... 191 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:49,360 differently as well. 192 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:54,960 I mean, for decades, we have dealt with countries like Mexico and Colombia and... 193 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,720 Uruguay, for example, by saying, hey, we'll give you eight dollars, we'll give you lots 194 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:03,600 of money and then try to help us out if you can. 195 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:04,600 That has not worked out well. 196 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:09,240 All you have to do is look at a country like Mexico, which is effectively run by the drug 197 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:14,560 cartels, which is the gateway for fentanyl in the United States. 198 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:19,560 The Mexican government's known this since the fentanyl crisis began over a decade ago, 199 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:20,720 and they've done nothing. 200 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:25,120 And what Trump is essentially saying to them is we're not going to try to bribe you... 201 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,279 We're going to use a different stick. 202 00:11:27,279 --> 00:11:33,799 And we are basically going to say you don't have access to our market without a big... 203 00:11:33,799 --> 00:11:37,399 unless you start doing the stuff that we're telling you to do. 204 00:11:37,399 --> 00:11:41,039 And the reason is you should not take friends for granted. 205 00:11:41,039 --> 00:11:45,560 And countries like Mexico have taken the United States for granted. 206 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:48,440 And Trump is going to change that, I think, by different tools. 207 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,039 We're not going to throw money at you anymore. 208 00:11:51,039 --> 00:11:55,839 We are going to put tariffs on your goods and damage your economy if you don't cooperate. 209 00:11:55,839 --> 00:11:59,799 And I think that's a very good and healthy step in the right direction and away from 210 00:11:59,799 --> 00:12:05,519 the USAID model of effectively trying to bribe these people, and the bribery just... 211 00:12:05,519 --> 00:12:06,519 work. 212 00:12:06,519 --> 00:12:09,039 Yeah, I think we've had it with these NGOs. 213 00:12:09,039 --> 00:12:10,039 You're absolutely right. 214 00:12:10,039 --> 00:12:11,519 Peter Schweitzer has been our guest. 215 00:12:11,519 --> 00:12:15,480 I would encourage all of you to go to, you know, go wherever you buy books these days. 216 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,039 He's got a fabulous library of fantastically written books. 217 00:12:19,039 --> 00:12:22,480 You can read Secret Empires about the hidden corruption there. 218 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:24,799 Extortion is Clinton cash. 219 00:12:24,799 --> 00:12:28,279 I mean, it's all you want to read about the corruption in Washington, D.C. 220 00:12:28,279 --> 00:12:29,679 Look no further than Peter Schweitzer. 221 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:30,679 Peter, great to see you. 222 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:32,120 Thanks so much for coming on the show. 223 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:34,159 Hey, thanks so much for having me on.