Hey everybody. Welcome back. Thanks for being here.
Our top story today: Trump keeps saying we’re pulling hundreds of billions of dollars out of Venezuela with his big oil deal. Well, ProPublica got hold of the actual contract, and it doesn’t say that. What it does say is that we’re buying a 35 percent stake in a company run by a Venezuelan businessman who’s been investigated for money laundering in three countries, and the whole thing is registered through a Barbados shell company so nobody can see who the other owners are. We’ll get into what’s actually in this thing, and why the people who signed it didn’t want you to see it.
We’ll also get into the chaotic end to Paolo Zampolli’s diplomatic career, JD Vance shaming Republicans for having a conscience, a judge pulling DHS agents off Trump’s hunt for voter fraud, and early voting numbers that should worry every Republican on the ballot.
So do me a favor. Like this video, share it with someone who needs to see it, and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Let’s get to it.
1. Trump’s Secret Venezuela Contract Leaks
Our negotiator-in-chief is really proud of this one. Listen to him talk about the money we’re supposedly getting from Venezuela.
That’s what he claims. But what’s actually on paper? Well thanks to some sleuthing from ProPublica, we finally got the 18 page contract.
The company the US partnered with is called North American Blue Energy Partners. It’s run by Alejandro Betancourt, a Venezuelan who has faced money laundering investigations in Switzerland, Spain, and the United States. The Venezuelan opposition leader calls him a figure of “obscene corruption.”
As for the other businessman who signed the deal? He was involved in a scheme to rip off Venezuela’s state oil company. Sounds like the kind of guys only this administration would do business with.
In fact, the Post recently reported that DOJ officials asked foreign governments to let Betancourt travel and close their investigations into him. Yet another disaster for our international reputation.
Per the terms of the agreement, the US takes 35 percent of the parent company by paying a penny a share. And in return, we get to buy 20 percent of the oil at 30 bucks a barrel, with first dibs on the rest for 50 years. But that parent company is registered in Barbados, which makes it nearly impossible for anyone to figure out who the owners are.
What’s more, any dispute goes to a federal court in Texas, not Venezuela. One person involved told ProPublica the structure was designed “to insulate them from future administrations.”
And what about those hundreds of billions we’re supposedly getting from this? Well, here are the numbers. The company produces about 200,000 barrels a day. The United States burns through that in about 15 minutes. Senate Democrats say most of the Venezuelan oil fields aren’t even close to being up and running. So while it’s not clear just how much money we’re actually raking in, knowing Trump, the actual number is probably much lower than he claims.
So here’s where we are. Trump seized a head of state, and in return the American people own 35 percent of a stranger’s company. It was negotiated in secret. The guy running it has been investigated for money laundering in three countries. And it’s structured so that Congress can’t see the owners and the next president can’t get out of it. If this were a good deal, they wouldn’t have had to hide it.
2. Another MAGA Grifter Falls
Last week we told you about the email war at the State Department between Zampolli and Chris Landau, the number two at the department. Hours after Politico put the emails out, State finally gave him the axe.
The New York Times caught up with him on a phone call that night. He said there was “No scandal!” and that “Everybody’s getting out.” Then, finally, “I need to make money.” Glad to see only the most faithful public servants are representing our interests abroad.
Of course, like most of the officials in this administration, Zampolli didn’t have any qualifications in the first place. He was the modeling agent who introduced Trump to Melania in the 90s. That’s his whole resume. And he’s never been the best judge of character. In 2004, he teamed up with Jeffrey Epstein to try and buy a modeling agency. More recently, he hosted the Tate brothers at his Washington home days before they were arrested on rape and sexual trafficking charges. He himself is also the defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by a model who alleges he sexually assaulted her in 2023.
Qualifications and personal issues aside, he was also a terrible envoy. His main focus was on getting Russia back into the Olympics.
Trump called him “my Paolo.” Zampolli says when complaints piled up last year, the president called him screaming, then asked, “Who wants to fire Paolo?” He managed to avoid getting sacked back then. But on a similar call last week, Trump was fed up. He told his old friend that instead of bothering with the administration he should just go and make money. Apparently only Trump gets to do both.
It’s not a surprise that Paolo eventually got canned. This is a guy who refers to himself in the third person. He’s clearly a bit of a character. And he was sloppy, so he got caught. Guilfoyle was sloppy too. But what about the ones who lay low? What about the ones who know how to cover their tracks? Based on Trump’s hiring practices, there are probably twenty more corrupt clowns flying under the radar at State, enriching themselves while dragging down our image abroad.
It’s a scary thought. But here’s the good news: once Democrats take back the House in November, subpoena power is going to make it a whole lot easier to root those bad actors out. So get out there and vote, and maybe we can turn the whole place upside down.
3. Vance Shames GOP Conscience
I wrote about this yesterday on Substack, and I encourage you to check it out if you haven’t already. But I think this story is worth highlighting on the show too, because it really cuts to the heart of just how shameless MAGA has become.
In short, Vivek Ramaswamy is running for governor of Ohio against Dr. Amy Acton. He was down in the polls, so he put out an ad featuring Acton’s mother, who calls her a liar and says she’s not fit to lead. It leaves out the fact that the woman lost custody of Acton after siding with her stepfather, who was charged with sexually abusing Acton when she was 12. The stepfather skipped court and died a fugitive, and Amy and her brother were put in foster care. Understandably, she hasn’t spoken with the woman who sided with her abuser since 1978.
I’ve already written about how disgusting this is. But don’t take it from me. Listen to the Republicans who have come out against it. Jon Husted, who’s in a tough Senate race on the same ballot said, “I would not have run that ad.” Nikki Haley said, “He’s a bad guy. It’s a shame he continues to get away with it.” Meghan McCain called the ad dastardly. Even Nick Fuentes slammed the ad, calling the mother a sick, twisted person who betrayed her own flesh and blood. If your messaging is so cruel that you lose Nick Fuentes, you’ve really gone off the deep end.
So what did the Vice President have to say about these reactions? Have a listen.
Disgusted. Not by the ad. By the Republicans who cried foul. Vivek is taking Vance’s cue and doubling down, spending $4 million to make sure Ohio voters see it.
And as I wrote this morning, this is a pattern with Vance. When something is too ugly for him to defend with a straight face, he attacks the people upset about it. He did the same thing with the Young Republicans’ group chat full of Hitler jokes, telling critics to grow up and stop clutching their pearls. Asked if Trump lost in 2020, he said he was focused on the future. Move on. Stop whining. Vance threw away his conscience to join the Trump administration, and now he wants you to do the same thing.
If objecting to this ad is whining, then I say whine away. Vance can say whatever he wants. But he and Vivek are in for a rude awakening when Ohio voters whine all the way to the polls.
4. Judge Halts Trump’s Voter Hunt
The Trump administration spent months pressuring election officials in states where it claims noncitizen voters are registered to vote. The goal is to prove a large-scale pattern of illegal voting.
As part of that campaign, Homeland Security has sent hundreds of agents out across the country, knocking on doors and interviewing people on lists of suspected noncitizen voters.
DHS claims federal agents verified the identity of registrants to eliminate false positives. But the lists pulled from federal immigration data the agency itself admitted was flawed. Agents were ordered to review at least 40 people per shift, giving them just twelve minutes to clear each name.
What’s more, DHS memos reveal that the operation had been surveilling and infiltrating nearly 150 nonprofits and churches involved in voter outreach as of July.
So yesterday, a federal judge issued a 19-page order. DHS agents, she ruled, can’t interview anyone they “know, suspect, or should reasonably suspect are U.S. citizens.” She also addresses the timing of the operation. The public’s interest “in safe elections, free from interference or intimidation,” she wrote, far outweighs the government’s interest in combating unlawful voting.
The order is on hold until Friday night to give the administration time to appeal. If it stands, it thankfully runs through Election Day.
And look, noncitizen voting in federal elections is illegal. Nobody disputes that, including this judge. But decades of evidence show it almost never happens. Nowhere near the levels this administration claims. And these operations just happen to be ramping up weeks before the midterms.
That’s because the point was never to find fraud. It was to make people afraid to vote, and to build a story about why the results shouldn’t count. Because Trump knows he’s going to lose. Thanks to this judge, and many others across the country, that story is falling apart in court.
5. Early Voting Surge Spooks GOP
More than 13 million ballots have already been cast nationally, two weeks out from Election Day. At this point in 2022, it was 9 million. And AP News reports that voter turnout is soaring in many states expected to decide control of the Senate.
In Kansas, early voting has more than doubled since 2022, from 27,000 ballots to over 55,000. In Texas, it’s up 74 percent, with almost a million ballots already cast. And in-person early voting only started Monday.
Think about what that means. Neither state has had a competitive Senate election in decades. They always fall comfortably to the Republicans. But voters in these reliably red states sense blood, and they want to make their voices heard.
The same surge is showing up in swing states too. Ohio witnessed a 30 percent jump in early voting, with 156,000 more early ballots cast than four years ago. Maine is up by 39 percent. And North Carolina is up by 38 percent.
And here’s the line that matters. In most of those battleground states, Republicans are a smaller share of the early vote than they were in 2022. The enthusiasm gap is showing up in the numbers.
That’s not exactly surprising. Americans are tired of the Trump administration’s corruption. Its inhumane immigration policies. Its tariffs and the cost of living. Its war and the price of gas. And unfortunately for the White House, they are showing up to vote.
But early votes aren’t the final result. If you’ve been frustrated with the direction that the Trump administration and the GOP have taken our country, your vote is your verdict on their leadership. So go make it count.
Some other stories that caught my eye:
Postal Service cost-cutting is getting rural ballots thrown out, and the damage is landing hardest in Trump country. A new ProPublica analysis found that late-ballot rejections doubled or tripled in this year’s primaries in counties where the Postal Service cut mail service. The culprit is a little-noticed change that mostly took effect after the 2024 election. Post offices 50 or more miles from a processing plant now get one pickup a day instead of two. That pushes back postmarks, which don’t happen until mail reaches a regional plant. Postal Service leaders say special procedures will fast-track ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. And its board chair Amber McReynolds said “We work to identify and address issues quickly.” But the delays will still likely have an impact. Washington’s Democratic secretary of state, Steve Hobbs, argues the agency’s Republican leadership underestimated the hit to its own voters. The cuts now cover almost 20,000 ZIP codes, affecting at least seven competitive House districts. And Brookings projects tens of thousands of ballots could be rejected if the primary pattern holds.
Millions of Amazon refund checks now credit “President Trump’s Federal Trade Commission,” and they’re landing in mailboxes weeks before the midterms. The checks come from a $2.5 billion settlement Amazon agreed to in 2025 over allegations it tricked customers into Prime subscriptions. The notice that comes with each check uses that phrase three times. A new batch is going out now after a federal judge expanded eligibility, with payments of up to $200. Two former FTC officials told POLITICO this is the first FTC refund ever attributed to a specific president. The agency stands by the wording. A spokesperson said “It is settled law that President Trump is the leader of the executive branch and his FTC is responsible for this historic settlement.” But the case didn’t start under Trump. The Biden administration filed the lawsuit in 2023. A review of other recent FTC refunds, including Epic Games, Grubhub and Walmart, found no others that credit a president. At least 24.9 million Amazon checks had gone out as of September. The FTC operated largely independent of the White House until the Supreme Court expanded presidential control over such agencies this summer. It now routinely calls itself the “Trump-Vance FTC.”
