All language subtitles for ComingHomeNow

The Capitol is the very heart of our
system of representative government.

Members of the House
of Representatives are elected

for short terms, two years,

and since they have to come up
for reelection so often,

they must constantly be responsive
to the wishes of the voters.

The American people are
very proud of their government,

for it is a republic.

This means a form
of Democratic government

where the people are the rulers
of their li...

It's day eight
of the government shutdown

and neither side is willing to budge.

The discussion has broken down and
we do expect this to go on for a while.

We are in uh, what used to be
a work closet

for the former congressman
that had this office.

Of the 435 members of Congress,

more than a hundred actually live
in the building.

For some people,
it's an economic decision.

For me, frankly, it's just
that I like being at work

and it gives me the maximum opportunity
to get the most out of every day.

Gotta get the make-up on,
first thing in the morning.

We got a lot of hits.

We usually do our TV in the morning
from here in the Capitol

and there's no Fox News make-up lady

so, you gotta contour the sides.

I got my uh, weight-loss chart here.

My mother joked the camera added
ten pounds so I needed to drop a few.

Alright, this is the critical choice
of the day here. The tie selection.

Gotta figure out what shoes go
with purple and pewter.

These are Ivanka's favorite.
She told me she liked my shoes.

Wore 'em to the White House.

When a congressional seat came open,

I had really started to think about
what this country would be like

in a Donald Trump presidency

and I knew it would not be
like anything we'd experienced before

with any other type
of Republican or Democrat.

I thought, this guy's got
some rough edges.

He is very uncharacteristic
as a politician.

But I felt like, he was exactly
the type of person

that could bring the fight to a town
that badly needed it,

that could be a change agent.

And if I could be there,
and be of assistance,

then I could contribute
to that change in a positive way.

Nine percent of Americans approve
of the job Congress is doing.

That's the lowest in our history.

All you see is gridlock.
No one can agree on anything.

Congress is less popular
than a colonoscopy.

The American people know that
Congress is broken. And it is broken.

I believe the voting system is corrupt.
I believe the politicians are corrupt.

I believe that Congress is corrupt.

Each and every piece of legislation
virtually has its own price tag on it.

Giant corporations have bought off
our government.

The American political system
has become totally corrupted

and the foundations of American
democracy are being undermined.

The unholy alliance of lobbyists
and donors and special interests

is bleeding our country dry.

Trump is different

because he doesn't have to answer
to any donors, any lobbyists.

It's time to drain the swamp
in Washington D.C!

We are going to drain the swamp.

It's time to drain the swamp
of corruption.

We're gonna drain the swamp
of Washington.

We're gonna have fun doing it.
We're all doing it together.

Drain the swamp!
Drain the swamp!

You ask whether if it's ever
possible to drain the swamp,

as President Trump loves to say,
we'll see.

THE SWAMP

WINTER 2019
OPENING OF THE 116TH CONGRESS

Thanks to you,
tomorrow will be a new day in America.

Democrats rode a blue wave
to the majority,

setting up what should be
a contentious atmosphere in Washington

in 2019 and beyond.

Fellow citizens and friends, let us
lead together to show the people

that we are truly their voice
and their vote.

In that spirit, I extend my hand
of friendship

to every member of this body.

And to the Speaker of the House,
Nancy Pelosi,

I extend to you this gavel.
Thank you everybody.

There is an essence of this place

that doesn't change no matter who wins
the elections, Republicans, Democrats,

and the majority party is simply
the party that is first in line

to be the servant to the special
interest over awards.

I think that machinery, that
infrastructure, that's the swamp.

A member of Congress cannot ask
another member of Congress for money

in this building.

We are in the Longworth Office Building

or the Cannon Office Building
or anywhere else,

except the floor
of the House of Representatives.

So like, when we were
on the floor today,

I had a more senior member
come to me

and they gave me my assessment card.

And so your assessment card
lets you know

how much money you owe
the party bosses.

It says my name,
the honorable Matt Gaetz,

that my spring dinner assessment
is $55,000.

This is a call to wealthy people

who by virtue of commitment
or their special interest,

would like to give me $55,000 to come
have dinner with me and my colleagues.

Now, like, I find myself to be
a very pleasant dinner guest

but I cannot imagine anyone willing
to pay $55,000 to have dinner with me.

This is my name-sake,
Matt Gaetz the First.

He built railroads
in North Dakota

and this is my grandfather,
Jerry Gaetz,

he was a state senator
and ran for lieutenant governor,

gave the speech
to be nominated

and as soon as he walked off the
stage, had a heart attack and died.

My father served as a state senator

so I am the fourth generation of Gaetz
to be in public life.

I keep this picture of a bill signing
with President Trump

mostly because I have
no idea why I was there.

This is a bill that I had almost no role
in crafting.

I think I voted for it,

but uh, sometimes the President just
likes to be around some of his buddies.

You ever watch this guy on television?
It's like a machine. He's great.

Matt Gaetz.

Great guy.

I think the President is doing
all that he can

to change the ways
of Washington

and it'd be a hell of a note
if we'd have his back in Congress

every once in a while.

One hour from now,
President Trump's former lawyer,

his confidant, his fixer will unleash
a point-by-point take down

like none seen against the sitting
President of the United States.

Cohen made millions of dollars

by promising access to his client,
the President.

Florida Congressman, Matt Gaetz,
a staunch defender of President Trump

took to Twitter yesterday evening.

Hey, Michaek Cohen,

do your wife & father-in-law know
about your girlfriends?

Maybe tonight would be a good time
for that chat.

I wonder if she'll remain faithful
when you're in prison.

She's about to learn a lot...

All the replies and comments
on Twitter was like,

that's witness intimidation.
That's witness tampering.

You're going to go to jail.

Were you trying to intimidate
him with those tweets?

Listen, I didn't want to intimidate
Cohen, I want Cohen here.

It's not intimidation and it's entirely
appropriate to provide context

for people who have a history of lying
and likely a future of lying.

There were some who thought
it was threatening

and that is absolutely not my intent
and so I deleted it for that purpose.

Why did you come down
to the hearing today.

Cuz I'm a member of Congress.

Some people thought it was
inappropriate for you to be there

considering your tweet, what do you
have to say about that?

- Nothing.
- Thank you.

I believe that right now,
with the start of the Cohen hearing,

we're in the first quarter
of the impeachment.

I think that Democrats are certain
to impeach the President

and while it's terrible

that we're going to go
through this impeachment process,

that will not result in a conviction,

at least the forgotten men and women
in this country

will have every reason to show up
in 2020 and re-elect the President.

I think that's going to be
the ultimate result.

This conversation with Mr. Trump-

I didn't ask
whether you were a good fixer,

I asked whether you were
a good lawyer.

Sometimes you have to know
both together.

Massie said he was going
to yield me some of his time

if I'd been a unanimous consent
to participate.

I'm kinda glad he didn't.
His questions are very good.

Good job, you said you were
a good lawyer, right?

Is that being a good lawyer? Not even
consider whether it's legal or not?

What do you think
that what we've seen now

does to the Democrats obvious
desire to engage an impeachment?

I think if this was the foundation
it's shifting on him already.

It's very unstable. He admitted
to being a scumbag lawyer.

- Those are two different things.
- I'm sorry.

- They're not blended.
- I'm not a lawyer, he is.

I'm an engineer
at heart and by training.

Growing up I liked taking things apart
and putting them back together

so I went to M.I.T. to get
an electrical engineering degree

and I hung around and got
a mechanical engineering degree

and started my own company.

When you hold the phantom
in your hand,

you can actually feel the shape
that's on the computer screen.

I invented a virtual reality device

that lets you touch and feel
three dimensional objects.

So, I started out
in the virtual reality industry

and then after ten years
I sold my ownership

and then moved back to Kentucky
and got back to reality on the farm.

But then I ran for Congress
and entered virtual reality again.

I'm kind of a Libertarian but I prefer
the label Constitutional Conservative.

I think we should get back
to Constitution

and put government within the bounds
that the Founding Fathers put on it.

After three months now of bucking
the system,

fresh for Republican Thomas Massie,

has already earned a nickname
on Capitol Hill, "Mr. No".

Up here, they've called me Mr. No.

If you heard that nickname you'd think
I vote no all the time.

But I looked this up, I only vote no
like 25% percent of the time.

25% dissention with your party
is a heretic in Washington D.C.

and if people are going
to drain the swamp,

like the President wants to do,

they need better information
about how this place is broken

and that's my mission in Congress.

So, my friend Justin Amash,
he's a Congressman from Michigan,

got me this for my birthday

because we both kind of look
at the Capitol as the Death Star.

I mean, if you come up here to visit,
there's scaffolding on it all the time,

it looks like it's being worked on.
But it's fully functional

and it can destroy happiness and life
anywhere on the globe.

What I'm doing up here is looking for
the one weakness in the Death Star.

But sometimes I end up
in the trash compactor.

Who's Darth Vader?

Well, Darth Vader was Paul Ryan
but now its Nancy Pelosi.

So this one is reserved
for members of Congress.

Not many of us have the heart to kick
somebody off who's not a member.

Virginia Fox is notorious
for kicking people off

but she won't just kick
the staffers off the elevator,

she asks them who they work for
cuz she tells on them too.

Hey Virginia, I was just telling them
you keep our elevator for members only.

I do my best.

It's so exhausting to run in place

and to get nothing done,
that's the frustrating thing to me.

The most frustrating thing to me is
the fact that we know what's wrong.

Every year, we don't pass a budget
on time,

we wait until the day before Christmas
and everybody wants to get out of town

and everybody votes for this ridiculous
spending bill that nobody's read

and then we pretend
that we're fiscal conservatives

and the hypocrisy of pretending
that we care about spending

and we is the general we
that we care about spending.

- Please use the general we cuz...
- That's not you and I.

I don't like to think
we're doing any of that.

My name is Ken Buck

and I was a founding member
of the Freedom Caucus in the House

which is the conservative group
that was formed in 2015.

Freedom Caucus has always been
the loyal opposition

within the Republican party

so I don't expect members
of the Freedom Caucus

to get leadership positions,
that's not our role.

Our role is to try to be
the conscious of the party.

I had stage four
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

and my sense of purpose is different
after cancer than before,

so, I feel like whether I get re-elected
or not, I'm here to do the right thing.

And the right thing to me is
to expose what goes on in Congress

and make sure the American
public knows about it.

For many of the members of Congress,
it's a job they don't want to give up,

so their reelection is more important
than the actual problem solving

that needs to go in D.C.

I wrote "Drain the Swamp"
during my first term in Congress

because we were told by leadership
right from the beginning,

here are all the goodies
that you can enjoy

if you play the game the way we want
you to play the game.

And the game is agreeing
with leadership,

agreeing with the special-interest
groups on how to vote

and how to govern. I'm not one
of those people that's very agreeable.

The problem
with the Republican party now is

we have such a fresh history
of violating the Constitution,

of violating fiscal responsibility,
of violating personal accountability

that we don't have a high ground
to stand and say,

you guys are doing the wrong thing.

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL

I spent many years
trying to push policy

that would make the regulation
of culture more sensible

and the regulation
of the internet more effective.

And while in the courts
we made progress,

Congress was constantly resisting.

And a certain point a friend of mine
basically said to me,

so, why do you think you're ever
going to make any progress?

So long as we have this deep
corruption in our government?

I realized he was exactly right,

so literally that night I promised him
I would give up my old career

and take up a new career and that was
about a dozen years ago.

Before we were Republicans, before we
were Democrats, we were citizens first.

We need citizen soldiers fighting
for a democracy that is beyond party,

that is above party,
that is focused on citizens first.

The Constitution in Article I
sets up Congress.

The framers gave the pride of place

to the most important Democratic
institution within our republic.

Madison describes Congress as being
a body that would be quote,

"dependent on the people alone".

And I think the most important man
in the history of Congress

after Madison is Newt Gingrich.

And I think Newt Gingrich
destroyed Congress.

Newt was a very ambitious
history professor

who came to Congress

and was keen to turn the Republicans
into a kind of militant opposition

and then he won control of the House
for the Republicans

for the first time in forty years
in the 1994 election.

And staring in 1995, he began to
change the institution fundamentally.

On the first day of the 104th Congress,
the new Republican majority

will immediately pass
the following major reforms.

One of the ways he changed
the institution

was to basically begin the process
of shifting congresspeople

over to the life as fundraisers.

He told them, don't move
your families to Washington,

we'll work three days a week.

The rest of the time, you know,
he said you could be going home

but what happens is the rest of the
time they're out there raising money.

It becomes the perpetual campaign

which dramatically increases
the amount of money

that both sides
are bringing into the process.

He has changed the culture,
changed the agenda,

changed the language
and changed the dialogue.

Gingrich's change
in the structure of power in the House

was all about assuring that the Speaker
could direct everything.

The Democrats followed. It's not like
it's different on the Democrat's side.

The Speaker controls the schedule,
what bills go to the floor,

what comes out of committee, who
the members are of the committee.

I think a lot of people
would be surprised to find out

that members of Congress are expected
to pay their party

for their committee assignments.

And this is like two hundred thousand,
five hundred thousand dollars,

every election cycle just to get
a certain committee seat.

Now, where are you going to get
that money?

You're not going to go back home

and have a fundraiser in somebody's
living room, that just doesn't work.

The people that fund your purchase
of the committee seat

are the people who have an interest
in the work product of that committee,

ie., the lobbyists.

Every committee in the Congress has
a letter grade associated with it.

A, B, or C. That letter grade is solely
latched to that committee's ability

to generation campaign cash
for its matters.

If you're
on the Ways and Means committee

and you have jurisdiction
over the entire tax code,

there is no lobbyist in this town that
would not swim across the Potomac

to deliver you
a $5000 back check.

But if you're on the Veterans Affairs
Committee which is really important,

you just don't have
the same bevy of special interests

thirsting for your attention
with donations.

Under Newt Gingrich,

committee chairmanships
were increasingly assigned

to people who raised money.
And if you didn't raise that money,

the Democrats did this,
Nancy Pelosi did this,

you kicked somebody off
the chairmanship.

So, this is all about changing
what was supposed to be

a really critical institutional role
played by a chairman,

somebody who knows something
about the field,

into just the most effective fundraiser
in that field.

So, there's a price tag assigned
to every committee

but there's also a price tag assigned
to being the Speaker.

So, the Speaker up here is expected to
raise $80,000,000 every election cycle

and dole that out.

The Speaker
and the minority leader control

distribution of funds to members

so, it's the rank and file
that chooses the leadership

but people misunderstand that
somehow we're choosing people,

you know, that we think are the best
at articulating our positions.

That's not true.
It's who can raise the money

and the Special Interests groups
control the money.

The hierarchy of power in Washington
D.C. is Special Interest groups,

Leadership, Rank & File members.

That system is a system that makes
members of Congress so sensitive

to what the lobbyists want

that it's hard for them to see
above the water

and recognize
what the public needs.

And that dynamic is the corruption
that I think of as the swamp.

The Special Interests don't really
want anything to get done in this town

because if we actually started working
together on some stuff,

things would change.
And if things change,

people who are getting rich
off the current system

would not be getting rich
off that system.

That's why I think that the greatest
challenge we face

is not Republicans verses Democrats,

it's reformers against those that want
to maintain the status quo.

And we got Republicans and Democrats
in both groups.

My view is we need a more progressive
vision for America

but a vision is insufficient
if you don't get things done.

And I do think
that there is an appetite

among the newer generation
of members of Congress

to build broad coalitions

and we always have to listen
to criticism from the other side

and understand that their representing
a particular constituency in America

and a particular perspective.

We would be sort of an odd-couple,
politically,

I am a tea-party Republican
from Florida,

Ro served in the Obama administration
and represents Silicon Valley,

but folks like Ro,

even who maybe don't hold my ideology
or my view on every subject,

understand that this place
has to change

if we want to do right
by the American people.

We came here to work
for the people who sent us here,

not for the leadership,

not for committee chairs
and not certainly for the lobbyists.

Alright, so, some reforms that would
surprise people we would agree on.

Would you vote for term limits?

I would!
I'm one of two Democrats or so-

See, I would vote for term limits.

Would you vote for nonpartisan
redistricting commissions?

- I would. I think that'd be great.
- I would vote for that.

Would you vote for a lifetime ban
on lobbying for members of Congress?

I would. I think there should be
a no revolving door.

And would you ban lobbyists from
giving money to members of Congress?

I would and I don't take
lobbyist's money

and I think we should ban
the lobbyists from doing that.

See, that's the drain the swamp
agenda, Khanna Gaetz,

we could run on that
and unite 80% of the country.

SPRING 2019

- How are you doing?
- Hi I'm Diana Ohlbaum with FCNL.

Oh okay. Nice to meet you, Diana.

Thank you so much for your
vote on this and your support.

Yeah, well.

I think you might be surprised
how many Conservatives

are just done with war.

Right now as I'm serving in Congress
this is one of my top issues,

is to reclaim the constitutional power
of Congress

to declare war
back from the Executive Branch.

California Democratic congresswoman,
Barbara Lee

and Kentucky Republican congressman,
Thomas Massie,

want to repeal the 2001 authorization
for the use of military force.

After 911, there was so much appetite
for doing something,

that it was almost political suicide if
you decided not to vote for an AUMF

that was responsive
to the terrorist attacks.

We will make no distinction between
the terrorists who committed these acts

and those who harbor them.

As we act let us not become
the evil that we deplore.

Barbara Lee was the lone vote
against the AUMF

and she did prove
that you could stand on principle

and eventually
be right and still survive politically.

A lot of the people who went against
the grain did not survive politically.

Our constituents sent us to Congress
to make the hard decisions.

We owe it to the American people
to take these tough votes

and repeal the 2001 authorization.

Bush invoked the bill for potential
actions in over 11 different countries,

his successor added nine more
including places that had no tie to 911.

Now, the overreach here began
with Bush

but the Pentagon
and presidents in both parties

tend to hold on to major powers
not just give them up.

Our founding fathers
wanted to make sure

that a decision that was as significant

as sending Americans overseas
to fight and lose their lives

would only be made with a vote in the
people's House and in the Senate.

So I think it's really important
that we respect that,

I think it was the right move
in the Constitution

and we've gotten away from that.

There's a reason that our founders
gave Congress

the power over war and peace,

because we have to go and answer
to our constituents.

And I'll tell you something,

there's not a single American
who wouldn't want the violence to end

and allow food and medicine
to get to those kids

who are going to face death
if we do nothing.

I built a coalition in the house to try
to end support for the war in Yemen

and we passed
a War Powers Resolution

and there were sixteen Republicans
who helped with that effort.

That was something where we had a
number of Freedom Caucus members

and a number of progressive caucus
members working together to pass that.

When it comes to war powers,
those two groups can work together.

This is not a partisan issue
and that's why I am here today.

There are only about 70 members
of Congress out of the 435

that are serving today who are actually
here for the original AUMF vote.

And I can tell you,
those 70 who voted for it

never imagined, except perhaps Barbara
Lee imagined, that this would be used

to justify all of the wars
that have gone on since then

and all the military engagements

and possible future engagements
from here on out.

I represent the district

that's got the highest concentration
of active duty military in the country.

But I am no cheerleader for war.

With that, I'd just like to welcome
to the stage Congressman Matt Gaetz.

Thank you.
Oh, thank you guys.

I've seen my whole life living
in my district

what the impacts of war
really are for families.

Parenting disrupted,
marriages destroyed,

drug abuse, domestic abuse,
veteran suicide,

caskets draped in flags.

As I travel home
to North Florida this week

I will meet with commanding officers,

they will brief me on the missions
and preparations undertaken.

And if called to combat,

my neighbors will go first
and they'll fight the hardest.

Now I'm at a place with the President
where we speak very regularly.

And so if I can be a good advisor,
supporter, influencer

to President Trump, that will give
me a chance to impact the world,

by contributing to the most valuable
real estate that exists in Washington,

and that's between
the President's ears.

We're here in Seaside, this is
where my family has spent our-

really most of our family time,
most of my life.

This little gazebo up here, critical
spot in the life of Matt Gaetz.

It's the sight of my first kiss,
right here.

I'd tell you who but it would probably
be very embarrassing for them.

So this is the Truman House,

and in the mid 90's one day some
producer just shows up in a golf cart

and tells my mother that they want
to make a movie in this house

starring Jim Carrey.

- Good morning.
- Morning.

Good morning.

Oh, and in case I don't see ya,

good afternoon,
good evening and goodnight.

He made a few other movies and
then ended up painting a portrait of me

and so, it wasn't the most flattering

but nonetheless it was pretty cool
to see it come full circle.

So this is the house I grew up in

and this was my bedroom
during my formative years.

And voila, love America.

Hey everyone,
this is congressman Matt Gaetz,

I'm out on Navarre Beach now,

but today is our Won't Back Down,
Town Hall tour.

Good to see you guys!

I am proud of the fact that I have been
a leading member of the Congress

to expose the 22 month witch hunt, lie,
unfair investigation of our President.

What will it take to reinitiate
going after Hillary Clinton

for obstruction of justice
and Benghazi?

We gotta call on more people
from the bar area.

They've got it going on.

I'm concerned about our young
kids in elementary school

that do not know
the Pledge of Allegiance.

And then when you go to a football
game and they're in high school,

nobody sings a word. Everybody
just stands there like a dummy.

You wanna sing a few ba- you want
to sing a few bars for us?

My district is one of the most
conservative districts in the country,

but one of the little pockets
of liberalism

that we have is in downtown Pensacola,

it's the most urban area of my district

and so I guess it would be easy for me
to only go

to the places where everyone's
a Matt Gaetz cheerleader

but I have an obligation to serve

and appear before people
who don't agree with me.

Love, not hate,
makes America great!

Love, not hate,
makes America great!

Love, not hate,
makes America great!

Love, not hate,
makes America great!

Thank you all for coming.
Appreciate seeing you here.

Love, not hate,
makes America great!

Thank you all for coming.

Hey, good to see you all.
Thanks for coming.

- Thanks for coming.
- Oh I'm honored, I'm honored.

Halleluiah!

Hey, it's good to see you!

I am concerned for our government.

If there could ever be
a take-over or a coop,

it really bothers me
that this could happen.

When I first started to uncover
this troubling evidence of people

who didn't view their obligations
as conducting investigations,

but instead thought that their role
was to remove

the duly elected president
of the United States.

I came out and said
that is what a coup is.

That is what treason looks like

and that is what we're going to find
out with Attorney General Barr

who is gonna turn the tables

on the people who are trying
to destroy our country.

That's a lie! Speak the truth!

Boo!

Hey, hey, ho, ho,
baby Gaetz has got to go!

Hey, hey, ho, ho,
baby Gaetz has got to go!

Hey, thank you!

Who threw that?

Who threw that? Get them.

Thank you all so much for coming.
I'm grateful you're here. Thank you!

You're embarrassing us.

Matt Gaetz got milkshaked
in Pensacola

When that went viral
on social media,

we started seeing increasingly
violent responses to it

and it led to people saying we're going
to throw urine on you

and then it led to a death threat.

I'll play it for you.

Hey, Gaetz, you pathetic piece of shit,

you know that I could blow your fucking
head clean off your shoulders

from over a mile away. You got
your head so far up Trump's ass

I can still take it off your shoulders.

I'm coming after you.
And your family, Gaetz.

...this Congress. We're on record

for ten thousand threats
against members of Congress

and I condemn them whether they're
against Republicans, Democrats,

liberals, conservatives.

You know, this is just no way
to operate within our country.

Congress operates
inside of a media environment

that itself profits from the politics
of hate.

Everybody profits
from the politics of hate.

The liars in the Democratic party, you
can never trust these people. Ever.

The Republican party is now fully
and totally responsible

for these racist,
divisive, un-American ideas.

Do you want people here
on merit or not?

Do you want people to come here
to speak English or not?

This is not just a group
of desperate migrants.

We have people who were criminals,
thugs,

special interest aliens, Jihadists.

You brought to the State of the Union,
or you gave a ticket

to somebody who is a fairly notorious
racist and Holocaust denier.

Look, he's a controversial figure,

there are plenty of controversial folks
at the State of the Union.

The way that you're able to elevate
your profile, in Washington,

is to drive conflict,
because conflict is interesting.

And I think that the really powerful
people in this town

are the ones that can go on
television and make an argument.

And that's power that the leadership
can never take away from you.

- We're still on for Cuomo tonight?
- Correct.

- In person?
- Right.

The right says that all the time.

The Democrats must be so happy
there was another mass shooting.

- I see it all the time, Matt-
- Wow! I have never hear-

You spend all this time on fake news
CNN and nobody watches you

and I'm like you're wasting
your time.

Oh man! It is a waste..

You look at the partisan spin
of cable television,

Fox News and MSNBC and CNN.

Up until 2001,
they're basically the same.

And then beginning in 2002, 2003,
they start splitting dramatically

so they are deeply partisan.

And that bleeds into Congress.

When you rally your base against
the other side

you gotta make sure they think
that the other side is the devil.

And if you don't call
the other side the devil,

then they're not going to be interested
in supporting you.

What you see
from the radical left today

is an attack on the democracy
of our country itself.

The radical left just wants
to deplatform, demonize, destroy...

We have Democrats who have
no interest in legislating.

It is all about continuing on the next
witch hunt on a new broomstick.

I don't think of a television clip
about how it's going to play on TV,

I think about a clip that's on Twitter
or YouTube

and how do you create
an exciting or viral moment

that people are eager to share and
that might offer some new insight.

On social media, everything
that increases engagement,

increases the opportunity to sell ads

and people are more engaged, more
polarized the environment becomes.

And that bleeds into Congress too.

81 ST CONGRESS
1945 - 1951

If you look at the number of bills that
it has passed in a cross-partisan way,

it's gone in the 1970's from a very
significant cross-partisan institution

to an institution now
that just literally cannot do anything

in cross-partisan way.

You know, compromise
since Ronald Regan,

has had this framing
of weakness or duplicity.

So, if you compromise
as member of Congress

it's like you're lying to your base.

And that's the dynamic
that Newt Gingrich encouraged.

He knows that the way
you raise money

is to trigger the hatred
of the other side in your favor.

Politics of hate is the most productive
technique for fundraising we have.

I am sickened by how unpatriotically
they undermine

the Constitution of the United States.

We are here today because
the Republicans in the house

are paralyzed with hatred
of President Clinton

and until the Republicans
free themselves of this hatred,

our country will suffer.

But of course,
an institution like Congress

is supposed to find a common
ground for the nation as a whole.

And if you're not willing to find a
solution that could represent America,

then you're not doing your work
as a representative.

And if we get nothing done,
I tell you, the status quo

will really love that because they
benefit from nothing getting done.

We're kinda slumming it here,
going to Longworth, you know,

the senior members are in Rayburn.

Matt's still stuck over here
but with the kind of TV time he gets,

he'll have an office
in the Capitol soon.

I've seen the way you've been
an independent member here.

I'm starting to get a sense
that when you don't always adhere

to the kind of the establishment
leadership viewpoint on things,

that you see an impact
in your fundraising.

I raised a couple hundred thousand
dollars here in Washington D.C.

in my first term.

But after they found out I wasn't here
to go along to get along,

it went almost to zero.

In fact, there was a six month period

where they ranked me number
437 in the house for fundraising.

I thought there were
only 435 members.

There are only 435 voting members.

But Guam and Puerto Rico,
their delegates raised more-

They don't have a vote!

They don't have a vote and they
raised more money than me

in that six month period.
But what do you got there?

Like is this your fundraising plan?
Your campaign?

Here's this meeting I recently had
and I somewhat resented it.

I'm new with these guys and they
say Gaetz, you know, you're on TV,

people know who you are in your state

and we really think you can run
for higher office

but you don't raise enough money.

And so, they write me this plan
and it's just like,

it's basically how to whore
yourself out for money.

And when I say like,
who's going to do this?

Who wants to give me
a hundred thousand dollars?

They basically say well...

The next question is,
what committees are you on?

How can you use
your congressional pin

to go and help a lobbyist
as your primary objective?

It's demoralizing

and folks like AOC, Bernie Sanders
have proven that you don't need that.

This is my congressional pin

and you'll see a lot of people
around here wearing them.

I started to call this pin Precious.

If you've ever seen Lord
of the Rings or Hobbit...

My Precious.

Precious?

And the reason I call it Precious
is, it affects how you think.

You can come here as a hobbit
and put this thing on

and become Gollum in very short order.

My Precious!

Just like Precious made
the hobbit invisible,

you walk past the metal detectors here,
you don't go through them,

you walk around them if you wear this.

The police do what you tell them
to do if you're wearing Precious.

The tourists figure out
what Precious is.

And if you're wearing Precious they
know that you must be Precious.

And so, because people behave
differently around you,

it gives you a feeling of power,

an uncomfortable feeling for me

and so I try not to wear it
any more than I have to

because I think eventually it
will turn me from a hobbit into a Gollum

and I see that happen up here.

So here's two briefing sheets.

This morning, it was reported that Iran
shot down one of our drones.

- There's an in-depth Fox News Article-
- Call Charlie. Just call Charlie.

Hey man, it's Luke.

I got the boss here, let me put you
on speaker for this part.

- Charlie.
- Yes sir.

Tell me what you know.

They've confirmed that one of our
drones was shot down over the evening

by the Iranians.

This one was a high-altitude flying MQ9
from what I am tracking,

one of the threads.

And they- they were able to hit it
affectively at high altitude, which is-

- An MQ9?
- I think ever done that once before.

Jesus. Alright, thanks Charlie.

The Pentagon is deploying
an additional 1000 troops to the region

as a deterrent against
what the Trump administration calls

increased Iranian aggression.

Do you believe right now
that you have the authority

to strike Iran without Congress?

I do like keeping them abreast
but I don't have to do it illegally.

I have not seen intel that would
justify utilizing

the 2001 Global War on Terror
Authorization Used Military Force

against Iran.

So, I'm proud to work with Ro Khanna
and other folks on the political left

to try to achieve
a bipartisan consensus,

because if my constituents have
to have the courage and bravery

to go and fight these wars
and die in these wars,

than politicians in Washington need
the courage to actually vote on them

and decide what's worthy of spilling
American blood and what isn't.

We're at risk of a serious escalation
that could spiral out of control.

Congress has to be the check and that's
why I've been working with Matt Gaetz

to have an amendment that we're going
to introduce tomorrow

and the amendment
is going to make it very clear.

The President can't take into
any action in declaring war in Iran

without congressional authorization
and we will defund any such activity.

- Jillian?
- I'm here.

- I knew this would happen.
- I had this-

I said three times, we will get down
here and we will not have a person here.

I specifically want
to reference information

that we've received
in a classified setting

and so for us to discuss that,
there are rooms

tucked throughout the basements
and tunnels of the Capitol complex

that are available
for a more secure discussion or brief.

- Sir, are all your electronics-
- You can take the key of one of those.

Thanks.

- No Apple Watch, Ro?
- I mean...

What kind of Silicon Valley
congressman are you?

You know.

So, have you done this
with a lot of your legislation,

file it directly in the Hopper?

No.

We are going to submit our joint
amendment to the Hopper,

which is how you submit an amendment
or a bill to the House floor

to get it for a vote.

We're coming together with this unique
coalition in Constitutional prerogative

to prevent war, so,

I actually think this is a great example
of Congress actually working.

Trump just came out with a statement
while you guys were talking about Iran.

Oh, what did he say?

Any attack by Iran
on anything American

will be met with great
and overwhelming force,

in some areas overwhelming
will mean obliteration.

No more John Kerry and Obama.

We better hurry.

I was just checking,
are pigs flying?

Democrats and Republicans have
apparently found something to agree on

or at least these next
two gentlemen have.

Recent reporting that was in The Hill
I believe

showed that by a margin of two to one,

Americans favor diplomacy
and negotiation over war.

President Trump says the military
was cocked and loaded

to carry out airstrikes
against Iran overnight

when he suddenly decided not to do it.

I'm not looking for war.

And if there is, it'll be obliteration
like you've never seen before.

Tonight,
senior administration officials say

all options are still on the table.

As long as the President is engaging
in wars we don't have to vote on a war.

And if some American soldier,
a marine airman dies,

we don't have to accept the blame
for that, we can point a finger.

So, all the tough decisions are pushed
off to the Executive Branch

and power has shifted as a result.

The military industrial complex,

they got a lot of money to make
one we're at war.

They're up here donating
to congressman,

and so that's a force
that keeps war going.

And unfortunately, I served
with some real cowards.

They would rather
not ever have to take that vote.

WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER

The biggest thing I found in Washington
is just this total risk-aversion.

I mean, people, they don't want
to rock the boat.

And people who are in power have
a stake in preserving that power.

SUMMER 2019

How many media appearances
today? Including Facebook Lives?

- Four? Five?
- Four.

Charles, it's like we're goingthrough
Groundhog Day each and every week

in the House Judiciary Committee.

We're going over the same facts
that were in the Mueller report

and it doesn't seem to be moving the
fact that sixty percent of the country

doesn't want to see
impeachment go forward.

There was no collusion with Russia.

There was no obstruction
and none whatsoever.

On the collusion conspiracy issue,
the President is right,

the Mueller report does not establish
any such wrongdoing.

But on the issue of obstruction,

Mueller does not agree
with the President.

Responsibility now falls to Congress

to hold the President
accountable for his actions.

This has nothing to do with the volume
one or volume two of the Mueller report.

Gentleman will suspend.

Chairman Nadler and the Democrats
on the judiciary committee

are dying to impeach Donald Trump.

They would have impeached him
yesterday if they could.

But Nancy Pelosi knows that
impeachment is like poisonous candy.

You know, you can look at the candy,
you can want the candy,

but if you eat the candy
you're gonna die.

She doesn't want Democrats
in swing districts

having to take a tough vote
on impeachment.

That's a really ugly vote.

It's my view that the Mueller report
was the dispositive word on collusion

and that we all ought to move on
as a country.

But if Democrats really
want to probe these issues,

why are we eating around the edges?

Why don't they just call
Robert Mueller?

The former special counsel is about
to make back-to-back appearances

before the House Judiciary
and the Intelligence Committees.

I don't think I slept very much
last night.

This is kind of our version
of the Super Bowl, getting ready

for an opportunity to display the work
of our office over the last two years

in a very condensed,
high-intensity setting.

Alright. Off to see the wizard.

For the last couple of weekends
I have spent a lot of time on the phone

with my colleagues,
Jim Jordan, John Ratcliffe.

We have had a number
of mock sessions

where I'll pretend
it's my five minutes

and ask one of my colleagues as if
they're Mueller the questions I have

and then they'll turn around
and ask those questions of me.

Who's the one member
of the Judiciary Committee

who has refused to show up
to a single prep session,

a single practice, a single mood court?
Ken Buck.

Ken Buck, a gamer, doesn't want
to leave any on the practice field.

What we're doing is,
we're laying forward

that there are ten separate fact
patterns covered in the Mueller report

and in many of those, Mueller could
have reached a prosecutorial decision

which he did not do

even though the regulations require him
to make that decision.

This is really a critical
test for Democrats

who are looking
to impeach this president,

this may be their final moment
to lay out for the American public

why that is something
that should be on the table.

Now, when it comes to Republicans,

they are going to focus on the
origins of the Mueller investigation.

I think there were a lot of facts
regarding the interaction

of people who didn't like
the President and the Russians.

- Who do mean, specifically?
- Well, you'll see in just a moment.

Do you have any basis
as you sit here today,

to believe that Steele was lying?

As I said before
and I'll say again,

it's not my purview others
are investigating what you-

So it's not your purview to look
into whether or not Steele's lying,

it's not your purview to look

into whether or not anti-Trump Russians
are lying to Steele,

here's what I'm kind of noticing,
Director Mueller,

when people associated with Trump
lied, you threw the book at him.

When Christopher Steele lied, nothing.

Maybe the reason why there are these
discrepancies in what you focused on

is because the team is so biased-

- Time of the gentleman has expired.
- ...pledge to stop Trump.

Mr. Jeffries of New York is recognized.

I guess he didn't get to the closing.

- Alright. We'll start pulling it.
- Yeah.

Alright, we're starting to pull
the critical mention.

Try to search for that Florida key
word that I found

and then you should be able to copy
and paste the transcript portion.

This is a huge moment. Now, I just
don't think in Congress though,

I think this is in the country as well

because this kind of can dictate
where we go next.

Was there sufficient evidence to
convict President Trump or anyone else

with obstruction of justice?

In Office of Legal Counsel,

indicates that we cannot indict
a sitting president.

Could you charge the President
with a crime after he left office.

- Yes.
- You believe that he committed-

You could charge the President
of the US with obstruction of justice

after he left office.

Yes.

The liberals will use the answers
that Mueller gave on his report

and they will allege that the President
committed obstruction

and it's an impeachable offense.

The Republicans will talk about
how unfair this investigation was,

that the people that were involved
in the investigation were bias.

So, I think both sides have take-aways

and depending on which news
organization you listen to,

you're gonna hear that take-away.

I think the people that were
pro-impeachment before

are still pro-impeachment,

the people that were anti-impeachment
are still anti-impeachment

and most of the country
just doesn't care.

This is absolutely not the day
that Democrats had wanted it to be.

The Democrats in the committee dais,

look like they had been held
at a funeral for too long.

The President, by the way,
we know is watching this,

he's been doing so
we're told from inside the residence,

not in the West Wing
of the White House here.

At the tone, please record
your message.

Hey Mr. President, it's your
favorite congressman, Matt Gaetz,

great day to be an American.

Give me a ring at your convenience.

I'll call him at the office...

- Mr. President.
- Great job. I'm proud of you.

I think we won the day, sir.

Well, it's not over yet.
He's still going up there.

But, boy, he's uh...He's shot.
He's shot. That's incredible.

You were great today.
You and Ratcliffe and a lot of them.

He was great. Is he a friend of yours?

- Yeah, he is.
- He was great.

- No, I think we-
- You were great. Johnson was great.

- Nobody was not great.
- Well, I think the-

-biggest mistake was Nadler.

Bringing this guy in,
this was a train wreck for them.

I will guarantee you that
when they are polling,

you know, ten days,
two weeks from now,

that the Democrats will have gained
zero momentum

in their push for impeachment.

Would you tell the guys,
your message should be:

"This whole witch hunt
must be stopped now!"

"This whole impeachment
nonsense must be stopped now."

- Blah, blah, blah. Y'know what I mean?
- We'll tell them, sir.

- Okay, Matt.
- Well hey, thank you.

- Handsome, so that's always good.
- Melania said I was handsome?

You keep telling me that
but she never confirms it.

That's always good. Just to say it.
So long, Matt.

Take care.

He's very happy.

I haven't read the whole Mueller report,
I probably only read about 20% of it

but I read enough of it to decide
that it didn't matter.

It's a weapon of mass distraction.

I don't think this is going
to change anything here, really.

We have wasted a lot of time

but that's what Congress sort of does
on its own, it wastes time.

We're at a very important location,

that defines the edge of where
the congress does official business

and where congress switches
into fundraising mode.

I can't ask anybody for money
on federal property

so, when you want a new
committee assignment,

let's say you're tired of being stuck
on the Ethics committee,

and you want on the powerful
Ways and Means committee,

the first thing the Speaker
is gonna tell you is,

they're going to get out
the fundraising numbers and say

you're not doing enough work
across the street.

So when you hear that code sentence,
we all know what it means.

Come down here, cross the street,
get a list of rich people

and start begging for money,

not for yourself, not for your
re-election, but for the party.

We've just concluded
our monthly meeting.

I got the somewhat unfortunate news
that I a $124,500 left

that I owe to pay the party for my dues

and a lot of times they're telling you,

hey, if you're on this committee

these are the lobbying groups
that you need to go see

or these are the lobbying firms that are
most likely to give to your campaigns.

We're taking just a candid look at
where you've told me we are,

we will be out of money
in a few months.

- We'll be- we'll be broke?
- Yes.

If you make me do the typical
Washington thing

where I have to go and sit
with lobbyists and pack fundraisers,

I will quit.

I really think that we need
to hire a fundraiser.

Is there any projection

in which if we grow that renewable
small dollar donor base...

People who give me fifty bucks
from you know-

The whole point is to one day not need
to hire a fundraiser at all,

the whole point is to get there

but it just takes time
because you need to get that database.

And at our current operational spending
we'll be broke in a few months.

- Right. Exactly.
- Great talk.

Well here we are across the street
at the NRCC.

I'm sort of persona non grata
in this building.

They don't want me in there

because I haven't been doing my work
in there for the past six years.

If you go in there you're going to see
congressmen sitting in cubicles

going down lists of people who
have donated to Republicans before.

In many cases, cold-calling them.
Basically, glorified telemarketers.

And the same exact thing goes on at the
D triple C as goes on here at the NRCC.

I'm not gonna lie to you,
I crossed the street myself.

Like, my campaign doesn't run
on fairy dust.

So even though i don't spend there,

there's another building
right next to us

where I do spend a lot of time
wining and dining.

The difference is, I don't pay the
extortion that my party asks of me.

There is somebody doing their work
across the street.

His district borders mine.

I think the topography here
shaped my thinking about government.

We're organized in hollers.

Like, there's a holler,
there's a holler, this is a main holler.

And as long as you're minding
your own business in your holler,

you don't go in your neighbor's holler
and tell him what to do.

Hey!

Hey cows!

It's not very libertarian of somebody
to throw their trash on my field.

And they were having
a Budweiser here.

I'm definitely the greenest
member of Congress.

I put that on my Twitter profile,

nobody will even challenge me
on that point.

Everything in my house runs
off solar power. We're off the grid.

My whole house right now
is running off of 7104 little batteries

out of a wrecked Tesla model S.

I hate pollution. Okay, led,
mercury, sulfur dioxide.

All the things that
we can prove are bad, I'm against.

One of the things that I disagree
on though, is carbon dioxide.

One of the best things that can happen
for the life on this farm is to flourish

is that CO2 goes up.

People forget that.

They forget CO2 is a plant food
and we're now calling it a pollutant.

You don't think that climate is
an existential threat to human beings?

I absolutely don't think that CO2
man-made or man produced CO2

is an existential threat to us.

And even if we thought CO2
was not good for the planet,

it's probably not the best place
to spend your money

or to spend other people's money
that you're taxing them on.

Where's the cost benefit?

When you say
to the people who might say,

oh well you're from Kentucky,

or you're just protecting
the coal miners.

So, it's true, I'm from Kentucky,

but there's not a single operating coal
mine in my Congressional District.

Do I have a parochial interest because
of coal fired electricity generation?

Yes, I do.

But we look to the government to solve
every problem and I think that's wrong.

In 2010, the Koch Brothers signaled

that any Republican who acknowledge
climate change would be taken out.

They'd be primaried.

And what that demonstrates
is the extraordinary power

of the threat value of money.

The iceberg effect is we see a tiny bit
of the contributions on the surface,

but below the water

there's an extraordinary amount
of threatened contributions

that have the effect
of disciplining members of Congress

and that's what's happening
with climate change.

But whether or not the Republicans
are more extreme,

the Democrats are also
extremely sensitive

and constrained by the way
they need to raise money.

Senate Democrats have
a supermajority of 60.

The Republicans will
be powerless to stop them.

The Democrats couldn't bring climate
change legislation

when they had a supermajority
in the House and in the Senate

because they knew the cost
from the carbon industries

jumping in and defeating
Democrats would be too great.

And what we need is an opportunity
for Congressman

to decide what to do on the basis
of what they think is right

independent of this anxiety that these
tiny numbers of very powerful funders

will make it so that their decision
is too costly for them or their party.

Chipping away at your rights,
chipping away at your freedom,

and now they're attacking
our Second Amendment rights,

chipping away at your future.
But you can stop them. Right now,

on November 2nd, vote Ken Buck.

He defends
our Second Amendment rights.

The NRA political victory fund

is responsible for the content
of this advertising.

Sure, I ran for the Senate in 2010

and the NRA spent a lot of money
in that campaign.

The truth is that, I've never received
more than one or two percent

of my total campaign contributions
from the NRA.

I'm not influenced
by anybody in the gun area.

I am a firm believer in our
2nd Amendment Rights

and that's why I vote the way I do.

I was a District Attorney for 10 years
and it's the best job I've had.

As a District Attorney you really get
the 30,000 foot view of crime

in a community

and what can you do to solve that crime

and to change the way a community
looks at crime.

You want to shoot bad guys
or you want to shoot targets or

- Bad guys.
- Chief of staff? What do you say?

Do you have any terrorists?

Do we have any Osama's left?

That guy looks great. The third
from the bottom there looks great.

I think candidates, elected officials,
and political parties all react

to a narrative
created by special interest groups.

That narrative is often single issue,
and the narrative is often extreme.

The only way we can save our country
and our freedom

is to fight this violence of lies
with a clenched fist of truth.

I'm the National Rifle Association
of America

and I'm a freedom's safest place.

Boom!
That's what I'm talking about.

And if you don't conform to that
narrative, you lose support financially,

you lose support of a certain group
of voters

who say I'm not going to vote
for that candidate,

I want this person
who is the most extreme,

the person who's going to throw out
the most red meat.

So yes, I think that part
of the problem with nuancing

is that people expect to hear red meat,
or they consider it a weakness.

Panic in El Paso this morning when
a day of shopping turned into horror

with an active shooter on the loose.

Law enforcement officials in Texas say
they believe the attack was motivated

by anti-immigrant hatred.
The weapon used in today's shooting

was an AK47,
semi-automatic assault style rifle.

You know, I'm a proud lifetime
member of the NRA, I'm a gun owner.

America has nothing to fear from law
abiding gun owners.

Right now, here in studio,

congressman Matt Gaetz,
from the great state of Florida.

It is a tough time for our country
in these instances of great casualty.

President Trump was right
when he said

that it is not the gun
that pulls the trigger.

It is this hate-filled motivation
that we've got to get to the bottom of.

Thank you guys for having us on.
Yeah, thanks again, Todd.

Alright, best of luck to you.

- Hi there, I'm Matt Gaetz.
- Marlene, Marlene June.

- Nice to meet you, where are you from?
- Redbank, New Jersey.

- Oh, wonderful.
- Happy to see you, meet you.

- Nice to see you as well.
- I want to be thin, sexy, happy.

- Republican.
- I want to be all those things too.

We'll use the soft lens.

Nah, thank you guys.
Ah I appreciate you, have a great day.

Or are you just going to do the same
thing and sit on your hands?

Do something! Stop letting people
die all the time

from these white supremacist
terrorists!

If you're angry and passionate
about the fact

that we can't get the basic, common
sense, gun safety measures in place,

then be angry about the fact
that the gun lobby and the NRA

have been spending millions
of dollars up here.

To advance their agenda.
That's just connecting the dots.

You care about tax policy,
health care, the environment,

you gotta care where the money
is coming from

and members of the public,
voters out there,

they're starting to connect these dots.

Somewhere in America there
is a family in their living room

hearing another report about how
billionaires and super PACs

and insiders are running Washington
and calling the shots

on what happens in their lives.

And they are asking themselves,
do we matter anymore?

HR1 says to that family

and millions of families across
the country who feel the same way,

we get it. We hear you.
We want to change this place.

Nancy Pelosi was convinced
by John Sarbanes

to make HR1 the first thing
that Congress took on after 2018

and HR1 was the most important
reform legislation

that Congress has considered since
the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The reforms we proposed:
fixing partisan gerrymandering,

making it easier for people to vote,
boosting election security,

more disclosure
on where dark money is coming,

public financing to power campaigns
in this country

so we don't have to go hat in hand
to lobbyists and big money donors.

Every single one of those polls
at 75, 80, 85% of public.

So, there's a lot of Republicans
that support these reforms.

It's just a matter of getting their
representatives in Washington

to pay more attention to that
and deliver on that.

House Democrats pass sweeping
anti-corruption

and voting rights legislation.

234 to 193 on party lines.

There are these messaging bills
like HR1,

where the party in power in the House

never really intended
for them to pass the Senate.

They're just trying to send a message.

VOTE HERE TODAY

It was a Democrat bill that's focused
on getting folks

that had low turnout
to turn out to vote

because they believe that if they
can turn out those voters

they would win more elections.

I voted against HR1 because I do not
support public financing of campaigns.

It is taking money away from taxpayers

to fund efforts that annoy the shit out
of taxpayers.

If you are not willing to take on
the role of money

in the election of members to Congress,
you're not a serious reformer.

Like, you can call yourself a reformer
but you're not changing anything

if you don't change the core dynamic
of incentives

for electing people into Congress.

A party line vote, Republicans have
been killing it noting it would use,

taxpayer dollars to help fund
political campaigns.

Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell,
says it's dead on arrival in the Senate.

A power grab. It's smelling more
and more like exactly what it is.

Mitch McConnell called HR1
a Democratic power grab.

And it is, in a small D Democratic sense

because the existing system
that we have right now

disables incredibly important swaths
of Americans

from being able to participate
equally in our political system.

HR1 restores the people's faith

that government works for the people's
interests, not the special interest.

I've been critical of Nancy Pelosi.
I think in many ways,

she practiced exactly the kind of
corruption that I care about addressing.

I don't think she was ever
personally corrupt.

But she was one of the biggest
fundraisers in Congress.

But I know that many
in that Democratic caucus

did not want to vote in favor of HR1

and she basically
made it a requirement.

The hardest thing in the world to do
would be to get these reforms passed.

Even if Democrats end up getting
the opportunity to do it

across the Capitol
and in The White House

because it's human nature
to feel like if you're in control,

order has been restored
and maybe you don't have to go do

all those dramatic things
that you talked about.

But the power of this message
as it's been used,

this fighting corruption,
fixing democracy,

draining the swamp,
whatever you want to call it,

the electoral power of that
is a validation

that the public across the spectrum
wants to see these changes.

The special interests, Wall Street,
the career politicians,

the system is rigged
and I've been saying it for a long time.

The Super PACs are a scam. They
have total control over the candidate.

These interests have rigged
our political and economic system

for their exclusive benefit.

But with your help we're going
to beat the system.

We're going to unrig the system.

Congratulations, Mr. President.

You said that lobbyists own politicians
because they give them money.

You admitted you used to do it yourself

but your own transition team
is filled with lobbyist.

Everybody's a lobbyist down there.
That's what they are.

- They're lobbyist on Special Interest.
- On your own transition team-

We're trying to clean up Washington.
Look-

- How can you clean-
- Everything down there-

There are no people,
they're all people that work-

That's the problem with the system.

What has President Trump
done to drain the swamp?

President Trump's most, I think,
antiseptic impact on the swamp

has come through a mentality that
the professional class around here

is not in charge anymore.

But, when you're talking
about draining the swamp,

I thought he was talking about getting
rid of the lobbyists

and Special Interest hold on the staff.

With President Trump in office,

the lobbyists and Special Interests
have never been less empowered.

President Trump said that he would
drain the swamp

taking power away from Washington
lobbyists and Special Interest.

Now, more of them have seats
at his table in his cabinet.

In total, more than 300 lobbyists
now work in the Trump administration,

many overseeing the industries
they used to lobby for.

They've essentially sold out
government agencies

and the White House to industry.

Wallstreet loves Donald Trump.

Big money contributions from friendly
donors are paying off for them.

Large political contributors buy
access through President Trump

using political contributions
to Trump's Super PAC.

Trump's businesses
are making a killing

from political groups
and federal agencies.

President Trump's landmark
Washington D.C. hotel,

it's been a hot spot
for lobbyists

who want to gain favor
with the Trump administration.

But if you look at drain the swamp,
I am draining the swamp.

Thank you very much.

So, what are you hearing?
About our amendment?

That it's still a little bit uphill
but uh, they're pushing it.

- What are you hearing on your side?
- Same thing.

I'm hearing that there are definitely
some members of the war lobby

who are singularly focused on insuring
that our work product's not included.

The Khanna Gaetz Amendment passed
in the House of Representatives.

The yaes are 251 and the nays
are 170. The amendment is adopted.

We got every Democrat vote, and
we got 27 Republicans to vote for it

so it is in the house version
of the NDAA

and when it was voted on in the Senate,
we got 50 votes,

and there were fewer than 50 votes
against it.

In the crazy rules
of the United States Senate,

even when you get the most votes,
you can still lose

if you have not reached
a sixty vote threshold.

And w'ere making the case

that because of the broad bipartisan
support of Khanna Gaetz in the House,

and because more people voted
for it than against it in the Senate,

it should absolutely be presented
to the President for his signature.

Where has McConnell traditionally
been on these war powers issues?

I think the- the best guess of where
he's going to be on this issue is

where the President wants him to be
on this issue.

And the President sees this

as an important part
of his rebuilding the military

and he's not he's not going to send
the message to Mitch McConnell

to work with us on this.

This destructive cycle of intervention
and chaos must finally, folks,

come to an end. Come to an end.

We need to ask those who voted
for the war

how can you give the President
a blank check

and then act surprised
when he cashes it?

We keep trying to elect presidents
to end wars.

It's no coincidence that Trump became
president in the Republican field.

He said that the war in Iraq was
a blunder in the Republican primary.

The war in Iraq was a big fat mistake.

And yet we've been too slow
to roll back these wars.

And I think we need a Congress
willing to stand up to a president

regardless of party.

It would be a very solid brick
in the wall

in reestablishing
our congressional war powers

if something like
Ro Khanna's amendment

could get placed in the National
Defense Authorization Act

but it always feels like
Charlie Brown and Lucy,

we get ready to kick the football
and Lucy pulls it away.

FALL 2019

This is an ABC News
special report.

Good afternoon, we're coming
on the air right now

with major breaking news
from Capitol Hill.

The House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi,
has made that dramatic shift

to decide to open a formal impeachment
inquiry of President Trump.

It comes in the wake
of President Trump's confirmation

that he withheld military aid
from Ukraine

about a week before a July 25th
phone call with Ukrainian president,

where he was reported to have
encouraged Ukrainian president

to investigate Joe Biden
and his son Hunter

who had business
interest in the Ukraine.

Zelensky was interested in javelin
antitank missiles

to defend himself
from Russian backed rebels.

Mr. Trump replied, I would like you
do to us a favor though.

What you just described
is a quid pro quo.

We do that all the time. Get over it.

The fact that Trump called Zelensky
the day after Mueller testified

tells you everything you need to know
about the hubris of this President.

He's very happy.

The President of the United States
used taxpayer dollars to shake down

the leader of another country
for his own political gain.

Why are Nancy Pelosi
and today's House Democrats

not giving President Trump
the same due process rights

that Newt Gingrich and Republicans
gave to Bill Clinton

during his impeachment process?

Instead what you see are secret
hearings, secret depositions,

and then selective leaks to try
to fit a pre-determined narrative.

What we see in this impeachment
is a kangaroo court

and Chairman Shift is acting like
a malicious Captain Kangaroo.

Chairman Shift is acting like
a malicious Captain Kangaroo.

Trump's being railroaded by
the terrifying Thomas the Tank engine.

This whole thing is a load
of Howdy Duty

and is brought to you
by the letters F and U.

A lot of younger Republicans
who've just been elected

come to me asking for advice
about how to grow their profile

and become more proficient in media
and online

and I tell them, out the outset,

you make yourself a target
when you live like I live.

I mean, if you want to really get
in the fight,

there's going to be some return fire

and most of the time when I let folks
know that that's the case

they're not interested in
anymore advice about how to do it.

I uh, don't go out to eat much
because in this town, you know,

if you go out to eat it's always
the opportunity for someone

with an iPhone and an axe to grind

to come up and try to have their
viral moment at your expense

so, most nights it's not
any fancy restaurant.

It's Uber Eats
and I'm feeling lamb chops tonight.

Thanks I appreciate it.

This Ukraine stuff,
is not impeachable conduct

but it is a different dynamic to
litigate for us as members of Congress

than the Russian probe,

because so many of us were involved
in the president's campaign.

Gotta watch a little CNN,
opposition research.

In 2016 I was speaking
at Trump rallies all over the country.

I was communicating with people

who were running the President's
campaign in various states

and so I had an insight that this
was not someone who was engaged

in some vast criminal conspiracy
with the Russian Federation

to negatively impact the US election.

But this ain't Russia.

- Hello?
- Hey Mr. President it's Matt Gaetz.

I don't need anything sir
just calling to tell you,

you did a great job today. Don't let
these people get you down.

We're going to keep fighting for you
with all we got.

They're crazy. You're doing fantastic.

Well, thank you.

I got some things because I tell
you, you're really a talent.

There aren't many. You're tough
and smart and you have the look.

The look is always nice, right?

A little bit. You got the whole deal.
But I appreciate it very much, Matt.

- Alright.
- I have been watching.

And you got some good people with you
too. Some great fighters, I love it.

Hey, Matt, I had a phone call
with the president of Ukraine.

It was perfect. I have a friend of mine,
who's one of the best guys.

He reads it and he says,
"this is like a perfect call."

Yeah. Well, wait till you see
what we got for tomorrow.

Well, I'm glad we had stenographers.

These are all
certified stenographers too.

I'm glad they put it down,

because otherwise It would be my
word against some crazy whistleblower.

I couldn't believe what I put out there.

You know,
and I don't like doing that, Matt.

Because, you know, you're talking
to heads of foreign countries,

you're afraid to talk...call you.

Well, and Zelensky was shit talking
Macron and Merkel.

Oh yeah.

About how they don't do anything
and it's the United States,

it's your movement to drain the swamp
that inspired Ukraine to better days.

Yeah, well, I tell you what, look,

we get along with all of them, though,
Matt, honestly.

But the hardest one is this nutty
group of Democrats. They're crazy!

And Nancy Pelosi is stone-cold nuts.

But I appreciate it, Matt.
And I'll see you.

I'll be around if you need me, alright?
I will not forget...

Thank you.
You're the best, Mr. President.

- Say hello to everybody.
- Will do.

- Don't be afraid, will win it.
- We will, see you.

Thank you, Matt.

Our central point is that regardless
of how people feel about the President,

this is no way to run a railroad,
you know,

that we should not be hiding things
from the American people

and from members of Congress.

So those who want to save peace say
that to kind of keep on that message

and then after we're done,
we roll back there.

It's another moment in history,
actually.

10 years from now you'll be able
to say we went down there,

we demanded it.

And we're not allowed in.

- Yeah, we weren't allowed in.
- Let's do it.

I'm gathered here with dozens
of my congressional colleagues

in the basement of the Capitol

because if behind those doors
they intend to overturn the result

of an American Presidential Election,
we want to know what's going on.

And so, we're going to try to in there
on behalf of the millions of Americans

that we represent that want to see
this Congress working for them

and not obsessed with attacking
a president

that we believe has not done anything
to deserve impeachment.

We're going to go and see
if we can get inside, so...

Let's uh, let's see if we can get it.

Congressional Republicans stormed this
closed door deposition in a secure room

and disrupted the testimony
of Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary.

Do it in front of everybody!

We just want to see what you're doing.
Why are you hiding things from us?

Why are you leaking things
selectively?

There's three doors to get
into the actual SCIF,

into the actual intel committee.

So, after the press conference
they all went to the second door

which is where the police officer
actually is and he won't let anyone in.

But then they started chanting
let us in over and over again

and then they kind of bum rushed
the door

to where all the members all just kind
of went past the police officer

and they weren't obviously
going to arrest them.

It isn't over yet.

Those Republicans are still in that
secure room refusing to leave.

One Democratic congressman tells
CNN that snacks were brought in

and they are now eating pizza.

We're happy that everything turned
out favorably and-

- Making news all over the place.
- Hey man.

I talked to Smith and you know,
I mean, news looks bad.

- Does it?
- Yeah, I mean.

I don't know if they're like getting
ready to give up fighting or what.

- But doesn't look good.
- Yeah, I haven't-

He keeps telling me that they're still
figh-pushing so...

Maybe he's just trying to encourage me.
See you, Ro.

Well it was a scene not in the United
States Congress but at a fraternity,

I mean you had about twenty
Republicans come in, they were yelling,

they brought in their phones into
the SCIF which is against the law

and they started ordering pizza

and there were pizza
boxes strewn all over the SCIF,

I mean they didn't even clean up.
It was really just an embarrassment.

And by the way,
Republicans are in that room,

they get to ask questions,
they get equal time as the Democrats.

So, it's the height of hypocrisy
for Republicans to complain.

Shame.

What an asshole.

Hey man, you just single handedly
led a group to shut down

this entire impeachment investigation.
What were you thinking, man?

We were uh, like, you know,
300 standing in the breach

to try to stop the radical left from
starm- storming over our democracy.

Did the President tell you guys to do
this or you did this on your own?

No, I haven't chatted
with the President about it

though I suspect he has a view
he might want to share after today.

The President tweeted this:

Thank you to House Republicans
for being tough, smart

and understanding in detail the greatest
Witch Hunt in American History.

You know when you read
Madison's Federalist 51,

his theory of separation
of powers was very simple.

He said, politicians are ambitious

and ambition will counteract ambition.

You don't really have to worry
about the President being too powerful

because there will be ambitious people
in Congress

that will want to have their own power

and they'll make sure that they put
a check on the presidency.

Madison didn't count on partisanship.
He didn't anticipate

that people would be less loyal
to the institution they serve in

and more loyal to their party.

And what you've seen now is
a total abdication by Republicans

of willingness to hold the president
accountable.

STORM THE SCIF

I didn't run as someone
to unify Washington.

I ran to change Washington
and I do believe

that there is a consensus in the country
that that is necessary.

Do you think you
exacerbate partisanship?

You know, I am sure that there are
days when I advance partisanship.

I think there are days
when I advance bipartisanship.

I don't think you
sort of choose one style or the other.

I think you can be partisan,
bipartisan fluid.

Today the House takes
the next steps forward

as we establish the procedures
for open hearings

conducted by the House
Intelligence Committee

so that the public can see
the facts for themselves.

You have endured an orchestrated
character assassinated

that was laced with enormous
campaign contributions

to the President's election campaign.

Honestly, I did not sleep last night.
So frustrated

that I am not able to participate
in these hearings as a questioner.

If we were doing this with all cards
faced up as fair process,

this would actually being going on
in the House Judiciary Committee

where I serve, but because we kicked
the Democrats ass on Mueller

they've moved
to the Intelligence Committee.

You confirmed to President Trump
that you were in Ukraine at the time

and that President Zelensky, quote,
"loves your ass" unquote.

Do you recall saying that?

Yeah, it sounds like something
I would say.

Can you get a number from Jonathan

how many people have completed
our impeachment poll?

Yeah. I'll get that for us.

Has the impeachment been
a fund raising boom for both sides?

Absolutely. But I have resisted
the temptation

to raise any money
off of impeachment.

I haven't even sent out a fundraising
letter since the impeachments started.

So around 3:40 head down to the HVC.

- What's the meeting in HVC?
- Um, it's on impeachment.

- Okay.
- Impeachment, impeachment.

Then 4:30 we're planning on vote times.
That'll run till about 5:30.

- There are no committee hearings?
- Not a single one.

- Okay. Makes it easy.
- Yeah.

I'll just take
some more phone calls then.

Let's do it.

Yes, hello?

Hi this is Thomas Massie.
Who am I talking to?

This is like Russian roulette,

I don't know if they are happy
or angry or undecided.

I'm just taking their calls straight up.

Hi this is congressman
Ken Buck's office.

- Is this Congressman Ken Buck?
- This is Congressman Ken Buck.

I am one of your constituents.

I am appalled at your position
on the impeachment hearing.

I am absolutely appalled that you
don't understand the rule of law

or how these things work.

Tell me why you'd believe I don't
understand the rule of law.

I'd like to see a really strong
Republican Party.

You know, one that can do good
for the country

instead of this kind of stalemate,

because of Democrats,
because of Trump,

because of the Republicans themselves.

I would like to see a representative
of the state of Colorado

actually sit back,
wait to judge all the information,

and then draw a conclusion,

because that is in fact the job
that we hired you for.

Here's what you have from me,

you have my commitment
to keep an open mind.

I'm going to watch as much
of this hearing as I can today

while I'm taking phone calls.

The school shooting in Saugus today.
That's my alma mater.

I went to school there 30 years ago and
it obviously hits home pretty tough.

I'm sorry.

And I'm really hoping that we can get
some kind of meaningful action from you

regarding gun control.

I don't really care,
we hired you guys.

We elected all of them to do a job.
So, do your job and get over yourself.

OK well I'm trying
not to interrupt you

but I do have other people
that I need to take calls from.

I encourage you to call out
the President

when his statements
are un-unifying.

And I realize you will face pressure
from many voters,

but we must speak the truth,
and I encourage you to do that

because I have yet to see
that from your office.

I appreciate your feedback
very much.

I appreciate you taking the time.
I absolutely do.

- That's great take care.
- Take care. Buh-bye.

I've had enough.

I have to tell you, I think
that this place has drained me

of a certain amount of life.

After having been here for five years,
I have no illusion

that what I say anybody cares about.

I have thought about leaving

and I don't know
whether this is my last term

or whether I'll run for one more term.

I do know that a lot of the folks
at home will not understand

the long-term implications
of what's happening here in D.C.

Throughout the White House right
now, they're going to do and omni

that apparently is going to bust
the budget caps. I just heard.

This President has presented budgets
that are huge.

Typically the freedom caucus
would be leading the charge to criticize

an Executive Branch proposal
that costs that much money.

Now, that's just not the case.
And it's not the case

because when Freedom Caucus
members look at their political base,

they realize that so much of their base
are Trump lovers

where nothing this president does
can possibly be wrong

that they can't criticize the President.

So we did 40k for October. 40k.

- Net?
- Yes, netted.

And then for November right now,
we are already at 15, netted.

- Netted.
- Yeah, 15,000.

So, what do you think we'll net
then, this month?

- I think we're going to get around 40.
- That's amazing.

So, when we met last on fundraising,

you said we were
functionally bankrupt

and now what has saved us
has been impeachment?

Yeah, so all of it is mostly
small dollar

but everyone's doing well off of it.
It's not just our office.

Some lobbyists
have randomly texted me

that they've donated
or given money.

Has there been any revenue from
the Special Interest community?

I'd like about $3000. Not much.

- As is usual, then.
- Yeah.

But, you know, I mean, if we were
to make some announcement

that like we have converted
to this new faith

that is absent any lobbyist or PAC
money.

And once you cross the Rubicon,
you can't go back.

Well that's my only concern with it.
What I don't want you to do

is shoot yourself in the foot for
a later time in 20 years from now

when you want to run
for something that's bigger, you know?

I assure you I will not be running
for anything in 20 years.

Never say never.

Before January there were seven
members of Congress

who were corporate PAC free.

And today is 60. Six zero.

So, in one election, we've brought in
a whole new cohort of members

that are saying, we want
to do something different here,

so we have a proposal in HR1 to create
a small donor matching system.

This is something Larry Lessig
has worked on with me.

If voters give $50 or $25,

a six to one match comes in behind
that from the government.

Under small donations
when they go to candidates to say,

you know what, I'm not gonna take
the big money,

I'm not going to take the PAC money

and I'm going to step into a system

where it's the average citizen who's
the most important person to me.

I'm not a career politician.

Party leaders don't control me
and they never will.

Corporations do not fund my campaign.

Katie Hill was a new member
of Congress, a freshman.

She ran a very different kind
of upstart campaign

without corporate PAC money

and she was on the Armed Services
committee with me.

And then suddenly Katie Hill
was victimized by a husband

who had pictures of her,
where she wasn't wearing any clothes

or doing other weird stuff
and he leaked them.

And she had to resign from Congress
as a result.

You said about the situation
this is absurd.

Who among us would look perfect
if every ex leaked every photo/text?

I don't think these issues
should be partisan in nature.

I think that if someone is trying
to destroy one of your co-workers,

you should sympathize
with the fact

that the only reason that this
information is in the public square

is because someone is committing
the crime o revenge porn.

So I sent out a tweet defending
President Trump and Katie Hill

in the same tweet, so, Katie just
uh, saw the tweet and texted me,

thanks for the shout out though
I defs disagree with you on Trump.

To which I replied, it's okay
he disagrees with me about you too.

She wrote back,
LOL you're a true bridge builder.

Do you think that the way
that money is raised here,

the way the lobbyists
and PACs operate hurts us or helps us?

Like, what's the play
if you're a young person

and you're trying to make it in D.C?

Cuz I'm not sure I figured it out from
the fundraising side of things.

Well a lot of my fundraising was
literally in a backlash to Trump so,

we're coming
from very different places.

Yeah but you weren't raising money
from lobbyists.

No, that's my point,
is that like I came...

I was able to raise money
from individuals.

I didn't take a dime
of corporate money.

There are more Democrats that are
not taking corporate PAC money

than ever have been.

How many are there now?

I think the last I heard there were like
over 65 or something like that.

I think the only- I think there are
not many Republicans who don't do it.

- Right. Are you- do you not? Kinda?
- I'm thinking about it.

I think you'd be the first on the
Republican side. I'm pretty sure.

The first thing that we have to do
to change things

is to get money out of politics

and so that's why I feel strongly
about other parts of HR1 as well,

including the way the districts
are drawn.

I think gerrymandering
needs to be gone.

- I agree.
- Do you?

- Yes.
- Well then why are you not for HR1?

I don't like taking money from the
taxpayers to fund political campaigns

because I think that that's like welfare
for politicians.

The reason that I'm for this and again,

even if a few years ago I would have
been differently,

and by the way, I'm a fucking
good fundraiser so like,

I don't need public financing.

It's not for me, it's for people
who couldn't have access to that.

And you're talking about people
from like North Dakota.

If you're not willing to take
oil money from North Dakota,

how are you gonna have a chance?

I came from a political family, I had
advantages other people didn't have

but I do think that like,

if you just say everybody gets the same
amount of cash, it does shave off

But it's not about everybody gets
the same amount of cash

because you have to raise
a certain amount on your own

and then it's matched.
And it's like 1 to 5.

- That's a fair clarification.
- So, you know.

I think you have to show
a certain amount of grit

and I was able to jump in
at the right moment

because women particularly
where mobilized around the fact

that fucking Trump
had become president

and I was the like antidote.

I was the thing that they saw that like,
could help protect our country

from the guy you're pals with.
But um-

He's so great. I'll never love
another president again.

You told me that. I remember you
telling me that like,

one of the first times I talked to you
as we were going to get on the elevator

and I'm like, is this real?
Like, do you really believe this?

- I do.
- But, um, whatever-

No, I defend flawed people,
that's sort of my thing around here.

I mean, that's fine.
I defend flawed people too.

I just feel like I'd have to
defend our Constitution, but, um...

- Can I get a picture for the camera?
- Oh sure, happy to.

- I met you at the party.
- Yeah that was a great party!

All right here I got the selfie on.

Do we get some light?

We'll see what we get a little Trump
light in our background.

- Sounds good to me.
- Alright there you go, thank you.

- Good seeing you again.
- Keep up the great work.

We need some more fighters.
Nice seeing you.

Nice seeing you.

Hey good to see you my man.
Thanks for welcoming us again.

Alright man.

You are awesome.

Thank you for what you're doing
every day. You fight our fight.

You're giving it to them
in those hearings.

This is only the 4th time
that the House Judiciary

has begun considering
articles of impeachment.

There's my man. Cheers.

Chris Cuomo, he's one of the great
adversaries I have.

TRUMP IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW.
IMPEACHE IS YOUR DUTY.

I watched you every night on Fox,
I thought you were the bomb.

- Oh, thanks for saying that.
- Literally, the bomb.

Today we begin consideration
of two articles of impeachment

against President Donald J Trump.

The first article charges

that the President used the powers
of his public office

to demand that a foreign
government attack his political rivals.

The second article charges
that the President obstructed

the congressional investigation
into his conduct.

How will history judge
this impeachment?

I believe the American people

will remember this impeachment
effort unkindly.

Instead remembering that Democrats
have been resisting

and looking for an excuse to impeach
this President

since the day he was elected.

I hope you've had your fun.

Say goodbye to your majority status

and please join us in January of 2021

when President Trump
is inaugurated again. I yield back.

Gentleman yields back. Mr. Gaetz.

House Democrats aren't clarifying
that no one's above the law,

they're just clarifying none of them
are above partisanship and politics.

The only relevant quid pro quo
is the American people's decision

to send President Trump
to the White House

in exchange for Trump's
commitment to support our workers,

restore our economy, defend
our troops and drain the swamp.

We are going to Washington D.C.

and we are going to do what?

Drain the swamp.

What conversations have you had
with Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman?

I don't know those gentlemen.

Fruman and Parnas are charged
with making $325,000

in illegal straw donation
to a Trump Super PAC.

After making
these political contributions,

they were setting up meetings

in order to push for the removal
of Ambassador Yovanovitch.

Ukrainians who prefer to play
by the old corrupt rules

sought to remove me.

- We gotta get rid of the ambassador.
- Get her out tomorrow. I don't care.

Her removal allowed someone else
to step in, a Trump donor

and EU Ambassador
who urged the Ukrainians

to look into
the President's campaign rival.

Was there a quid pro quo?
The answer is yes.

The hotel mogul donated
a million dollars

to President Trump's
inaugural committee

which helped him secure
his diplomatic post.

It's astonishing to think that
we went into the 2016 elections

with Donald Trump appearing to be
the anti-corruption crusader

because he had called
out Super PACs,

he had said politicians
were all owned by the Special Interests.

But what's so tragic about Donald Trump
is there was an opportunity for him

to change the status quo, but he
was never interested in doing it.

Drain the swamp!

Drain the swamp!

You know, when I first heard
that term I hated it,

I said uh, that's so hokey.

I said oh, that's so hokey.

But I said look, let's give it a shot.
I tried it, the place went crazy.

The place went crazy, I said whoa.
Watch this, then I said it again.

The place went crazy. Then I started
saying it like I meant it, right?

We will face this illegitimate
impeachment with our heads high,

our facts straight and our commitment
to our transformational president

deeply intensified.
We'll see you on the field in 2020.

It's not clear it's possible

to get us beyond that blinder
of hyper-partisanship today.

There are real differences
we have to work out.

But Donald Trump is
a short-term problem.

Whether he gets reelected
or not he will be gone.

And I am so absolutely convinced

that we have broken the core
institution of our democracy.

And at a certain point winning
an elections in a broken system

doesn't get you anything.

It might get you a victory
on election night,

but it doesn't give you
the capacity to govern it.

And if we can't rise above
the partisan difference,

country over party

for the single purpose of fixing
the institution of Congress,

then our government
will just continue to fail.

We're looking at 3488 pages of
the National Defense Authorization Act

for the Fiscal year 2020.

They introduced it at 10 pm the night
before we had to vote on it.

The leadership assures you that
you do not have to read this bill.

Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy each
have their own summary of this bill

which is only two pages long.

One page, front and back,

and it says oh, there's a pay-raise
in here for the military.

The efforts that I've taken
with Barbara Lee

on the other side of the isle
to curb the wars that we're in,

none of that made into this NDAA.

But the NDA has never failed.

It's one of those trains
that when it leaves the station,

it's going to its destination

and so the vast majority of the money
in this bill

goes to the military industrial complex,
not the soldiers,

but because they've got a pay raise
for soldiers in this 3488 page bill,

a lot of people don't need to read
any further.

Like, man, I can't vote against that.

We've just stepped off the floor

where the National Defense
Authorization Act passed

and pretty bittersweet for me.

You know, I'm glad to see our troops
get a raise,

I'm glad to see a lot of things
for our military families in that bill

but it is deeply saddening
that Khanna Gaetz was left out

despite having the support
of the people,

the support of the House
of Representatives

and more votes for it than against it
in the Senate.

The bipartisan amendment to stop
the war in Iran

stripped by the White House.

At some time we can't just rhetorically
give standing ovations

when the President says
we're going to end endless wars

and continue to vote to fund them.

I voted no, the defense budget
was too high in my view

and the fact that they had stripped
the Iran amendment

and they had stripped Yemen
amendment uh, I couldn't vote for it.

Now, I understand it was
a tough vote for people

because they did have increase
for the troops

and they did have increase in terms of
parental leave for federal employees,

but the fact is we shouldn't be having
these kinds of votes.

We should have clean votes
on these issues

as opposed to what they do

which is force you to cast a tough vote

because they lump in pay increases
for the troops

with not stopping the war in Iran.

I thought there was more good
than bad in the bill

and so I voted for it
but I also can understand

why someone would take
a different position

because there's just so much more
that should have occurred here

to reflect the overwhelming will
of the people in this country.

You know, anytime you see
the votes line up with the people

and yet the outcome doesn't happen
it is a reflection of a broken system.

- Are you Congressman Gaetz?
- Yeah.

You have got to be kidding me
with this defense of Trump.

- The guy used tax- payer money-
- I'm not kidding at all, man.

- Don't listen to him.
- Wait a second, I'm an attorney.

- I'm a smart guy.
- Don't listen to him.

- The American people are with you.
- We need more people like you...

The American people are with you, sir.

What about Joe Biden?

Answer the question!

I think what frustrates people today is

it seems we are unable to find
a sense of what can we do together.

But at our best, our country has risen
to the challenge

of finding common purpose
or the common good.

We've done it when we have defeated
tyranny in World War II.

When we helped
establish the International Order.

We've done it in building
the Interstate highways,

winning the Cold War,

inventing the internet,
sending a man to the moon.

Our country has done
extraordinary things

and most of those extraordinary
achievements have been bipartisan.

So the idea that we can't rise
to the occasion again

defies American history.

I don't know how to say this
as strongly as I feel it,

because you know,

I'm a sappy patriot

who deeply loves the traditions
of our country,

not that there aren't things
to criticize

and I spend most of my time finding
how to criticize them

but, the dream,
the ideals of this republic,

are things we all should be proud of

and we have to find a way
to convince people to fix it.

Because it's not as if there
aren't hard problems in the future

we need to solve.

Everybody is so obsessed
in deciding what we should do

as if we can do something.

Everybody's arguing about you know
should we have single payer healthcare,

or climate change legislation?

As if that's possible
to get those things done.

None of these issues
can be addressed sensibly

until we address the deep corruption
inside of our government.

They are our people in our country
and I understand it, I relate to it,

who are so angry at Washington

that just the simple act of handing
someone a baseball bat

and saying go up there
and shake things up

gives them a certain amount
of satisfaction. I understand that.

And what we're trying to do
with our reforms

is say these can be as consequential
as any baseball bat could ever be

because instead of tearing your
democracy down to satisfy your anger,

we're going to build it up

and we're going to put you right back
in the middle of it.

There's no incentive for leadership
to reduce its own power

by reforming Congress.

But Congress will react when the
people stand up and demand action.

The force that runs everything
is the Electorate.

Everybody up here can lose
an election.

It doesn't matter
at all how powerful you are

so, the final arbiters
of who holds power here

are still the voters back home.

YOUR VOTE
IS THE ONLY ANTIDOTE

So many of the challenges
that are impacting our country

aren't going to impact Republicans
and Democrats differently.

It's going to impact us all the same.

And so I think the thing we can do
to drain the swamp the most

would be just achieve
some common understanding

that on a lot of this stuff we are
in the same rowboat.

And if we're rowing different
directions the whole time,

we're just gonna spin
on the top of the water.

In 230 years since the U.S House
of Representatives began its work,

only twice has it launched the debate
we will witness today.

Democrats will bring
to the full House

two articles of impeachment
against President Trump.

Country over party, come on,
where's your soul?

Right here.

Matt Gaetz, save our country.

You could be a hero, dude.
You could be a hero.

You could stand up for our country.
The Constitution, dude.

- Go back to Russia.
- My Goodness!

You are not bad.
You can do it, I believe in you.

Go, truth! Truth!

On December 18, 2019,
The U.S. House of Representatives

voted to impeach President Trump.

Article One is adopted.

No Republicans voted in favor
of either article of impeachment.

I'm coordinating
with White House Council.

There will be no difference between the
President's position and our position.

We all know how it's going to end.

There's no chance the president's
going to be removed from office.

Two weeks later,
President Trump ordered the killing

of Iranian Major General
Osama Soleimani,

escalating tensions
between America and Iran.

The President should not have taken
an offensive action against Iran

without coming to Congress

and this could get us
into another Middle East war

where American lives are at risk
and trillions dollars are wasted.

On January 9, 2020, the House passed
a bill reasserting

its Constitutional war powers
regarding Iran.

Matt Gaetz and Thomas Massie were
2 of only 3 Republicans to vote in favor.

An hour before I went to vote
on that I got a call from the president

and he wanted me to vote with the party
or I was gonna get a primary challenge

and sure enough within 12 hours
of voting

the way that I felt I should vote,
I got a primary opponent.

And now, the next 90 days of my
life are going to be a sort of hell

where I have to go do what I hate to do,

which is get on the phone, grovel,
raise money and try to beat this guy.

And I can trace it all back
to that one vote.

- Do you regret your vote?
- I don't regret that vote at all.

I told the President, if the worst
thing that happens to me for this vote

is I have to go back to my farm and
live out my days, I'm okay with that!

Ken Buck voted with his party against
the Iran war powers resolution.

He has decided to run for reelection.

Taking on President Trump
it is unwise.

And President Trump has no problem
doing a touchdown dance

every time a Republicans critic loses

and so he reinforces the idea
that it is a bad idea to take him on.

On February 27, 2020,
Matt Gaetz announced

he would swear off
all federal PAC money

becoming the first Republican
congressman to do so.

I will never again accept a donation

from a federal political action
committee. Not one red cent.

The American people are
my one and only Special Interest.

- How do you feel?
- I feel great man!

I feel relieved, feel like a tremendous
weight has been lifted.

Don't know what it's gonna mean

but I tell you it's one of my best days
in Congress.

A few weeks after Gaetz's speech,

the COVID-19 pandemic
paralyzed the United States.

To bail out the economy,
Congress approved

the largest stimulus spending bill
in American history.

Tucked into the legislation

were hundreds of billions of dollars
in giveaways secured by lobbyists

for corporations
and special interests.