-Well, a lot is going on in the world of
Trump-adjacent weirdos. A judge has ruled that a series
of major defamation lawsuits against three Trump allies
who lied about the election can move forward.
A cyber expert admitted that MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell
has no proof for his election lies.
And a damning new transcript from a separate case
has emerged, in which Rudy Giuliani
told federal agents it's okay to lie during
a political campaign. For more on this, it is time
for "A Closer Look." [ Theme music plays ] The lie that Donald Trump
won the 2020 election is the central animating belief
of Republican politics today. That's why
GOP state legislatures in states like Georgia and Texas
have been racing to pass voter suppression laws despite zero evidence
of any widespread fraud. In fact, according to Vox,
Georgia Republicans are already putting
their new law to use. I mean, damn, that was fast. The next election
is 15 months away, and they're already
trying to undermine it. I never think that far ahead
about anything. Every single year,
I say to myself, "I'm going to get my wife
something great for our anniversary," and
the next time I think about it is when my wife says,
"Happy anniversary." And you know how they say,
"It's the thought that counts"? Well, it turns out,
that's bull [Bleep], because I assure you,
I thought about it. Like, I can show you
the reminder I wrote for myself
in my Notes app, although the Notes app
is a trap. You only open it
to write stuff down. You never open it
to read anything. It would be just as effective
to write your reminders on a rock and
then drop it in a pond. Go ahead, open your Notes app
right now. I guarantee, all that's in there is a Wi-Fi password
to some Airbnb and a phone number
you've never called. Besides, my best gifts
are my impressions. Why waste money
on a physical present which I can just give my wife
the joy and delight of a Mike Lindell. [As Lindell]
Happy anniversary, honey. I thought you'd enjoy
this impression more than some earrings
from De Beers [da Bears]! Where you going?
I got more Bears fun for you. Oh, God, no!
Oh, she's leavin' me! Oh, no!
Here comes da tears! [ Normal voice ] By the way,
we focused a lot on the voter suppression aspects
of these laws, which are definitely bad,
but even worse, these laws also
give Republicans the power to subvert election outcomes
they don't like. For example, in Georgia,
"the most ominous provisions of this new law allow
the state election board, which is dominated
by Republicans, to seize control of
county election boards. Those boards
can disqualify voters, move polling precincts,
and potentially even refuse to certify an election count." Well, thankfully, there's
no danger of that. I can't recall a time
when Republicans ever refused to certify an election count. What's that? In January?
Well, I wasn't here. I was at impression camp,
remember? I came back, and you asked me
if I worked on my Liam Neeson, and I said, "No,
only a very few people can do Neeson,
because it requires [As Neeson] a very particular
set of skills." [ Normal voice ]
Misdirect. Classic. Anyway, remember
how Trump called the Georgia secretary of state
and tried to badger him into magically finding enough
votes to change the outcome? Well, basically,
Republicans in Georgia made it easier for him
to succeed next time by allowing Republicans
to take control of the county election board
in, say, Fulton. That where we're at right now. Republicans saw a guy
possibly commit a crime and decided to make it easier
for him to pull it off. It's like if there was a rash
of car break-ins in your neighborhood
and the town council responded by outlawing The Club.
It's a true story. Sal wrote that joke,
and Mel, who makes the graphics, is so young, she didn't know
what a Club was. [ Laughter ] She thought it was a nightclub, and the easy way for Mel
to remember, moving forward, is when Sal says "The Club,"
it's always the one you put on the car and not the one that Sal is
too old to get into. [ Laughter ] "I'm the guy who writes
"A Closer Look'!" "Just keep it movin', buddy."
[ Laughter ] "I'm going to write a
'Closer Look' about this club." [ Laughter ] And yet, even as Republican
voters and lawmakers continue to codify the lie that the election
was stolen from Trump, the people who push that lie
are facing major legal and financial
consequences for it. On Wednesday, a judge ruled that a series
of defamation lawsuits brought by the election
technology company Dominion against three Trump-adjacent
crazy people can move forward. -A federal judge will allow
three major defamation lawsuits to go forward against some of
former President Trump's most loyal supporters.
Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell
are all being sued for billions of dollars
in damages by Dominion Voting Systems,
which is the company that they falsely accused
of election fraud. -Dominion, which makes voting machines
used in the 2020 election, wants billions of dollars
in damages. The judge who issued the ruling
was appointed by Donald Trump. -Okay, so, there are only
two plausible explanations for what happened here.
Either a federal judge appointed by Donald Trump
ruled that unfounded claims of election fraud
made by three Trump allies were not exempt
from defamation loss or Hugo Chávez teamed up
with China and the CIA to use Italian military
satellites to hack the judge's computer
and alter his opinion, which was then
printed out on paper smuggled in from China,
covered in bamboo fibers. The only way
we can know for sure is if we take the judge's ruling
to a cabin in Montana, examine it under
a powerful ultraviolet light, then bury it in the backyard,
wait three days, and see if it rains. Man, I wish I could have seen
Rudy's face when he found out. And that's saying something,
because I've never wished to see Rudy's face. I mean,
it could have been anything. The man has a whole
range of expressions. Maybe it was this... or this...
or this...or this. Who knows? He's the man
of a thousand faces. And I'm guessing,
when Lindell found out, he was so shocked,
his mustache fell off. Why does Lindell's facial hair
look so cartoonishly fake? He looks like a gambler who changed his look
to hide from the mob. He wants to see
everyone else's voter I.D., but there's a good chance, if
we saw his driver's license, it would look like this. Now, Lindell has been at
a so-called Cyber Symposium in South Dakota this week,
continuing to spread the lie that the election was rigged, and he's been livestreaming
the whole thing. So we got to see him react
to this ruling in real time. And as you may have guessed, he showed his trademark
calm and restraint. -Oh, okay.
This, I found out. I do want to say this
before they come out. Okay, remember
I told you that, um... [ Audience murmurs ] This is -- This is news to me.
I read this for the first time. This is really bad
for our country, everybody. They -- Everybody needs to
really listen up. This is just new to me. "The federal judge
just put in, this afternoon, Dominion Voting Systems
can move forward with defamation lawsuits
against Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell,
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell." -Are you just reading this
for the first time? -I'm just reading it.
Can you believe that? -[ Shouting indistinctly ]
-That is horrible, everybody. Your First Amendment rights
to free speech just got blown out of the water.
It's over. You can get sued
for everything now. Nothing matters anymore. -Watching someone get bad news
in real time, at their own symposium,
is my new kink. This is like
if Tony Robbins lost it during one of
his self-help seminars. [As Robbins] You have to
push out your negative feelings and take control
of your emotions. Hold on. It's my assistant. What do you mean
they don't have blue jeans?! What kind of self-respecting
sale runs out of blue jeans?! I will not call Don Pablo!
My whole day is ruined now! [ Normal voice ] That's why
I like how Lindell suddenly takes on
the exhausted energy of a substitute teacher when
he's trying to tell everyone how much deep [Bleep] he's in. [As Lindell] Hey, guys.
Listen up, please. Uh, come on, guys.
If we don't do the lesson plan, we can't watch "Free Willy"
on laser disk. Hey, come on.
What are you doing on the couch? Come on, guys,
you can't type "boobs," okay? And don't tell me the calculator
was hacked by Hugo Chávez. Why? Because you're gonna get
sued by Texas Instruments. [ Normal voice ] The best part
of that clip, though, is how Lindell involves
everybody else in the room by telling them
their free speech rights are blown out of the water. Like whatever happens to him
is happening to America. [As Lindell] Guys, bad news,
the doctor called, and it looks like America
has super-high cholesterol. No more lunch ribs for America.
[ Laughter ] [ Normal voice ] By the way, as the symposium
has been happening, a cyber expert who has examined
Lindell's supposed evidence apparently admitted
they can't actually prove any of his claims. It's also very complicated
and also extremely insane. But to boil it down for you,
"The Washington Times" reported that "the key data
underpinning the theory that China hacked
the 2020 election unveiled at the Cyber Symposium
is illegitimate." The cyber expert said,
"We were handed a turd." Yes, but in fairness that's
what they use to fill MyPillows. Rock-hard, calcified turds. Honestly, poor cyber experts.
You go to school to get a degree
in computer science, spend your whole career
mastering a highly specialized skill
that would be actually very helpful in today's
high-tech economy, and then a psycho pillow magnate
hands you what I'm guessing is a garbage bag full of
dry-cleaning slips and CVS receipts
and said, [As Lindell] I need you to
switch who the president is. [ Normal voice ] So,
Trump's gang of weirdos has these
big defamation lawsuits hanging over their heads.
And exactly -- I'm guessing it's not exactly going to help
Rudy Giuliani in 2018, according to a
newly released transcript from an interview
with federal agents. He basically admitted
that he thinks it's okay to lie during
a political campaign. -"The Washington Post"
now reporting that ex-Trump attorney
Rudy Giuliani, who took Trump's election fraud
claims to court and failed
told federal agents back in 2018
it was okay to "throw a fake"
in the course of a campaign. "The Post" says
that during that same interview, Giuliani's then-law partner
Marc Mukasey added that during a campaign, "you're under no obligation
to tell the truth." -That's right,
Rudy told federal agents it was okay to "throw a fake"
during a political campaign. First of all, why did he use
the term "throw a fake?" Was he watching a boxing match in the back of
a Staten Island butcher shop? [As Giuliani] I paid him
100 bucks to throw a fake. I told him to make one hit
and then make this face. [ Normal voice ]
But the funniest -- can't believe
we had another one. But the funniest part about this
admission from Rudy, though, is that it was seemingly
totally unnecessary. His law partner at the time,
a guy named Marc Mukasey, was trying to gently explain
that sometimes, people in general exaggerate
in political campaigns. Not Rudy specifically. But Rudy couldn't help
but chime in and confess. Mukasey -- "In the heat
of a political campaign, on television, I'm
not saying Rudy necessarily, but everybody
embellishes everything." Giuliani -- "Oh,
you could throw a fake." Mukasey -- "You're under no
obligation to tell the truth." Giuliani --
"You could throw a fake." What was the prep
for that meeting like? "Just keep your mouth shut,
Rudy, and I'll do the talking."
"Got it. I might jump in a few times
to say you can throw a fake." "Don't do that."
"I won't." "Maybe just a couple of times."
"Don't do it at all." "I'll just do it twice, but I'll
wait until they're recording." "Rudy!"
"I promise I won't do it." "Do you really promise?"
"No, I'm throwing a fake." The Republican Party is busy
trying to cement the big lie that the 2020 election
was stolen by using it to justify
new voter-suppression laws that will make it
both harder to vote and easier to overturn
results they don't like. Meanwhile, the people
who concocted that lie are facing major legal and
financial consequences because, in the court system,
facts still matter as opposed to
Republican politics, where... -Nothing matters anymore. This has been "A Closer Look." [ Theme music plays ] God's Love We Deliver
cooks and brings over 2 million meals a year
to men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer,
and other serious illnesses, and they need your help
now more than ever. If you're watching this online,
you can hit the Donate button. Stay safe, get vaccinated.
We love you.
