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[00:00:00] Lauren Chen drew national attention and [00:00:02] headlines after the FBI executed a [00:00:04] search warrant at her home. That's [00:00:06] another thing that I have in common. [00:00:09] >> 30 armed agents. You would think that [00:00:12] this was like a human trafficking or [00:00:14] drug ring that we were operating. [00:00:16] >> How much money did these Russian [00:00:18] investors give to you guys? [00:00:20] >> I think it was about 10 million to cover [00:00:22] all of our shows, uh, production, travel [00:00:26] is a lot of money. The current [00:00:28] Department of Justice hasn't done this [00:00:29] to any um Epstein pedophiles. [00:00:32] >> They basically did everything they could [00:00:34] to name and shame us. And meanwhile, [00:00:36] they're redacting emails that talk about [00:00:39] I mean, it seems to be alleging torture, [00:00:41] alleging rape, alleging cannibalism. [00:00:44] Why? Why do these people get protection [00:00:46] when I was like strung out over a [00:00:48] YouTube channel? I don't have good [00:00:50] feelings about this Lauren Chen. And I [00:00:52] was right. [00:00:53] >> Welcome back to The Price is My Life. [00:00:55] This show is brought to you by American [00:00:57] Independence Gold and Impact Health [00:00:59] Sharing. And today we have guest Lauren [00:01:03] Chen. Now, what's interesting about [00:01:05] Lauren Chen is we both shared the same [00:01:07] criminal defense lawyer in the Southern [00:01:09] District of New York. We'll get to that. [00:01:11] Lauren Chen is a conservative political [00:01:13] commentator, podcast host, digital media [00:01:16] personality known for her critiques of [00:01:18] progressive politics, mainstream media [00:01:20] narratives, and government overreach. [00:01:21] She built a following on YouTube and her [00:01:23] podcast pseudo intellectual. [00:01:25] Pseudointellectual. [00:01:27] In 2024, she drew national attention and [00:01:30] headlines after the FBI executed a [00:01:32] search warrant at her home. That's [00:01:33] another thing that I have in common with [00:01:35] Lauren. I was also raided by the FBI and [00:01:37] I'm also a journalist. This was part of [00:01:40] a federal investigation reportedly tied [00:01:42] to foreign influence involving media [00:01:45] operations and Russia. Electronics were [00:01:48] seized during the raid which sparked [00:01:49] political debate over federal power, [00:01:51] censorship, and the scrutiny of [00:01:53] independent media figures. So, hello [00:01:54] Lauren. [00:01:55] >> Hi. [00:01:56] >> Great to be with you. [00:01:57] >> Thank you for having me. That's quite [00:01:58] the intro. [00:01:59] >> Both rated by the FBI under different [00:02:01] Mine was over the president's daughter's [00:02:03] diary. Yours over what was it over? So, [00:02:06] I mean, it's complicated for me to try [00:02:09] to answer that because when the FBI was [00:02:12] writing us, they basically said, [00:02:14] "There's a financial investigation into [00:02:16] some people you work with." And I was [00:02:18] like, "Okay." It wasn't until after they [00:02:20] left, I heard the Merrick Garland press [00:02:23] release essentially accusing us of [00:02:25] trying to subvert the presidential [00:02:27] election um and being paid [00:02:29] propagandists. So, I guess what that was [00:02:32] all about depends on who you ask. I [00:02:34] think it's pretty safe to say that it [00:02:36] was politicized regardless though. [00:02:38] >> So, you believe it to be a politicized [00:02:40] prosecution? [00:02:41] >> Very much so. And you mentioned we have [00:02:43] the we have the same lawyer, lovely, [00:02:45] expensive fellow. Um, I mean, according [00:02:47] to him, usually these indictments around [00:02:49] >> Jeff Lickman. [00:02:50] >> Yeah, Jeff Lickman. [00:02:51] >> I don't know if he wants to be [00:02:52] associated with I talked to him before [00:02:54] this and he said it's fine to name him [00:02:56] as we both he's both I Lickman was not [00:02:59] as expensive as many other lawyers I've [00:03:00] worked with. [00:03:01] I mean there's a very high ceiling for [00:03:03] lawyers. I suppose there are [00:03:05] theoretically more expensive lawyers [00:03:07] than him. [00:03:08] >> Yes. [00:03:08] >> But um [00:03:09] >> Yes. But so so SDNY indictment on [00:03:11] Russian funding influence and the FBI [00:03:13] raid just to refresh our audience. If we [00:03:15] could put up 101 GFX [00:03:19] on the screen there. Here we have we on [00:03:21] the screen. If we can put it for the [00:03:22] audience, there's the the Southern [00:03:24] District of New York, United States. [00:03:26] >> My good buddies. [00:03:27] >> What's that? [00:03:27] >> My good buddies. [00:03:28] >> Your good buddies. I mean, I' I've had a [00:03:30] lot of dealings with SDNY. [00:03:32] >> Did you see the Matt Tiermon video we've [00:03:34] dropped? [00:03:35] >> Yes, I did. He said he went to the SDNY. [00:03:38] He wasn't specifically clear about what [00:03:40] he ratted on. [00:03:41] >> Maybe it was about the diary, but that's [00:03:43] another story. So, this is USA versus [00:03:46] two Russians. [00:03:47] >> Yeah, not me. There was [00:03:48] >> Who are these two Russians? [00:03:50] >> So, these are people who worked in [00:03:51] conjunction with our company. They were [00:03:53] doing social media stuff. Um, there's [00:03:56] been a lot of misreporting on this case. [00:03:59] I've heard online that I've been [00:04:00] indicted. I had charges. They were [00:04:03] dropped. [00:04:03] >> That's what people might assume that you [00:04:05] were indicted. [00:04:06] >> Yeah. But I was not indicted. [00:04:07] >> They were indicted. [00:04:08] >> Yeah. I've never been indicted. Never [00:04:10] had charges against me. And I mean, to [00:04:12] be clear, our investigation is now [00:04:14] closed. I also want to mention that it [00:04:16] wasn't the case that oh Trump came in [00:04:18] and now he's trying to make everything [00:04:20] go away because our our you know our [00:04:23] content was favorable to conservatives. [00:04:25] No, this was basically all finished [00:04:27] before he even came to office. I also [00:04:29] want to make [00:04:30] >> So they raided you because you had [00:04:32] information that could help them in [00:04:34] their case against these two Russians. [00:04:36] >> I would also say no to that. Um, I don't [00:04:40] think there's been anything new about [00:04:41] the case that wasn't already in the the [00:04:44] indictment. And what is in there, a lot [00:04:46] of it is very misleading. There's some [00:04:48] things that are outright false in there. [00:04:49] But, I mean, essentially, they had been [00:04:52] listening to us for, I would say, years. [00:04:56] >> Listening to you, the the the uh [00:04:58] Southern District of New York, the FBI. [00:04:59] >> I mean, yeah, the FBI. [00:05:00] >> And they got secret warrants against [00:05:02] you. [00:05:02] >> Yes, that's right. [00:05:03] >> Through Google and Apple and all these [00:05:05] different companies. [00:05:06] >> Yes. And it's funny, uh, a few months [00:05:08] before this happened, I got a strange [00:05:10] login notification from Google that [00:05:12] someone was accessing my account from [00:05:13] Maryland. And I guess my message to [00:05:15] people is that if that ever happens to [00:05:16] you, don't just ignore it. Might be the [00:05:19] FBI. [00:05:20] >> Might be the FBI. [00:05:21] >> Yeah. Wow. [00:05:22] >> So, I mean, basically [00:05:24] why I mentioned my lawyer is that [00:05:26] according to him, these indictments are [00:05:27] usually four to five pages, not 30ome [00:05:30] pages as ours was. And I say ours again, [00:05:33] it's not my indictment, but as the [00:05:35] indictment related to our company was. [00:05:37] And um you know, since the two people [00:05:39] who are actually indicted in this were [00:05:40] not in the country, I I don't believe [00:05:43] that they ever thought that this case [00:05:44] would go to trial. Um I believe that [00:05:47] this indictment was essentially a press [00:05:48] release of things that they wanted to [00:05:50] allege knowing that they wouldn't [00:05:52] actually ever have to prove it in court. [00:05:54] And I mean, I'm right, it's never gone [00:05:55] to court. And there's, from everything I [00:05:57] can tell, like our investigation is [00:05:59] closed for sure. I don't think they're [00:06:00] doing anything with anything else. So [00:06:02] it's just kind of there now. [00:06:04] >> So this is this is the indictment [00:06:06] alleges that RT Russia today secretly [00:06:10] funded and helped steer this Tennessee [00:06:12] based company called what was the name [00:06:14] of the company? [00:06:14] >> Tenant Tenant. Who's in who's in charge [00:06:17] of Tenant? [00:06:18] >> Um well I was like I guess day-to-day [00:06:21] operations with my husband and what's [00:06:24] really frustrating is that basically the [00:06:26] allegation is that you know there are [00:06:28] these Russians who are controlling [00:06:29] things. The FBI, like I mentioned, had [00:06:32] access to all of our in like our [00:06:34] internal communications. They knew [00:06:36] exactly how our workflow worked. And our [00:06:40] creators had 100% editorial freedom over [00:06:43] everything that they put out. We were [00:06:45] actually licensing their content. So, I [00:06:47] mean, we worked with people like Tim [00:06:49] Pul, Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin. These [00:06:51] people had their own production [00:06:53] workflows that we were not involved in [00:06:55] at all. We often didn't see the content [00:06:56] until they were the ones uploading it. [00:06:59] So for this to be spun as somehow this [00:07:02] is you propaganda or I've even heard [00:07:05] after it was like pretty clear the [00:07:07] creators came out and said we weren't [00:07:09] told to say anything they changed it to [00:07:11] they were unwitting propagandists which [00:07:13] as a concept makes no sense. I'm sorry [00:07:15] that doesn't but [00:07:17] >> unwitting propagandist. [00:07:18] >> Unwitting propagandists. [00:07:19] >> Yeah. I mean, they they argue that did [00:07:22] they argue in this indictment that you [00:07:24] knew about or this indictment against [00:07:26] these two Russians that you knew that [00:07:28] you were spreading propaganda? [00:07:30] >> Well, so it's interesting. If there is [00:07:33] this big propaganda operation, you would [00:07:35] assume that there's a lot of proof of [00:07:36] what the propaganda is, right? [00:07:38] Especially since this was a media [00:07:40] channel. We're putting out content every [00:07:41] day. They should have a wealth of of [00:07:43] examples to choose from. One of the [00:07:45] examples of propaganda was the fact that [00:07:49] do you remember Tucker Carlson did a [00:07:51] trip to Russia and he there was this [00:07:53] clip that he did where he went to a [00:07:55] Russian grocery store and he was [00:07:56] impressed because I think it was cheap [00:07:58] and people were putting the the grocery [00:08:00] carts away. So we shared that clip [00:08:03] >> and that is in the indictment. [00:08:05] >> Do we have the picture of that producer [00:08:07] from the indictment? [00:08:09] >> This is the you may be sharing. [00:08:12] >> I might be committing a felony. Let's [00:08:13] play the tape. [00:08:17] This is Tucker in Russia. [00:08:18] >> Standing feature, maybe the longest [00:08:19] standing feature of Cold War propaganda [00:08:21] in the West was the Soviet grocery [00:08:24] store. [00:08:26] No products, no choices, shoddily made [00:08:31] things. [00:08:32] And it wasn't actually propaganda. It [00:08:34] was real. And you can look up the [00:08:35] pictures on the internet if you want. [00:08:36] So, we thought it would be interesting [00:08:38] to take a look at a contemporary [00:08:40] modern-day 2024 Russian grocery store. 2 [00:08:44] years into sanctions. Here we go. [00:08:48] All right. Here we go. So, I guess you [00:08:52] put in 10 rubles here and you get it [00:08:55] back when you [00:08:56] >> Anyway, so this is a this is a longer [00:08:58] clip, but Tucker is kind of taking you [00:09:00] through the grocery store saying this [00:09:01] isn't so bad. And this is one of the [00:09:03] clips [00:09:04] >> from Russia with love. [00:09:05] >> But this is something Tucker produced. [00:09:07] Oh, yeah. [00:09:07] >> And you guys distributed or reproduced [00:09:09] or disseminated. So, we it was going [00:09:11] viral and we were, you know, we would [00:09:15] share clips that were getting a lot of [00:09:16] attention as a lot of these other [00:09:18] outlets do. This was one of them. And [00:09:19] it's funny because as we were going to [00:09:22] share it, our producer, one of our [00:09:24] producers said like, "He's getting kind [00:09:25] of flak for this. People are saying he's [00:09:27] shilling. Should we still share it?" And [00:09:30] this is like how I I know that they were [00:09:33] definitely trying to paint us in a [00:09:34] certain way. Um, we had internal [00:09:36] discussions about it. We agreed that we [00:09:38] would share it, but we also when we did [00:09:40] share it, we mentioned that some people [00:09:42] are criticizing this as being um I guess [00:09:46] not telling the whole story. What do you [00:09:48] think? So, we were actually kind of we [00:09:49] tried to include that in when we shared [00:09:52] it. The fact that there are people who [00:09:53] says this who say this isn't [00:09:54] representative of Russia or who feel [00:09:56] that he's maybe trying to uh put a [00:09:59] better foot forward than is actually the [00:10:01] case in with these grocery stores. They [00:10:03] didn't include that either. They they [00:10:05] were just like, "Nope, they just shared [00:10:06] it. They are just trying to propagandize [00:10:08] Americans into [00:10:10] >> this is from the indictment. This is uh [00:10:12] can put the screen a screenshot on the [00:10:13] screen. Uh on about February 15th, 2024, [00:10:17] a video of well-known US political [00:10:18] commentator visiting Gosh. That's [00:10:19] Tucker. Uh who's Afanasa? [00:10:23] What is that? [00:10:24] >> Um that was that was um that's one of [00:10:26] the people who's indicted. [00:10:27] >> Indicted posted the video in the [00:10:29] producer Discord channel. What's the [00:10:31] producer discord channel? So this is I [00:10:33] mean we had an internal company Discord [00:10:37] channel. It's basically kind of like [00:10:39] Slack. Yeah. But but not Slack. So we [00:10:42] would have a channel where people would [00:10:44] give pitches um where we would share [00:10:47] different clips that were getting a lot [00:10:49] of attention. Hey, do we want to share [00:10:50] this? Does anyone want to cover this? [00:10:52] That type of thing. Um so we were [00:10:54] operating that way for about a year and [00:10:57] this is the story that they chose to [00:10:58] highlight as proof of our [00:11:00] >> So this is what they say in the [00:11:01] indictment. This is the FBI or the [00:11:03] prosecutors and SDNY and the SDNY is [00:11:06] pernitiously all about power. As Matt [00:11:08] Turmont said, I agree with them on that. [00:11:10] They are really, it's really of a dark [00:11:12] kind of place. The SDNY it is. [00:11:14] >> It's not justice-based. It's power and [00:11:17] control. But this is what they write. [00:11:19] Quote, this is producer one privately [00:11:21] messaged founder two. They always use [00:11:23] these these metanyms in instead of your [00:11:26] real name. You're founder one. My [00:11:28] assumption is [00:11:28] >> yes. Founder two is your husband. Yes. [00:11:31] Who also, for the record, has never been [00:11:33] charged with anything. And [00:11:34] >> I mean, I was never charged. They raided [00:11:36] my home. [00:11:36] >> Yeah. They don't really care about that. [00:11:38] They just want to [00:11:38] >> It's really It's kind of wild. They raid [00:11:40] newsrooms, but we'll talk about that in [00:11:42] a minute. So, quote, "They want me to [00:11:44] post this. That's your husband [00:11:45] referencing the video that the Russian [00:11:47] had posted, but quote, "It just feels [00:11:49] like overt shilling." They're [00:11:51] referencing something your husband wrote [00:11:52] in the Slack or Discord channel. Now, [00:11:55] founder two, that's you, replied, [00:11:57] >> "Founder two is my husband. [00:11:59] >> Pardon me. Founder two, as your husband, [00:12:00] replied that founder one, that's you, [00:12:02] thinks we should put it out there. [00:12:04] Producer acquest. Okay. So, they're [00:12:07] trying to use this as justification for [00:12:10] for what what what exactly is the [00:12:12] >> that this is a covert propaganda outlet. [00:12:15] The fact that we shared this Tucker [00:12:18] Carlson clip that we didn't we weren't [00:12:19] even involved in producing. It was just [00:12:22] kind of it was topical. It was going [00:12:23] viral. And again, that's not even the [00:12:26] full story. We we agreed that we would [00:12:29] share it, but also mentioned that there [00:12:31] was some controversy over the clip. So, [00:12:33] we were trying to cover all of our bases [00:12:35] and just kind of present it as is. [00:12:37] >> What how much money did these Russian [00:12:39] investors give to you guys? [00:12:41] >> Well, the investors that I mean, that's [00:12:43] this whole thing of who the money [00:12:46] supposedly came from. There's stuff in [00:12:47] the indictment that [00:12:50] I can't verify that if it it's if it's [00:12:52] true, which I'm seeing as how they kind [00:12:55] of twisted things that I know aren't [00:12:57] true, I'm very skeptical of. I'm not [00:12:59] taking these people's word on anything. [00:13:01] Um like we were working with a French [00:13:02] team in terms of the investor side. I [00:13:04] speak French, spoke French with them, [00:13:06] but um something else that was reported [00:13:09] is the amount. So it was basically in [00:13:12] the media made to seem like I personally [00:13:15] was getting like millions of dollars [00:13:17] which was not true. They reported our [00:13:19] total operating budget as money that was [00:13:21] going to me personally um which is not [00:13:23] accurate at all. [00:13:25] >> How much money do you know that you [00:13:26] received from the people that sent it? [00:13:29] >> I think it was about 10 million to cover [00:13:32] all of our shows uh production travel. [00:13:35] >> Million is a lot of money. Yeah, it was [00:13:38] um we were working with big talent and [00:13:39] that was the thing like we were we were [00:13:42] in negotiations with these talents for [00:13:45] months and um you know these are numbers [00:13:47] that I didn't come up with basically. [00:13:49] >> And what did they want in exchange for [00:13:51] that 10 million? What's the [00:13:52] consideration as part of the deal? [00:13:54] >> I mean none. This was basically like an [00:13:56] an angel investor situation. They had [00:13:58] absolutely no say over what [00:14:00] >> do they want an ownership stake in the [00:14:02] company or [00:14:02] >> No. No. And this was basically just and [00:14:05] I mean at the end of the day [00:14:09] I I don't know how much I should be [00:14:11] talking about people who are not me and [00:14:12] I don't know what their case is right [00:14:14] now. You know [00:14:15] >> I you know Jeffrey worked with us on [00:14:17] what was going on with us. So these [00:14:19] other people Yeah. Sorry. The attorney. [00:14:21] So [00:14:22] >> you know what all the SDNY has or [00:14:26] doesn't have on these other people. I'm [00:14:27] not sure. My assumption is, I don't know [00:14:29] this, but my assumption is the SDNY has [00:14:31] just dropped this entire thing because [00:14:33] Trump is the president and that's what [00:14:36] happens unfortunately in our country. [00:14:38] Justice is downstream from who's in [00:14:39] charge. And that's my assumption. Let's [00:14:42] face it, healthc care is a mess. [00:14:44] Outrageous premiums, surprise bills, [00:14:46] denied claims, and now the rates are [00:14:48] climbing again. Medical debt is the [00:14:50] number one cause of bankruptcy, even for [00:14:52] people with insurance. That's why I [00:14:54] switched to Impact Health Sharing. No [00:14:56] networks, no woke nonsense, just real [00:14:59] savings and up to 50%. You can pick your [00:15:01] doctor. 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[00:16:27] >> Pam Bondi, one of the first things she [00:16:28] did was because there were actual Trump [00:16:30] associates who were charged uh under the [00:16:33] guise of these FAR investigations or [00:16:35] violations, she's I I think basically [00:16:38] shut down the the task force that was [00:16:41] dedicated to this. and she has released [00:16:42] a statement saying going forward [00:16:45] the actual any any charges are going to [00:16:47] be related more to conventional [00:16:49] espionage. Oh, right. Sorry. So, FHA is [00:16:52] the Foreign Agents Registration Act. [00:16:55] >> And so, it basically says that if you're [00:16:57] in America and you're acting on behalf [00:16:59] of a foreign government in terms of like [00:17:02] lobbying and things like that, you have [00:17:03] to register. So, Pam Bondi used to uh [00:17:07] represent a Qatari firm if I'm not [00:17:09] mistaken. And so she had to register for [00:17:11] Farah. [00:17:12] >> Now the fact that there are people in [00:17:15] media who are being I mean like I was [00:17:19] never charged with this but the fact [00:17:20] that Farah would apply to media is [00:17:23] something people have brought up as a [00:17:25] first amendment violation because it it [00:17:27] it's not very equal. You can work for [00:17:30] the CBC or the BBC, so Canadian and [00:17:33] British state media, and you don't have [00:17:34] to register for Pharaoh. But there are [00:17:36] people who have been employed in RT [00:17:38] previously that they did have to um so [00:17:42] >> so when these people just take us back [00:17:44] well can you go to number 27 of this [00:17:47] indictment team page 18 I think it's [00:17:50] another one we have where founder one [00:17:53] and founder two that's you and your [00:17:55] husband admitted to each other in [00:17:57] private communications that their [00:17:58] investors were in truth and in fact [00:18:00] quote Russians [00:18:02] >> I mean we were referring to the two [00:18:03] people who were that again is not. [00:18:06] >> Who did you know them to be? Were they [00:18:08] Russian to Russia RT? Is that who they [00:18:10] presented themselves as? Or [00:18:11] >> Well, they presented themselves as [00:18:14] these. They were ethnically Russians. [00:18:16] Russian ethnic Russians [00:18:17] >> and they supported your your mission. [00:18:19] Your your [00:18:20] >> Well, no. So, they were not the [00:18:22] investors. They were working on the [00:18:23] social media side. [00:18:25] >> So, they were working with our company. [00:18:27] >> Why do you think that they wanted to [00:18:28] fund you? [00:18:31] I mean, as someone who has worked with [00:18:33] TPUSA, with the Blaze, I didn't work [00:18:37] with uh like I was never employed by [00:18:39] Daily Wire, but I've been on their shows [00:18:41] before. I've also been involved with [00:18:43] PragerU. There are no shortage of people [00:18:45] who are interested in funding [00:18:47] conservative media. [00:18:49] >> Um, you know, and especially in light of [00:18:52] the amounts that we were given, that is [00:18:54] a drop in the bucket to, you know, what [00:18:57] TPUSA's operating budget is. the Daily [00:18:59] Wire or even the Blaze. [00:19:01] >> Is this tenant a 51c3 or was it a [00:19:03] for-profit? [00:19:04] >> I'm not the one who was doing all the [00:19:05] paperwork. So, [00:19:07] >> not not a nonprofit. Don't know if it's [00:19:09] a nonprofit or for [00:19:10] >> I don't think it was the nonprofit [00:19:11] >> cuz um Turning Point's a 51c3 or C4. So, [00:19:15] they yeah, their budget is 100 million [00:19:16] or 150 million or very large numbers. Um [00:19:21] so, okay. So this indictment happens and [00:19:25] they're going after this pharaoh which [00:19:27] is this foreign thing which I guess on [00:19:29] some level it is kind of an ethma to the [00:19:32] first amendment. I mean the United [00:19:34] States [00:19:34] >> well they've had um there was recently a [00:19:36] senator who was convicted of fair [00:19:38] violation. He was actually lobbying on [00:19:41] behalf of a foreign government to like a [00:19:43] change laws, you know, using his [00:19:46] connection with that government to [00:19:47] affect foreign policy as someone who was [00:19:50] in government. The idea that this could [00:19:53] be used for people in media at all, I [00:19:55] think is very strange. [00:19:56] >> Yeah, it is a little is a little [00:19:58] strange. Um, how much money did you [00:19:59] spend on legal defense? [00:20:01] >> Approximately$120 [00:20:04] $150,000. [00:20:05] >> Those are rookie numbers. [00:20:07] >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, I never went [00:20:08] >> on project veritas. I spent four or five [00:20:10] million. But I'm a I'm a crazy [00:20:11] individual. [00:20:12] >> Yeah. I mean, I that's money being spent [00:20:15] never being charged anything. Yeah. If [00:20:17] you were indicted, it probably would [00:20:18] have cost you [00:20:20] >> I don't even know 2 million. [00:20:22] >> I mean, easily. And um [00:20:24] >> would have destroyed your everything. [00:20:26] >> Exactly. We're almost lucky that that's [00:20:28] how we got off with. But I have had [00:20:30] people say, "Are you going to take [00:20:32] anyone to court over things like [00:20:34] defamation?" because there were people [00:20:35] who were actually just lying. I mean, [00:20:37] you can have whatever opinions you want [00:20:39] about me, that's protected. But if [00:20:41] you're saying things that are outright [00:20:42] false, like that I've been charged or [00:20:44] that I've been proven to be a spy or [00:20:46] anything like that, you know, that's [00:20:48] pretty defamatory. But taking anybody to [00:20:51] court costs money and we're already, you [00:20:52] know, we have our our share of legal [00:20:54] fees at the moment. [00:20:55] >> It seems like the um the lawyers stand [00:20:58] to gain generally speaking. No [00:20:59] disrespect to Jeff, uh who actually was [00:21:02] my lawyer in the FBI raid. He seems like [00:21:04] one of the better ones. I'm not just [00:21:06] saying that. [00:21:07] >> Uh yeah, but but lawyers stand to gain [00:21:09] financially from all the political [00:21:11] prosecutors. [00:21:11] >> They they do, but I mean I will give it [00:21:13] to Jeffrey. So our our bank accounts [00:21:16] were frozen and seized and you know they [00:21:20] were frozen at the start of the [00:21:21] investigation and then in this happened [00:21:23] in September 2024 in we didn't hear from [00:21:26] them until I mean not since November or [00:21:29] December. So, you know, for a few [00:21:31] months, it's like we're the most [00:21:33] important people on the planet to the [00:21:35] SDNY in the media and then everything [00:21:37] just kind of goes quiet. And I asked [00:21:40] Jeffrey like, "Does this does this [00:21:42] happen? Like, they're not asking you any [00:21:44] questions anymore." He's like, "No, I [00:21:45] haven't heard from them." I was like, [00:21:46] "Well, should we reach out?" And he was [00:21:47] like, "I kind of don't want to." He's [00:21:49] like, "Me neither, but also like [00:21:52] obviously we're in a precarious [00:21:53] situation. We've been told we can't [00:21:54] really and it's good advice from a [00:21:57] lawyer. won't comment on ongoing [00:21:58] proceedings and you know etc etc but [00:22:01] people in media it's kind of hard to do [00:22:03] that indefinitely. So we reached out in [00:22:06] April and they confirmed that it was [00:22:08] closed they would give us our [00:22:10] electronics back but when we inquired [00:22:12] about the funds that were seized we were [00:22:15] informed that it had been uh forfeited [00:22:17] all of that money. And now when that [00:22:19] happens they're supposed to give you [00:22:21] notice in writing that your funds had [00:22:23] been forfeited. We never got any type of [00:22:26] notice um when our lawyer brought that [00:22:29] up. [00:22:29] >> Forfeited your your money, your personal [00:22:31] money. [00:22:32] >> Yeah. [00:22:33] >> Or the funds for the company. [00:22:34] >> So, we were actually and this is [00:22:36] something that obviously didn't mention, [00:22:37] but in we had money in the company, our [00:22:40] own money that had come from places like [00:22:42] TPUSA in the Blaze. We were investing [00:22:44] our own money in the company as well. [00:22:47] So, we had and we also had savings that [00:22:49] we had brought from Canada that were in [00:22:51] the company account. So, this was money [00:22:53] that didn't have anything to do with any [00:22:55] type of investor. This was just our [00:22:56] earnings that were in the company [00:22:58] account because we were investing in our [00:23:00] company. [00:23:02] >> Um, that money was seized, frozen. We [00:23:06] didn't really get notice of anything [00:23:08] that was permanent. We just assumed that [00:23:10] they it had been frozen until, you know, [00:23:12] kind of like our our electronics. But [00:23:14] when we inquired like, "So, now that [00:23:16] it's over, we have no charges. Are we [00:23:18] going to get that back?" They told us [00:23:20] no. And again, to Jeffrey's credit, why [00:23:22] I bring this up is that, you know, we [00:23:24] asked like, "Okay, well, what do we do?" [00:23:26] Like, not only have we not been charged [00:23:27] with anything, but they're keeping it. [00:23:28] They also didn't even follow proper [00:23:30] procedure apparently. And he basically [00:23:31] said, "Yeah, you could take them to [00:23:33] court, but and he was very frank about [00:23:36] this, the amount of money that they took [00:23:37] versus how much money you would spend [00:23:39] taking the government to court." He [00:23:40] says, "I frankly don't think it's worth [00:23:42] it because you'd be spending that money [00:23:43] without any guarantee that you would get [00:23:45] your money back at all." you know, [00:23:47] >> but just, you know, going back to that [00:23:50] amount of money, let's call it $10 [00:23:51] million. That that is, I think, you [00:23:53] know, we were even talking about it in [00:23:54] the room over there, that that is a lot [00:23:56] of money. I mean, yeah, [00:23:57] >> and I ran a nonprofit, Project Veritas, [00:23:59] it was a 24 million and the most the [00:24:03] biggest donation that we ever got on a [00:24:05] blue moon was a million or two million [00:24:07] at most to a taxdeductible entity, [00:24:10] right? [00:24:10] >> But this was is this was for a an [00:24:13] investment into a for-profit company. [00:24:16] So, did you did it raise any eyebrows [00:24:18] with you? Did you find it strange? Did [00:24:20] you were you curious at all when people [00:24:22] approached you? [00:24:23] >> Well, again, this is something that I'm [00:24:25] kind of familiar with working having [00:24:26] worked with the Blaze and the Daily [00:24:27] Wire. I know who their investors are and [00:24:29] how much money they've spent into the [00:24:31] company. Um, we were not nearly as [00:24:34] expensive as those companies are. The [00:24:36] amount of backing that we had, I think [00:24:39] like especially to what it is now, not [00:24:42] really comparable to what those [00:24:44] companies are getting. [00:24:45] This was at the time, and I remember [00:24:47] this story. Um, [00:24:50] and I know how difficult it is to go [00:24:51] through this because I've been through [00:24:53] it a couple times. We'll get to that. [00:24:55] But there were some high-profile people [00:24:58] making criticisms. [00:24:59] >> Mhm. [00:25:00] >> I've been through this myself. So, no [00:25:03] hard feelings. It's just the reality. [00:25:04] Let's play. This is Megan Kelly talking [00:25:08] uh about this when the indictment [00:25:10] dropped. We have an extra clip. We're [00:25:12] going to play it. They were offering [00:25:15] eyepopping sums to these influencers and [00:25:19] they took the deal. I said, "Who's [00:25:21] funding this?" And he said, "It's a [00:25:23] French businessman." And Dave would have [00:25:25] no reason to lie to me that he said that [00:25:27] explicitly [00:25:28] >> that Dave Sorry, that's Dave Rubin. And [00:25:32] so he actually Dave actually spoke with [00:25:35] a person that the FBI claims doesn't [00:25:37] exist. Um, and that's something that's [00:25:39] also frustrating. Like, you know, in in [00:25:41] this indictment, it's being portrayed as [00:25:44] like this person never existed. There [00:25:45] was actually three people who never [00:25:47] existed as the same alias. We were on [00:25:48] video calls with these people. So, I I [00:25:51] can't verify whether identities were [00:25:53] real or not. But the idea that we were, [00:25:56] you know, not not even speaking to these [00:25:58] people, it's all like that's just [00:26:00] inaccurate. But yes, that's Dave Rubin. [00:26:02] >> Dave Rubin, keep playing. [00:26:04] conversation went on and I will tell you [00:26:06] that I told him not to do it and that [00:26:09] was not necessarily because I knew [00:26:10] anything about the funding. We didn't [00:26:11] get into that more than him saying it [00:26:12] was this French guy. But I don't have [00:26:14] good feelings about this Lauren Chen and [00:26:17] I was right. It's very annoying. The [00:26:19] whole thing is annoying because let me [00:26:21] tell you why it's annoying. Let me let [00:26:23] me play you the soundbite from Morning [00:26:24] Joe. Look what the left is going to do [00:26:26] with this [ __ ] This is what they're [00:26:28] going to do. Not Not because of Dave, [00:26:30] not because of Tim, not because of [00:26:31] Benny. because of you, Lauren. According [00:26:33] to this indictment, we'll hear your [00:26:35] denial. I'm open-minded to your denial. [00:26:37] Let's hear it. So far, she said nothing. [00:26:39] I think we know why. She's probably [00:26:41] working with them. Um, listen to how the [00:26:44] people over at Morning Joe, and I'm sure [00:26:46] the entire left today is already [00:26:47] spinning this. [00:26:49] >> We have all seen it for several years. [00:26:52] >> There are people who are deliberately or [00:26:55] knowingly or unknowingly [00:26:58] promoting Russian propaganda. propaganda [00:27:00] that comes straight from the Kremlin. [00:27:03] >> I mean, yeah. So, this is I just want [00:27:06] your reaction. [00:27:06] >> Unknowingly promoting propaganda that [00:27:08] does not make sense. If these are the [00:27:10] genuinely held beliefs of our content [00:27:13] creators, then I'm sorry whether Putin [00:27:16] or uh she or anyone else agrees with [00:27:20] them that doesn't make it propaganda. [00:27:22] And we went through the indictment. You [00:27:24] know, if if there were some sort of [00:27:26] chain of command of people feeding us [00:27:28] lines, they would have shown it. They [00:27:30] absolutely would have shown it. [00:27:31] >> Why is Megan Kelly saying that? I mean, [00:27:33] I know that that hurts. I've had that [00:27:35] said about me in different contexts, but [00:27:37] your reaction to her. [00:27:38] >> I mean, it's funny. Megan Kelly is [00:27:40] someone who has been critical of the DOJ [00:27:43] and specifically Merrick Garland. And [00:27:45] it's it's I was at the time kind of [00:27:47] curious as to why in different scenarios [00:27:50] people seem to have no problem [00:27:51] understanding that political [00:27:53] investigations exist. But when it came [00:27:56] to our story, suddenly we believe [00:27:58] everything the SDNY says. Even when and [00:28:00] she's friends with Dave, so she she [00:28:02] knows that Dave Rubin, right? So she [00:28:04] knows that he spoke with someone who [00:28:06] clearly was not Russian. Um, you know, [00:28:08] he did his own he's a big boy. He made [00:28:10] his own decision. We had like contracts [00:28:12] and things like that. uh he absolutely [00:28:15] was never told what to say. So the fact [00:28:17] that she's kind of paring paring um the [00:28:20] leftist line on this is that oh this is [00:28:23] coming from the Kremlin. what's coming [00:28:25] from like there again there is [00:28:27] absolutely zero editorial control that [00:28:30] even I had over anything that went out [00:28:32] and that was in all of our contracts [00:28:34] with our talent and I can safely say [00:28:36] having worked with other conservative [00:28:38] media companies we gave absolutely more [00:28:41] editorial freedom to our creators than [00:28:44] anyone else than you're going to find at [00:28:45] the Blaze at the Daily Wire at Prageru [00:28:47] and we we're proud of that and so I mean [00:28:51] as someone who really believes in in [00:28:54] creat traders being able to say whatever [00:28:56] they wanted um to have so few people [00:28:59] question the left's line. [00:29:01] >> Why do you think that Megan Kelly took [00:29:02] the position that she did? [00:29:04] >> The motivation. [00:29:06] >> I mean, I don't know. I'm not uh you [00:29:08] know, I don't follow Megan Kelly very [00:29:10] very closely. For a lot of the people [00:29:13] who came really hard against me and [00:29:15] Tennant in general, I know that it's [00:29:17] probably because I'm I am I consider [00:29:20] myself more dissident, right? I've been [00:29:22] critical of the establishment. And I've [00:29:24] been critical of neoconservatism. I've [00:29:26] been critical of uh, you know, a lot of [00:29:28] the people who ended up coming out [00:29:31] against us. And so for a lot of these [00:29:34] people, it wasn't even necessarily like, [00:29:36] oh, I you really don't like what [00:29:38] happened with Tenant. It's, oh, you've [00:29:39] never liked us and now you have a reason [00:29:42] publicly [00:29:43] >> to go against us. I don't I'm not sure [00:29:45] if that applies to Megan Kelly [00:29:46] specifically. There is a lot of I don't [00:29:48] know if this is true of I I I like Megan [00:29:51] Kelly, but I I I do think there's a lot [00:29:53] of like competition uh amongst the right [00:29:56] in general whereas the left seems more [00:29:58] cohesive. [00:29:59] >> Well, for some of the people that came [00:30:01] out pretty hard against us, it was funny [00:30:04] because a few months earlier, some of [00:30:06] them had actually been trying to work [00:30:07] with us. [00:30:08] >> Really? [00:30:09] >> Yes. And um there's at least two [00:30:12] specific cases where that happened where [00:30:14] people were, you know, they were all [00:30:17] about tenant. They wanted to talk to us. [00:30:20] They wanted to work with us. Ashley St. [00:30:22] Clair was one of them. [00:30:24] >> Um Sebastian Gorka was another one of [00:30:26] them. Um you know, I think he has come [00:30:29] out and said that he declined to work [00:30:30] with us. That's not true. [00:30:32] >> And your your your and your husband's [00:30:33] position in tenant was what exactly? [00:30:35] Your title, your responsibility. [00:30:36] >> Um so he was president and I was CEO. So [00:30:39] I handled all of like the contract [00:30:41] negotiations and things like that. [00:30:43] >> Okay. [00:30:44] >> And [00:30:46] Yeah. [00:30:46] >> So you were the CEO? [00:30:47] >> Yes. [00:30:48] >> CEO of the the company. So Okay. [00:30:50] >> Um and [00:30:51] >> did you have a board of directors? [00:30:52] >> No. [00:30:53] >> Okay. And and the ownership of the [00:30:55] company you 100% owned it? [00:30:56] >> Yes. [00:30:57] >> Really? [00:30:57] >> Yeah. [00:30:58] >> And you are you able to say the total [00:31:00] operating budget? Total total like 10 [00:31:03] million is what percentage of the total [00:31:04] budget of the company? [00:31:05] >> That I couldn't tell you. [00:31:06] >> Okay. Let's go back to this FBI raid. [00:31:09] Um, [00:31:11] when the FBI came knocking on your door, [00:31:14] do you guys have the the video of my [00:31:16] raid? We play this on every show. [00:31:20] They still haven't released the probable [00:31:21] cause. [00:31:26] >> I'm sorry. So, what is this regarding [00:31:28] >> the third? [00:31:35] >> All right. So that's kind of that's [00:31:37] actually Eric Cochran, my colleague, but [00:31:39] same same thing happened to me. [00:31:40] >> Mhm. [00:31:41] >> What was your raid like? [00:31:42] >> So it happened around 7:00 a.m. and um [00:31:45] they were actually about to break down [00:31:47] the door cuz I guess we didn't get to [00:31:48] the door fast enough. I mean it was [00:31:50] early. They It's what we woke up to. [00:31:51] >> What city, state? [00:31:52] >> Uh Nashville. Um so we were kind of like [00:31:55] ran to the door. We opened it just in [00:31:57] time for them to not break it down. And [00:31:59] then um you know, basically they said, [00:32:02] "We're FBI. We have search warrants. We [00:32:05] have our hands up. My husband says like, [00:32:06] "We don't have any weapons. There are no [00:32:07] weapons here." And um I think you were [00:32:10] handcuffed during your raid. They didn't [00:32:12] do that to us. I was pregnant at the [00:32:14] time. That would have not [00:32:15] >> four months pregnant. [00:32:16] >> That's right. So they didn't handcuff [00:32:18] us. But then [00:32:19] >> um they allowed me to call family to [00:32:22] pick up our toddler so that she wasn't, [00:32:25] you know, around when all of these [00:32:27] people with guns were tearing up our [00:32:30] house. And um yeah, they were at our [00:32:32] place for around 4 hours uh searching [00:32:35] for everything, taking all the [00:32:37] electronics. And I'm not really sure [00:32:39] what they expected to find, but the fact [00:32:41] that they, you know, Jeffrey has said [00:32:43] like they could have just subpoenaed [00:32:44] you. Um I think it's pretty clear that [00:32:47] even if everything they allege is true, [00:32:49] which it's not, there's no one related [00:32:52] to this case that was any type of [00:32:55] danger. [00:32:56] like you know I don't think they [00:32:58] expected to find anything like you know [00:33:02] >> the attorney general is Mer Garland [00:33:03] >> yes [00:33:04] >> and he's expressly forbid forcible [00:33:06] searches and seizures against reporters [00:33:08] >> right [00:33:09] >> he might not consider you a journalist [00:33:11] but the law is that you're not supposed [00:33:12] to do this but the to get a to get a [00:33:14] raid to get a search warrant you need to [00:33:18] have an affidavit with probable cause [00:33:20] they released the probable cause in your [00:33:21] case [00:33:21] >> no oh not that I've seen [00:33:24] >> so we don't even know what the because a [00:33:27] judge has to sign off on that. A federal [00:33:28] magistrate judge in Tennessee [00:33:30] >> and they haven't released that in your [00:33:31] case. [00:33:32] >> I mean, not not that I've seen. Um but [00:33:35] perhaps they have, but I haven't seen [00:33:38] it. Um [00:33:40] >> and yeah, [00:33:41] >> sorry. Go ahead. [00:33:41] >> You you uh you posted a video statement [00:33:44] a few months ago when you broke your [00:33:45] silence. Is that right? By the way, this [00:33:47] is our probable cause. Put this on the [00:33:48] screen. [00:33:49] >> There's three pages. Every word is [00:33:51] redacted. [00:33:52] >> Probable cause justifying search of the [00:33:53] subject. This is what it would look like [00:33:54] in an affidavit when on a uh when you go [00:33:58] to the magistrate judge, they got to get [00:33:59] the court to sign off on it, a judge to [00:34:02] sign off on it. And we don't know what's [00:34:03] behind those black lines in our in our [00:34:05] case. Uh so, but our case involved an [00:34:09] abandoned diary. [00:34:11] Since when does the FBI investigate [00:34:13] abandoned diaries? Since it's the [00:34:15] Southern District of New York. This is [00:34:17] James O'Keefe. 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Impact Healthsharing built [00:35:58] differently. [00:36:02] >> So you broke your your silence a few [00:36:04] months ago. Is that right? [00:36:05] >> That's right. So our raid happened in [00:36:07] September of 2024. We were silent while [00:36:10] this whole thing was happening. Um, not [00:36:13] actually because as me Megan Kelly tried [00:36:15] to allege we were guilty. Uh, but it's [00:36:18] because there was an ongoing [00:36:19] investigation. Have [00:36:19] >> you reached out to Megan Kelly? [00:36:21] >> Um, I don't think she would be very [00:36:23] interested in hearing from me. She gets [00:36:25] a bad feeling from me. So, yeah. Um, and [00:36:29] you know, at at the time I I did have [00:36:31] people, especially the Megan Kelly [00:36:33] clips, send handing me that. And it's [00:36:34] like, all right, well, my thinking was [00:36:36] that once everything legally has kind of [00:36:38] gone away and there are no charges [00:36:41] against us, [00:36:43] >> basically people should, I guess, update [00:36:47] the story. You know, I was expecting at [00:36:49] least some retractions, not necessarily [00:36:51] apologies, but just clarifications of, [00:36:53] by the way, [00:36:54] >> you know, no charges ever. Um but that [00:36:57] didn't really happen. And so we found [00:37:00] out in April that the case, you know, [00:37:02] our investigation was closed, Tim P, who [00:37:05] was trying to like when they alleged [00:37:06] that, hey, you know, this is this is a [00:37:08] propaganda operation, he actually was he [00:37:11] wanted to help them. He hired lawyers. [00:37:13] He was like, let's get to the bottom of [00:37:15] this. But apparently after December or [00:37:18] November, December, I forget. Um they [00:37:20] just weren't interested in even his [00:37:22] offer to help. So it could have been all [00:37:24] closed earlier. we just didn't reach out [00:37:26] to them and they weren't very [00:37:27] forthcoming with letting us know we were [00:37:28] off the hook. But so for several months [00:37:31] we were hoping that we would get more [00:37:33] resolution. We were hoping that okay you [00:37:35] you know you gave this press release [00:37:37] with all these allegations against us [00:37:40] now that this isn't going anywhere. [00:37:43] Could you do another press release to [00:37:44] say I don't know something along the [00:37:46] lines of JK never mind? Mhm. [00:37:48] >> Um they didn't and you know we inquired [00:37:54] about that our forfeited accounts [00:37:57] nothing from them and again like this is [00:37:59] money that you can see through bank [00:38:02] statements had come from Canada had come [00:38:04] from TPUSA contracts and come from the [00:38:06] blaze. It's not this is nothing to do [00:38:08] with like any type of investor. This is [00:38:10] just what we were personally trying to [00:38:12] put in the company. Um, you know, they [00:38:15] weren't really willing to help with that [00:38:16] either. And [00:38:17] >> let's look at your statement when you [00:38:19] broke your silence. This was, I guess, a [00:38:21] a tweet or a post on X a few months ago [00:38:25] from Lauren Chen. One year ago today, my [00:38:30] family was awoken by the FBI break my [00:38:31] door today. I'm breaking my silence. And [00:38:33] you posted this statement [00:38:35] on July 4th. [00:38:37] >> Oh, no. I think we got the date wrong. I [00:38:39] think it was in September. [00:38:41] >> September 4th. Yeah, September 4th. Um, [00:38:44] >> so actually a year since the raid, [00:38:46] >> one year since the raid. I mean, 30 [00:38:49] armed FBI agents broke down your door. [00:38:51] That doesn't I don't know why they do [00:38:52] that. Even if you are guilty, even if [00:38:55] you did what they're claiming, I'm not [00:38:58] sure why they need 30 men with guns, [00:39:01] >> right? [00:39:02] >> Why? I guess that's the question. Why? [00:39:03] >> That I mean, we were This was our first [00:39:06] FBI raid, so I guess we were kind of [00:39:08] rookies. If it ever were to happen [00:39:09] again, knock on wood. Heaven forbid. But [00:39:11] like you know by now you know what's up [00:39:12] with this. We had never experienced [00:39:14] anything like this. Um it it just seemed [00:39:18] very aggressive especially you know the [00:39:22] everything that uh you know when they [00:39:24] were telling us what the warrant was [00:39:26] about. It was all like we're [00:39:27] investigating people that you were doing [00:39:28] business with like for financial stuff. [00:39:30] >> So they did talk to you verbally about [00:39:32] the warrant. [00:39:33] >> Well yeah we were basically like what's [00:39:35] going on and then they were like [00:39:37] basically this. Did you have a [00:39:38] conversation with the FBI agents in your [00:39:40] house? [00:39:40] >> Um, not really. I wouldn't call it a [00:39:43] conversation. We asked them what was [00:39:45] happening [00:39:46] >> and then, you know, we said we wanted to [00:39:48] get a lawyer. They said that's probably [00:39:50] a good idea, but then they apparently [00:39:51] they're not allowed to do this, but they [00:39:52] kept trying to interrogate us after they [00:39:54] had separated us. [00:39:56] >> Um, and one thing that I've learned from [00:39:58] this is how much the FBI will lie to [00:40:00] you. They will lie to you just sometimes [00:40:02] I'm still confused as to why they told [00:40:04] me the lies that they did. [00:40:06] >> What lies did they tell you? Well, I [00:40:08] mean, one of the things that they said [00:40:09] were they said that they were they had [00:40:12] questions about the two individuals who [00:40:14] we were working with, the Russian ones, [00:40:17] um, who and to be clear, so the French [00:40:20] investor that David met, that's also who [00:40:23] we assumed was like a a real person. The [00:40:26] two individuals that are named in the [00:40:29] indictment, that's not the same person. [00:40:31] >> Um, so the FBI agent said, "We are [00:40:34] looking for them. we have reason to [00:40:35] believe that they're in the country. And [00:40:37] I'm [00:40:39] I didn't understand why they would think [00:40:41] that. I'm still kind of confused. The [00:40:44] reason why I'm assuming he said that is [00:40:46] because it doesn't really make sense to [00:40:48] try to charge someone with Farah if [00:40:50] they're not in America. Like, you don't [00:40:52] actually need the American government's [00:40:54] permission to post things on social [00:40:55] media. [00:40:56] >> Uh especially when you're not in [00:40:57] America. But yeah, that's that's one [00:41:00] thing that I thought was very strange. [00:41:02] Another thing is I'm pretty sure they [00:41:03] tried to ent trap us into like leaving [00:41:06] the country when we weren't supposed to. [00:41:08] So because we weren't charged with [00:41:10] anything um they let us keep our [00:41:13] passports and we asked them like well [00:41:15] what what's going on? They said we'd be [00:41:17] in touch in a few weeks and this was um [00:41:19] like leading up to Canadian Thanksgiving [00:41:21] at the time. We were wondering like well [00:41:23] can can we leave? Can we see our family? [00:41:26] >> When is Canadian Thanksgiving? [00:41:27] >> It's in October. So, a month before [00:41:29] American Thanksgiving and they said yes. [00:41:32] They said there's nothing that would be [00:41:34] preventing you from doing that. And we [00:41:36] made sure like so, you know, we're not [00:41:39] being held, nothing. And they were like, [00:41:40] no, no. And um then I they left and said [00:41:45] that they'd be in touch and I gave them [00:41:47] my mother's phone number because at the [00:41:50] time they were taking my phone. So, I [00:41:51] was like, "Okay, well, I don't know. [00:41:52] Like, if you want to get in touch [00:41:53] sooner, I mean, my mom will know how to [00:41:56] get to me if I don't have my phone [00:41:57] back." I'm quite sure they one agent in [00:42:00] particular immediately leaked that to [00:42:01] the press because as soon as they left [00:42:03] my mom started getting phone calls from [00:42:04] journalists. [00:42:05] >> Um but after that we were confused. But [00:42:10] once we got we went to AT&T to get [00:42:12] phones so we could like [00:42:14] >> talk [00:42:15] >> talk to people. Um that's when we heard [00:42:17] the Merrick Garland press release and [00:42:18] that's when we understood that we were [00:42:20] actually being accused of trying to [00:42:23] subvert the election through propaganda. [00:42:27] Uh that's also when we started to get [00:42:29] death threats. Um you know cuz like our [00:42:31] our address was online and I was getting [00:42:34] pretty like I got one guy threatening to [00:42:35] kill me with um like a cleaver which is [00:42:38] like I don't know like the worst the [00:42:40] worst nightmare [00:42:41] >> DMs were these emails [00:42:43] >> DMs and emails [00:42:44] >> emails. [00:42:45] >> Um so anyway, we didn't feel comfortable [00:42:48] staying in that place. Never mind that [00:42:50] obviously our neighbors were they had [00:42:52] some questions. So we wanted to go stay [00:42:54] with family. our family is in Canada. [00:42:57] Um, and we were actually just going to [00:43:00] drive there as I was like trying to find [00:43:02] a lawyer and then I ended up finding [00:43:05] Jeffrey and we had agreed to work with [00:43:08] him. But then like that night he calls [00:43:09] me and he goes, "Are you guys on the way [00:43:10] to Canada?" And I was like, "Yeah." But [00:43:12] I explained like, "No, like we talked to [00:43:14] them about it. They said we didn't have [00:43:15] to say." And he's like, "No, like don't [00:43:17] like they're going to think you're [00:43:18] running. I'm on with the um like the [00:43:20] prosecutor right now. If you try to [00:43:22] leave like they might try to arrest [00:43:24] you." And I was like, "But they I told [00:43:26] like we spoke to the FBI about this." [00:43:28] He's like, "No, like don't. Everyone [00:43:30] knows that you're not supposed to." And [00:43:31] I'm like, "I don't know. I've never been [00:43:32] under criminal investigation before. I [00:43:34] assume that if the FBI themselves are [00:43:38] telling me it's okay that it's okay." [00:43:39] And he was like, "No." So anyway, that [00:43:41] was like a whole drama. [00:43:42] >> So what did you end up doing? [00:43:44] >> I mean, well, our lawyer said to stay, [00:43:46] so we stayed. And [00:43:47] >> in your house? [00:43:48] >> No, no, no, no. We didn't stay in our [00:43:49] house after that first night. We we [00:43:51] ended up renting somewhere else because [00:43:53] again like we just did not feel [00:43:55] >> this this whole process of what you went [00:43:56] through which I I have been through this [00:43:58] not exactly what you've been through so [00:44:00] I understand but it changes you doesn't [00:44:02] it [00:44:02] >> oh 100%. What was the what was the [00:44:04] difference between the person you are? [00:44:06] Well, there's two different questions. [00:44:08] The person you were right after the [00:44:09] raid, like what did you learn? Like for [00:44:11] example, I saw people [00:44:13] >> um Well, mine was different. Um [00:44:15] liberals, the ACLU was defending me like [00:44:17] cuz I was a whole like [00:44:19] >> weird weird situation. But people that [00:44:22] maybe you thought were your friends, did [00:44:24] they abandon you and publicly criticize [00:44:26] you, for example? [00:44:27] >> Oh, yeah. There was there was some of [00:44:29] that. I mean, and like I mentioned [00:44:30] before, there were people who I didn't [00:44:31] think were my friends who were very [00:44:33] vocal in criticizing me, but I guess one [00:44:37] thing that I learned was just how how [00:44:39] easy it is to get people to believe [00:44:41] whatever. Like, you know, the the the [00:44:43] term unwitting propagandist, again, that [00:44:44] doesn't even make sense, and that's what [00:44:46] our content was being labeled as. Um, [00:44:49] you know, even in the indictment, they [00:44:51] don't mention my work specifically [00:44:52] because obviously we we had this this [00:44:54] company, but I also create content on [00:44:57] the side. my work wasn't even kind of [00:45:00] wrapped up in this, but now I have [00:45:01] people who are also alleging that my [00:45:03] tweets, my videos are also Russian [00:45:05] propaganda. Um, it was pretty crazy how [00:45:09] the story like what what the SDNY put [00:45:13] out that was fanfiction and then what [00:45:15] the media and then the you know people [00:45:17] online what they spun together that was [00:45:20] just a whole different level of detached [00:45:21] and removed from reality. Um, and so it [00:45:25] was pretty I I I I've never really put [00:45:27] much stock into the mainstream media. [00:45:29] I've always been very critical of things [00:45:30] that government has released, but this [00:45:32] has really put it on a different level [00:45:33] for me, especially knowing like there [00:45:35] are pictures that uh when they served [00:45:38] the warrant of our house that were years [00:45:41] and years old. So, they were watching us [00:45:43] for a very long time. Um, cuz we had [00:45:45] sold the car. [00:45:46] >> Why did they target you? Why did they [00:45:48] like why why was this happening to you? [00:45:51] Like why? Well, I mean, we we were [00:45:55] starting this new company and it was [00:45:56] getting very popular pretty quickly. We [00:45:59] were doing well. Um, and I kind of we [00:46:02] were trying to I've had people say like, [00:46:04] "You don't agree with X and X person? [00:46:06] Why would you ever work with them?" I [00:46:08] didn't want this to be the Lauren Chen [00:46:10] channel. You know, we were trying to [00:46:11] actually get independent voices that [00:46:14] were all kind of right leaning but get a [00:46:16] collection of views. And, you know, we [00:46:19] exploded pretty quickly. And I think the [00:46:22] SDNY themselves, [00:46:24] they labeled our content, they described [00:46:27] it as disruptive. [00:46:29] >> Disruptive. [00:46:30] >> Disruptive. Yes. [00:46:31] >> What does that mean? [00:46:32] >> I guess disruptive. Uh we were causing [00:46:34] trouble because you know after after [00:46:38] everything ultimately this was about the [00:46:41] content and you can say that like oh [00:46:42] well you know this was an investigation [00:46:45] over you know people who weren't who [00:46:47] they said they were and they were doing [00:46:48] business in the states. It's like, okay, [00:46:50] well, you can have an investigation into [00:46:51] that, but you can't deny that the [00:46:54] content that we were putting out that [00:46:56] was the free speech of Americans and a [00:46:58] Canadian, Lauren Southern, this was what [00:47:00] made the story juicy. This is what the [00:47:02] headlines were about. This was what the [00:47:03] press release was about. You can't [00:47:05] divorce this story from the content that [00:47:08] we were producing, right? Because I [00:47:10] mean, [00:47:11] it it it goes hand in hand. They didn't [00:47:14] pitch this as like, hey, this is we're [00:47:15] doing a an investigation into into some [00:47:18] funding. It was this is about [00:47:19] propaganda. This is about trying to [00:47:21] subvert the election. 100%. This was [00:47:23] about our content. [00:47:24] >> Do you um were you scared after the FBI [00:47:27] raid? Was there fear? [00:47:28] >> Oh, 100%. [00:47:29] >> Describe that. [00:47:30] >> Well, for months after anytime someone [00:47:32] knocked at our door, there was like is [00:47:34] that like are they going to search us [00:47:36] again? Like did that knock sound a [00:47:37] little too federal? That's actually a [00:47:39] joke in our household now. [00:47:41] >> The pounding of the of the door. [00:47:42] >> The pounding of the door. [00:47:43] >> Now, did they break the door down? [00:47:44] >> No, we got there in time. [00:47:46] >> Did they have a battering ram? [00:47:47] >> They did. They were about [00:47:48] >> So when you went to the door, describe [00:47:51] that. Like did did you did you just open [00:47:53] the door knob and then they What [00:47:55] happened? Did you open the door? Did you [00:47:57] >> I opened the door. I got I was a little [00:47:58] faster getting down. [00:48:00] >> Um [00:48:00] >> Were you in Were you in pajamas? [00:48:02] >> Yeah, pajamas, no bra. My husband had a [00:48:06] no shirt on cuz he was also in his [00:48:07] pajamas. And um yeah, 30 armed agents [00:48:12] and our neighbors looking very kind of [00:48:14] >> Your neighbors were there as well. [00:48:15] >> Oh, 100%. apartment building or [00:48:17] >> No, it's it's a house. So, it's 7:00 [00:48:19] a.m. on a weekday. I think it was a [00:48:20] Wednesday. [00:48:21] >> So, you know, everyone's home getting [00:48:23] ready for work and there's a boatload of [00:48:25] FBI agents [00:48:26] >> and um yeah, you know, they have the [00:48:29] guns, they have the vest, they have the [00:48:30] giant van. Um you you would think that [00:48:34] this was like a human trafficking or [00:48:36] drug ring that we were operating um in [00:48:38] our house, which of course was not the [00:48:40] case. They don't, the current Department [00:48:42] of Justice hasn't done this to any um [00:48:44] Epstein pedophiles. [00:48:46] >> No, they actually they that same SDNY [00:48:49] who's gone after you've gone after me. [00:48:51] They've never to this day searched [00:48:53] Epstein's ran Epstein's ranch in New [00:48:55] Mexico. [00:48:56] >> Why don't you think that is? [00:48:57] >> I mean, I think it's pretty clear that [00:48:59] they don't have a vested interest in [00:49:01] searching. [00:49:02] >> But Trump is in charge. Pam Bondi is in [00:49:04] charge. Republicans control the House. [00:49:06] Republicans control the Senate. [00:49:08] >> Mhm. So, I mean, and you may not be [00:49:10] qualified to answer this, but it is the [00:49:12] it is the issue of our time, and the FBI [00:49:15] took a batting ram to your door, [00:49:17] >> took a batting ram to my door for much [00:49:19] different reasons. [00:49:21] Why isn't this administration doing to [00:49:24] the bad powerful guys who did something [00:49:26] with children what they did to you? [00:49:28] >> So, I think the answer lies in the [00:49:30] swamp. And it's funny because, you know, [00:49:32] I've had people say, "Well, now that you [00:49:34] know, Trump's in charge, this is all [00:49:36] closed. Why don't they just give you [00:49:37] back your money? Like, why can't they [00:49:39] just get rid of the, you know, the [00:49:41] indictment that they know is full of [00:49:43] lies and smears that's never going to go [00:49:45] to court? Why don't they just drop that? [00:49:47] Especially since Pam Bondi has clarified [00:49:49] that this is not the type of thing that [00:49:50] they would even be interested, if it was [00:49:52] true, which is not, that they would be [00:49:54] interested in charging. Um, it's because [00:49:56] there exist exists a class of [00:50:00] bureaucrats. They're unelected. They're [00:50:02] faceless in all of these alphabet [00:50:04] agencies and they're the ones who [00:50:06] basically control the agenda. And so I [00:50:08] know there are people who are frustrated [00:50:09] with Trump, who are frustrated with [00:50:10] Bondi, but I don't think that they [00:50:12] understand the uphill battle there is [00:50:15] trying to get the people in these [00:50:16] agencies to cooperate because it was [00:50:18] also the SDNY who for the longest time [00:50:20] was stonewalling Bondi and not [00:50:22] delivering the Epstein files. Again, the [00:50:24] same people who had apparently the [00:50:26] resources and the interest to listen to [00:50:28] me and my husband for years are the ones [00:50:30] who were refusing to hand over the [00:50:32] Epstein files to Bondi. And you know, in [00:50:36] a in a perfect world, they would just [00:50:37] clean house, like literally fire [00:50:39] everybody. [00:50:40] >> What do you think of Pam Bondi? Um, I [00:50:43] mean, I think I I I am someone who's [00:50:45] been interested in the Epstein files for [00:50:47] a long time, and you know, I think [00:50:49] there's frustration. Uh, you know, why [00:50:51] hasn't there been more transparency? You [00:50:53] know, like your your your um Department [00:50:55] of Justice, she wasn't part of it at the [00:50:57] time, but you know, they basically did [00:50:59] everything they could to name and shame [00:51:01] us, and meanwhile, they're redacting [00:51:03] emails that talk about, I mean, it seems [00:51:06] to be alleging torture, alleging rape, [00:51:08] alleging cannibalism. Why? Why do these [00:51:11] people get protection when I was like [00:51:13] strung out over a YouTube channel? Um, I [00:51:16] can only assume it's because there are [00:51:18] internal forces that are basically [00:51:21] either blackmailing, threatening, [00:51:24] stonewalling any type of progress there. [00:51:27] Um, and that's been something that I've [00:51:30] encountered on a much smaller scale just [00:51:32] with our case. again like you know there [00:51:34] are people in the DOJ who have said they [00:51:35] want to help us like get get our money [00:51:37] back and and you know correct some [00:51:39] wrongs that were done. Um but what we've [00:51:41] seen even like with Ed Martin is that [00:51:43] he's faced internal uh internal [00:51:46] opposition when they are trying to write [00:51:48] those [00:51:48] >> another one Gail Slater the head of the [00:51:49] antitrust division was pushed out. I [00:51:51] don't know exactly what happened but I [00:51:52] heard she's one of the good people who [00:51:54] knows. Um, but there does seems to be a [00:51:57] there needs to be a detant in this [00:51:58] country because they go after the, you [00:52:02] know, the the Democrats will politically [00:52:05] prosecute and indict their opposition. [00:52:07] >> Mhm. [00:52:08] >> And the Trump administration went after [00:52:10] Don Lemon. I don't know if that's going [00:52:11] to h went after uh James Comey. That [00:52:13] went away. But there just seems to be [00:52:15] every four years we're just going after [00:52:17] the our our enemy or the enemy of the [00:52:19] political party. Where is that headed? [00:52:21] Where do you think that's headed? Well, [00:52:22] I mean, [00:52:23] >> civil war, [00:52:23] >> they've they've already prosecuted the [00:52:26] president. I don't think you get any [00:52:28] more. I mean, what more could they do, [00:52:31] right? They were trying. [00:52:31] >> He won the election, which saved him, [00:52:33] but if he didn't win the election, [00:52:35] >> Yeah, exactly. [00:52:36] >> he'd be done for. [00:52:37] >> Literally jailing their political [00:52:38] opponents. [00:52:39] >> So, where is this headed? What is the [00:52:40] future? Is this like civil war? I mean, [00:52:43] it it's gotten so extreme that I mean, [00:52:46] this is just my opinion, but I'm pretty [00:52:48] confident. [00:52:49] >> I'm 90% confident that if Trump was not [00:52:51] if Trump was not elected president, you [00:52:53] would have been personally indicted. [00:52:55] >> I mean, it seems like if they wanted to, [00:52:59] they would have done it initially. And [00:53:02] I'm, you know, that's essentially what [00:53:04] Jeffree said as well. the fact that they [00:53:06] didn't um when they apparently had all [00:53:09] of this evidence against us, you know, [00:53:11] if that was the case, why didn't they do [00:53:13] it initially? I think, you know, in an [00:53:16] era where we had Owen Shroyer, who was [00:53:19] found guilty of, you know, what happened [00:53:21] on January 6th, he never went in the [00:53:22] building, but he yelled 1776, so they [00:53:25] sentenced him to prison. Douglas Mackey [00:53:27] also, I mean, it it was kind of like [00:53:28] overturned, but they had convicted him. [00:53:30] They've convicted prolife protesters. [00:53:33] Um, [00:53:35] you know, I think if they had wanted to, [00:53:39] they would have during that initial [00:53:41] indictment if they had wanted to. And I, [00:53:43] you know, I say that now because the [00:53:45] investigation is closed. At the time, I [00:53:47] didn't know what was going to happen. I [00:53:48] was scared of being indicted. I've had [00:53:50] people say like, "Oh, well, clearly you [00:53:51] cut a deal with them." Um, if I had cut [00:53:53] a deal, I would have bargained for my [00:53:56] money back. [00:53:57] >> And, um, you know, also the fact that [00:53:59] this case isn't going anywhere. There's [00:54:00] no more, you know, I don't And Jeffrey [00:54:03] kind of joked about this like I wish you [00:54:05] had information that you could give them [00:54:06] then at least you would be valuable but [00:54:08] unfortunately I wasn't. [00:54:10] >> I mean you had you have children at the [00:54:11] time where you were pregnant and then [00:54:13] you had a child. So [00:54:14] >> I didn't have any children no wife. So I [00:54:16] guess that's that's a tough thing for [00:54:17] you too because you're going through [00:54:19] this indictment. [00:54:20] >> Oh yeah 100%. [00:54:21] >> Your statement due to high blood [00:54:22] pressure caused by chronic stress. I was [00:54:24] induced and delivered our daughter. [00:54:26] >> How many months pregnant were you were [00:54:27] you when you [00:54:28] >> Oh she was it was like 37 weeks. So it [00:54:31] was an induced I was induced. So I you [00:54:34] know I didn't go into labor. They [00:54:35] actually had to medicate me to deliver [00:54:37] but she wasn't early but I had to [00:54:39] fighting with my [00:54:40] >> OB everyone has some type of attachment [00:54:42] in their life. I don't [00:54:45] >> not yet. I'd like to but they leveraged [00:54:47] the attachment against you. Oh, what? [00:54:49] >> And this goes So, how did this factor [00:54:51] into your [00:54:52] >> So, I mean, throughout it all, I did see [00:54:55] people saying like, "You're a coward. [00:54:57] Say something like you're just letting [00:54:58] them bully you." At the same time that [00:55:01] I'm thinking like, "Well, what if they [00:55:02] do try to" And Jeffrey was very clear [00:55:04] like they could charge you with [00:55:06] anything. Like, you know, it doesn't [00:55:07] doesn't matter. And, you know, [00:55:08] >> indict a ham sandwich. [00:55:10] >> Yeah. Exactly. I think he said exactly [00:55:11] that. Yeah. [00:55:12] >> Um, and he's like, you know, he knows we [00:55:15] don't have money to spend millions of [00:55:17] dollars on court fees. He he was [00:55:19] literally saying, "Don't piss them off." [00:55:22] >> And this kind of ties into I was um [00:55:26] pulled before Canadian Parliament to do [00:55:28] a basically Canadian equivalent of a [00:55:30] congressional hearing when this all [00:55:32] happened. This was in November. And you [00:55:35] know, obviously I'm not supposed to talk [00:55:37] about an ongoing investigation. The [00:55:39] SDNY, they didn't really want me talking [00:55:41] about this either because they knew [00:55:42] that, you know, leading up to the [00:55:44] election, if I can say actually there's [00:55:46] no propaganda. this is all BS. You know, [00:55:48] our content creators never fed like that [00:55:51] kind of chips away at their narrative. [00:55:52] They didn't want me saying anything [00:55:53] either. Um, but I didn't I didn't have a [00:55:56] cooperation agreement with them to make [00:55:58] the Canadian pressure go away. So, I [00:56:01] basically was pulled before Canadian [00:56:03] Parliament and had to refuse to answer [00:56:05] any questions under advice of my [00:56:06] Canadian and [00:56:07] >> American Canadian people going after you [00:56:09] like what was their justification? [00:56:11] >> Uh, [00:56:13] vibes hate. I don't know. [00:56:14] >> How How do they have jurisdiction? [00:56:15] You're an American citizen. Oh, no. I'm [00:56:17] not an American citizen. Yeah. And I [00:56:18] think that's also why I was a pretty [00:56:20] easy target. Um [00:56:21] >> I see [00:56:22] >> to to go after. It's, you know, like I'm [00:56:24] foreign. You know, I'm Canadian, but [00:56:26] still like foreign [00:56:28] people on in the media was just all part [00:56:30] of it. [00:56:30] >> I see. That's one of the reasons why you [00:56:32] you they chose you as a target. [00:56:34] >> Yeah. [00:56:34] >> I see. [00:56:35] >> And um you know, also there's been [00:56:37] reports that my work visa was revoked. [00:56:39] That's not true. Revoking a visa is an [00:56:41] entire legal process. my work visa [00:56:44] expired, but because I wasn't working, [00:56:46] because, you know, there was an [00:56:48] investigation, I wasn't able to renew [00:56:50] it. [00:56:50] >> So, so this show is called The Price is [00:56:53] My Life, and I think you said something. [00:56:56] I think you said, quote, "While the [00:56:58] price may not have been, maybe this was [00:57:01] not something you said, but something [00:57:03] said about you. While the price may not [00:57:05] be your life, it was your entire [00:57:06] livelihood." [00:57:07] >> Yes. [00:57:08] >> What do you tell us more about that? So, [00:57:11] you know, once this indictment dropped, [00:57:15] and not even the indictment that I think [00:57:17] what really did it was the press release [00:57:18] by Merrick Garland as, you know, who [00:57:21] they tried to say we were sewing [00:57:24] division in America for a foreign [00:57:27] adversary. And I mean, I'm not going to [00:57:30] say that some of our content wasn't [00:57:31] divisive, but that's, you know, that's [00:57:33] just their the the creator's opinions. [00:57:35] That's not uh anything that was fed to [00:57:37] them. But um very quickly it seemed like [00:57:41] there was nobody who was willing to or [00:57:43] very few people cuz there were some [00:57:45] people but there was nobody who was [00:57:46] willing to be objective about this. And [00:57:48] so it's funny um even like Jeffrey when [00:57:50] we were talking about him we wanted to [00:57:52] work with him he said like it's all [00:57:53] right like you know don't worry we'll [00:57:55] we'll crowdfund the legal fees like [00:57:57] don't worry about the retainer now. And [00:57:58] then like a few hours later he was like [00:57:59] no everyone everyone really hates you. [00:58:01] I'm going to need that retainer [00:58:03] >> right? [00:58:04] >> Um and no it was it was really [00:58:06] surprising. I didn't even really expect [00:58:08] how much people would accept the [00:58:11] narrative that this was Russian [00:58:12] propagation. [00:58:12] >> How much was the retainer? [00:58:14] >> I think it was 50,000 and then we burnt [00:58:17] through that really fast and then we had [00:58:19] to give another [00:58:20] >> um and then you know we also ended up [00:58:22] having to get a Canadian lawyer as well [00:58:24] once the Canadian stuff started. [00:58:26] >> So what would you say this all cost you? [00:58:28] Like what has been the price? Oh. Um, [00:58:31] with everything [00:58:32] >> and that not even counting the lost [00:58:34] contracts, uh, but just like actually [00:58:36] out of pocket. Yeah. [00:58:37] >> Probably easy 300,000. [00:58:39] >> And other than money, what does it cost [00:58:41] you? [00:58:42] >> Oh, I mean like I like the I the first [00:58:45] video I did, I had people commenting [00:58:47] like, "Oh my gosh, she looks terrible." [00:58:48] Just like, "Bro, the FBI knocked down my [00:58:51] door." Like I I don't even know how we [00:58:53] can quantify the amount of stress that [00:58:55] we were in especially like the the [00:58:57] initial 6 months after the investigation [00:59:00] and it's not just us like our family you [00:59:02] know we were debanked by four different [00:59:04] institutions and our family was as well [00:59:07] like my mom like her totally unrelated [00:59:09] business she was debanked they square [00:59:11] stopped working with her [00:59:13] >> in Canada debanked correct [00:59:14] >> yeah we've been debbanked in in two [00:59:16] countries and we've had family debanked [00:59:17] in two countries [00:59:18] >> but like what in terms of like are you a [00:59:20] better person as a result of Are you a [00:59:22] more bitter person? Are you more [00:59:23] cynical? [00:59:24] >> I'm a much more cynical person. Oh, [00:59:26] 100%. Tell me more about that. I mean, [00:59:28] I'm not believing anything anybody says. [00:59:30] And you know, before I was a pretty [00:59:33] collaborative person, I don't think I [00:59:36] am. [00:59:36] >> You mean in the media space with other [00:59:37] people? [00:59:38] >> So, you don't trust [00:59:40] >> these people? [00:59:41] >> I think I think I don't trust most [00:59:43] people. there is, you know, but the [00:59:44] people that I do trust, I trust more, [00:59:46] you know, and there, you know, my actual [00:59:48] justice warrior, Sean Fitzgerald, he's [00:59:49] one of the few people who actually [00:59:51] bothered to go through the indictment [00:59:53] with a critical eye and say, "Hang on, [00:59:55] this doesn't make sense." Like, if she's [00:59:56] in on how this is a scheme, why is she [00:59:58] bringing up that you the figures that [01:00:01] the media talent is asking for would be [01:00:03] really hard to recoup. You know, if if [01:00:05] this is propaganda, why are they showing [01:00:07] that they shared why is their red [01:00:09] herring a Tucker Carlson video share? [01:00:11] like he was one of the few people like [01:00:13] if you know if if she thinks this person [01:00:15] is fake then why is she asking you for [01:00:17] evidence that she can bring to he was [01:00:19] one of the few people who actually gave [01:00:21] us the benefit of the doubt who looked [01:00:23] at the facts and I [01:00:24] >> what about the people that were [01:00:25] mentioned like Tim P and Dave Rubin all [01:00:27] these individuals that were part of the [01:00:29] story have you been in touch with them [01:00:31] >> no and I think I mean Lauren Southern [01:00:33] I've kind of been in in touch with a [01:00:34] little bit she got dragged before [01:00:36] Canadian parliament as well which she [01:00:38] didn't deserve um you know her content [01:00:40] content is some of the best coming out [01:00:42] of a Canadian. And you know, she chose [01:00:45] her own team. She wrote her own stuff. [01:00:48] Canadian Parliament clearly has it out [01:00:50] for her. But the idea that she would be [01:00:53] part of some propaganda campaign is [01:00:55] ridiculous. [01:00:55] >> So you're more a cynical person now. [01:00:57] >> Yeah. And that's saying a lot because I [01:00:59] don't think I was ever a nonsynical [01:01:02] person. [01:01:03] >> Has this improved you at all in any way? [01:01:06] I mean, I think I it would it would be [01:01:09] harder for them to go after me again [01:01:12] just based on, you know, how we conduct [01:01:14] ourselves, what we know about how the [01:01:17] FBI and the SDNY work and everything [01:01:20] like that. I mean, we've I I love [01:01:23] America, but you know, when and my [01:01:26] family doesn't really like, you know, my [01:01:28] my family, they don't need to be on [01:01:30] visas. It's just me. And I did kind of [01:01:32] joke where it's like, you know, if if if [01:01:33] I can't come back, you guys are free to [01:01:35] start a life in America without me. But, [01:01:38] you know, there was a time where it's [01:01:39] like, okay, well, clearly there are [01:01:40] people in the government who have it out [01:01:42] for me. Like, do we want to come back? [01:01:45] Um, you know, we were in Asia this past. [01:01:46] >> Well, it's unlikely they're going to do [01:01:48] this to you again. My be unless you I [01:01:51] mean [01:01:51] >> I mean I can I what what time is it? I [01:01:54] have a story about that. Um, so we we [01:01:57] were in America until like July. Um, it [01:02:03] basically we we tried to submit a visa [01:02:05] renewal, we weren't sure if it would be [01:02:07] accepted, but they just never processed [01:02:09] it. So whether it was someone saying [01:02:12] we're going to lose this or whether they [01:02:15] actually lost it, it's hard to say cuz [01:02:17] it's the government. Um, but I, you [01:02:19] know, we hadn't heard anything from the [01:02:20] FBI or anybody for months and months and [01:02:23] months, over six months at that point. [01:02:25] Um, but then we left for Asia and, you [01:02:28] know, when we ended up going public in [01:02:30] September, someone from the State [01:02:32] Department got in touch with us and, um, [01:02:34] he was able to kind of revet us to say [01:02:37] like, oh yeah, you know, there they he [01:02:39] was working with people in the FBI to go [01:02:40] over the case to make sure that there [01:02:42] was really nothing that would legally [01:02:44] bar me from re-entry. You know, I don't [01:02:46] have any criminal record. They didn't [01:02:49] find that I was a spy or anything like [01:02:51] that. Um you they were they are [01:02:54] thorough. I was essentially investigated [01:02:55] almost a second time just to ensure that [01:02:57] I wouldn't be a threat to anybody which [01:02:58] I appreciate. They want to make sure [01:03:00] Americans are safe. But I had a an [01:03:02] interview at the embassy and you know [01:03:07] I the State Department had flagged that [01:03:10] like my case was a bit unusual for the [01:03:11] person. [01:03:12] >> Um so they could kind of know what to [01:03:15] expect. But I went and it was just a [01:03:18] really awkward interview. They were [01:03:20] clearly very uncomfortable. And usually [01:03:23] with those types of interviews, you kind [01:03:24] of know on the spot whether you were [01:03:26] approved or denied, but at the end of [01:03:28] it, she just kind of went, "Okay, well, [01:03:30] you know, we have some backend stuff to [01:03:32] do, but we you'll you'll hear from us." [01:03:34] And it was just kind of strange. [01:03:37] >> And um I left. And that's when I found [01:03:42] out that in the 12 hours before my [01:03:45] interview, someone at the FBI had put a [01:03:47] donkey on my file. [01:03:49] >> And so it's basically a flag. And so the [01:03:54] person interviewing me was a little [01:03:55] uncomfortable cuz she thought she was [01:03:57] dealing with a terrorist. [01:04:00] >> Is there anything you would do [01:04:01] differently? [01:04:02] >> Um, [01:04:04] >> if you could go back in time. [01:04:08] Well, now like I have some people from [01:04:11] Pakistan who are helping me with like [01:04:13] graphics and stuff and even then I'm [01:04:14] like I don't know like I should probably [01:04:18] but um I don't think that there's a as [01:04:20] big a [01:04:21] >> Are you building a new media company or [01:04:23] >> No, no, no. I never want [01:04:24] >> to do that. [01:04:25] >> No, no, no. [01:04:26] >> What is your What do you want to do? [01:04:27] >> No. Um, I want to try to pay back some [01:04:30] legal fees being independent. [01:04:33] And you know, I the the feeling that we [01:04:37] had knowing that because of this like [01:04:40] all of our employees cuz so we had [01:04:42] tenant employees and then we had like [01:04:46] kind of contractors. So we had a tenant [01:04:48] team and then contractors and you know [01:04:51] our employees they had to find different [01:04:54] jobs and that was really hard [01:04:56] emotionally to come to terms with that [01:04:59] all these people who we know and it's [01:05:00] like man like you know he's about to get [01:05:03] married he's just going to have it like [01:05:04] you know all of like so it's not just [01:05:05] our financial pressure it's other [01:05:07] people's I like I don't want that amount [01:05:11] of pressure ever again and I'm sorry to [01:05:13] get emotional but it's like that was [01:05:16] like awful [01:05:17] And um you know, we asked the FBI if [01:05:21] we could have enough to pay our final [01:05:24] like pay cycle for our employees who [01:05:27] were like Americans and they said no. [01:05:30] And so like we had so had to had to [01:05:32] borrow money to try and pay as much as [01:05:33] we could for work that they had already [01:05:35] done. Um but it's like you know that [01:05:39] weighs really heavily on me. That's not [01:05:41] something that I took lightly. um being [01:05:45] responsible for these people's incomes. [01:05:48] And so yeah, that's that's something [01:05:50] that I'm very like I I really don't want [01:05:54] to have to [01:05:56] take on people because of the [01:05:57] responsibility that comes with it. [01:05:59] >> Responsibility of being a leader. [01:06:01] >> Yeah. [01:06:01] >> Yeah. That's tough. [01:06:02] >> That's tough in any leadership position. [01:06:04] >> Yeah, for sure. And you know when we [01:06:06] were starting the company like again [01:06:09] this is like getting into the weeds but [01:06:11] I had worked as a producer before tenant [01:06:14] had even formed. Um you know we were [01:06:17] making sure that we could pay these [01:06:19] people and so like we had tried to do as [01:06:23] much due diligence as we could on that [01:06:24] front. Um and then like when all of this [01:06:27] happened it was just like the company [01:06:29] was going so well things were growing. [01:06:31] Um, and then you know to be shut down [01:06:36] not only by the FBI but with allegations [01:06:38] of trying to subvert an election. It was [01:06:40] just it was a lot. It was a lot. [01:06:44] >> It is a lot. So you're are you done in [01:06:46] media or are you going to continue to [01:06:48] what is your what are you going to do? [01:06:50] Because you're going to pay your bills [01:06:51] back. That's a financial need [01:06:52] >> that Yeah, for sure. [01:06:53] >> What is your plan edit journalistically [01:06:57] commentary? One of the reasons why I [01:06:59] mean aside from like again we have like [01:07:00] a financial need because we had to [01:07:02] borrow money for legal fees from our [01:07:03] family. [01:07:04] >> What is it that you want to do in your [01:07:05] life? [01:07:05] >> Well, first thing I want debt. [01:07:07] >> Yeah. Pay back debt is a big one. But [01:07:09] also the idea that you know I toyed with [01:07:13] not coming back. But the idea that that [01:07:15] would be the narrative that just existed [01:07:17] about what us about what Kenet was and [01:07:20] what happened that I was a Russian spy [01:07:22] feeding propaganda. That was a big [01:07:24] motivator to come back as well. Um, and [01:07:27] it's there are still people who are [01:07:29] lying about what happened, saying, you [01:07:31] know, that we were charged, that it was [01:07:33] misinformation and disinformation. They [01:07:35] never point to exactly what was the [01:07:36] alleged misinformation. It's just a [01:07:38] smear that they throw out, but that's [01:07:40] something that I, you know, definitely [01:07:42] wanted to be able to correct. [01:07:44] >> And where can people find you online? [01:07:46] The Lauren Chen. [01:07:47] >> Yeah. So, I'm on X, Instagram, and [01:07:49] Facebook. I'm not on YouTube. Um, but [01:07:52] anything that I do will be [01:07:53] >> It took you off YouTube for foreign [01:07:55] meddling. I don't even know what the [01:07:58] YouTube terms that they claim we broke [01:08:01] was, but uh I haven't been able to speak [01:08:03] to anybody at YouTube to get [01:08:04] clarification on it. So, it's [01:08:06] >> like speaking to Oblivion, a robot AI, [01:08:08] the the Lauren Chen. [01:08:10] >> Yes. [01:08:11] >> The T H E L A U R E N C H E N X. [01:08:16] >> That's right. [01:08:16] >> Well, thank you for joining us here [01:08:18] today. We got you got to I know you got [01:08:20] to go. Um, anything else you want to [01:08:22] leave the audience with [01:08:23] >> that we didn't ask you about that's [01:08:24] important for them to know? [01:08:26] >> Well, if you did want to help with the [01:08:27] legal fees, give sengo.com/lorurenchen. [01:08:31] Um, yeah. And, you know, I've had people [01:08:33] ask like, are you going to take the [01:08:35] government to court and all that? And [01:08:36] frankly, this the lawfare is just [01:08:38] something that we can't do right now. [01:08:40] It's a [01:08:41] >> probably a burden. [01:08:42] >> Yeah. No, like literally, we cannot. [01:08:44] That's what I mean. It's a it's a huge [01:08:45] financial burden to try to take people [01:08:46] to court. I mean it's again I it it all [01:08:49] goes back to the lawyers even the good [01:08:52] ones and also so so the give and go link [01:08:55] we'll put there and also if you're [01:08:57] watching this and you want to be an [01:08:58] attorney and work for me we're hiring [01:09:01] >> two we're actually hiring two lawyers [01:09:03] inside but the problem is they might [01:09:04] have to take a pay cut cuz $1,000 an [01:09:06] hour or $500 an hour I'm not going to [01:09:08] pay that. [01:09:08] >> Yeah. Especially like I mean I love [01:09:10] Jeffrey but he tells anecdotes and it's [01:09:11] like that's a cute story that cost me [01:09:13] like 300 bucks though. So [01:09:15] >> yeah. [01:09:15] >> Yeah. [01:09:18] Yeah, I mean they I might pay them a [01:09:20] quarter million which or 300,000 that's [01:09:21] a lot of money but that's less than they [01:09:23] could make in the free market. Thank [01:09:24] you. Thank you Lauren and u we'll be in [01:09:27] touch and thank you very much for [01:09:28] joining us here in West Palm Beach, [01:09:29] Florida. [01:09:29] >> Thanks for having me.