This episode of The Parnas Perspective covers a busy stretch of news about Donald Trump's legal and political setbacks. Host Aaron Parnas reports that a federal judge dismissed Trump's defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal with prejudice, and he outlines pending cases involving the BBC and Alaska.
He also surveys Republican concern in Texas, South Carolina, and Kansas ahead of the midterm elections. The main segment is an interview with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who discusses his reelection campaign, his plans for a Democratic trifecta in Harrisburg including a higher minimum wage, cost-of-living measures, and his office's preparation against election interference.
Listeners will hear both the host's reporting and the governor's own views.
In this episode Aaron Parnas, Josh Shapiro
This transcript of the Epstein lawsuit ruling and Governor Josh Shapiro interview was made with the technology behind HappyScribe's Google Meet note taker.
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Donald Trump just lost his lawsuit over the Epstein birthday letter, and he lost it for good. Today, a federal judge permanently threw out Donald Trump's multi-billion-dollar lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch. The judge didn't just dismiss it; he dismissed it with prejudice, which means Trump can never refile it. He wrote that Trump's case was "grasping at straws," and he said that "Trump's claims lack merit." And it's not the only loss. Trump's lawsuit against the BBC is now at risk of collapsing. His last election lawsuit is being shredded by a Republican state government.
His Justice Department is appealing a court order that blocks him from threatening election workers. And three days before the election, Republicans from Texas to South Carolina to Kansas are in a full-blown panic. You know who isn't? Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, where polls have him now up potentially 20 points in one of the swingier states in the country. I spoke with Governor Shapiro today. If you can, make sure to subscribe to support this work. We are working around the clock between today and Election Day to get out the vote, to get out the noise, to make sure that people are educated about what's happening right now in this world.
So subscribe, like, comment, share. And after Election Day, we're going to be providing congressional Democrats with a roadmap for investigations from everything from Russia to Epstein to more. And we're going to do it together. Let's start with the Epstein letter, though, because it's a huge one. Here's how it started: In 2005, this letter was written. It was written—or 2003, it was written—by Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday. In July 2025, The Wall Street Journal was preparing a story with this letter and proceeded to publish it.
Here's something remarkable about today's court order: Before the story ran, Trump personally called Rupert Murdoch and told him he hadn't signed or sent the letter. Murdoch said he would, quote, "handle it." Trump thought that the story was dead. Two days later, the journal published it. Trump called it a fake thing, sued for billions of dollars. The House Oversight Committee later subpoenaed Epstein's estate releasing the birthday book it included this letter. Today, U.S. District Judge Darren Gales in the Southern District of Florida—someone who I practiced in front of a really good judge, by the way—ended the case for good.
See, to win a defamation case as a public figure, Trump had to show something called actual malice, meaning that The Wall Street Journal knew the story was false or recklessly ignored the truth. The judge ruled Trump didn't come close. This was his second try. The judge already tossed his first complaint, denied his request for discovery. Gales wrote that the amended complaint was "grasping at straws" as it tried to manufacture flaws in the journal's reporting. He said the court agrees that the defamation claim lacks merit. And not just that; he gave the journal 30 days to ask Trump to pay their legal fees.
So after all of this, Trump may be paying The Wall Street Journal's lawyers. And it's not just the journal. Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC could be thrown out too. U.S. Magistrate Judge Anloki Lett warned Trump that the case could be dismissed unless he hands over critical discovery documents by November 23rd. The judge also ordered Trump to sit for a deposition under oath by December 11th. In Alaska, Alaska's own Republican-led government is tearing into a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump to try to prevent them from eventually seating a future Senator, Mary Peltola, calling it, quote, "meritless," calling the Department of Justice's plan to segregate ballots "disturbing and impossible and a half-baked idea."
And with three days to go, the Republican Party has a panic that is impossible to hide. Start with Texas, where Trump's handpicked Senate candidate Ken Paxson has canceled three stops on his final bus tour, including in El Paso. Why? Because this is what happens when he goes out of the House.
Talk to your friends. Talk to your family. Tell them the difference between the parties and the difference between me and James Talarico.
Paxton, you take bribes.
If everybody in this room does that.
Paxton, you take bribes. That's the difference between him and James Talarico. And Ted Cruz even said he's deeply, deeply worried. In South Carolina, polling has Darlene Graham tied with Annie Andrews. That doesn't really happen because South Carolina hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1998. In Kansas, a state Trump won by 16 points, a state that hasn't had a Democratic senator in 90 years. Senator Marshall is now in a statistically dead heat with Democrat Adam Hamilton. And in Miami, Congresswoman Maria Alvarez-Salazar, who once won more votes than Trump in her own district, is fighting for her political life.
So here's where we are: the Epstein lawsuit letter, done, dead for good. BBC suit on the ropes. Alaska lawsuit shredded by Republicans. His DOJ is losing in court. His party is panicking. We're going live on Election Night from 3:00—from 6:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern Time. Make sure to subscribe to be aware. And right after Election Day, we're dropping those major investigations. Now, my conversation with Governor Shapiro. Excited to be back again with Governor Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania. Governor, how are you feeling? We are three days away from Election Day.
I'm feeling great. You can't see it, but just behind us here, we've got a big old bus. We've, you know, we're covering 10 days across Pennsylvania, hitting nearly every county. You know, by the way, counties that overwhelmingly voted Democrat and counties that overwhelmingly voted Republican, we're showing up and we're seeing folks with a lot of the same things on their mind. They're angry about higher costs. They're angry about endless wars. They're angry about the corruption that they're seeing in DC. And I've got to tell you, there's just a lot of enthusiasm up and down the ballot here in Pennsylvania, in what's a really, really tough state to win in.
Now, I don't know if you saw, but President Trump had a telerally for Pennsylvania candidates today. He called you, quote, "highly overrated," telling Pennsylvania voters to pretend that he's on the ballot. What's your response?
Well, first off, I'm happy he wants to be on the ballot because what I'm hearing from people is that they're tired of Donald Trump's chaos, cruelty, and corruption. I'm hearing that from Democrats, Republicans, and independents. So I'm thrilled that he says that we should vote like he's on the ballot. I think what you also have here in Pennsylvania with my opponent, with a bunch of these members of Congress who are running, is you've got rubber stamps for Donald Trump. And I think people are just sick and tired of rubber stamps. They want people to stand up. And I guess the last thing I'd say is, I mean, it's somewhat telling that he decided to phone it in and not actually show up.
I think Trump would have a hard time filling an arena, filling a ballroom right now, as he loves to talk about ballrooms. And I think it just frankly speaks to how toxic he is right now. So no surprise he'd phone it in to, you know, a few of his supporters.
I do got to ask you, because Pennsylvania is a state that he won just two years back. It's a swing state traditionally. But if you look at your numbers and the coalition you've built, I mean, it's not really a swing state anymore. How did you do that?
I mean, look, it is the swingiest swing state in the entire country. And you're correct to point out, he won two of the last three presidential races here. Now I've won all three. But I would just tell you that all three times I've been on the statewide ballot, I think what you're seeing is folks in all parties who are just so frustrated by the way in which he's jacked up prices, by the way in which he's taken us into a war in Iran that we have no earthly idea—he has no earthly idea—how to get out of.
And I think what you're seeing is just exhaustion from him. I think it's still a swing state. It's still a tough, tough, tough state to win. We're competing hard in every one of these districts that he won to elect Democratic members of Congress. I'm feeling hopeful and optimistic, but I'm also taking nothing for granted. We've got three days to go, and I'm running hard.
Let's say your campaign pushes all these other Democrats over the ballot, like Bob Brooks running in Pennsylvania, and Democrats win the House, Democrats win the Senate. If you were advising leadership in both to go either the investigations route and potentially an impeachment of the president, or go pass a ton of policy and force him to veto it, what would you tell them?
Look, I would just say that they've got to do what we do here in Pennsylvania. And you've got to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, right? They've got to listen to what the people have been calling for, at least here in our Commonwealth. They're calling for accountability, and they're calling for lower costs and progress on tangible things. So I would hope they would go to Congress and try and roll back these Medicaid cuts so that people have access to health care. I would hope that they'd pass some concrete policies to reduce the cost of housing, of child care, increase wages.
And I would hope that there'd be real accountability for people who have broken the law in the administration. I think they can do all of those things.
What does another four years of Governor Shapiro look like in Pennsylvania?
Well, look, I'm working really hard right now, not just to get myself reelected, but also to do something we haven't been able to do since 1992 here, and that is to win our state legislature. Now, our legislative districts, I won't get into all the details with you, but they're super gerrymandered, and this is really tough. But I'm putting everything I got into it. And so if I could win a trifecta in Harrisburg, Act 1 of 2027 will be to raise our minimum wage to $15 an hour. Republicans have blocked that for nearly 20 years.
I also want to put in our Constitution—I'm going to codify in our Constitution—abortion rights for women here in Pennsylvania, particularly after Roe. There are no federal protections. We've got to make sure that here in the birthplace of freedom, we have real reproductive freedom. I want to pass a $5 billion critical infrastructure and housing fund to be able to build more housing, particularly affordable housing and housing for our seniors, repair our aging housing stock, make sure that we've got the energy infrastructure we need, especially around clean energy.
I want to fully fund mass transit while continuing to invest in road and bridge repair and a whole lot more. So those are the things that I'm hopeful we'll be able to get done with a Democratic trifecta next term.
You mentioned affordability at the beginning of this conversation. There's a real possibility that on November 4th, on Wednesday, we begin strikes in Iran again, potentially driving up costs even more. You're the governor of Pennsylvania. You can't stop military action overseas. You can't roll back tariffs on your own. How can you lower costs for Pennsylvania residents?
Well, to continue to do what I've done here over the last four years, you know, I've cut taxes 10 times. I've never raised them. We passed the Working Pennsylvania Tax Credit to give nearly a million Pennsylvania who are working, who are struggling to get by, to give them about $800 back in their pocket. We've tripled the child care tax credit. We cut taxes four times for our small businesses. We delivered the largest targeted tax cut for seniors in more than 20 years. I mean, those are some examples of the work that we have done here.
And I want to continue reducing costs, making child care more affordable, as we talked about before, bringing down the cost of housing, making sure especially our seniors have access to that affordable housing. There's a whole lot more we can do, and it will be aided by a Democratic majority in my House and Senate.
I do got to ask you. A lot of folks are concerned about election interference and just the security and safety of voting this time of year. What can you tell folks in Pennsylvania? Are elections safe? Are elections secure?
Yeah, we have had free and fair, safe and secure elections on my watch, and we will have another free and fair, safe and secure election where we will respect the will of the people, regardless of who they vote for, whether a Democrat or a Republican. Now, we anticipate that Donald Trump will try to interfere with our election. And this isn't a hyperbole. Remember, back in 2020, I was the Attorney General when Trump and his enablers sued me 43 different times to try and throw out the votes of the people of Pennsylvania. Ironically, my opponent was part of those lawsuits, trying to throw away, throw out votes.
I won every single lawsuit. And I constructed a team in the governor's office that's been working for more than a year in anticipation of these types of lawsuits and these types of efforts that we expect from the Trump administration on the eve of the election or just after the polls close. We'll be ready. And my message to the people of Pennsylvania is, whether you choose to vote by mail or you choose to vote in person, your ballot will be counted, your ballot is secure, and I will protect the will of the people.
Now, Governor, obviously Tuesday is a big election, but a lot of folks are already talking about 2028. And I do got to ask you, because Pennsylvania folks in my comment section all the time say, "You got to ask Governor Shapiro, is he at least thinking about the future? Is 2028 on your mind at all?" You don't have to announce it. Just, are you thinking about it?
No, no, no. Look, and I appreciate the question. I'm humbled by the question. I'm really not. I mean, I feel such importance in these midterms. Yeah, of course, to get myself reelected. But I think especially to make sure we elect Democrats down the ballot. I mean, literally here in Pennsylvania, we have enough competitive congressional races to literally tilt the balance of power in Washington. I want to have a check on Donald Trump. And I've got a unique ability here in Pennsylvania to do that. I want to win that trifecta in Harrisburg.
I mean, why don't you think about this? If I can win a trifecta, I can literally double the wages for over 100,000 Pennsylvaniaans overnight just by nearly more than doubling the minimum wage. So I'm focused only on this. I appreciate the nice words in the comment. And frankly, what I would ask people in the comments to do is just make your plan to vote. These midterms are so critical, and that's what I want people focused on.
Governor Shapiro, I appreciate the time. Hey, folks, thanks so much for watching. Feel free to add this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you watch for the latest breaking news and daily hits. Throughout the day, make sure to follow, subscribe. See you soon for more.
Aaron Parnas reports on breaking news of Trump erupting as the court eviscerates his Epstein lawsuit, including an exclusive interview with Governor Josh Shapiro to discuss his upcoming election, keeping the elections free of interference, and much more!
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