Aaron Parnas reports on the aftermath of the midterm elections and the investigations he says may target Elon Musk. Ezra Levin of Indivisible discusses the movement's wins and its push for accountability and reform.
Congressman Ro Khanna addresses turnout forecasts, cutting aid to Israel, calls to impeach Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump, and the Epstein 2.0 bill. Listeners will hear each guest's arguments and predictions about what Democrats may do next in Congress.
In this episode Aaron Parnas, Ezra Levin, Ro Khanna
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A reckoning is coming for Elon Musk, and he is terrified. He's rapidly trying to delete his old tweets; he's trying to get away from his old positions, as investigations are prepared for every nook and cranny about Elon Musk's life. His businesses, his relationships, his work in Doge, and so much more. He spent $440 million, the most any donor has ever spent individually on one election in American history, and lost all of it.
He lit that money on fire. And now, Elon Musk, you're up. You're on the agenda for significant investigations. Please spread the word so people know. Make sure to subscribe to support this work as we're on the road to a million subscribers. Like, comment, share, and let's get started, because right now oversight Democrats are making clear: Trump crime family, crony corporations like Elon Musk's companies, corrupt Trump administration officials like Elon Musk, associates of Jeffrey Epstein, Corey Lewandowski, lawyer up.
Lawyer up. And this video was taken by folks on Twitter today, showing that Elon Musk is rapidly deleting tweets in real time of saying "vote red" and other things, because all of it, his entire empire, was reliant on a good performance, at least in Texas last night. Not even Texas performed well.
You think Elon Musk wanted to make sure and try and prevent you from going to the United States Senate?
Well, I think he wanted his very own personal senator. He wanted a senator who was going to do his bidding, who was going to sell off Texas land to his data centers, who was going to give our Texas water, who was going to give our taxpayer dollars.
That didn't happen. That didn't happen. He didn't get a senator. He didn't get his governor. And now he's about to face investigations in the House of Representatives.
They have the gavels, and so they're going to launch a lot of investigations. And it's going to be in both chambers. It's going to probably be across multiple committees. And that's a sea change in how Washington operated over these last 2 years. And I think they're going to be able to throw a lot of sand in the gears, attempt to throw a lot of sand in the gears of the inner workings of the administration. So appointments and confirmations, and then the oversight and investigatory, those are probably the two biggest.
I don't know policy-wise what they're going to do, but I will tell you this: they've got enough senators now and House members. They can have DSA people. They're still going to hold Democrat majorities on key votes if they need it. They could do a budget reconciliation bill and put it on the president's desk. It may not be what Republicans want. And so then he'd be in a situation where he'd have to veto legislation, budget bills. So I think you're going to see a lot more conflict between the Congress and the executive.
And you know who's at the top of that list? Elon Musk. Now, I spoke with Ezra Levin from Indivisible about last night's wins. I want you to take a listen to what he had to say. Great to have Ezra Levin back on the show from Indivisible. Ezra, how are you feeling after last night?
Aaron, it's historic. I'm ecstatic. This was the no-kings election, the result of millions upon millions of people showing up at thousands upon thousands of events. The story of '25 and '26 is the story of elite collapse, of people in business and law firms and media and some elements of the Democratic Party collapsing in the face of what would be authoritarian but normal everyday people organizing and saying, "No, we're not going to do this." And they didn't just win an election. This is a transformative political moment. So I'm doing great, Aaron. I'm doing great.
Who are some of the candidates that you're most excited about after last night? Because I mean, I saw we have the big name ones that everyone was like, "Okay." I mean, even like James Talarico, like the writing was kind of on the wall leading up to election day. But there are some candidates that won that I had no I thought they had no shot.
It's very difficult to answer that question, Aaron, because we are looking at 6 to 700, at last time I checked, state legislative offices, races that have shifted over to the Democrat. This is impossible to pick one or two because of how error-defining this moment could be. So I have a soft spot in my heart for Texas. I'm a Texan. We've been talking about turning Texas blue for as long as I've been paying attention to politics. And yeah, Talarico is great, but we didn't just win a Senate seat. We're winning the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state, the attorney general.
We're winning the railroad commissioner, a former Indivisible leader who challenged one of the most racist candidates on the ballot this cycle. So it's a difficult question to answer. What I would say is I'm excited for what these people bring to whatever political arena they're entering, whether it is local politics or state-level politics or national politics. I think headed into this election, there was discussion of, are we going to get a few more seats and therefore give the Democrats a few more tools to use, or will we not get those seats and then it's going to be challenging?
Instead, we're in a different universe. I think people are still catching up to the new political reality. So when it comes to the Senate, for instance, there was a lot of talk of, is Fetterman going to be a kingmaker? If we get 51 votes, will he shift parties? But instead, we're looking down at 55, 56 votes. And I know Chuck Schumer had announced that he wants to be leader in the Senate again. I don't think that is a foregone conclusion now. I think there's probably going to be a healthy internal discussion in the caucus, and it should be a public discussion about who should lead the Democrats going forward.
And that should happen in the Senate. That should happen in the statehouses. That should happen all over the country because we have so many new leaders coming in driven by massive engagement from the public. This is an exciting time, and we should take advantage of the opportunity to really talk about what does the future of the Democratic Party look like and who should be holding onto the reins of power.
So what's next for Indivisible? You guys had major no-kings rallies. You've turned out so many voters across the last 18 months. What's next? What are you guys planning in the next 2 years?
Oh, gosh, Aaron. Look, we did not just save American democracy in this election. That's not what happened. What happened was we've won the opportunity to usher in an era of accountability and reform. So I can tell you, this afternoon I'm meeting with Indivisible leaders all around the country. Tomorrow, on Thursday, we do our weekly call with movement leaders where we're going to be talking about what exactly occurred in this election and how has political reality changed now. We spent the last 2 years in the minority. We did not have the House, the Senate, or the presidency. The Supreme Court was against us.
We had to engage in strategic resistance around the country using grassroots power. We have just won the House. We have just won the Senate. We have just won statehouses and Democratic trifectas around the country. We need to update our strategies and tactics for this new political reality. And if we are wildly successful over the next 2 years, at the end of this 2-year period, we will be set up to head into 2029 with a Democratic trifecta that is prepared to bring forward an era of accountability and reform. That is what our goal should be over the next 2 years.
And then the question is, how do we do that with a massive grassroots engaged army of folks willing to do the work on the ground to save democracy? I'm excited, Aaron. I'm excited.
It's going to be an interesting next couple of years. If you were advising Hakeem Jeffries today about what the priorities should be for a Democratic Congress, assuming he ends up being speaker, what would you tell him?
Follow through on the promises of the campaign. Those campaign promises were twofold. It was cost and corruption. It was affordability and accountability. What we need to do over the next 2 years is prove that the Democratic Party of old, that people did not trust, that people did not believe in, that party is gone. This new party, this new majority actually is going to deliver. You're going to see change. You're going to see them actually going after the crooks and the bad guys, not just in the White House, but in Silicon Valley, in the business sector, in places that were collaborating or capitulating to Donald Trump.
They are going to face consequences. And the Democrats aren't going to play footsie with Donald Trump over the next 2 years. They're going to put forward their actual own big ideas to improve Americans' lives. Affordability and accountability, cost and corruption, that should be the entire focus of the next 2 years.
Do you think it's worth potentially impeaching the president again?
Maybe. I think impeachment is one of the things that you can do when you're using the tools of accountability. But I would also expand it beyond the president. Hegseth should impeach. There are other cabinet members who should impeach. There are members of this regime and people who engage in unlawful behavior and actively undermine the Constitution who should face consequences for their action. Top of the list should be Elon Musk, who systematically undermined the federal government and used his power to undermine us at home and our allies abroad.
So I think there is a big accountability agenda that should move forward. I think it should be paired with an affordability agenda so the American people understand the rule of law is here and Democrats are on their side.
Ezra Levin, thanks so much for the time.
Thank you, Aaron.
I also spoke with Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley. We spoke about some of these tech companies last night. I want you to hear what he had to say. But before I do, a quick word from our sponsor. This episode of The Parnas Perspective is brought to you by our friends at Wild Grain. Cozy season is here, which means cooler temperatures, warm ovens, and the perfect time to enjoy fresh baked breads and seasonal treats at home. Wild Grain delivers sourdough breads, seasonal pastries, and French butter made with simple, recognizable ingredients by small independent bakeries, all delivered to your door and ready to bake straight from frozen in just 25 minutes or less.
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How are you, Aaron?
Good.
Great to see you.
Good, good. How are you? How are you feeling?
I'm feeling very good, very positive.
How are things going out in California right now?
Well, I'm here in DC. I'm going to be with the leader, and we're feeling very, very positive.
Based on what you see right now in turnout across the country, we're watching districts like Indiana 5, Victoria Sparks, and Kentucky right now in Kentucky 6. If you were to be a betting man and predict a little bit, how many seats do you think Democrats are going to pick up over throughout the night?
I've always had plus 25 on the House, and I was going in this morning at 52 Democrat seats in the Senate. Where are you at, Aaron? You follow this stuff closely.
Listen, I think if I had to guess the House, Democrats are going to pick up anywhere from 20 to 30 seats. And then the Senate, I think it's going to be a little closer than people realize. We'll have to see. I think that we're going to wait for Alaska for several days before we have a final result. States like Iowa are trending a little red. But we'll see. I mean, I think ultimately Democrats have a real shot at flipping the Senate this year.
Yeah. You know, I don't know why, but I felt very nervous 2 years ago. I thought Kamala was going to win. I thought Vice President Harris was going to win. I was wrong. But I had a very uneasy feeling going into it. I don't have that uneasy feeling going into tonight. I feel very confident. Maybe it's because I'm a creature of the House and I feel secure we're going to win the House. But let's see. We'll know in a few hours.
Something that we've seen in exit polling thus far in the early exit polling is that the economy, affordability is top of mind. I mean, in one CNN exit poll, I think over 70% of voters all said that the country is currently on the wrong track. How do you get the country back on the right track?
Sometimes the most simple questions are the most profound. This election is going to be a rejection of Donald Trump. It's going to say that we shouldn't have been in the war in Iran. And certainly stopping that war will help reduce gas and food prices for immediate relief. It says that we shouldn't have engaged in the kind of corruption that Donald Trump is engaging in. And stopping that and having accountability for that is going to matter in terms of American sense of fairness. But ultimately, we have to deal with the fact that one-third of the nation's wealth is piling up in my district in Silicon Valley, $25 trillion, and people can't afford a job.
They can't afford a home. They don't know how to pay for childcare. And America needs its next New Deal. We need to tax these billionaires. We need to fight to get Medicare for all. We need to have free childcare. We need to invest in high-paying jobs across America. The Democratic Party needs to say, we understand the future. It's not working for a lot of people. And here's our vision of how we're going to lead. If FDR led for the industrial age, they're looking for a Democratic Party that can lead us in this technology and AI age. But that is going to be the work for our party to offer an affirmative vision.
So far, we've said Trump's not working, but the harder work is what so what are we going to do about it?
Well, I want to get your reaction on something the president said today. He decided to cut off all aid to Israel at the end of the year, which I found fascinating that he decided to drop this on Election Day. And then I started looking into it more. He can't actually do that, can he? I mean, you have the memorandum of understanding in the House through 2028. What is your reaction to this kind of last-ditch attempt from the president?
Look, one thing Trump is, he's a zone-wise, an innate sense for public opinion. He's kind of lost his fastball or he would have done this a month or two months earlier. But Thomas Massie had told me that every Republican under 50 does not like the aid to Israel, does not like providing military weapons to Israel. So I think there's a last-ditch effort for Trump to appeal to independents and appeal to a lot of those young voters. He needs to come out. Here's what it should say. No Democrat should be giving aid to Israel.
If you are, you're to the right of Donald Trump. I mean, you don't want to be outflanked by Donald Trump. And by the way, Donald Trump agrees more on this issue with Abdul Saeed than he does with Mike Rogers. Maybe he'll be making the Abdul Saeed endorsement like Hailey Stevens made the endorsement for Mike Rogers. But you know he can end the aid in a way. He could order a Lehi review of all of the aid. And I'm sure you would find that a lot of that aid is being used to violate human rights. And that's something that the president can do.
So he can't just directly maybe zero it out without Congress passing a zeroed-out bill. But he could do it through an ordering of a review on human rights. And he could challenge the Congress to zero out the aid. And I dare any Democrat then to vote for that aid.
Something maybe the reason why he's so on board with Abdul Al-Sayed at this point is because he's really been into attractive men lately and talking about men's body parts. So maybe that's the reason. We'll have to see. I do got to ask you, let's say Democrats take over the House of Representatives tonight. Tomorrow, you're sworn in and now you have a Democratic majority. Do you believe that investigations should be top of mind, ultimately leading to possibly impeachment or to possibly not just of the president, but also of Pete Hegseth and other cabinet officials?
Is that something that we should be doing?
Absolutely. We should impeach Hegseth the week we get back. Thomas Massie has a resolution on it. The mandate of this election is they don't want the war in Iran. They may not say that in the polling. The polling, they may say, oh, it's the economy because it costs too much to fill up my tank. It's costing 120 bucks to fill up my tank. It's costing a lot of money in the grocery store. But we know that the cause of that is the war in Iran. That's why it's costing so much. So the culprit of that is Pete Hegseth.
If Trump had any shame, he'd fire him. Like Bush fired Rumsfeld the day after the Democrats won in 2006. But if Trump's not going to do it, we should impeach him, Hegseth. And we should impeach Donald Trump. He's gotten us into an illegal unconstitutional war. In fact, I said that on Fox and Friends and it got under Trump's skin.
I saw that.
He was starting to reference it four times at his rallies. I mean, and he was less concerned about the fact that I was calling for impeaching him. He was more concerned about the fact that we're saying we're wasting $47 billion because he knows. He knows the power of that message, that $47 billion could be spent here on childcare, on schools, and why are we wasting it overseas?
By the way, Donald Trump just tweeted out on Truth Social literally two minutes ago, quote, "The Fox News poll, always the worst, is so insulting with the questions they ask. Every question is a hit job and every answer is bullshit. This has been going on for years." So he's clearly not too pleased with the initial voting results that we were seeing tonight.
No, he's not. And he's down on Fox. I mean, at some point, if you start to blame Fox, you know you really lost the country. I mean, you know, and I think it's a wake-up call. But you know why Trump doesn't see it? It's because he sees he's surrounded by David Sachs and Sam Altman and Elon Musk and Jensen Huang of Nvidia and all these CEOs. And you know what? The economy is doing well for them. The stock market was doing well for them.
And he's saying, well, why aren't people feeling it? And he's not out there filling up his gas tank. And he's not out there talking to people who have to go to the grocery store. And so he's just become out of touch. It's something that happens to many presidents. Unfortunately, in his case, he's not just out of touch. He's also engaged in corruption and he's running roughshod over the Constitution.
Let's touch a bit on Epstein because that's going to be a top issue for a lot of folks if Democrats were to take over. What is the plan to ensure that we have some semblance of accountability, especially for folks like Leon Black, who there's bipartisan support to hold him in criminal contempt of Congress right now?
Leon Black should have an investigation and prosecution. This is why Thomas Massie and I are now introducing Epstein 2.0. We have the 218 signatures. And this, Aaron, I really appreciate your coverage and understanding of the power of this issue from day one. You were part of helping make this such a big issue. And by the way, they've invited me. I've had to go run ragged around the country because they keep every candidate wanting me to talk about Epstein. It's been their closing argument in a lot of these cases. But if we pass that bill, it would give the state attorney general's power to prosecute Leon Black, investigate Leon Black.
And we're not going to get Todd Blanch to do it. So we can either wait for a new president or we can pass this bill and get the state attorney general's doing their job.
Now, Congressman, before I let you go for the night, we're going to probably start the 2028 race tomorrow, potentially. Lots of folks are very excited about the future. You've obviously been campaigning across the country. People have been very excited about you and your future. Is the House of Representatives your end? Is that the end of your career? Or do you see potentially something out in the distance?
Well, that's a unique way of answering it. Look, I'll say this and not a dodge. I think the one thing people in Thanksgiving will be most thankful for is not having to deal with politics. And so I'm going to take some time over the holidays. But I believe there should be a brawl in the Democratic Party. I believe we should not be going back to the status quo that created Donald Trump. And we've had an incremental politics that has not been bold enough. These tech leaders who I know are the economic royalists of our time. We need to tax these billionaires. We need to put a vision for an economic bill of rights, Medicare for all, free childcare, free public college, a $25 living wage.
We cannot have one-third of the wealth of this country in my district and then places I grew up with in Pennsylvania not working. So I believe I have a clear economic platform that meets the time. But you know, running to lead the nation and the world is a huge obligation, responsibility. And it's a marathon and it's grueling and it's grueling on a family. And there are about 20 good people looking at it. My guess is they'll talk to their families and about 10 will raise their hands. And I'm not sure yet whether I'll be one who raises their hands or supports another good candidate.
But I'm excited about the field. I think we've got a lot of talent in our party.
Well, I think a lot of people are excited about what you just talked about and also the fact that we're going to have at least until Thanksgiving to breathe a little bit, which I'm excited for personally. Congressman, thank you so much and good luck tonight.
Appreciate you. Thank you.
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 from.
Aaron Parnas reports on breaking news of Elon Musk panicking as a reckoning is coming from congress, including a look at what Elon is doing to cover his tracks, what may be next for him after the blue wave, and much more!
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