MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on the secret meetings between Donald Trump’s team and an ABC executive last week before the settlement took place and the secret meeting that took place last year that foreshadowed all of this. Exclusive $35-off Carver Mat at https://AuraFrames.com. Use code MEIDAS at checkout to save! Visit https://meidastouch.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now, and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion, and this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention?
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A secret meeting between an ABC executive and Donald Trump's team seems to have precipitated the awful settlement whereby ABC engaged in a total capitulation, giving Donald Trump $15 million arising out of a defamation lawsuit. Donald Trump filed a $15 million to go to a future presidential library of Donald Trump's and also ABC and Disney agreeing to pay, Disney's the parent company,
agreeing to pay Donald Trump's attorney's fees and costs and issue a written apology. More on that in a bit. Let's talk about the secret meeting that took place last week, the Monday before ultimately that settlement took place that following Saturday. Here's what's being reported and ABC and Trump's team want us to believe, oh, they weren't discussing the settlement at that point in time.
All right, sure. Add insult to injury and try to treat us all like we're stupid. That's what corporate media thinks about us anyway. Here's what we're learning from the New York Times and reporter Michael Greinbaum. Deborah O'Connell, who oversees ABC News, dined with Susie Wiles in Palm Beach on Monday, per two people briefed.
Greinbaum goes on to say in his report, the meeting was part of a visit by ABC News execs to meet with the Trump transition team. Another person familiar says the purpose was to talk transition, not the defamation case. Okay, sure, we're supposed to believe that the ABC News exec, who shortly thereafter settles for $15 million to a future Trump presidential library,
When the ABC News exec is going to Palm Beach to meet with Donald Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, to kiss the ring to obey in advance. Oh, I'm sure they didn't talk about that settlement. Oh, I'm sure that's not what happened. But what if I told you this?
that actually all of this, all of what you're seeing now with Mika and Joe from MSNBC kissing the ring at Mar-a-Lago, with Zuckerberg going there, with all of these people showing up at Mar-a-Lago, Tim Cook from Apple, what if I told you that this was all part of a broader plan that we had reported. And frankly, Politico had wrote about who was there.
They didn't talk about the conspiracy that was taking place. Well, I don't want to even use the term conspiracy because that makes it seem like a conspiracy theory. Just what actually was happening, the collusion that was going on in front of all of our eyes back during another secret meeting in Milwaukee on August 23rd, 2023.
right around the time when there was a Republican primary debate, which Donald Trump refused to participate in, but Do you remember our reporting back from August 23rd of 2023? It was after Politico wrote the following in its Politico playbook. There was a secret meeting that took place at a restaurant at a steakhouse in Milwaukee. Super fancy steakhouse.
The Trump team invites all of the media there, buys them steak. gives them all of this lavish stuff right there. They were plotting, they were planning, they were whining and dining and devising this then. Here it is, August 23rd, 2023, spotted in Milwaukee. Team Trump whining and dining with a number of top reporters at a steakhouse called Rare and passing out pudding snacks.
A swipe at Ron DeSantis' pudding finger story. as well as debate bingo cards to troll the Florida governor. Squares included dismisses polls, wipes not, red ears, de-Santis, de-Santis, flip-flops on social security again, woke and pudding mentions. See the pictures here and here. So who was at this meeting? Reporters, Dana Bash,
Shane Goldmaker, Kristen Welker, Bob Costa, Finn Gomez, Dasha Burns, Rachel Scott, Rick Klein, Josh Dawsey, Rob Crilley, Mario Parker, and David Chalian. Basically, all of the top reporters and execs from all of the major networks meeting, colluding. in front of our eyes at a fancy five-star steakhouse called Rare in Milwaukee.
And they were there with Chris LaCivita, one of Donald Trump's campaign managers, and Jason Miller, and Stephen Chung. Politico goes, we're assured. the reporters picked up their own tabs. Isn't it funny how the people we love the most are often the hardest to shop for? You know what I mean. Luckily, there's one gift that everyone on your list and my list is sure to enjoy.
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That's A-U-R-A frames.com. Promo code Midas, M-E-I-D-A-S. This deal is exclusive to listeners of the Midas Touch podcast. So get yours now in time for the holidays. Terms and conditions apply. One more time, that's AuraFrames, A-U-R-A-Frames.com, and then use the promo code Midas at checkout. Sure, well, that's what they're being reporting, that they were picking up their own tabs there.
I'm sure that's what was going on. and across the restaurant, feet away, members of Team DeSantis. In other words, the media believed the cool table was with Donald Trump and they were talking and plotting and doing everything right there in front of our eyes.
By the way, now that we know about this meeting between Deborah O'Connell, who oversees ABC News, a few days later, five days later, a $15 million settlement happens. I wonder how the people who work, what are the employees at ABC, what do they think about this, right? Because you know, there have been budget cuts and layoffs and things like this.
Well, according to Yashar Ali, ABC News talent and staff that he's been talking to over the past few hours are stunned and furious about the settlement. Their anger primarily stems from the fact that they have faced repeated budget and compensation cuts in recent years, experienced layoffs, and yet the network even if insurance paid it, has paid this huge sum of money to settle this matter.
And I'm not quite sure that insurance paid it because why would insurance pay it if they're classifying it as a political donation to a future library, which sounds like a tax deduction to me or a tax write-off to me. And often if you're admitting to engaging in defamation and issuing taxes, an apology like that publicly.
Insurance doesn't necessarily cover intentional acts where you're apologizing for what you did like that. But you know what's interesting here? Look, it's true. Significant layoffs have hit ABC News. For example, $19 million in cuts were made to Good Morning America last year. Think about that.
19 million in cuts, people lost their job, dozens of people get fired, and all of that money that would have saved those jobs was now given to a Trump presidential, a future Trump presidential library. So I understand that, but it's still, when you think about it, the ABC News and Talent, what made them most pissed
is the compensation issue and not the obeying in advance to authoritarianism issue, because to me, that's the bigger issue right here. I mean, look, if you're talent, if you're a journalist, I understand your compensation is important, and I understand how frustrating it must be if your company's reducing it, but don't you want your integrity first? more than anything here.
I mean, just think about it over here. When you have Mark Zuckerberg, who Donald Trump has called, you know, I'm coming after you, Zuckerbucks. And Trump's called him all these names standing there at Mar-a-Lago next to Donald Trump. By the way, Tim Cook of Apple went to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring as well. Joe and Mika, we've reported, I just realized this now, in that political playbook report.
Guess who it's brought to you by? Zuckerberg, it's brought to you by Meta, The signs, the stamps of the oligarchy all staring us in the face. But remember all the statements that Donald Trump would make about the media and that he would post over and over again during the election and over the past four years and when he was in office. The media is the enemy of the people.
The media is the enemy of the people. These long all caps. They're almost all dishonest and corrupt, but Comcast, with its one-sided vicious coverage by NBC News, in particular MSDNC, often correctly referred to as MSDNC, Democratic National Committee, should be investigated for country-threatening treason. They're the enemy of the people. Fuck, the fake news is the enemy of the people.
Posting memes like this of the news networks holding Vice President Kamala Harris up and saying enemy of the people. Post after post, enemy of the people. So all you gotta do is go on social media, call people enemy of the people, just threaten the media, and the fourth estate, boom! Folds like that, folds like that. And you see talent, they're worried about compensation over integrity.
You've got the corporations, the oligarchical corporations that run these media networks want to kiss the ring. It's all a money grab, it's a race for money. Put your integrity first over all of this. You could have integrity and make money too. And if they come after you, if they go after you, so be it. That's life, stand up for yourself.
But no, secret meetings at lavish steakhouses behind our backs, focusing on their bottom line, not the bottom line of our democracy. And you see it right there. You can go and look at the hot take that I did, you know, about the settlement where I've been very critical of this settlement.
You know, just the worst settlement that makes zero sense, in my opinion, other than if you're kissing the ring. Go watch that. The Legal AF I did, I did another video about it that I'll post. Go to the Substack. I wrote a whole article. I call it Shame on You, ABC. Go to MidasPlus.com or just go – that will take you to our Substack or just go on Substack and then take a look at –
search Midas Touch on Substack and then look for it and you'll see the article I did on it where I'm very critical and I break down why the settlement legally makes absolutely no sense. If you're ABC, you had Donald Trump cornered, in my opinion, in that litigation. Trump was set to have his deposition taken this week.
It would have been under oath, where Donald Trump's whole position would be, you defamed me because you used the word rape, when in fact a jury found me liable for sexual assault. In other words, using a finger to do digital penetration without consent versus genitals. And Donald Trump says, therefore, that defamed me and harmed my reputation and character.
That was the thrust of Donald Trump's case. And you settle that case before Trump's deposition? Like it literally is inexplicable. Go look at the broader recap that I do on it. I think you'll appreciate it. Anyway, thank you for watching. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 4 million subscribers.
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Marketing is hard. But I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now, and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention?
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