Now, on 105.9 FM and streaming worldwide on the WMAL app, O'Connor & Company. WMAL! Tato 7, and it's O'Connor & Company here on this Friday in your nation's capital, 27th day of February, last weekday of February, as we head straight into March like a lion. Thanks for joining us here. Coming up in 30 minutes, we're going to speak with the proprietor of Jimmy's Famous Seafood and ask him about his little social media dust up there with some libs who don't like our country. That's all coming up. It's Larry O'Connor with Patrice on WUCA. Good morning, Patrice. Good morning, Larry. Happy Friday, everybody. We made it. You betcha. I don't know how happy it's going to be for Bill Clinton, and he has to face the oversight committee there. The good news is he doesn't have to travel far. It's right there at the Chappaqua, New York, Performing Arts Center. That's the location that was negotiated with the Clinton legal team with the Oversight Committee. Yesterday was Hillary Clinton's turn, and today it will be her husband, the former president. Susan Friccio, Washington Times, covering this story. And where to begin, Susan? First of all, why do you think part of the negotiation here, if I'm correct, was that Hillary Clinton goes first? I smell a rat. I feel like she had to sort of lay down the marker and determine what the answers were. And then they spent all night telling Bill what he should and shouldn't say. Am I wrong? That's a great hypothesis, Larry. That's very possible. That's what they were doing. And it makes sense, although I think we all know what some of the questions are going to be for Bill Clinton. Because so much of the information about his relationship with Epstein is known at this point. Although there may be things that we haven't heard about. We've seen photos of him with Epstein and in proximity to some of Epstein's victims. We know he flew on Epstein's private jet. We know they had a relationship for several years after he left the White House. And we also know that Epstein and Glenn Maxwell helped set up the Clinton Global Initiative, donated money to it, helped launch it. So these things are known, and we know that the lawmakers want to ask about this because they've said so. They said we need to find out more about the relationship with Epstein and Maxwell and the role that they played with President Clinton and the global initiative. Also, Epstein visited the White House many times while Bill Clinton was president. So we've got all that information. And what the former Secretary of State said yesterday, she came out and gave sort of an impromptu press conference at the end of her long deposition. And she said that, first of all, the chairman of the committee came out, a Republican, James Comer, and he said that Mrs. Clinton would defer to Bill Clinton quite a bit. They'd ask questions and she said, oh, you're going to have to ask my husband about that. So, you know, that's so we know they're going to be asking Bill Clinton about many things she would not answer to. But then the reporters asked her, what did she have to say about Bill Clinton's relationship with Epstein? And she told reporters that, like many people who were associated with Epstein, they nobody knew that he was involved in sex trafficking and they weren't aware of it at all. So that sort of exonerae, you know, blanket exoneration for people who were around during that time. And so that sets the scene for today. And so I'm not sure how much they got out of Hillary Clinton other than her saying, which was really interesting, that she didn't know Maxwell very well and that she had never met Epstein. I think two things that I think may raise more questions. so Susan I mean I've said for the morning that she really ended up owning this whole she's on the narrative going in the narrative coming out by her press conference you know and then obviously she I'm sure she's working with her husband and his lawyers and what he's going to be saying today she initially wanted according to your reporting you've got a great story in the Washington Times this morning she had wanted this to be a public display for this to be done publicly and that did not happen. It's behind closed doors. What do you think, really, did she end up turning this into the public spectacle that she really wanted it to be? And do you think this is going to backfire in any way on Republicans? You know, I don't think so, because the Clintons were involved with Epstein, and both parties wanted to talk to the Clinton. Both Democrats have said, we want to also talk to the Clintons. It's the pictures tell the story with Bill Clinton. And I think a lot of people have people want to hear more about that. So I don't think that'll backfire. No, I don't. I don't think it will. There's just so much of a public interest in here over people who believe that wealthy and powerful individuals have not been held accountable for this. that's driving the whole push behind the release of the Epstein files. Look at all the pressure it's put on President Trump. And so Democrats are trying to spin it, actually. So they're coming out saying, look, we need to turn this on Bill Clinton. They're going, I mean, I'm sorry, to President Trump. They're saying, let's go back to some of the things in the Epstein file. He's named more than anybody else. And there's also these claims that I think were debunked long ago, but they're in the files about a woman who said that Trump raped her years and years ago. So they want to look at those claims, even though I think they were found to be unsubstantiated. They want to turn the attention back to Trump and say, why are we interviewing Hillary Clinton? They said that yesterday. I don't think they'll say that today. I don't think Democrats will come out and say, why are we interviewing Bill Clinton? Because everybody knows why Bill Clinton is going to be interviewed about this because of the photos, basically, because we know how much time he spent with Epstein. And here's where I'm having trouble with the former Secretary of State's testimony that, you know, we had no idea. Bill had no idea. I had no idea. Objectively speaking, Susan Frigio, and do please correct me if I'm wrong, but based on all the evidence we have, the paper trails, the flights on the plane, the photographs, it appears as though Bill Clinton spent an awful lot of time with Jeffrey Epstein. Let me put it this way, much more time than Donald Trump spent with Jeffrey Epstein. Is that fair to say based on what we know publicly? We don't know how much time Trump spent with Epstein prior to their big falling out, which was definitely by 2007. I don't know. Right. There are stories that the two of them went out, you know, you know, went out on the town together and were friends. And so we know that. Right. I understand that. I'm saying based on what we've seen, it seems like there's more interaction between Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein. And that makes sense, too, because because Epstein was a supporter of Democrats. Right. I know. I get it. And the Clinton Global Initiative. Here's what I'm trying to get to. In July of 2006, we know that President Trump called the Palm Beach police chief and said, let me know if you need any cooperation here, because I'm glad you're going after this guy. And then apparently it's reported that he said everyone knew about Epstein's behavior. Now, if Donald Trump, if Bill Clinton had more interactions with Jeffrey Epstein and claims he didn't know, then Donald Trump, who didn't have as much interaction, but he says everybody knew, something's not squaring here. Right, right. I think that's the big question about everybody's involvement here who knew Epstein at the time, all the big wigs who were traveling around with him, some more than others, like Bill Clinton. What did they know? You see all these young ladies around him. And, you know, for Trump, he said this and it's reported that he's that alarm bells went off. He like what is going on here He went to Epstein house in Palm Beach and saw all these young girls there and he got out of there I mean that that story is well known that been told a few times yeah now clinton clinton what what did he know we know that there pictures of clinton and in proximity the victims is one where they what she's practically young girls practically sitting on his lap um so you know there are many photos out there anyone can go and look for them so they're going to ask what he knows but do we really think bill clinton is going to be all that revealing he's going to say i had no idea and that once I learned of it in 2006 when these allegations started surfacing, I stopped talking to him. And he's probably going to stick to it. I can't imagine he's not going to stick to that line today. So I'm not sure what they're going to get out of Bill Clinton because he's Bill Clinton. And he's going to be sitting there with his lawyers and trying to cover for himself, basically. Actually, Susan, I have one other quick follow-up. Do you mind holding? We'll ask you just one more question. Maybe Patrice might have one more question for you on this. So let's get to it in just a sec. First, though, it's 8.15. Continuing with Susan Friccio, national politics correspondent for The Washington Times. She's been covering Hillary Clinton's testimony in the Epstein affair. The Ghislaine Maxwell part of this seems to be a vulnerable spot here for this testimony and for the stories the Clintons are trying to keep straight. Because, yes, it appears that there is no public record of either Clinton interacting with Jeffrey Epstein after he pled guilty to crimes of a sexual nature with young girls. But Ghislaine Maxwell famously went to their daughter's exclusive wedding and was seen in a photograph on the aisle as Bill Clinton was walking Chelsea Clinton down the aisle. And that was after the conviction of Jeffrey Epstein on these sex crimes. So Hillary Clinton said, oh, she was somebody's plus one. uh susan if the secret service is involved with a big event involving the former president of the united states isn't everybody vetted don't is there is it possible that they had no idea galaine maxwell was going to show up that day i think they probably knew she was coming and that that was okay don't forget galaine maxwell played a pivotal role in the clinton global initiative She was an advisor. She was someone who helped arrange for the big launch of the Clinton Global Initiative. And she's the daughter of a big media mogul herself. So she had friends in high places and the Clintons were among them. And now Hillary Clinton, I think, referred to her as a casual. Yeah, she said she barely knew her. She barely knew her. Right. And so and maybe she was a plus one, but she was a plus one who everybody knew and accepted. And I think it was really interesting after Epstein took the plea deal, how many people went soft on him and didn't say, you know, didn't point out the fact that this was soliciting prostitution with a minor. People weren't getting it. This is about underage growth. It wasn't sinking in. And part of it was the coverage. The New York Times reporter was buddies with Epstein and wrote a story about Epstein going to jail and buried like 10 paragraphs down what the actual charge was. made a kind of passing reference to the past. It wasn't sinking in, and it was getting covered up, basically, by Epstein's friends. So, you know, this was a silly charge, nothing, no big deal. Therefore, Ghislaine Maxwell's association with him wasn't considered. No alarm bells were going off because people didn't understand the extent of what he was doing, in part because it was just being covered up, and it's a shame. And there were some real heroes here, the Palm Beach Police Department, among them that pushed this to where it finally got to and where the federal investigation came into play. But a lot of people were covering for him, you know, a lot of money, a lot of powerful friends. And that's where it gets you these days. Well, really quickly, Susan, talk a little bit about the Clinton Foundation, because I think this is a big connective piece. It's a connective tissue between Jeffrey Epstein and the Clintons, which is how much money he was raising for them. You know, do we understand what she, you know, any questions that she was asked, whether she responded to just how close the connection was that she had to him, Jeffrey Epstein himself, through the foundation and the work and the money he was raising for it? Well, there was a million dollars that was wired to the publicity group that launched the Clinton Global Initiative. At least some of that came from Jeffrey Epstein, but it's not clear whether all of it came from him so that's a lot of money that's that's big big dollars and especially back then you know to launch this thing and also um epstein i think uh one of his associated foundations gave like 20 25 000 to the foundation so and they've all they've also he's also been a donor to uh hillary clinton's campaign to bill clinton's first presidential campaign so he's been giving money to the clintons okay so he he's he's somebody important in their orbit money is the big big deal politics we know this yeah so we know that that connection is there and that maxwell was the person who kind of nurtured uh this this friendship between clinton and epstein after bill clinton's second term so there was a lot going on here a lot of people involved and you know we've got pictures of hillary clinton standing next to epstein with maxwell so all her saying she never met him she kind of cautioned that not that i recall not that i recall yes a lot of people right so yeah we'll probably hear a lot of that today from the phone what difference at this point does it make yes we've seen it all before all right susan friccio thanks for covering it and thanks for joining us thanks a lot that's susan friccio the washington times all right uh interesting story here out of the department of homeland security the secretary in particular christy Noam appeared on the Patrick Bet David podcast and revealed something fascinating about spyware at DHS. Here, cut 40. Listen to this. I can't believe what I found since I've been in this department. I just found the other day a whole room in on this campus that was a secret SCIF, secure facility that had files nobody knew existed. So we just happened to have an employee walk by a door and wonder what it was and started asking questions. We went in there. There was individuals working there that had secret files that nobody knew about on some of these most controversial topics like that. And now I've got that turned over to attorneys and we're getting to the bottom of what exactly happened there. You know, we have CBP. It's like a scene out of Men in Black, right? It's like she's the secretary. These are the people who are running Homeland Security. It's like we never go in there. We're not allowed to go in there. All right. But then listen to this, something that she discovered on her own government issued phone. This is the phone that DHS handed her when she started her job? I'll tell you, Patrick, even from the time I came into this office, it was, you know, Elon and his team were extremely helpful to me. They helped me identify that some of my own employees in my department had downloaded software on my phone and my laptop to spy on me to record our meetings. They had done that to several of the politicals. And so we ended up bringing in people. And that was something that But if you didn't have those technology experts here in the department looking at all of our laptops and our phones and recognizing that kind of software, it would still be happening today. It took Elon and the Doge team to look at her phone and say, hey, this phone they gave you, it's got spyware on it. They're like tracking you. Your own Department of Homeland Security. When she said the politicals, just so you know, there's like permanent employees of the Department of Homeland Security that like transcend each administration. And then there's the political appointees who were placed in positions by President Trump. Those people who were placed in positions by President Trump, they're the ones who were getting tracked by the Department of Homeland Security. And, of course, my question is, whoever gave you those phones, are they being prosecuted? Are they being investigated? Have they been fired? Could anybody please get fired here Did they get a stern talking to They to you know go out for Taco Tuesday with the team What going on here Well, I think how many of our secretaries and assistant secretaries and frankly, all of those appointed appointees need to have all of their technology swept for this malware, this tracking surveillance software, you know, their hardware double checked. Because if it's at DHS, I can't imagine it's not at HHS. It's not at DOL. I mean, why not? Because if they feel like there's any if there's a way to understand what what these these lawmakers, these sorry, these secretaries are doing and to track them and be able to use evidence against them in the future. You better believe somebody would make them a target. So, I mean, I'm hoping that this is a cabinet-wide effort now to ensure that everyone is not being tracked, but they probably are. Yeah, which, of course, always, whenever we have a story like this, we must say, if they're doing it to them, imagine what kind of tracking they're doing to just ordinary citizens. It's 824. Now on 105.9 FM and streaming worldwide on the WMAL app, O'Connor and Company. For the first time since the 1980 miracle, the United States takes the gold. Can't get enough of it, Patrice Onwuka. Cannot get enough of it. I know you like that soccer thing, but trust me, this is bigger. You know, I go USA. It's okay if it's hockey. That is a moment that all Americans will be talking about for decades and decades and decades and say, I remember where I was at that moment. And then we will also remember the moment when Jimmy's Famous Seafood out of the Inner Harbor in Baltimore decided to tell Huffington Post to GFY because the Huffington Post said, it's okay if you feel icky celebrating American Olympians. Well, it was the GFY heard around the world. And Jimmy's Famous Seafood suddenly became, well, pretty famous for their crab cakes and for their unabashed patriotism. Joining us now is the CEO of that fine establishment, John Minidakis. And I hope I'm pronouncing that right, John. Or you can go ahead and throw an F-bomb at me as well. Great job on the pronunciation. You must have some Greek friends for sure. There you go. Absolutely. Listen, I've been following you guys for years, actually, because you do have a bit of a personality out there on social media, especially when it comes to patriotism and sports. um was there any hesitation here when you decided to just come out full-throated against people who were downplaying this achievement and this patriotism oh no zero i think you touched on it when you said that it's one of those moments that people will talk about for decades and it's true you'll know exactly where you were who you were with the way you felt right uh you probably only have i'd say three or four sports moments of death throughout the course of your life if you're lucky Yeah, yeah. So, no, it was, you know, it's, there will be, I would say there's going to be a movie made about this, but I'd be lying. There's going to be several movies made about this. That's right. Several documentaries, right? It's one of the greatest moments in the history of our country, not just our country sports, but our country, I would say. Well, and sports unites us, and it's like, oh, it drives me nuts because you hear these people in Washington, D.C. and on cable news and stuff saying, oh, you know, why can't we all come together? Why can't we, you know, be together as Americans? Why are we so divided? Well, here's that moment. This is that moment. And here's Huffington Post just crapping all over it. Yeah, I think Mike Tirico referenced that sports does an amazing job uniting us, probably more so than anything in the world, right? Historically, you know, going back to ancient days. And, yeah, like you said, people always want to say, let's get along, let's get along. And then when you have the ultimate get-along moment in the history of our country, right, probably since the miracle on ice, you still have a very, very small number of people that want you to feel guilty or shame for giving these young men and women their props. You know, John, I would love for you to share your family story here. I think something that should also unite us is a good coming to America story and a story about American progress for just regular families. Tell us about your family and the business. Sure. Yeah. My, uh, it's racist. It's basically the American dream. Uh, there's no other way to put it. Honestly, my father left Greece, uh, in the late sixties just for the hopes of a better life for future generations. And, uh, you know, through hard work and, and, and grit and determination, he was able to achieve that. He was a bus boy and a dishwasher in a few restaurants and bars as a young man, saved up his money until he was able to purchase what is currently known as Jimmy's Famous Seafood right there on Holabird Avenue. And, you know, we lived on top of the restaurant. Our whole family did when we were kids. Oh, wow. Yeah, so it's like, it's obviously very personal to me. And then he passed away in 2003. So myself and my brothers took over. I was 20 and my brothers were teenagers. And just, you know, we've kept the dream going. Probably, he's definitely up there, you know, smiling down. I'm obviously missing out on a lot of parts along the way. But, yeah, he was obviously my role model, but he was somebody that, you know, he embodied everything that this country is great about. Yeah, amen to that. And now, of course, your hometown newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, has doubled down and said, you know, our Olympians deserve support, but Jimmy's Famous Seafood profane way of coming to their defense shouldn't be celebrated. And, well, your response to them was the same as to the Huffington Post, the same three magical words there. Are you doing this? Is everything we're seeing from the Jimmy's Famous Seafood X account you, or is it you and a couple of other people on the team? Yeah, so we do have a few members. And right now, while we're undergoing this crazy wave, I'm kind of just making sure everything filters through me, right? Yeah, good idea. Good idea. Yeah, we honestly, we can't even keep up. Like the Twitter page crashed again today, so we can't even see our notifications right now. So we just have to like go through the comments and try and answer as many as we can while still trying to get ready for lunch and ship some orders out. So it's been, you know, these are days that you pray for as a small business owner. So we're just enjoying the ride. Well, let's get to the shipping orders out part because, you know, some in the culture would have you believe that if you come out as unabashedly and pro-American and patriotic as you have, that that's bad for business. But tell me, you got some crab cakes flying out the doors right now? Yeah, we've had one of our busiest weeks ever in terms of shipping. We've been working around the clock in just all 50 states, even Hawaii and Alaska this week. So it's been a really blessed week. Yeah. Hold on. When Alaska is ordering crabs from the Chesapeake Bay, you know you've done something right, my friend. Yeah. I think it's just, you know, people just want to support. Some people are ordering, you know, crabs, as you mentioned, and crab cakes. But some people are ordering T-shirts, too. They just want to, you know, know that. Yeah. It's just fun. It just a really cool way to show support in the Internet era right Like back in the day if my father would have done something like this they would have had to wait until they were in Baltimore But that the beauty of you know there a lot of terrible things obviously, about social media and the internet, but this is one of the good things. Well, and talk to us about your merch, because you guys have a, you did a new merch alert about a shirt tied to this whole kerfuffle. Tell us about the shirt. And for those of us who may not usually use the F word, what do you have for us, too? Go finagle yourself. Just trying to ride the wave and pay it forward as much as possible, because it is my belief that any time you get blessed like this, you have to pay it forward. So we did do the Team USA gold medal shirt first, and all the proceeds were donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. they're actually going to come by today and pick up the check, $10,000. Oh, wow, wonderful. $10,000? That's amazing. John, that's incredible. You've got to pay it forward, you know. So we wanted to keep it going, and a lot of people requested the GFY shirt. And, you know, while it's not the smartest thing to wear, it probably wouldn't wear it to school or church, right? People have requested it, and we put it on sale yesterday, and this time we're going to send the proceeds to Folds of Honor, which I'm not sure if you're familiar with. Oh, no, we know them very well. They're great. Yeah, they do tremendous work, and, you know, we helped them out with their golf tournament here locally. So hopefully we're able to hit a similar number for them as well. All right. Awesome. More importantly, honestly, John, it's going to be 64 degrees on Saturday. First really nice weekend day of this year. A great day to go and sit there at Jimmy's Famous Seafood, enjoy everything that Maryland has to offer. Can I get a table? Are we going to be able to get in? Yeah, I would love to see you tomorrow, man. I'll be there all day and night. It's not going to be packed. I'm getting ready to head in now for lunch. All right. Yeah, God willing, you know, people got to remember, sometimes the Internet is not a real place. So while you might be getting overwhelmed online, you step outside, get some fresh air, it's a different world. But so far this week, we've definitely had a lot of support, a lot of great people coming in from all around. We had a table coming from Colorado, another table from Florida, a table from Illinois. So it's been a lot of fun this week. Huge smiles on faces. And, you know, it's pretty funny. The new greeting when people meet me is they tell me GFY with a big smile on their face. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Well, you know what? Roll with it, John. Absolutely. You got to get a bread. I love it. Jimmy's Famous Seafood, everybody. get up to Baltimore and enjoy everything that they have to offer and celebrate and promote a great patriotic Marylander who's doing his best to cut through all the noise and the garbage out there and keep it real. John, congrats. Good to see you. And I'll ask for you when we swing in this weekend. Thanks so much. I would love to see you. Yes. Thank you. You bet, man. It's 846. Well, Christians worldwide are now in the Lenten season as we finish up this first week of, well, I guess we're now in our, this is the second Friday of Lent, but we're heading towards Easter, of course. And now we have a fascinating scientific discovery, Patrice on Wucca, that adds credence, scientific credence, to some of the claims in the Bible having to do with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Now, as you know, in the Gospel of Matthew, there's a reference to the earth shaking moments after Jesus died on the cross. And now there's been some investigation, geological investigation into the sediment in the area of Jerusalem in Israel. And there shows disturbances in sediment that is consistent with seismic activity. And it shows a major earthquake around 31 B.C. and a smaller seismic event sometime between 26 and 36 A.D. Oh, wow. Research note that this period aligns with the years Pontius Pilate served as the procurator of Judea. And the time frame is the same as the Gospel of Matthew describing an earthquake following Jesus' death. Now, scientists can determine when earthquakes struck even thousands of years earlier using a range of modern dating techniques. There are some who think that this is, you know, all just speculation and people who already have preconceived beliefs in search of some sort of scientific backup. And those of us who are true believers don't really need science to affirm what Scripture tells us. But it is a fascinating sort of extra wrinkle to the conversation. Every time we do get some kind of archaeological evidence going back to that era, it always seems to affirm what the Bible tells us. For instance, real fast, when we got the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered, it sort of confirmed that Scripture had stayed consistent to years even preceding the New Testament days, right? It suddenly shows, oh, wow, the Scripture is quite consistent. Because, you know, you heard all people say, oh, it was really just a modern creation and Scripture was rewritten and all that. Nope, nope. It's actually quite – the Dead Sea Scrolls proved that they were quite consistent, and certainly Isaiah and some of the other prophets. And also we were told, oh, well, David wasn't a real figure. King David – there's no archaeological evidence that there was a King David of the Judea kingdom or the Israeli kingdom. And then just about 10 years ago, I think, they found a placard from Syria, from the king of Assyria, referring to King David down in Judea. So every time there is an archaeological discovery, it does not actually debunk the Bible. It affirms the Bible. It's remarkable. Similarly, when we think about the story of Noah and the flood, the trenches at the bottom of the seafloor, you know, give credence to the fact that there was some sort of geological event that caused the waters of the Great Deep to open up and rise and flood. and the kind of algae and sea creatures at the bottom of the ocean were found at the tops of mountaintops, which would get credence to the fact that the sea levels rose to flood the nation. I mean, the world. It's so remarkable. And so now we have this, which is the archaeological find, Larry, but also we've got this, would you call this a meteorological or maybe astrological? Astrological or astronomical, actually, I think is the right word. It's astronomical, but it's astrological here. But really suggesting that there was a lunar eclipse that occurred when Jesus died. According to NASA, they've been able to prove that there was a lunar eclipse that turned the moon red over Jerusalem around the time of Friday, April 3rd, 33 AD. It's Friday, April 3rd, 33 AD, which is right around the time of the celebration of Passover on the Jewish calendar. And that, of course. And the date that Jesus was, you know, it's pegged to his death, to his crucifixion. So, I mean, listen, the overall arching point here is, yes, we have science, we have history, we have archaeology, we have astrology to confirm what we believe that the Bible is true. But at the end of the day, whether you believe it or not, it's going to come down to your own heart. All of the science, all of the history will not convince some people really at the end of the day. But I'm totally convinced. Thomas would not believe until he put his fingers in the crucified hands and wounds of Jesus. And he did eventually. But as Jesus said, blessed are those who believe without having to see. It's 854.
