56 Police Videos Leak in LEGO Scandal Exposing Everything & Candace Owens Just Triggered a Meltdown
PDS Published 06/04/2026
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I didn't think it was possible, but the Reckless Ben $200,000 LEGO scandal just got crazier after hours of police bodycam footage surfaced. Though there's also the shocking Candace Owens–Laura Loomer Russia meltdown that just went nuclear, with MAGA tearing itself apart over Moscow. And why a priest got removed after his UFO demon claims. We're talking about all of that and even more on today's brand-new Philip DeFranco Show, your daily dive into the news.
So buckle up, hit that like button, and let's jump into it, starting with this genuinely crazy story.
The unredacted police bodycam video from the Reckless Ben $200,000 LEGO scandal that's been spiraling out of control is now out there in the world. Though I will say right now it's unclear if it actually leaked or if the police accidentally released it themselves.
Quick recap—you can watch my previous coverage in the video links down below.
Basically, there's a guy from Oregon by the name of Brian Menzel who entered into a consignment agreement with a local Bricks & Minifigs franchise to sell his dad's $200,000 LEGO collection for a 65% cut.
But after corporate seized that franchise and sold it to new owners, the remaining LEGOs just disappeared, with Brian claiming that the company and/or its new owners stole the LEGOs and refused to honor the consignment deal.
And that is where Reckless Ben comes in.
The YouTuber launched a full-scale investigation that took him to Utah so he could serve papers to the new franchise owners live. Things then quickly spiraled out of control.
Ben was arrested twice on accusations of stalking. One of the owner's Airbnbs was raided for the missing LEGOs. His car was searched for heroin, and he eventually fled to Mexico.
And you've got Ben saying that a lot of this feels like a big conspiracy between the new franchise owners and the American Fork Police Department in Utah because the owners are Mormon and the cops are also part of the Mormon community.
Last week, with the AFP posting a video statement sharing their side and effectively denying any kind of collusion, Ben had been hitting back at their version of events and calling on them to release all unredacted bodycam footage from the case.
And it now appears that we've gotten that unredacted footage—or at least some of it—though I will say it's also unclear exactly where it came from.
Questions About How the Footage Surfaced
On one side, you have Ben posting a video today where he made these claims about the origins and content.
"Someone actually hacked into the American Fork Police Department and released all the footage unredacted of my interactions with them.
Sadly, they weren't able to get the first two days where I was accused of having heroin on me. But the final two days we were able to see a lot."
Actually, though, you also have a number of people on Reddit who seem to have evidence that the footage may not have actually been leaked in a hack.
When the AFP posted their video last week, they included a link to a Dropbox that contained bodycam footage. While, as of recording, that Dropbox appears to be temporarily disabled when you click the link, we don't really know exactly what footage was in there or whether it was redacted.
Multiple people appear to have been able to download the full contents of the folder and re-upload it on other platforms.
And a number of people on Reddit who downloaded or viewed the Dropbox before it was disabled say that it did indeed appear to contain at least some unredacted footage.
So, of course, we can't verify that.
But looking over what appears to be the most comprehensive re-upload, there are just hours and hours of bodycam footage. There are a total of 56 videos that range from a few minutes to more than two hours.
The videos span from March 8th to March 11th, meaning they do actually appear to include the first two days of footage that Ben said were left out.
And we were also able to find bodycam video from when the police searched his car for drugs.
Again, it is unclear how much of this is truly unredacted, especially since large chunks of these videos appear to be muted.
There, you have a lot of people claiming that those blank audio spots are actually the police manually muting their own bodycams, which they generally are allowed to do in certain circumstances that involve privacy or highly sensitive matters.
Now, of course, given what we try to do on the show, we're not going to be able to go through all this video because there's just so much footage.
But you had Ben flagging specific clips in the update that he posted today.
The Dispute Over Serving Legal Papers
In the footage that he selected to show, it hits on one of the core disputes in Utah.
It centers around Ben's efforts to serve legal documents to a man by the name of Josh Johnson, who is one of the new owners of the Bricks & Minifigs franchise in Oregon.
Ben says that he can't move forward with his lawsuit until he gets Josh to sign the document.
So he calls him, he goes to his house, he sends others to his house, and he has no success.
Instead, he gets arrested for trespassing and stalking.
But early on in his attempts, police offered to give Josh the papers.
Josh kept claiming, "Hey, those papers are fake."
And the cops didn't end up serving the documents even after they verified that they were legitimate.
All that stuff we already knew.
Ben then plays a clip of bodycam footage that he says shows how easily the cops gave up when they could have just served Josh.
"I called the Keizer Police Department."
"There's no file, so no, I'm not accepting service. Absolutely not."
"Check. It's not real."
"That's clearly fine."
"You have that right."
Ben then responds:
"Literally all this police officer has to do is be like, 'You are served,' and then he doesn't even have to accept them. He can drop them.
But as long as you say, 'You are served,' that counts as legal service.
So why doesn't this cop just do that?
This whole thing could be solved in literally three seconds."
Claims of Police Favoritism
There was also this moment that Ben claims further illustrates how the cops were working to help Josh.
"What do you want done today?"
"Both sides obviously talked as much as they should have when they possibly can."
"I can screen charges. I'm open to screening charges for our attorney."
Ben's response:
"Instead of serving these court papers like the police officer promised me he would, this officer would rather screen all possible charges for me to see what random stuff they can make up about me."
Allegations of Threats and Harassment
There were also at least two moments where Josh told police that Ben had sent another person to threaten him with murder.
"He hired this YouTuber. His name is Ben Snyder. He's Reckless Ben."
"People are saying they're going to murder our manager."
"They sent a lady in there and she's like, 'Oh, I'm going to murder you.'"
Ben responded:
"And now Josh has just committed a felony. Lying to police officers about a false threat I made to get me arrested is super-duper illegal."
That murder claim was also echoed by Bricks & Minifigs CEO Mike McNabb, who was on speakerphone with Josh during one of the times police went to his house.
"What's happened is we had a super-franchisee. Mr. Tiger is just a huge YouTuber that got ahold of the story and then went to this guy and said, 'Hey, if I can harass these guys and get some money out of them, will you pay me some of that money?'"
Ben responded:
"And now Mike McNabb has just committed obstruction by lying to the police officers."
McNabb’s Broader Allegations
I actually want to play some more of that call for you that Ben didn't include because the accusations McNabb makes are pretty wild.
During the lengthy phone call, he says that the original franchise owner who made the consignment deal with Brian Menzel sold the entire $200,000 LEGO collection and then fled to Europe without compensating him.
So McNabb appears to be claiming that he's been trying to help Brian, but this whole thing is just a scheme that Ben cooked up with Brian so they can both extort money from Bricks & Minifigs.
He also accuses Ben of harassing staff at their private homes, creating fraudulent documents, and forging signatures.
And very notably here, he also told AFP that his lawyers were working with law enforcement and said there was already another open case against Ben in Utah that laid out all those allegations.
"We had a former franchisee send me an invalid consignment agreement with a completely separate person.
That person sold their LEGO sets and didn't pay the person. They fled to Europe somewhere.
We've been trying to deal with this situation. We've been trying to help the person.
Then Reckless Ben started flying down here, coming to our corporate offices.
Now they're heading to our staff and other individuals at their residences, just harassing them and continuing to try and extort money out of them.
There's already a case in Provo because they've been passing fraudulent documents up in Oregon.
They're actually forging somebody's signature on a fake contract.
It's all just for clicks and views online. They don't actually care about any of the things they're going after.
They just want attention."
Ben’s Response
While Ben did include those clips in his most recent video, he also touched on the broader allegations.
"So right away, Josh is lying to the police, which we can easily verify with all the metadata and timestamped pictures that show the LEGO sets were in the store when Josh took it over.
So this is basically a spoiler for Episode 3, but basically this Bricks & Minifigs company is nonstop making fake bomb threats, fake fire threats, fake murder threats in my name."
"I'm going to murder them."
"The only problem is obviously these are all fake threats. I would never do something like that.
But the police think these are real threats.
So now the police from Los Angeles and Utah are all working together to catch me."
Ben then plays a clip of a phone call between Utah and California police where they discuss the cases and wonder about Ben's whereabouts.
You've got Ben arguing that the clips show police scheming together to get him arrested for fake threats.
You've had others countering, saying it just seems like normal police work—asking about shared details of various cases and whether anyone knows where Ben is.
Where Things Stand
Regardless, you've got Ben ending the video saying that he's in a place right now where American police do not have jurisdiction, so they can't catch him.
That is generally where we are right now.
Though again, there are hours and hours of police footage to sort through, so we may see other things pop up.
And that's all while we're getting these constant updates on this increasingly insane story, with Ben promising a Part 3.
Because who knew a story about LEGOs could get to this place?
And while we wait to see what happens next, I'd really love to know your thoughts, opinions, and reactions in those comments down below.
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We should also talk about how one of the most loyal bootlickers for Donald Trump, a personal adviser to the president who has been called the "MAGA whisperer," just admitted that the Democrats were right all along.
With Laura Loomer declaring:
"The more I observe, the more I realize the left wasn't so wrong about their claims that many personalities on the fringe of the so-called right are foreign agents. Broken clocks and all."
And then adding:
"This week it hit me hard just how much Russian propaganda we have been subjected to on the right for the last five years."
She also wrote:
"It's a shame so many false accusations of Russian collusion were spread over the last ten years as a way to smear Donald Trump and his allies with lies, because now that actual Russian interference is here in our media and on social media, nobody believes it's real. No one."
This is funny to me because there's always been talk about how you can kind of puppet Laura Loomer to say what you want if you throw some bucks at her.
But you might also be confused.
Is she talking about Tucker Carlson? Tim Pool? Benny Johnson? Dave Rubin?
No.
Well, actually, it turns out this time it's Candace Owens.
Candace Owens in Russia
"I was in Moscow, and Moscow was positively stunning.
It defied my expectations.
How clean, how safe, how beautiful, how historic the city is.
I was asking myself, why can't we be told that this is a lovely, beautiful, safe city?
Especially as a Christian, I think that frustration was magnified because there's so much wonderful Christian heritage in Moscow."
That's right.
Candace appears to be in Russia with her husband George Farmer and their four kids, taking in the sights, touring the Kremlin grounds, and doing her best to awaken the Christian world to what Satanists did to the Romanov family.
And hey, it could be argued there's nothing wrong with admiring the aesthetic beauty and cultural history of a place like Russia, its brutal regime notwithstanding.
Granted, it is a little ironic that Owens, who's Catholic, is supposedly there to see the Christian heritage when Russia severely restricts churches there and has outright banned the Ukrainian Catholic Church in occupied Ukraine, persecuted its priests, and imposed its own brand of Orthodox Christianity.
But even putting that aside, Owens isn't just there to see cathedrals despite how she's depicting the trip.
Speaking at a Kremlin-Backed Forum
She's speaking at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, or SPIEF, which is a fun thing to say.
It's also a Kremlin-backed conference that's been dubbed "Russia's Davos."
With Davos being the better-known summit in the Swiss Alps where global elites gather every year.
Except this one is pro-Russian and anti-woke, apparently.
It's been held since 1997.
In attendance, you have Vladimir Putin himself, his state philosopher Alexander Dugin, sanctioned oligarchs, and oddly enough Trump's architectural adviser Rodney Mims Cook Jr., among others.
You may have also seen some people pointing out that the Nelk Boys appear to be in Russia this week, though it's unclear whether they're attending the event as well.
As for Candace Owens, she ended up sitting on a panel titled:
"Big Family, Big Reach: New Demographics and Narratives for Media Managers."
The panel focused on promoting having lots of children.
"It really has been a blessing to hear more intimately about what's going on in Russia in terms of those policies that are being put into place to encourage big families."
Of course, having lots of kids in Russia is very important because you never know when Putin's going to want to throw them into the woodchipper for another war of choice.
Ribbit.
Also, the panel included a Russian politician sanctioned by the United States for running a program that kidnapped Ukrainian children and trafficked them to Russia for reeducation, as well as a TV presenter sanctioned by the EU for spreading propaganda.
Why Critics Aren't Surprised
Especially if you're not super familiar with Candace Owens, this is not out of character.
She's been a huge Russia supporter since at least 2024, with her saying back then:
"No amount of media brainwash in the world could ever make me hope that Zelensky triumphs over an Orthodox Russia.
Spiritually, I just know that's wrong.
You simply do not support a homosexual actor that is locking up churches and bishops."
Candace Owens is also not the first right-wing American podcaster to visit Russia.
Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson are two other examples.
Carlson famously said:
"There's no graffiti.
There's no filth.
There's no foul smells.
There are no bums or drug addicts or rapists or people waiting to push you onto the train tracks and kill you."
And speaking of Tucker Carlson, when Owens was asked this week whether she would run for president, this was her answer:
"I really don't have an interest in running for office because there is just too much inauthenticity.
Also, the great letdown of Trump.
I would be interested in strongly getting behind someone like Carlson."
Laura Loomer vs. Candace Owens
Whether it's Tucker or Candace, for their enemies in this MAGA civil war, it's all the same.
They are both just paid foreign agents.
Probably the loudest voice making that claim right now is Laura Loomer, who wrote on Twitter:
"Candace Owens is 100% in communication with sanctioned individuals.
The State Department, DOJ, and U.S. Treasury really need to investigate Candace Owens."
Owens fired back:
"She is mentally unwell and unfortunately exceptionally dense as well.
I genuinely have to laugh at someone who tags the State Department on X to inform them that one of their citizens is headed to Russia.
This means she doesn't even grasp the function of a passport."
She added:
"She thinks the State Department looks to her X feed to learn who is flying in and out of their country."
Meanwhile, Loomer escalated things:
"Candace Owens looks pregnant in her pics from Russia.
I can see it now.
She's investigated for possible FARA violations.
The Trump admin is prosecuting a black pregnant woman.
I need asylum in Russia."
And:
"Candace Owens is auditioning to be the female Edward Snowden so she can avoid all accountability and live somewhere where she can spew her propaganda all day without fear of being sued or held accountable in the courts."
That appears to be a reference to the ongoing defamation lawsuit Owens faces over her claims that Emmanuel Macron's wife is secretly transgender.
The Insults Get Personal
On that note, Owens has also begun referring to Laura as "Larry," though it's unclear whether she's joking or genuinely believes the rumor that Loomer is trans.
Whatever the case may be, Owens shot back:
"You and your fake husband, Andrew Simpson, who is actually just your handler, look unhappy on this Alaskan cruise last week.
Is it because he only travels with you alongside an entourage of six young dudes that accompanied him?
You paying for trips for him and his friends so you can pretend you are in a relationship?
Also, why did you lie and claim to people you two were married when you were not?"
She continued:
"An Alaskan cruise with his homies is about as close as you'll get to a Russian vacation with family, which is what you are inherently jealous of, Larry."
And then added:
"Calling it now, Andrew Simpson is likely getting paid to keep tabs on the mentally unstable Larry.
He is simply on a job.
But Larry is way too stupid to figure that out.
Trump is out of office, the job will be done."
Loomer responded:
"Who squeezed the turkey baster for baby number five?
Is Putin going to announce what looks like another pregnancy?
Don't let the baby drive with George in the car.
You know drunk driving kills, right?"
Media Coverage of the Trip
And as this fantastic dumpster-fire mess plays out, Owens is also being dismissive of mainstream outlets covering her trip.
"It clearly is a pro-Kremlin propaganda tour.
For whatever reason, I think this has been the most triggering trip for the mainstream media.
Every single article that is written about me is almost fiction.
I don't even respond.
It would have sufficed to just say, 'Candace is going to Russia on a family vacation, and while she's there, she's going to be speaking on the topic of family at SPIEF.'
They just can't do it."
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They fall short every single time.
Then there's even more that we've got to dive into in just a minute.
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Then diving right back into the news, the House of Representatives has now voted against Trump's war against Iran.
And there's a new U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, though it's not clear either conflict is actually anywhere close to ending.
House Votes to Limit Trump's War Powers
Let's start with the vote in the House.
As we've talked about, Trump has repeatedly rejected the idea that he needs permission from Congress for this war.
And the Republican Party—or at least most of its members—have repeatedly failed to give him any reason to think otherwise.
But the tide has ever so slightly been turning.
The Senate advanced a measure demanding that Trump end the war without authorization from Congress for the first time in mid-May, with the help of four Republicans and all but one Democrat.
And the House would have likely done the same if not for Republican leadership abruptly canceling the vote after it became clear they lacked the numbers to defeat the measure.
They seemed to be hoping that Trump was going to be able to end the war on his own before they had no choice but to let the vote take place.
But instead, despite Trump continuing to claim that an agreement is near—and even announcing at one point that he was headed to the Situation Room to make a final determination on Iran—there is no end in sight.
Fighting Intensifies
In fact, just this week we've seen some of the most intense fighting yet since the ceasefire took effect.
For example, Iran fired missiles and drones at bases in the region and Kuwait's international airport. The attacks injured dozens and left at least one person dead.
And as that's been going on, we've seen Trump facing some limited pushback from his party on issues unrelated to the war.
For example, some Senate Republicans forced him to abandon his request for $1 billion in security funding for his ballroom, as well as speaking out on his decision to appoint Bill Pulte to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.
Meanwhile, bipartisan pressure on the Justice Department also led to the scrapping of the $1.8 billion so-called "anti-weaponization fund," which, of course, looked like it was just being created to award payouts to Trump's allies and supporters, including January 6 defendants.
Resolution Passes the House
So the War Powers vote in the House yesterday has been one aspect of what's been described by some as a kind of Republican rebellion.
To be very clear, the dissenters are still few and far between. It is still widely Trump's party.
Though the House did vote 215 to 208 in favor of ending the war without congressional authorization.
Only four Republicans joined Democrats.
That included Thomas Massie of Kentucky, whose criticism of the war is, of course, just one of the reasons that Trump primaried him.
As far as this resolution that just passed in the House, it's now going to move to the Senate, which has to take it up within roughly two and a half weeks according to the law.
But even if it passes, you have the Trump administration arguing that any effort by Congress to limit the president's war powers is unconstitutional.
Any real chance of making the resolution legally enforceable would likely require a two-thirds supermajority in both chambers.
So the reality here is that this war, the disaster, all the impacts—it's still all in Trump's hands.
Trump's Conflicting Statements
Meanwhile, Trump continues to give incredibly conflicting statements about where negotiations stand.
He claimed last week, for example, that Iran had agreed to let the U.S. come in and remove its enriched uranium.
But then a couple of days later he told Reuters that he didn't really care because it's so far underground.
With that, he's aggressively taken to downplaying the situation even as the stakes continue to grow.
He said earlier this week that talks to reach a preliminary agreement were "starting to get very boring"—his words—and added:
"I don't care if they're over. I really don't care. I couldn't care less if they're over. They're over."
And then Trump said yesterday that the war—which, just as a reminder, has killed at least 13 American service members, increased the cost of living for millions of working-class people in the country, and depleted military weapons stockpiles to what some believe are dangerously low levels—was, quote, "not a big thing" for the United States.
He then went on to boast about the stock market and falsely claimed that costs were coming down.
"And everybody is making a lot of money."
He also once again casually threatened Iran's leadership:
"We could go another two or three weeks and just wipe everybody out. I'd rather not do that. Very easy to do. They're ready to do it. They want to do it.
But if we can get something done in writing which will accomplish the same thing without killing everybody, I'd like to do that."
Reports of Tension with Netanyahu
Now, with all that, Trump has reportedly told aides that he'd only really consider returning to all-out war if Iran kills more Americans.
The implication being that he might be willing to accept smaller flare-ups in the fighting for weeks or even months to avoid escalation.
That would actually track with something else he said yesterday while downplaying recent attacks:
"You know, I'd say in that part of the world, a ceasefire is when you're shooting in a more moderate manner.
It takes two to tango, understand that.
We hit them very hard on something else unrelated, and so they were responding."
While Trump's trying to look unbothered in public, it might just kind of be for show.
And I say that for a number of reasons.
Including on Monday, you had Axios reporting that Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's escalation in Lebanon.
Reportedly saying:
"What the fuck are you doing?
You're fucking crazy.
You'd be in prison if it weren't for me.
I'm saving your ass.
Everybody hates you now.
Everybody hates Israel because of this."
Trump later confirmed the conversation in an interview with The New York Times.
There was then reporting that the exchange actually put a stop to Israel's plan to launch massive strikes on Beirut.
New Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire
Now you have Israel and Lebanon saying that they've agreed to implement a full ceasefire.
That agreement was reportedly reached after two days of negotiations mediated by Trump.
This is something that is very, very important to Trump because a full ceasefire in Lebanon is one of the key demands Iranian officials have made for ending the war.
But also, a key thing to remember is that Israel and Lebanon already agreed to a ceasefire weeks ago, and that one obviously hasn't worked.
You've got the Lebanese Health Ministry saying the conflict has killed more than 3,300 people since early March, and several hundred of those deaths came after the previous ceasefire took effect.
And this new ceasefire, while it demands that Hezbollah halt attacks and pull its fighters from certain areas, doesn't explicitly require immediate concessions from Israel.
In fact, since the agreement was announced, Israel has already carried out deadly airstrikes.
Israel's defense minister said his country had, quote, "freedom of action," backed by the United States, to strike Beirut in response to attacks on Israeli communities and territory.
For their part, Hezbollah has also reportedly fired rockets at Israeli targets in the region, with the group's leader rejecting the ceasefire and calling it a, quote, "roadmap to annihilate part of the Lebanese people."
What Happens Next?
That said, there were some signs that the new ceasefire was having some effect.
As part of the deal, both sides agreed to create so-called pilot zones over which the Lebanese Armed Forces would take exclusive control, to the exclusion of all non-state actors.
The Lebanese military said today that Israeli forces had withdrawn from one area in the south to allow Lebanese Army units to begin deploying there.
Ultimately, we're going to have to wait and see what happens.
And you have people worried that this whole thing could fall apart at any moment.
And whatever does happen could also affect the U.S. negotiations with Iran.
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Then, to switch gears up a bit, we should also talk today about this man who put his life on the line for nearly two decades just to lose it because his insurance carrier denied his cancer treatment.
Ken Jones' Story
This is Ken Jones.
He was a firefighter with the San Francisco Fire Department for 17 years.
He met his wife there. His daughter was born while he worked there.
So much of his life was spent protecting that city.
Even after he stopped fighting fires himself, he worked in the department's stress unit, helping connect his colleagues to mental health support.
Except it turns out that time on the front lines left him with more than just a few good stories.
Fourteen months ago, Ken was diagnosed with an advanced-stage lung cancer known as adenocarcinoma.
He developed painful tumors in his bones, lymph nodes, and brain.
And his doctors said it was likely connected to his time fighting fires.
Which, yeah, makes sense.
Even back in 2022, the World Health Organization started classifying firefighting as a carcinogenic occupation because of prolonged exposure to smoke and chemicals.
His Treatment and Insurance Denial
As far as Ken, after his diagnosis, he got started on chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
But his doctors had him stop that ahead of schedule in order to try some new medical trials.
Those weren't able to slow the cancer's progression as much as they hoped.
So his medical team, including Dr. Matthew Gubens, turned back to immunotherapy with chemotherapy at the beginning of this year.
Except what happened is that Blue Shield, Ken's insurance provider through the city, denied coverage.
That's despite the fact that the insurer even acknowledged the immunotherapy prescribed was both FDA-approved and within Medicare guidelines.
They said that both a Blue Shield oncologist and a Medicare-funded independent reviewer determined that Ken was ineligible because he had already gone through other treatments and immunotherapy is meant to be a first-line therapy.
But Dr. Gubens was very quick to push back against that.
"There are gray areas and edge cases among our patients where those guidelines just don't apply, where the data aren't as robust, and we have to make clinical decisions in the clinic on the ground."
And he's not just saying that.
Dr. Gubens is the head of UC San Francisco's Thoracic Medical Oncology Clinic, and he reportedly helped craft the guidelines for how to best treat cancer patients.
He's not a nobody. He's not just some doctor.
He knows his shit.
Appeals and Frustration
And so he decided to call Blue Shield and appeal the decision.
But even after hours on the phone, he says he couldn't get ahold of anyone who could actually do anything.
"I reached people who apologized, but they weren't the right place to send the appeal to and often referred me back to the first person I talked to."
When asked how long he spent on the phone that day, he said:
"I spent about three hours calling different phone numbers for this insurance company."
He submitted his appeal in writing, only for it to get shot down again.
Obviously, as all of this is happening, Ken and his family are pissed and terrified.
"You've just automatically depended on that insurance being there, and then when it's not, it was quite a blow."
When asked if they expected any of this, the answer was no.
His daughter, Rachel, added:
"Who says no to somebody with stage-four lung cancer?
You thought it was a mistake?"
"Yeah, I really did.
To me, saying no is saying I'm okay with you dying."
The Cost of Treatment
And she's kind of right.
Without insurance coverage, there wasn't much Ken could do.
Because the out-of-pocket expense for the treatment he needed was roughly $50,000.
And that's just for one round.
In order to have a fighting chance, he'd have to repeat the treatment every three weeks for up to two years.
We're talking about potentially more than $1 million.
But they weren't just going to give up and take that lying down.
Taking the Fight Public
Ken's family, friends, and former colleagues took the issue to San Francisco's Health Service System Oversight Board.
While the board can't overturn a denial, it's responsible for approving all city employee health plan contracts and could pressure the insurance company to reconsider.
You had Rachel stand up in front of that board at a public meeting earlier this year, accusing Blue Shield of putting money above her father's life.
"I'm forced to stand here and think because an insurance company decided that profits matter more than the life of a man who spent his career protecting this city."
The oversight officials were apparently unmoved.
The executive director of the San Francisco Health Service System sided with Blue Shield, saying:
"At the heart of the matter is the fact that such services that were denied are not allowed by Medicare."
Which is also the hill Blue Shield was dying on.
Despite the fact that Ken and his family quickly disproved that claim.
Medicare Approves the Treatment
Ken decided to leave Blue Shield and switch to standard Medicare run by the federal government.
His wife said that after he switched, Medicare agreed to pay for the cancer immunotherapy with no issue.
Adding:
"Ken's full treatment is now being fully covered by straight Medicare.
The San Francisco Health Service System shouldn't allow Blue Shield to get away with it—for Ken or other retirees."
But this fight with Blue Shield led to a serious delay in critical care.
And so Dr. Gubens said:
"Any of our cancer treatments are harder to give and less effective the weaker a patient is when we're seeing them."
Ken's Death
Horribly, it all proved too much.
Ken Jones recently passed away.
A former colleague and close friend said:
"I believe wholeheartedly that they expedited his death.
Chemotherapy really is tough.
It's tough on your body because it's killing all the good cells as well as the bad.
And so, you know, he had to suffer a lot through that.
And then being denied further treatment—it's so cruel.
It is so cruel."
Blue Shield Responds
As far as Blue Shield, they released a statement saying they were:
"Deeply saddened to learn of Ken's passing"
and extended condolences to his wife, family, friends, and former colleagues.
You can take that as heartfelt.
Or as a company worried that people are going to start Googling who the CEO is and who else is sitting in the C-suite.
Calls for Reform
But also, Ken's struggle has become a catalyst for a major snowball effect in San Francisco.
Government officials have started asking questions as the story gained traction.
That includes a California Assembly member summoning Blue Shield to explain its denial decision back in February.
And San Francisco supervisors raised even more concerns in April.
At the time, asking how widespread denials like this really are among the 40,000 city employees and retirees covered by Blue Shield and two other insurance providers.
And it turns out, according to the city's Health Service System, 21% of claims are denied.
Which definitely raised alarms.
Supervisor Connie Chan said she wants to determine whether this is a solvable administrative issue or something that needs to be addressed before the city renews its contracts with Blue Shield.
And with Ken's death, Blue Shield executives are expected to meet with leaders of the local firefighters union and other advocates to discuss real reform.
Final Thoughts
As far as whether there will be real, meaningful change?
We'll wait and see.
I'm a cynic.
I see and break down stories like this and think:
"Oh, everything's run by soulless bloodsuckers."
But hey, maybe hell freezes over and I'll get surprised.
Or maybe the heat will actually get too hot for some people and they'll do the right thing.
But while we wait to see...
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So jump on it now. It is a 36-hour code.
And also, for those asking, yes, we're bringing back more graphic tees.
I'd say in about six weeks.
And those are actually going to be on our Core 1.0 tees, which a lot of people have requested that we bring back as well.
Yeah, there's that.
All that said, Beautiful Bastard. Love you.
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But then, for your final block today, we've got more news you need to know.
And that starts with cancer and HIV patients.
New Medicaid Work Requirements
They could lose their healthcare under the Trump administration's Medicaid work requirements.
For months, federal officials led state Medicaid workers to believe that people who need consistent coverage for their conditions would be exempt from the new requirements.
But now, with the interim final rule that was just published, experts say that's not necessarily the case.
The condition or disease needs to be actively interfering with your ability to work.
So people with early-stage cancer who are in radiation treatment but still have the capacity to work, or people who have HIV but can still technically work, are not exempt from the requirements.
As the rule is written now, someone with those types of conditions could mess up their paperwork, miss a deadline, or just get caught in a clerical mistake and lose their coverage.
Concerns About Implementation
Experts are saying those types of mistakes are bound to happen with the timeline.
While it usually takes years to make healthcare changes this large, states were only given a year and a half to implement them.
Just to give you some context on how significant this could be:
About 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV.
And as far as cancer, researchers estimate there will be over 2 million new cancer diagnoses across the country this year alone.
And that doesn't even count the millions of patients with other chronic conditions who are basically left crossing their fingers and hoping these rapid changes don't leave them in a life-or-death situation.
Supporters Say It Encourages Work
As far as the Trump administration, they think as long as people aren't sitting at home receiving Medicaid benefits, it's worth it.
They see this as a way to encourage people to work for what they get.
With Dr. Oz saying:
"If you're sitting at home, which is true for the millions of people who are able-bodied on Medicaid, on average you're spending 6.1 hours watching television or just hanging around.
As a path to prosperity, Congress very wisely said, let's get you back into the workforce."
Now, I should mention that many adults on Medicaid are already working.
Only about one in five are not.
And even there, the specifics matter because that could be due to anything from being laid off to being retired, not just because someone wanted to spend all day binging Netflix.
Critics Push Back
Even for people who aren't retired or laid off, critics say this policy suggests that somebody could get a job if they wanted one and just needs a little shove.
Which reflects what many see as a complete lack of understanding of what people are actually going through.
So with all this, you've got medical groups and advocates saying they're deeply concerned.
Saying the rule would dramatically and inappropriately increase the number of people who lose healthcare coverage.
And the potential consequences here are very real.
You had the executive director of the HIV and Hepatitis Policy Institute saying:
"We are going to lose people to Medicaid bureaucracy, and then they're going to get sick, and then they're going to die."
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But then, going from concerning and sad, we get a very weird story.
And that's because the Archbishop of Washington, D.C., just removed an exorcist from his position for saying that UFO sightings are the work of demons.
Who Is Monsignor Stephen Rossetti?
Meet Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a priest and psychologist who's been working with the Church for decades.
He's treated clergy with mental health issues, served as a chaplain, and is also a professor at Catholic University.
And up until this week, he led the Saint Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, which is a nonprofit organization that hosts spiritual education workshops and trains exorcists.
So not some run-of-the-mill priest.
The UFO Comments
But he recently appeared on the Faith, Hope and Love Ministry YouTube show and landed himself in some hot water.
"Demons like to hide.
They don't want us to know they're there.
They don't want us to know what they're doing because they're more effective when we don't realize it.
Demons indeed can break into the physical world, and at times that can be seen.
There's no question in my mind, personally—and again, this is not a faith teaching, but it's my personal belief—that probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are in fact demons.
They can do things that we can't do, such as the speed with which they move."
A Common Belief in Some Religious Circles
Now, to add some context, it is not uncommon for some Catholics and other religious figures to challenge the idea of extraterrestrial life.
Some have argued:
"I don't think they're aliens. I think they're demons."
Reports have noted that in some cases, the idea is that extraterrestrials diminish what some see as the unique place of human beings in God's creation.
Others have said:
"When I hear about supernatural phenomena, that's where I go—to the Christian understanding.
I think that one of the devil's great tricks is to convince people that he never exists."
The Church Responds
But despite how surprisingly common the alien-to-demon pipeline may be, after that YouTube episode aired, Cardinal Robert McElroy announced that Rossetti would be removed as an exorcist.
Saying his statements:
"Gravely undermine the Church's very precise teaching on the devil, demons, and exorcism."
Rossetti responded:
"I am saddened by the decision of the Archdiocese of Washington.
I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church's Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on aliens and the demonic."
He added that he would continue being obedient to the Church, encouraged others to do the same, and said that the center would continue its work elsewhere.
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And then actually, the final bit of news you should know about today is that Trump's former National Security Adviser, John Bolton, is reportedly eyeing a guilty plea for retaining classified information.
The Allegations
He's pursuing a deal with the DOJ that he's hoping will help him avoid prison.
Last year, Bolton was accused of sharing more than a thousand pages of diary-like records from his work between 2018 and 2019 with two relatives who were helping him with his book that came out in 2020.
According to prosecutors, this included top-secret information.
We're talking about foreign adversary missile launch plans, plans for U.S. covert actions, and other highly sensitive material.
They said he was sharing all of this through his personal email account, which was later hacked by someone officials believe was linked to a foreign government.
Potential Plea Deal
Back in October, Bolton was indicted on 18 counts of mishandling classified information.
Which could have gotten him a decade behind bars if convicted.
While he originally pleaded not guilty, there is now a change-of-plea hearing set for June.
And reportedly, he's planning to plead guilty to one count of retention of national defense information.
He's also agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine.
With this deal, he could avoid jail time altogether.
If he doesn't receive the plea agreement, he could still face up to five years in prison.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, it's going to be up to the judge.
And if approved, this could end up being one of the first major legal victories Trump has landed against one of his longtime political enemies.
Because apparently this case against Bolton is holding up much better than the cases we've seen against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
But that, my friend, Beautiful Bastard, is the end of your Thursday Philip DeFranco Show.
Dive into the comments—what a day, and also what a week we've had.
And remember, if you're not 100% filled in, I've got you covered right here or in the link down below for another video you should watch, which is our new Crashing series.
We even had a very special guest, Bernie Sanders, join us.
Whatever you do, let me just say thank you for watching.
Like and subscribe.
I love your faces.
And I'll see you right back here next time.
Teaser: Bernie Sanders Interview
"What should I ask Bernie Sanders later today?"
"Senator Sanders, thank you so much for meeting with me here today.
So what the hell is going on?"
"We've got all this new technology in the richest country in the history of the world, and our younger generation is going to have a lower standard of living than their parents.
That's pretty crazy."
"There's no expectation of decency or professionalism."
"We can have our reach turned on and off by somebody sitting in a server room somewhere."
"AI and robotics will be the most transformational technologies in the history of humanity."
