#2198 - Bret Weinstein

**Joe Rogan** (0:00)
This episode is brought to you by Moe's Southwest Grill. Moe's has a huge variety of fresh ingredients and bold flavors that allow you to endlessly customize your burrito, bowl or even try something adventurous like their stack, full of steak or chicken. Don't forget to add a cup of their famous queso, made with three cheeses and diced jalapenos, or try all their free salsas from mild to spicy hot. Chips come free with every meal, so go ahead and treat yourself. Stop by any of your Moe's Southwest Grill locations today and welcome to Moe's. This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. You hear more and more about identity theft in the news every day. Maybe that's because so much of our lives are online now and there's only so much you can do to protect your personal information, like your insurance provider that has your social security number and your favorite retailer that has your payment details. If they get breached, your information is vulnerable. Fortunately, there's LifeLock. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points every second for identity threats. They have your back 100%. If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock, US-based restoration specialist will help solve identity theft issues on your behalf, guaranteed, or your money back. Plus, all LifeLock plans are backed by the million-dollar protection package, meaning LifeLock will reimburse you up to the limits of your plan if you lose money due to identity theft. You might not be able to control how others handle your personal information, but you can help protect it with LifeLock. Save up to 40% your first year at lifelock.com/jre. That's 40% off your first year at lifelock.com/jre.
Terms apply.
The Joe Rogan Experience. Showing by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day. Good to see you, my friend.

**Bret Weinstein** (2:11)
Oh, good to see you, man.

**Joe Rogan** (2:13)
Strange times we're living in.

**Bret Weinstein** (2:15)
The strangest and getting stranger.

**Joe Rogan** (2:17)
Didn't some shit go down today? Didn't we steal the president of Venezuela's plane? Yeah, I think we just stole his plane.

**Bret Weinstein** (2:24)
I didn't.

**Joe Rogan** (2:25)
No, not us.

**Bret Weinstein** (2:25)
Okay, good.

**Joe Rogan** (2:26)
The United States.

**Bret Weinstein** (2:28)
So, someone stole his plane. All right.

**Joe Rogan** (2:31)
Which is kind of an act of war. What is that?

**Bret Weinstein** (2:35)
Was he in it?

**Joe Rogan** (2:36)
I don't think so. No. I think we just stole his plane.

**Bret Weinstein** (2:40)
Just like for a joyride?

**Joe Rogan** (2:41)
What's the story? US seizes Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro's airplane in the Dominican Republic. So we said, no, we're stealing that. How does that work? Even if you don't get along with a president of a country, how disrespectful is it to steal their plane?

**Bret Weinstein** (2:58)
You're right. It's an act of war.

**Joe Rogan** (3:00)
Imagine if Xi Jinping landed somewhere and we're like, we're going to steal your fucking plane. No chance. That's a bully move. That's a move you can only do to a country like Venezuela.

**Bret Weinstein** (3:11)
Yes. Well, I'm trying to remember exactly what the story was, but there was a point where Ecuador was acting very courageously with respect to Julian Assange. And there was a question about whether the president of Ecuador could fly Assange out so that he could be outside of the embassy and inside of Ecuador proper. And I believe the reasoning was they couldn't do it because they expected the plane to be forced down.
Same issue.

**Joe Rogan** (3:37)
So this says Merrick Garland said that the Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolas Madura and his cronies. What business is that of ours though? This is what I don't understand. Like if it was purchased through a shell company, then it was purchased.

**Bret Weinstein** (4:02)
Right, and was there a trial that established that this was ill-gotten gains?

**Joe Rogan** (4:06)
It says smuggled out of the United States. The plane was purchased from a company in Florida, the Justice Department said, and was illegally exported in April 2023 from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean. So are we not allowed to sell them planes?
Is that what it is? Because we have a problem with them? Would they say how much it costs? $13 million bucks?

**Bret Weinstein** (4:28)
Yeah.

**Joe Rogan** (4:29)
Okay, so he's got this $13 million plane, a Dassault Falcon 900EX, since been used to fly almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela, Justice Department said, CNN reached out to the Venezuelan government, the US. It seems like, though, that's like, there's more to it than that plane was illegal. You shouldn't have that plane. For years, officials have sought to disrupt the flow of billions of dollars to the regime. Homeland Security Investigations, the second largest investigative agency in the federal government has seized dozens of luxury vehicles, among other assets, headed to Venezuela.