Bessent Slams NYT, DHS Crackdown in New Orleans, Doc Sentenced in Matthew Perry Case： AM Update 12⧸4
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Summary
The New York Times is no longer the paper of record. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant rips into the Times at a summit hosted by the NY Times. Democrats on the Oversight Committee released never-before-seen photos of Jeffrey Epstein s island. We re going to take dangerous criminals off the streets of Louisiana. And the first of five defendants sentenced in connection with actor Matthew Perry s overdose death. All that and more coming up in a moment on Your AM Update.
Transcript
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Disney Plus invites you to go behind the scenes with Taylor Swift
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I wanted to give something to the fans that they didn't expect.
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The final show featuring for the first time the tortured poet's department.
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and the Megyn Kelly Wrap-Up Show on SiriusXM Channel 111.
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It's Thursday, December 4th, 2025, and this is your AM update.
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The New York Times is no longer the paper of record.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Besant rips into the New York Times
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Democrats on the Oversight Committee released never-before-seen photos
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We're going to take these dangerous criminals off the streets of Louisiana.
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DHS arrives for an immigration crackdown in New Orleans with the governor's blessing.
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And the first of five defendants sentenced in connection with actor Matthew Perry's overdose death.
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All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Besant sitting down with the New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times Dealbook Summit for a wide-ranging conversation yesterday.
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The typically calm and measured secretary at times getting heated with the journalist, challenging him on several issues.
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In one particularly fiery moment, Secretary Besant slamming the New York Times for a recent report headlined, quote,
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Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue, Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office.
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The Times analyzing the president's schedule, finding, quote,
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Mr. Trump has fewer public events on his schedule and is traveling domestically much less than he did by this point during his first year in office in 2017,
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He also keeps a shorter public schedule than he used to.
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Most of his public appearances fall between noon and 5 p.m. on average.
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Where was this intrepid reporting when President Biden would go days without any appearances
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or spent long weekends napping on a beach in Delaware?
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The New York Times is no longer the paper of record.
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I read this article, like, President Trump is slowing down.
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It is 100 percent fake that he only called me twice at 2 in the morning last week instead of three times.
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I believe that he called you at 2 or 3 in the morning.
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That whole narrative, you had what was one of the greatest scandals of all time,
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that the coverage of the Biden administration, Joe Biden's diminished capacity, and the cover-up.
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And that's why it's probably fair to raise these questions.
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We just had a three-hour cabinet meeting yesterday, Andrew.
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For 10 months, the Biden administration did not have a cabinet meeting.
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How are you going to invoke the 25th Amendment if the cabinet secretaries never see the president,
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I hear from people in the Treasury Building that I see President Trump more in a day
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than my predecessor saw Joe Biden in half a year.
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Sorkin pressing Besson on recent reporting that President Trump pushed for Paramount
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to greenlight buddy comedy Rush Hour 4 as it attempts to buy Warner Bros.
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in a deal that would ultimately require regulatory approval.
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Brett Ratner, who directed a forthcoming documentary about Melania Trump
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set to debut on Amazon Prime Video, is the director of the Rush Hour movies.
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And people look at this and think that this is an example that the president is trying to push
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him and they are trying to placate the president.
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But do you think it's appropriate for the president to be asking them to do something like that?
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Is the Obama's contract with Netflix, is that appropriate?
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My understanding is that came after he was the president of the United States.
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So for the first son to have a contract with the, with a Ukraine energy?
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I don't know where Shane is, at Polymarket and with Kalshi.
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I mean, I'm curious how you think about these things.
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And I think, you know, if you want to start pulling at every thread, then let's start pulling
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at every thread of where Chuck Schumer's children work.
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Let's start pulling at every thread where every one of his former staffers work.
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Secretary Bessent also elaborating more on the administration's vision for the Trump
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Accounts Program to kickstart savings and economic participation for children.
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Earlier this week, the Dell family making a historic first contribution, announcing plans
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to deposit $250 directly into the investment accounts of millions of American kids.
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And then the balance, if you go down to 50, the other 12%, and that's mostly through
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You know, what we're seeing now, we've seen this asset appreciation.
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In America, you either have assets or you don't.
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And I think that this is an opportunity for the American people, for everyone, to have
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When you see that people have a stake in the system, they don't want to bring the system
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I believe that we are going to see this incredible outpouring into these accounts.
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And we now have the greatest fortunes in the history of America.
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And this is the chance that because this had been talked about for a long time, and President
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Trump insisted on it being included in the one big, beautiful bill, that this is the opportunity
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for philanthropists, for foundations, and for corporates to contribute to all the American
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The Trump Accounts program is set to activate in July.
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Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday releasing a set of pictures and
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videos taken of Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean island.
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This release offering a rare look inside the twisted world of the disgraced financier.
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The Oversight Committee obtaining the images from the U.S. Virgin Islands DOJ as part of
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its investigation into the handling of the Epstein case.
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The images of Little St. James, one of two private islands Epstein owned in the Caribbean,
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taken in 2020 by U.S. Virgin Island authorities.
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Several videos show off the large grounds, a pool with multiple cabanas, a no trespassing
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One image showing a large library-type room with a blackboard, scribbled on in chalk with
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the words including power, plots, deception, and political.
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The creepiest photo, showing what appears to be a dentist's chair in a room with ten masks
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depicting various male faces hanging on the walls, with two more masks laying side by side
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The files released to the committee in response to a November letter from the U.S. Virgin Islands
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Attorney General requesting, quote, all documents and communications related to the federal or
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local investigations into Epstein or co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
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Ranking member of the committee Robert Garcia issuing a statement, quote, we are releasing
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these photos and videos to ensure public transparency in our investigation and to help piece together
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A Republican spokesperson for the committee telling Axios, it's odd that Democrats are
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once again releasing selective information as they have done before.
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The last time Democrats cherry-picked and doctored documents, their attempt to construct yet another
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hoax against President Trump completely collapsed.
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These images, coming as a bipartisan group of five lawmakers yesterday, request a briefing
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from Attorney General Pam Bondi on the status of the DOJ's effort to release the Epstein files.
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President Trump signing the Epstein files Transparency Act on November 19th, setting a 30-day deadline
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for the public release of all unclassified records, documents, materials, etc. in the DOJ and FBI's
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possession regarding Epstein and those who had ties to him.
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Coming up, DHS agents flock to New Orleans, the latest city in the Trump administration's
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illegal immigration crackdown, and a doctor sentenced in connection with Friends actor Matthew Perry's
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When customers are walking through the aisles of their local Walmart, they are not just picking
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up groceries or supplies, they are supporting American businesses and their communities.
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With over two-thirds of the products Walmart buys made, grown, or assembled right here in
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the U.S., buying local is not just stocking shelves.
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Because of that commitment, Walmart invested $350 billion in U.S. manufacturing, helping American
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companies like Fisher and Weezer Specialty Foods, that's a local Texas business, expand their
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operations in Fredericksburg, Texas, to hire more people and bring their Texas-grown peach
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Their story is just one example of how Walmart's U.S. manufacturing investment is supporting over
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Businesses across the country are empowered to sell more, hire more, and help their communities
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From farms to factories to final shopping carts, learn how Walmart is fueling the future of U.S.
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manufacturing at walmart.com slash americaatwork.
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On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security officially launching its latest immigration
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This one, in New Orleans, dubbed Operation Catahoula Crunch.
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DHS Assistant Secretary Trisha McLaughlin yesterday on CNN describing the nature of the mission.
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We're first and foremost really focusing on those worst of the worst criminals, those criminals
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who have previously been locked up by local authorities, but then, because New Orleans
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functions as a sanctuary city, those individuals were not released to ICE, they were instead
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So we're talking about child pedophiles who are on our list of targets, burglars, gang members,
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Those individuals we are highly targeting, and we will continue whether it be 5,000 arrests
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In advance of federal agents swooping into the Big Easy, DHS putting out a list highlighting
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a few examples of the types of offenders previously released back onto the streets by local officials
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The list, including Juan Ramon Dubon Argueta, arrested for aggravated assault child endangerment,
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Kisi Ani Ahmad Albasani, arrested for sexual battery, and Andres Lopez Castillejos, previously
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deported, four times arrested for domestic abuse child endangerment.
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New Orleans residents anticipating the launch of an operation in their community.
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Some businesses closing, others posting anti-ICE signs.
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As in many other cities, local activists rallying against the enforcement effort, passing out whistles
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to alert others to the presence of ICE officials operating in the area.
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Mayor-elect Elena Moreno, a Democrat on CNN, accusing the feds of racial profiling.
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What they're seeing on TV and reports that they're seeing is not that Border Patrol is
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You know, it's not, that's not what they're seeing.
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What they're seeing is what appears to be racial profiling of brown people and then going
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after these individuals and treating them like they are these significantly violent offenders.
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On the flip side, Republican Governor Jeff Landry, Monday on Fox, welcoming federal assistance.
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New Orleans is a crime-ridden city that we've been trying to keep people safe.
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It's something that we've been working on since I became governor here in Louisiana.
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What I don't understand is when fugitive apprehension teams around the country go in and take dangerous
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Just because someone is committing crimes and is in the country illegally, they get a pass?
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We're going to take these dangerous criminals off the streets in Louisiana.
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The governor in September requesting up to 1,000 National Guard troops in assistance.
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President Trump saying on Tuesday, soldiers will soon be deployed.
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It is unclear how long the operation is expected to last.
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A doctor who pleaded guilty to supplying Friends actor Matthew Perry with ketamine weeks before
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his death, sentenced to 30 months in prison, plus two years of unsupervised release, a $5,600
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Perry paid Dr. Salvador Plasencia about $57,000 for the ketamine, which he sought out after doctors
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at a local ketamine therapy clinic refused to increase his dosage.
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In the Los Angeles courtroom, the New York Times reporting Plasencia saying, quote, there is
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no excuse, turning to Perry's family to say, quote, I'm just so sorry.
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Perry overdosed on the drug in October 2023 at age 54.
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He was found unresponsive in the jacuzzi at his L.A. home after a lifelong struggle with
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The medical examiner ruling the cause of death, acute effects of ketamine.
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Plasencia, who ran an urgent care center in Southern California, pleading guilty to four
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counts of distribution of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic.
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Prosecutors say he repeatedly supplied Perry with the drug over several weeks.
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Plasencia is one of five people charged in connection to Perry's death in the first to face
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sentencing. According to the DOJ, once Plasencia learned of Perry's interest in obtaining ketamine,
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he reached out to another doctor, Mark Chavez, who ran a ketamine clinic to obtain the drug.
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Plasencia, texting Chavez, who was also charged in connection to the death, stating, quote,
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Plasencia and Chavez both gave up their medical licenses following their convictions.
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Chavez also set for sentencing this month. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
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That'll do it for your AM update. I'm Emily Jashinsky, host of After Party.
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Catch the Megyn Kelly show live on SiriusXM's The Megyn Kelly Channel 111 at noon east
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on youtube.com slash megynkelly and all podcast platforms.
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