CONGRESSMAN STENY HOYER: Levi, I wanted to—obviously, I want to talk to you about this congressional race.
LEVI TILLEMANN: Absolutely. That’s what I expected.
CONGRESSMAN STENY HOYER: Yeah.
LEVI TILLEMANN: You would like me to get out of the race.
CONGRESSMAN STENY HOYER: And you keep saying I would like you to get out—and of course, that’s—that’s correct.
LEVI TILLEMANN: Yeah. I know you’re fundraising for Crow.
CONGRESSMAN STENY HOYER: Yeah. I’m for Crow. I am for Crow because a judgment was made very early on.
AMY GOODMAN: That muffled recording was Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Nancy Pelosi’s number two. You can hear him in that recording saying “That’s correct” when Levi Tillemann asks him if he’d like him to get out of his primary race and that the decision to back his opponent was made early on. For more, we go to Denver to speak with Levi Tillemann, a candidate in Colorado’s Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District, which includes Denver. He is featured in the new exposé by Lee Fang, investigative journalist at The Intercept, headlined Secretly Taped Audio Reveals Democratic Official Pressuring Progressive to Bow Out of Election. We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Levi Tillemann, explain when this meeting took place and exactly what you were told.