Firebrand - Matt Gaetz - Episode 101 LIVE: ATF Director Melts (feat. Rep. Tim Burchett)– Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

In this episode of RACTV's "Rabblerousrousers" host Matthew Whitlock is joined by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-GA) and Rep. Tim Burchett (R/GA) to discuss the day's events in Congress, including the vote on the debt ceiling, ATF Director James Comey's appearance before Congress, and the latest in the ongoing case against the Department of Justice. Also, the ATF Director testified to Congress about the use of surveillance on gun owners and their families by the National Security Agency (DoJ) and other agencies, as well as the ongoing investigation into whether or not the DoJ is targeting gun owners in order to spy on them. Matt and Matt also discuss why they believe the government should have access to more information about gun control and background checks, and why they think it's a good idea to keep them in the loop on what's going on in the intelligence community and law enforcement. They also discuss the potential impact on the tax code and other aspects of the government's surveillance programs, and what it could mean for the economy. And, of course, there's a special guest on the show, Matt's hot takes on the latest episode of "RACTV Live" hosted by Matt Gates (R.I.P.S.E.A.R. and Matt's thoughts on the Colin Kaepernick kneeling at the NFL National Anthem. protest in support of the National Anthem at the Superbowl. Enjoy! and stay tuned for the next week's episode of the RACRESSION! - Matt, Matt, Tim and Matt, and Matt - Rachael - and much more! - RACBLESSING! Subscribe to our new show, RACTRESS on Apple Podcasts! Subscribe, Like, Share, and Subscribe! Subscribe and Retweet! Learn more about your ad-free version of the podcast "RADIOBEAST Radio, your favorite hip hop podcast? Subscribe, comment, and subscribe to our newest podcast, "The RACIST" - wherever you get your favorite podcasters are listening to your ad is listening to the latest music, it gets the most hip and most authentic, hip hop and hip hop is getting the most authentic and most hip hop? Subscribe on social media is getting better and more hip hop hits are getting more hip and hip, more hip, faster than you'll ever get a chance to know more about what's trending?

00:00:00.000 Thank you.

00:03:33.000 You can battle Congressman Matt Gates.

00:03:46.000 Matt Gaetz was one of the very few members in the entire Congress who bothered to stand up against permanent Washington on behalf of his constituents.

00:03:53.000 Matt Gaetz right now, he's a problem for the Democratic Party.

00:03:56.000 He can cause a lot of hiccups in passing applause.

00:03:59.000 So we're going to keep running those stories to keep hurting him.

00:04:02.000 If you stand for the flag and kneel in prayer, if you want to build America up and not burn her to the ground, then welcome, my fellow patriots!

00:04:11.000 You are in the right place!

00:04:13.000 This is the movement for you!

00:04:15.000 You ever watch this guy on television?

00:04:17.000 It's like a machine.

00:04:19.000 Matt Gaetz.

00:04:20.000 I'm a canceled man in some corners of the internet.

00:04:23.000 Many days I'm a marked man in Congress, a wanted man by the deep state.

00:04:28.000 They aren't really coming for me.

00:04:30.000 They're coming for you.

00:04:32.000 I'm just in the way.

00:04:38.000 Several votes tonight, but the main one, of course, was raising the debt limit.

00:04:42.000 I voted against it.

00:04:43.000 The proposal that we sent over to the Senate does not, in fact, cut the deficit.

00:04:50.000 It actually adds, over 10 years, almost 19 trillion new dollars.

00:04:57.000 It cuts the rate of growth.

00:04:59.000 So it's not cutting the hefts, it just cuts the rate of growth.

00:05:03.000 So anyway, I'm going to keep fighting for fiscal responsibility.

00:05:10.000 Although sometimes it seems it is my backs against the law on this stuff.

00:05:15.000 Anyway, we'll just keep fighting.

00:05:16.000 Thank you all for sending me here.

00:05:19.000 We are live.

00:05:20.000 That was Congressman Tim Burchett.

00:05:22.000 He'll be joining us in just a moment to talk about all of today's events here in Congress.

00:05:27.000 But Tim Burchett joined me and Andy Biggs and Ken Buck as the only Republicans voting against the $1.5 trillion increase in the debt limit.

00:05:35.000 We're going to get Congressman Berkshire's hot takes on that, but also key information regarding testimony from the director of ATF on the live stream.

00:05:44.000 They're watching from South Carolina, Pensacola, Jacksonville, Oklahoma, and we get a lot of feedback on these issues where the ATF is targeting gun owners.

00:05:53.000 I had the ATF director for five minutes going to give you that content.

00:05:58.000 Also, FISA, this foreign intelligence surveillance authority that often is not used to target foreign entities.

00:06:08.000 You're going to find out how many of these queries have occurred Where a whole lot of FBI's got a whole lot of access to data without a warrant, and they are using it to a great degree.

00:06:21.000 And I could not end the show.

00:06:23.000 I'm going to show you where the top uniformed individual for the United States Air Force tried to convince me that the words mom and dad are exclusionary.

00:06:36.000 But first, joining us, Congressman Tim Burchett.

00:06:39.000 Tim, you made some news joining us rabble-rousers in voting against this increase in the debt limit.

00:06:45.000 Why'd you do it?

00:06:46.000 $32 trillion in debt, Matt.

00:06:49.000 If you had $1.5 trillion a year over 10 years, $17 plus trillion, it's just out of control.

00:06:58.000 We've got to stop it at some point.

00:07:02.000 And this going back and forth, it's just not happening.

00:07:07.000 I committed to do it.

00:07:08.000 I didn't vote for it under Trump, and I haven't done it under Biden.

00:07:13.000 To me, it's just disingenuous to vote for it.

00:07:17.000 So, I mean, you laid out the math to me as we were meeting with negotiators and talking with some of the designers of this plan that even though there is some limitation in the growth of the federal budget, that this plan, the supposed Republican plan, the conservative plan to save the dollar, reverse inflation, unlock energy, all that...

00:07:39.000 It was going to put us at a moment 10 years from now with about $49 trillion in debt.

00:07:45.000 That's correct.

00:07:46.000 That's correct. 0.99

00:07:47.000 And it's a sucker's bet. 0.78

00:07:49.000 When I was in the state legislature, I know you were in the state legislature in Florida. 0.90

00:07:52.000 I was in Tennessee.

00:07:53.000 And they'd always talk about, oh, we're cutting the rate of growth.

00:07:56.000 We're cutting the rate of growth.

00:07:57.000 But you're still growing.

00:07:58.000 If you're growing at an exponential amount and you cut it by a little bit, it's still growing. 0.93

00:08:02.000 It's just ridiculous to me.

00:08:04.000 And I got so sick of people saying, this is the largest cut In government that we've ever had. 0.69

00:08:09.000 It's growing at such a level, the percentage is just so minuscule.

00:08:13.000 But actually in our state legislatures, we don't talk like they talk in Washington.

00:08:17.000 When we talk about a cut in the state legislature, that actually means fewer dollars than you got in the prior year.

00:08:24.000 Only in Washington is a cut still massive growth in the overall cost of the program, but just a reduction in the rate of that growth.

00:08:34.000 Correct.

00:08:35.000 And I shared that concern.

00:08:39.000 Are you also worried that the dollar itself might be in jeopardy?

00:08:43.000 I am.

00:08:43.000 That seems to be the movement afoot.

00:08:46.000 Under Trump, gasoline was cheaper.

00:08:49.000 The dollar was worth something.

00:08:51.000 I remember I was in the county mayor's office, and the girls in my office came in because they got a raise because of the economy and Trump. 0.97

00:09:01.000 They came in going, choo-choo, we're on the Trump train now, boss, because I was a Trump guy.

00:09:06.000 And they, you know, two years ago, if you made $100,000, and today it would be worth $85,000.

00:09:14.000 I mean, that to me is just crazy.

00:09:16.000 And families are struggling.

00:09:19.000 We're devaluing our dollar.

00:09:22.000 It's a trap.

00:09:23.000 If you want to wreck this economy, let's just continue doing what we're doing.

00:09:27.000 The number one question we got asked today as we were walking out of our final votes, well, where does it go from here?

00:09:33.000 What's going to happen next?

00:09:35.000 What's your assessment of how you think the Senate will react to this offer and where this ultimately resolves?

00:09:42.000 Are we headed to a shutdown?

00:09:43.000 Are we headed to Spending cuts that are acceptable?

00:09:46.000 Are we headed to just a veneer of spending cuts and a massive increase in the debt limit?

00:09:51.000 What do you think?

00:09:54.000 I just don't think the Senate's going to do anything.

00:09:56.000 I think they're going to flip it back to us, stripped, and then we'll have to see.

00:10:01.000 So you don't think they'll cut $1?

00:10:03.000 I don't.

00:10:04.000 Well, that's the news.

00:10:05.000 I mean, the news is your assessment is that the Senate will not respond to this package with the reduction of even one planned dollar in spending.

00:10:14.000 I don't see them doing any of it.

00:10:16.000 The President said we're not going to negotiate, so he and Schumer joined it to HIPP. I just don't see it happening because I don't think the president's capable of it, even though the president was in charge in 2011 under Biden of negotiating the debt limit.

00:10:32.000 He just said he's not going to do it, and Schumer's not going to do it.

00:10:36.000 And they've messaged this thing as such that we're cutting, you know, or, you know, Oh yeah, we're slaughtering the widows and orphans.

00:10:44.000 Yeah, exactly.

00:10:45.000 If you believe the Democrats.

00:10:46.000 And so I just don't see us getting anywhere.

00:10:50.000 That's my personal opinion.

00:10:52.000 So does that mean a shutdown?

00:10:54.000 I think we'll run right up to a shutdown and possibly have a shutdown. 0.69

00:10:57.000 But then we always blink, like we always do.

00:11:00.000 And then, you know, massive spending.

00:11:03.000 And we pat ourselves on the back and call her, oh, we've...

00:11:06.000 We've fought the good fight, and we haven't.

00:11:09.000 We haven't.

00:11:09.000 Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett did not blink when we had the vote on the plan to increase the debt limit by $1.5 trillion.

00:11:17.000 He joined fellow firebrands Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, myself.

00:11:21.000 We were the four votes against that.

00:11:23.000 You're hearing the reasons why now.

00:11:25.000 And the prognosis is not good.

00:11:27.000 We may have to get ready for some shutdown politics and some shutdown economic consequences if your assessment is that there's going to be a stalemate, a hardening of positions.

00:11:37.000 I think that the thinking among Republican leadership in the House is that this is going to dislodge some negotiating activity.

00:11:44.000 You seem to think that it might not.

00:11:46.000 But one thing that a serious country...

00:11:49.000 Would not do $32 trillion in debt is spend so much money and send so many of its bravest patriots to faraway lands for unclear gain and the lack of an end state.

00:12:03.000 And today we had a debate and a vote on legislation that I filed to withdraw U.S. troops from Somalia.

00:12:11.000 I want to give you a flavor of that debate.

00:12:13.000 We'll come back and get Congressman Birchett's reaction.

00:12:15.000 Play the clip.

00:12:18.000 There are 17 million Somalis.

00:12:20.000 I'm rooting for them.

00:12:22.000 I hope that when my life ends, Somalia isn't synonymous with famine and failed states and civil wars and coups.

00:12:32.000 I really hope that.

00:12:34.000 But we must also exercise sufficient humility in this body to understand the capabilities of persuasion for a relatively small batch of American troops given the problem set.

00:12:47.000 And I would return to the argument that I made earlier in this discussion.

00:12:50.000 There is an opportunity cost to this in people.

00:12:53.000 There are specific units that call my district home that are having to split between AFRICOM and Indo-PACOM, when the reality is whether or not our children are speaking Mandarin, our grandchildren are having to get dominated by the Chinese Communist Party, is not going to be the result of who wins the Battle of Mogadishu.

00:13:15.000 It's going to be the result of who holds the high ground against our true pacing adversaries.

00:13:20.000 And becoming the neighborhood block captain of Somalia is certainly not the behavior of a serious country engaged in very serious challenges against serious adversaries.

00:13:31.000 I thank my colleagues for their indulgence.

00:13:33.000 I certainly thank the leadership for permitting me such time, and I would yield back the balance.

00:13:40.000 We are back live with Congressman Tim Burchett.

00:13:42.000 Kathy on Facebook says she is ready for the shutdown.

00:13:45.000 Steve on Instagram says do not falter, stay together.

00:13:49.000 Kay Shaw on Rumble says they're getting half the groceries at twice the price.

00:13:55.000 So Tim, you voted with me.

00:13:57.000 We were defeated in that vote overwhelmingly.

00:14:00.000 What do you think folks in East Tennessee think about sending Americans to Somalia?

00:14:04.000 Dadgummit, Matt.

00:14:07.000 Americans are patriotic people, in Tennessee and specifically.

00:14:11.000 In Vietnam, they had a statistically higher number of volunteers went.

00:14:16.000 My daddy fought in the Second World War.

00:14:18.000 My mama flew an airplane during the Second World War.

00:14:20.000 She lost a brother fighting the Nazis.

00:14:23.000 You know, we're fighters.

00:14:25.000 We're fighters.

00:14:26.000 We believe in fighting.

00:14:27.000 We believe for standing up for what's right.

00:14:29.000 But nobody knows what the heck's going on over there.

00:14:32.000 We've had over 500 Americans there now.

00:14:35.000 Excluding our embassy personnel, the Marines that do that.

00:14:39.000 And what are they there for?

00:14:40.000 Like you said, they're block captains.

00:14:42.000 We're fighting block to block.

00:14:43.000 They're MPs or something.

00:14:45.000 We're in countries that don't appreciate what we have.

00:14:48.000 They don't want what we have.

00:14:50.000 They don't even understand what we have.

00:14:52.000 It's like going literally to a caveman and handing him a cell phone.

00:14:57.000 I mean, they don't get it.

00:14:59.000 It's...

00:15:00.000 Yeah, like trying to spread Jeffersonian democracy like it's going to spread like COVID across North Africa. 0.79

00:15:06.000 Absolutely.

00:15:07.000 Somebody in biblical times.

00:15:08.000 I mean, these folks live in a different lifestyle.

00:15:11.000 And a lot of them don't like us.

00:15:14.000 Do you think it helps the terrorists potentially recruit new members if there are U.S. Uniformed Service members patrolling the streets engaged in local law enforcement?

00:15:23.000 Yeah, dressed up like something that's come from Mars or something.

00:15:26.000 I mean, they just don't get it.

00:15:27.000 Why do you think we keep losing these votes?

00:15:29.000 Because I've done this now in Syria, Somalia, May do Niger next.

00:15:32.000 And I wonder why so many Republicans and Democrats see utility in sprinkling our service members around the globe.

00:15:41.000 I think there's key members in both parties that profit from this.

00:15:46.000 I really do.

00:15:46.000 I think they profit from it financially, and I believe key people in their areas do.

00:15:55.000 You know, we vote for a missile defense system we're going to send to Ukraine, things like that, and thinking, wow, that's a great idea. 0.97

00:16:02.000 We'll just give them our missiles, but the rules are that we have to, every time we do that, we have to supplant ours or supply ours to bring ours back up to a certain level by rule or law or whatever is in the In the deal.

00:16:15.000 And they know that.

00:16:16.000 And they've got stock in that.

00:16:18.000 And it's blatant to me. 1.00

00:16:20.000 It is just pathetic. 0.98

00:16:22.000 So you don't believe that they accept the underlying argument of globalism? 0.99

00:16:27.000 You believe it is just raw, craven self-interest?

00:16:30.000 Well, I think some of the key people, that's what they believe.

00:16:33.000 But they put it in these idealistic folks that maybe have never had a father that That had to kill people for his country.

00:16:41.000 That wake up and you couldn't wake him up over himself.

00:16:46.000 I had to wake my dad up by his toe.

00:16:48.000 My dad fought in the Second World War and I'm talking just to the day he died.

00:16:52.000 He was in his 80s.

00:16:53.000 I would still have to wake him up that way because he might wake up thinking where he was as an 18 or 19 year old young man.

00:17:00.000 It's still, you know, they don't get that. 0.98

00:17:02.000 And then you whisper in their ear some idealistic garbage. 0.97

00:17:06.000 A few liberals or idealistic conservatives that Rah, rah, we're America. 0.99

00:17:10.000 We're going to wrap ourselves in the flag.

00:17:11.000 And dadgummit, it doesn't work.

00:17:13.000 It doesn't work.

00:17:14.000 And they know it.

00:17:14.000 And they're playing us.

00:17:15.000 And they're playing us for fools. 0.98

00:17:17.000 And then the United States ends up being the world's piggy bank and the world's police force. 0.93

00:17:21.000 And it never happens.

00:17:22.000 And we end up pulling out.

00:17:24.000 And dadgummit, they're not...

00:17:27.000 Like Afghanistan, we've got nothing. 1.00

00:17:30.000 We've got nothing except a bunch of...

00:17:33.000 A bunch of body bags with American names on them.

00:17:35.000 Yeah, and families that'll never be the same, and minds, and body parts, and communities.

00:17:41.000 Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss, the last person to die in Afghanistan, my constituent.

00:17:45.000 And that's just wrong.

00:17:46.000 He died.

00:17:47.000 He should have been...

00:17:48.000 He should have been home on Easter Sunday with his family and that's just wrong.

00:17:52.000 And these bad decisions repeat over and over again and certainly we hope that we're able to persuade more of our colleagues but I think the American people also have to wake up to the driving factors of these decisions and you've been quite clear on that point.

00:18:09.000 I also want to get to the very freedoms That people like our veterans fight for.

00:18:15.000 And that includes the Second Amendment.

00:18:17.000 And increasingly in this country, we're seeing the Second Amendment under attack.

00:18:21.000 We're seeing law-abiding gun owners totally villainized unfairly.

00:18:27.000 And the ATF... It's the arm pistol braces.

00:18:47.000 Right.

00:18:48.000 No, it's the zero tolerance policy.

00:18:50.000 Yeah.

00:18:51.000 The zero tolerance policy.

00:18:52.000 So if you mess up anything in your paperwork, they come for you, but yet they can't live up to that same standard.

00:18:57.000 I got a chance to point that out with the ATF director this week.

00:19:01.000 Take a listen.

00:19:03.000 How many guns has the ATF lost?

00:19:09.000 I'm not sure I understand the question.

00:19:12.000 Is it a difficult question to understand?

00:19:15.000 Well...

00:19:16.000 I don't know if you're referring to any particular incident or time period.

00:19:22.000 How many instances should we be looking at where you've lost guns?

00:19:25.000 So if what you're referring to is what happened at the National Destruction Branch, no guns were lost.

00:19:32.000 They were stolen by an individual who's now in prison who was not an ATF employee.

00:19:37.000 But there were recommendations made on what you should do so that you don't become the victim of the theft.

00:19:42.000 And the Inspector General is saying you're not following them.

00:19:44.000 I'm quoting directly from the Inspector General's report.

00:19:47.000 Thousands of firearms, firearms, parts, and ammunition had been stolen from the ATF. So you gave testimony that the brave ATF agents are the ones showing up at 2 in the morning after a burglary, but it seems as though in this case you were the one burglarized.

00:20:02.000 Why have you not followed the recommendations of the Office of Inspector General so that you aren't the mark?

00:20:11.000 Again, I want to say that it is brave men and women of ATF who do this.

00:20:19.000 I know what they're doing.

00:20:21.000 You're getting robbed on one hand, so you can't keep a hold of the guns you're supposed to have, but then you do keep a hold of a bunch of stuff you're not supposed to have a hold of.

00:20:30.000 The GAO report, firearms data, ATF did not always comply with the Appropriations Act restriction and should better adhere to its policies.

00:20:38.000 As a result of breaking the law, didn't you guys have to go and delete Like a quarter of a million records that you illegally kept?

00:20:46.000 Again, with respect to both the Inspector General reports that you're talking about...

00:20:51.000 Nope, one's Inspector General, one's GAO. The Inspector General report, ATF, that happened several years ago, more than that.

00:21:00.000 2022!

00:21:01.000 The report came out, but the theft, and ATF has implemented...

00:21:06.000 Numerous different safety measures with respect to the National Destructive Branch.

00:21:10.000 I'm reading to you from the report from last year, Mr. Director, we found that the NDB staff does not currently, currently in 2022, adhere to established operating procedures in place to mitigate risk of firearms being lost and stolen.

00:21:26.000 So I guess that shows an ATF that is not functioning correctly and is not responding to the problems you create.

00:21:34.000 You keep records you're not supposed to.

00:21:36.000 It was a quarter million of them you had to delete, right?

00:21:39.000 I don't believe that that is...

00:21:42.000 Was it over 200,000 that you had to delete?

00:21:44.000 So what was happening was...

00:21:46.000 I just want to know the number of records you had to delete that were not being lawfully maintained.

00:21:51.000 There were records that had not actually been searched, but my understanding is were searchable.

00:21:58.000 Hundreds of thousands of them.

00:21:58.000 And so that's what you guys do.

00:21:59.000 You keep what you shouldn't keep.

00:22:00.000 You lose what you're not supposed to lose.

00:22:02.000 But how do you treat regular Americans?

00:22:04.000 I got this letter from someone in my district, a firearms dealer.

00:22:08.000 I have been a firearms dealer for 46 years.

00:22:10.000 For 46 years, I've had a good relationship with law enforcement.

00:22:14.000 Then came the ATF's zero tolerance policy.

00:22:17.000 Two years ago, while in the process of selling a firearm to a customer, I completed their background check using Florida's FDLE firearm purchasing program.

00:22:26.000 The background check was uneventful, and FDLE rendered an approval number.

00:22:31.000 Some months later, during an ATF audit, I was told the background check was now a non-approval.

00:22:36.000 Even though FDLE made the error, it was on my paperwork, so ATF deemed it a willful error.

00:22:43.000 After completing close to 50,000 background checks over 46 years, why would I willfully ignore this background check?

00:22:51.000 The answer is simple.

00:22:52.000 I did not.

00:22:53.000 But the ATF has revoked my license, ended my career, and my livelihood.

00:22:59.000 So I guess the question is, why should you be able to destroy the life of one of my constituents over a technicality where they weren't even at fault, when you all lose thousands of guns and illegally keep hundreds of thousands of records?

00:23:16.000 Respectfully, Congress has given us the authority to inspect.

00:23:23.000 And make sure that firearms dealers, the vast majority by the which are compliant, they are our first line of defense in dealing with straw purchases.

00:23:32.000 This guy isn't your first line of defense anymore.

00:23:33.000 He's fired.

00:23:34.000 A very small minority, those dealers, after due process, A small minority, ATF, enforcer of gun laws, lost thousands of firearm parts to thieves.

00:23:48.000 New data shows ATF, gun store restrictions, at the highest rate in 16 years.

00:23:53.000 Mr. Director, the definition of hypocrisy is when you can't live up to your own standard.

00:23:58.000 So you have imposed a zero-tolerance policy that is resulting in the highest rate of revocations in 16 years and you wouldn't be able to meet your own zero tolerance policy because you lose stuff you're supposed to keep and then you keep stuff that it's illegal to keep.

00:24:15.000 And by the way, I am one of those MAGA Republicans that would defund your salary, your agency, and I think all these good things that you say exist could happen with those folks at the local and state level and this is a terrible abuse of power.

00:24:31.000 We are back live.

00:24:33.000 A lot of feedback from the live chat.

00:24:35.000 Blackbeard on Getter saying the ATF shouldn't make the laws.

00:24:38.000 That's the responsibility of Congress.

00:24:40.000 Kendra on Facebook saying she's a vet.

00:24:43.000 She had her CCW stripped.

00:24:45.000 John on Facebook calling the ATF modern-day KGB. That's a very hot take.

00:24:51.000 And a raging patriot on Instagram saying abolish the ATF. Tim Burchett, Congressman from Tennessee.

00:24:57.000 What do folks in East Tennessee think about the ATF? The director, I don't think he could spell ATF. You had him pretty wrapped up.

00:25:06.000 I'm a gun owner.

00:25:08.000 I've used a gun to protect my constitutional rights.

00:25:12.000 Some folks have broken in my warehouse.

00:25:15.000 We're stealing some of my motorcycles.

00:25:17.000 I caught them and I held them.

00:25:20.000 They're not fans of the ATF. This stock thing is going to put dealers out of business. 0.61

00:25:27.000 It's ridiculous because there's no clear definition of You've got to hire an attorney to figure it out, and it's just like the IRS. Is the ATF savable, or do you just have to devolve these powers to the state and local level?

00:25:41.000 No, state and local.

00:25:42.000 I have no problem with our state and local authorities.

00:25:47.000 And by the way, if they want to create interstate compacts to be able to share and track data, they don't need the federal government overseeing that to even make that an effective thing if there's actual criminal activity.

00:26:00.000 But the reality is the ATF, really, they're like on a snipe hunt.

00:26:05.000 More like a witch hunt.

00:26:07.000 And then you have to start believing in witches if you're in the business of witch hunting.

00:26:12.000 Or they drown you, and then if you drown, they go, oh, you weren't a witch.

00:26:16.000 Yeah.

00:26:16.000 Well, that's happening to far too many dealers, mom and pops, small businesses, and we have to keep fighting for them and going after guys like that who are abusing the power of this government.

00:26:26.000 Now, speaking of witch hunts, we all know that the Russia hoax began with the FBI and the Department of Justice misusing the FISA process.

00:26:36.000 This is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

00:26:38.000 And what they do is they act as though they're targeting a foreigner, but through incidental collection, they get information on Americans that then they save that then can be used in queries.

00:26:50.000 Now, over every executive agency, there's an inspector general who has an obligation to review their conduct and to judge its adherence with what the law requires.

00:27:00.000 The inspector general over the Department of Justice is Obama-appointed.

00:27:05.000 He is an Obama-era inspector general.

00:27:08.000 And that is what I think makes this line of questioning from earlier today so interesting.

00:27:13.000 Take a listen.

00:27:15.000 I want to get into the 3.4 million backdoor searches that the ranking member pointed out in his opening statement.

00:27:25.000 How should the public think about those?

00:27:29.000 Well, I think what we've seen in the various public reports, and I'm limited in what I can say about what's public, which I think is one of the issues, by the way, that's worth talking about is transparency here.

00:27:42.000 It's obviously very concerning that there's that volume of searches, and particularly concerning the error rate that was reported on in the last two years in the public reporting.

00:27:54.000 That error rate was what?

00:27:56.000 I believe it was around 30%.

00:27:59.000 I think, tell the numbers, I think it's around 30%.

00:28:04.000 I'm a lawyer, not a mathematician, but 3.4 million, about 30%.

00:28:09.000 You're talking about seven figures of error in terms of these searches.

00:28:14.000 I'm wondering, how many people can perform these backdoor queries?

00:28:20.000 I'm going to defer to board members because the review I'm going.

00:28:25.000 I'm afraid I don't have those figures at my fingertips in terms of the number of people that can conduct those types of searches, but I share the concern of expressing the question that we need to We have greater safeguards, and I urge Congress to incorporate a requirement for vice court review of these kinds of searches to protect our against North Amendment rights.

00:28:48.000 Yes, four million backdoor searches, more than a million of them in error.

00:28:53.000 If I represent to you that we believe there may be north of 10,000 people in the federal government that can perform those queries, would anyone here on the basis to disagree with that assessment?

00:29:05.000 No.

00:29:08.000 We are back live.

00:29:10.000 I've got Congressman Burchett, my good friend from Tennessee, here.

00:29:13.000 And make sure that you follow his podcast, Tennessee Talks with Tim Burchett.

00:29:18.000 I listen to it on Apple, but you also have a video version available on YouTube, right?

00:29:23.000 Correct.

00:29:23.000 Great.

00:29:24.000 What's your YouTube channel so folks can find it?

00:29:27.000 Holler at me.

00:29:28.000 Rep Tim Burchett.

00:29:30.000 At Rep Tim Burchett.

00:29:32.000 Give him a follow.

00:29:33.000 Tennessee Talks, one of my regular listens.

00:29:35.000 And a lot of folks from Congress come on and share their perspective as well.

00:29:38.000 But I want to get your perspective on this FBI, DOJ, coloring outside the lines on how they're collecting intelligence.

00:29:45.000 Well, none of us are safe.

00:29:47.000 It was created for foreign folks.

00:29:49.000 And so all they do is backdoor you.

00:29:51.000 They just cast the net deep enough.

00:29:53.000 And that's where they went after Trump illegally.

00:29:56.000 And...

00:29:57.000 Basically just falsified everything.

00:29:59.000 If they can go after a man running for president of the United States, they can go after anybody.

00:30:04.000 And I believe that that is what they're doing.

00:30:06.000 It's a police state operation.

00:30:08.000 To me, it's not constitutional, and I don't see how the evidence can be entered.

00:30:13.000 But they're allowed to do it, and it's just a way to backdoor all of us.

00:30:17.000 It's a secret court.

00:30:18.000 For folks who don't know about FISA, it is a secret court that exists without a defense attorney.

00:30:23.000 So it is the government in secret alone with a judge with decisions that never get published or reviewed to see how jurisprudence develops.

00:30:33.000 And so we've had...

00:30:35.000 These reports after reports come out showcasing how the FBI is not complying with the law, they're not complying with their own procedures, and there's no one there to hold them accountable at all.

00:30:45.000 These authorities are coming up for renewal this year, and I... I'm not voting to reauthorize FISA, these 702 authorities that have been most abused.

00:30:56.000 I'm not voting to do it.

00:30:58.000 I know a lot of my colleagues are going to hear arguments from the Intelligence Committee.

00:31:01.000 We're going to make arguments on the Judiciary Committee from the standpoint of people's civil rights and constitutional rights, because if they need to get this information for national security reasons, they can get a warrant.

00:31:13.000 They can get a warrant, and then we've got a system that is tried and true.

00:31:17.000 Where is the media on all this?

00:31:19.000 You'd think, just the transparency aspect, because if they can go after conservatives, they sure as hell go after a liberal as well.

00:31:27.000 You would think that they would be, this would be, because transparency is where it's at in my book.

00:31:32.000 Just let the sun shine in and let everybody see what's going on.

00:31:35.000 Yeah, and we have not had that for far too long.

00:31:38.000 And then when we get these searing moments today where you've got the Inspector General saying there were 3.4 million queries of incidentally collected information, all collected without a warrant, And meanwhile, a third of them are in error.

00:31:54.000 More than a million.

00:31:55.000 It's just a fishing license is all it is.

00:31:57.000 It is a fishing license.

00:31:58.000 That's a great way to put it.

00:31:59.000 Well, I also have to get to one final moment we had today that I really wasn't expecting.

00:32:05.000 We're in the Armed Services Committee, and the Air Force is presenting their budget.

00:32:09.000 And when they do, it's reasonable to ask questions about everything from the Air Force's deployments to their strategies to their munitions and hypersonics and platforms and planes and pilots.

00:32:20.000 But also their training.

00:32:22.000 And particularly training the next generation of Air Force leaders that we get the proud honor to be able to nominate to our service academies.

00:32:30.000 So my colleague from Michigan, Lisa McClain, is asking this guy who is the top general in the entire United States Air Force, General Brown, the Chief of the Air Force.

00:32:42.000 She's asking questions about curriculum at the Air Force Academy that seems to say that we shouldn't use words like mom or dad.

00:32:51.000 And after hearing his response, or really his non-response, I couldn't help myself.

00:32:55.000 Take a listen.

00:32:57.000 I have in front of me, you know, the slides on the diversity training and the equity and the inclusion training.

00:33:04.000 How much money and time do we really spend on that?

00:33:08.000 Can we get a better sense to help educate everyone?

00:33:11.000 I can provide you, you know, exact information for the record, but I will tell you, most of our training, most of our focus is on the readiness of the force.

00:33:18.000 And part of that readiness of the force is to ensure that they were building cohesive teams, and part of those cohesive teams is to get to know our mental left and our right.

00:33:25.000 And I appreciate that.

00:33:26.000 And one of the things it talks about in one of your slides is not to recognize people as moms and dads.

00:33:34.000 I mean, as a mother, I take a little bit of offense to that.

00:33:37.000 It also talks about not using the word terrorist.

00:33:41.000 Can you explain why we wouldn't use the word terrorist in mom and dad?

00:33:45.000 I think you've got to get that message out because I think a lot of people are really frustrated and they feel like we're polarizing as opposed to coming together.

00:33:56.000 What I would tell you is that what I perceive is we're risk reading some of the aspects of the things we're trying to do as we move the Air Force forward and we look at how we build cohesive teams.

00:34:06.000 General Brown, I do have to ask you a question that sort of stems from what Ms. McClain was asking about.

00:34:12.000 She showed you this curriculum from the Air Force Academy, and she asked you why the terms mom and dad were disfavored.

00:34:21.000 And you said that you're working to build cohesive teams.

00:34:25.000 So just wondering, how do the terms mom and dad impair cohesive team building?

00:34:33.000 Part of leadership is understanding the people you're privileged to lead.

00:34:38.000 And as you have that opportunity, you get to know them.

00:34:40.000 And every one of us grows up differently and has different experiences, different backgrounds, and we can't assume when we engage with them.

00:34:48.000 And so from that perspective, you've got to build that team and to build that trust with our airmen, in part because that trust is part of the cohesion that gives you the strong team to be able to go execute what the nation asked us to do.

00:35:02.000 I understand better than most that families at times aren't defined by blood or even paperwork, and I know you have to recruit folks from different family environments into the Air Force, but do you think maybe it puts downward pressure on recruiting some of the people who Do you have moms and dads and do you use the term mom and dad if in the curriculum of the academy it seems to disfavor those terms?

00:35:25.000 No, I don't.

00:35:29.000 And what's your basis for that belief?

00:35:32.000 Because I think part of leadership is dignity and respect of those you're privileged to lead.

00:35:37.000 You don't think it disrespects people?

00:35:39.000 I do not.

00:35:40.000 You don't think it disrespects moms and dads when they send their young children, I guess becoming adults, into the academy and then they see that mom and dad are disfavored terms?

00:35:54.000 Do you agree that mom and dad should be disfavored terms?

00:35:57.000 I think we need to respect the fact that they have either parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles that sometimes raise young people.

00:36:04.000 Sure, but I mean, I know folks who've been raised by aunts and uncles, and none of them have ever told me that when they hear someone else call their parent mom or dad that that upsets them.

00:36:14.000 Do you know of people who feel excluded when others refer to their parents as mom or dad?

00:36:21.000 I don't.

00:36:23.000 Either way.

00:36:24.000 Whether it's aunts, uncles, moms, and dads, I have not come across anyone.

00:36:28.000 If I could, the point of that slide, I'm familiar with it, came out of the Air Force Academy.

00:36:32.000 It was actually created by cadets for training.

00:36:35.000 It's not very artful, but the point was that you should...

00:36:38.000 All right, we're back with Congressman Tim Burchett.

00:36:41.000 Your reaction?

00:36:43.000 It's perverted.

00:36:44.000 I mean, it's just beyond the pale. 1.00

00:36:47.000 This bunch is ridiculous. 0.99

00:36:49.000 When you see an American fighting man in a dress, And these people are promoting them. 0.99

00:36:56.000 What do you think our enemies are thinking when they see this kind of stuff?

00:37:00.000 You know what?

00:37:00.000 What I think is that there are moms and dads who see this kind of nonsense and say, I don't want my kid to go into the military.

00:37:06.000 And these are patriotic American families who love our country.

00:37:10.000 And we need, especially families from the South, to put people into the military. 0.64

00:37:14.000 You know what my dad was thinking when he was on Okinawa and he was on Peleliu?

00:37:19.000 And going in there, he was thinking about his mom and dad.

00:37:22.000 Yes.

00:37:22.000 I guarantee you he was.

00:37:23.000 He was thinking, and he told me one time, they are sitting around Okinawa, because at night it got a little cold, and the fighting had subsided for a while, and they ran off a little campfire, and they were all talking, and they were talking about what they had back in the U.S., and how good it was, and how they didn't want those Japanese to get to their moms and dads back home. 0.73

00:37:45.000 Yeah.

00:37:46.000 That's what it's about.

00:37:48.000 These guys have lost their minds.

00:37:49.000 I don't know how someone could sit there and say, the reason I have to disfavor the words mom and dad and curriculum is because I have to do cohesive team building.

00:38:00.000 And this isn't just some random person in the bureaucracy.

00:38:04.000 The top guy who's defending this thing.

00:38:08.000 And it's just beyond the pale.

00:38:10.000 I mean, you have a mom saying, you know, I find it offensive.

00:38:14.000 Sure. 0.98

00:38:15.000 It's ridiculous. 0.98

00:38:16.000 It's totally ridiculous. 0.97

00:38:19.000 The only thing I can think of is, I hate being a conspiracy theorist, but, you know, they want to break the whole system down, and they want to create some homogenous kind of deal, sort of a Marxist state where the...

00:38:34.000 The overlords are in charge, and your moms and dads have no place in that, other than bringing you into this world.

00:38:40.000 If you were trying to bring the system down, you would destroy the family, you would destroy the dollar, you would destroy people's Second Amendment rights, You would spread our military too thin around the world, and you would collapse our budget.

00:38:56.000 Absolutely.

00:38:57.000 And I mean, as we've walked through the things that we've observed in Washington...

00:39:01.000 Today.

00:39:01.000 We are fighting against a lot of those very forces, and I'm honored to have you by my side in that fight.

00:39:07.000 Tim, where can folks follow you?

00:39:10.000 At Rep Tim Burchett...

00:39:11.000 Well, at Tim Burchett is my cool Twitter one.

00:39:13.000 All right, that's where they get the hot reports right off the steps of the Capitol.

00:39:19.000 Correct.

00:39:20.000 At Tim Burchett.

00:39:21.000 Make sure to give him a follow.

00:39:22.000 Make sure to listen to Tennessee Talks with Tim Burchett.

00:39:25.000 Thank you so much for joining me today.

00:39:27.000 We'll be back soon.

00:39:28.000 Roll the credits.

Firebrand - Matt Gaetz - April 27, 2023

Episode 101 LIVE: ATF Director Melts (feat. Rep. Tim Burchett)– Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

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