Firebrand - Matt Gaetz - Episode 159 LIVE: House Bans TikTok – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

Join us live from Room 2021 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. as we hear from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-GA) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) as they respond to special counsel Rob Herr's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on the matter of whether or not to indict special counsel Robert Herr for his work on behalf of former Florida Governor Rick Scott. We also hear from members of Congress, including Rep. Rick Perry (R, PA) and Tulsi Gabbard (D, GA), as they react to the bill passed by the House of Representatives that would ban TikTok, the popular video game app used by millions of people across the U.S. and around the world. Also, a new report from the Justice Department's Office of Criminal Investigation examines the case of former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who has been charged with conspiracy to commit perjury, lying, and obstructing justice in relation to his investigation into the alleged cover-up of a massive corruption scandal involving a former White House contractor, and other matters related to the so-called "Operation Fast and Furious" enterprise. Firebrand is a production of The Firebrand Project, a group dedicated to exposing corruption, greed, and unethical practices in the political system, by members and supporters of President Donald Trump and his cronies. Firebrand's mission to expose the deep-rooted corruption, and cover up the truth about what's really going on. in our society. and hold accountable those responsible for the corruption, as well as we learn more about what s going on in our government, and the people we should be doing in our every day lives. . Learn more about TikTok and the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party in this episode of the TikTok app, TikTok's relationship with the Chinese government. Listen to the latest in our latest episode of Firebrand as we discuss TikTok s relationship with China, and why we should all be worried about China's control of our data and our privacy and our ability to access our data. Subscribe to the Firebrand Podcast to stay up to date on all things related to Tik Tok TokTok and much more! in the future of Tik Tok and TikTok as we update you on TikTok. Music: "TikTok" by The Crew at Tik Tok and for more information on Tik Tok's future?

00:00:00.000 Thank you.

00:01:54.000 You're not taking Matt Gaetz off the board, okay?

00:01:56.000 Because Matt Gaetz is an American patriot and Matt Gaetz is an American hero.

00:02:01.000 We will not continue to allow the Uniparty to run this town without a fight. 1.00

00:02:06.000 I want to thank you, Matt Gates, for holding the line.

00:02:10.000 Matt Gates is a courageous man.

00:02:13.000 If we had hundreds of Matt Gates in D.C., the country turns around.

00:02:17.000 It's that simple.

00:02:18.000 He's so tough, he's so strong, he's smart, and he loves this country.

00:02:22.000 Matt Gates.

00:02:25.000 It is the honor of my life to fight alongside each and every one of you.

00:02:29.000 We will save America!

00:02:32.000 It's choose your fighter time!

00:02:33.000 I'm sending the firebrand.

00:02:41.000 Welcome to Firebrand.

00:02:42.000 We are live broadcasting out of room 2021 of the Rayburn House Office Building here at the Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C. Already a busy week in Washington.

00:02:50.000 Special Counsel Rob Herr testifying to the House Judiciary Committee yesterday.

00:02:53.000 I'll have some of our exchanges there.

00:02:56.000 We'll talk about some of the peculiarities of the conclusions in Rob Herr's report, who was prosecuted.

00:03:02.000 He wasn't the double standard.

00:03:04.000 And there is a mass wave of humanity coming across the Florida Straits from Haiti.

00:03:10.000 Haiti has collapsed into a failed state run by gang violence.

00:03:15.000 The government has essentially dissolved there.

00:03:18.000 And the result is that Southeast Florida will see a wave of migration from these folks from Haiti. 0.93

00:03:25.000 I just moments ago was speaking to a local law enforcement official in Southeast Florida saying that these arrivals are often violent. 0.95

00:03:33.000 They are often desperate.

00:03:34.000 They end up in our jails.

00:03:36.000 They end up in our hospitals.

00:03:38.000 And we've got to do a lot to deter that.

00:03:40.000 We're going to talk about it.

00:03:42.000 And also a member of Congress, a Republican, going all in in favor of DEI.

00:03:48.000 You will not want to miss who that is and how we plan to hold them accountable today.

00:03:53.000 But first, I want to bring us to the news of the day.

00:03:56.000 The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would ban TikTok.

00:04:00.000 Now, TikTok is a national security concern.

00:04:02.000 I actually think it should be banned.

00:04:04.000 It's a way the Chinese Communist Party has an ability to collect facial recognition information, voice acquisition information.

00:04:13.000 All of those things, they store it in China.

00:04:16.000 ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has the capability to access that stuff.

00:04:20.000 But here's the problem.

00:04:22.000 As is typically the case in the U.S. House of Representatives, we had a bad bill to deal with a real problem.

00:04:30.000 This legislation was overbroad.

00:04:33.000 It dealt with websites.

00:04:36.000 It wasn't even available for amendment.

00:04:39.000 If we really were serious about banning TikTok, and we should be, my assessment is that we ought to have a deliberative process.

00:04:46.000 We shouldn't rush something to the floor.

00:04:49.000 And then the way you make it better is you offer amendments, you take consideration, you take votes.

00:04:57.000 And then we probably would have an appropriately tailored legislative product as opposed to what we had today, which I voted against because it was overbroad, because it was rushed, and because it was not available for amendment.

00:05:09.000 If we did this right, we should have been able to get the job done.

00:05:11.000 The bill will now go to the Senate.

00:05:13.000 We expect the Senate to have a perspective on it that I would hope would appropriately lash the solution to the problem.

00:05:21.000 Some of the debate in favor of of creating this TikTok ban was offered by Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthy in committee.

00:05:29.000 Take a listen.

00:05:32.000 Mr. Ray, you've also talked about various threats associated with TikTok including its ability to potentially mobilize public opinion.

00:05:42.000 This particular push notification pop-up Ended up convincing many members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that day to change from being lean yeses to being hard yeses, because they felt this was exactly the nature of the threat that the legislation was being proposed to address.

00:06:02.000 So could you just talk about whether this is an example of the type of mobilization of public opinion that TikTok, under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, might conduct in the future?

00:06:13.000 Well, while I can't speak to the specific example, I can tell you that the kind of thing you're describing illustrates why this is such a concern.

00:06:21.000 I think Americans need to understand that distinctions that we take for granted in our system between businesses and government, between businesses and the government itself, don't exist for all practical purposes in China.

00:06:37.000 So Americans need to ask themselves whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control Access to their data.

00:06:44.000 Whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control the information they get through the recommendation algorithm, and whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to leverage the data, the software, on their devices, which allows the Chinese government to compromise their devices, if they so choose to exercise.

00:07:01.000 And just let the record reflect that when you were talking about the type of algorithm or example of what could happen, you were pointing to this very poster with a pop-up menu.

00:07:12.000 Let me just make it clear.

00:07:14.000 You cannot rule out that the Chinese Communist Party actually ordered this particular pop-up to appear on people's phones that day, right?

00:07:23.000 That's right.

00:07:24.000 And I think it illustrates why when it comes to the algorithm and the recommendation algorithm and the ability to conduct influence operations, that is extraordinarily difficult to detect.

00:07:34.000 You can't tell.

00:07:35.000 To detect.

00:07:36.000 And that's what makes it such a pernicious risk.

00:07:38.000 And that's the problem.

00:07:39.000 You can't tell.

00:07:40.000 Because the CCP ultimately controls ByteDance, ByteDance can manipulate the algorithm and has access to all this data.

00:07:50.000 Now, Director Haynes, in this year's threat assessment on page 12, he said, TikTok accounts run by a PRC propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the U.S. midterms in 2022, right?

00:08:07.000 Can you just speak up?

00:08:10.000 Sorry, yes, I was just getting to the page.

00:08:12.000 Apologies.

00:08:13.000 So just to be clear, TikTok has already been used to influence the elections in 2022. And then on that same page, it says TikTok could, quote, attempt to influence elections in 2024. So, Director Haynes, you cannot rule out that the CCP could, again, just like they did here, use TikTok as a platform to influence 2024 elections, right?

00:08:40.000 We cannot rule out that the CCP could use it.

00:08:43.000 Correct.

00:08:44.000 Thank you.

00:08:45.000 I will be back.

00:08:48.000 We're back live.

00:08:48.000 I thought that was a very effective presentation by Raja Krishnamoorthy about the specific threat of TikTok, but the live stream right now has a very strong sentiment that the broad provisions of this bill could be used to go after Rumble, which we enjoy.

00:09:02.000 We hope you download.

00:09:03.000 We hope you have your notifications turned on so that you see when we give you these updates.

00:09:06.000 They worry about its impact on X, Oasis on Rumble saying, just closer to banning free speech.

00:09:14.000 So as we speak to the direct impact of TikTok, I wanted to show you what Krishnamoorthy was arguing.

00:09:21.000 But on the floor, we heard a lot of the concerns from the live stream animated by the debate of our fellow Firebrand and good friend Republican Dan Bishop of North Carolina.

00:09:32.000 Take a listen.

00:09:35.000 Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time that restricting speech has been pursued in the interest of national security.

00:09:43.000 In fact, in five days' time, next Monday, I'll go to the Supreme Court for the first time I've attended an oral argument in the case of Murthy v.

00:09:52.000 Missouri, the case where Agents from the White House and the Department of Justice and other federal agencies embedded themselves with American social media companies to manipulate what could appear on social media, expression by the American people, described by the lower court as the most massive attack on free speech in U.S. history.

00:10:16.000 And even as that pins for a decision by the Supreme Court, Congress would, in this legislation, say, in effect, hold my beer.

00:10:24.000 I don't use TikTok.

00:10:26.000 I think it's ill-advised to do so.

00:10:29.000 Members of this body are famous on TikTok, and I think that's unwise.

00:10:34.000 but I respect the choices of 170 million users in the United States.

00:10:40.000 The Trump administration attempted to ban Tektok in 2020, and it was held that it couldn't do so in two court decisions, because under the International and it was held that it couldn't do so in two court decisions, because under the International Emergency Economic Powers

00:11:02.000 passed in 1988 by this body, to provide that in the interest of dealing with hostile foreign powers, the President can do all sorts of things with respect to commerce, but cannot ban the free flow of information across international boundaries.

00:11:18.000 I've heard that described as a gap in the law.

00:11:22.000 But it's a feature, sir.

00:11:23.000 It's not a bug.

00:11:28.000 This change cannot be, this legislation cannot be described as other than receding from the Berman Amendment and that principle in American law, which does not, by the way, did not emerge From the brow of Representative Berman in 1988, but was predicated on a much earlier principle of First Amendment law established in 1965 by the United States Supreme Court in the case Lamont v.

00:11:57.000 Postmaster General, which said the American people have a right, a First Amendment right of access to foreign propaganda.

00:12:07.000 At first, it may be remarkable or strike one as odd to hear that But that's because the proper relationship between government and citizen in the United States is that the citizen decides what to be exposed to and what ideologies to embrace and consider, and is always free to engage in expression, including across international boundaries.

00:12:32.000 That remains the prevailing constitutional law today, and it begs this question.

00:12:40.000 How could it be that Congress should be working hard to devise a means to circumvent that principle, that prevailing principle of the First Amendment against the use of a particular means of expression by 170 million Americans?

00:13:03.000 And isn't it ironic That the technical advisors in the construction of this legislation, to design it so that it can get around legislation challenges, including isolating litigation challenges to 180 days and only in the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia.

00:13:21.000 Those technical advisors are the same folks at the Department of Justice who devised that plan to embed agents of the Department of Justice and other federal agencies with social media platforms in the United States to restrict what Americans could say online.

00:13:38.000 Mr. Speaker, America confronts a grave challenge in China, and it will not prevail by becoming more like it, I yield. 1.00

00:13:51.000 That was U.S. Congressman Dan Bishop and following the debate we had a vote where the legislation was passed overwhelmingly more than two-thirds of Congress voting in the affirmative for the ban TikTok bill that I hope doesn't do all of the terrible things that go well beyond banning TikTok and that could be Weaponized against folks just as a consequence of some sort of viewpoint discrimination.

00:14:13.000 We've seen that all too often when the federal government gets involved in these matters.

00:14:17.000 Again, I am against TikTok.

00:14:19.000 I think it's bad.

00:14:20.000 I wouldn't have it in my house.

00:14:21.000 I wouldn't have it in my family.

00:14:22.000 But at the same time, When you construct a regulatory regime that can zap a variety of different platforms, I think you've got to look to that with great skepticism.

00:14:34.000 I did.

00:14:34.000 I voted no.

00:14:35.000 Now we'll see how that legislation fares in the United States Senate, where Lindsey Graham and some others actually want larger swaths of power for the executive to be able to take action against digital platforms.

00:14:46.000 I actually think it should be narrowed a bit.

00:14:48.000 In the House Judiciary Committee this week, we had Special Counsel Rob Herr.

00:14:51.000 Rob Herr is the person who was initially working at the Department of Justice for Rod Rosenstein when Hillary Clinton got off the hook.

00:15:00.000 He was appointed by President Trump to then go be U.S. Attorney in Maryland and then brought back by Merritt Garland to serve as Special Counsel narrowly on the Biden records matter.

00:15:10.000 Remember the boxes of records in Biden's garage next to the Corvette?

00:15:15.000 Well, Herr was to determine whether or not Joe Biden would be charged.

00:15:18.000 He determined that he would not be charged.

00:15:20.000 And a few of us thought that was a little strange.

00:15:23.000 Here's my exchange with Special Counsel Herr.

00:15:25.000 Take a listen.

00:15:27.000 February 8th, the White House questioned, Mr. President, why did you share classified information with your ghostwriter?

00:15:34.000 The President, I did not share classified information.

00:15:37.000 I did not share it.

00:15:38.000 I guarantee I did not.

00:15:41.000 That's not true, is it, Mr. Herr?

00:15:43.000 That is inconsistent with the findings based on the evidence in my report.

00:15:47.000 Yeah, so it's a lie.

00:15:48.000 It's just what regular people would say, right?

00:15:51.000 Yeah, all right.

00:15:52.000 So the next one.

00:15:53.000 And all the stuff that was in my home was in filing cabinets that were either locked or able to be locked.

00:16:00.000 That wasn't true either, was it?

00:16:02.000 That was inconsistent with the findings of our investigation.

00:16:05.000 Another lie, people might say, right?

00:16:07.000 Because what you put in your report was, among the places Mr. Biden's lawyers found classified documents in the garage was a damaged open box.

00:16:14.000 So here's what I'm understanding, right?

00:16:17.000 As Mr. Armstrong laid out, you find in your report that the elements of a federal criminal violation are met, but then you apply this senile cooperator theory that because Joe Biden cooperated and the elevator doesn't go to the top floor, you don't think you can get a conviction.

00:16:31.000 And I actually think You get to the right answer in that.

00:16:34.000 I don't think Biden should have been charged.

00:16:36.000 Don't think Trump should have been charged.

00:16:37.000 But under, like, the senile cooperator theory, isn't it frustrating that Biden continues to go out and lie about the basic facts of the report that lay out a federal criminal violation?

00:16:49.000 Congressman, I need to disagree with at least one thing that you said, which is that I found that all of the elements were met.

00:16:56.000 One of the elements of the relevant mishandling statute is the intent element, And what my report reflects is my judgment that, based on the evidence, I would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that that intent element had been made.

00:17:08.000 Right, but the reason you have that doubt is the senile cooperator theory.

00:17:13.000 The fact that Joe Biden is so...

00:17:15.000 Inept in responding that you can't prove the intent.

00:17:18.000 Which again, I don't quibble with that conclusion, but it's frustrating to be like, oh, well this guy's not getting treated the same way as Trump because the elevator's not going to the top floor so we can't prove intent, while at the same time Biden goes out there at the White House and says, well, you know, he just blatantly lies.

00:17:33.000 And what I'm trying to figure out is whether or not Biden's lying because he's still so senile, he hasn't read your report, or whether it's a little craftier and a little more devious and perhaps a little more intentional.

00:17:44.000 than we might otherwise think.

00:17:45.000 So I also want to go to this Biden-Penn Center.

00:17:48.000 Did it give concern to you that the Biden-Penn Center, where all this classified stuff was being mishandled, was being floated by foreign governments?

00:17:59.000 Congressman, we were concerned with getting to the bottom of all of the classified documents that were recovered during the course of our...

00:18:06.000 Yeah, but what bothers me is that the money that was paying for the place where the documents were being inappropriately held, it was the Chinese and it was other foreign countries.

00:18:17.000 Did that play into your analysis?

00:18:19.000 Did you look into the billion dollars in foreign funding sources at the Biden Center at UPenn, for example?

00:18:25.000 Congressman, we conducted a thorough, impartial, and fair investigation, and we were very, very concerned with getting to the bottom of all the relevant questions relating to the recovered documents.

00:18:36.000 Mr. Sir, did you look into the fact that the Chinese were floating the place where this guy was keeping the documents unsecure?

00:18:41.000 Yes or no?

00:18:41.000 Congressman, to the extent that we identified evidence that was relevant and significant to our investigation, we put it in our report.

00:18:48.000 Okay, it seemed relevant to me.

00:18:49.000 Maybe not to you.

00:18:50.000 Another thing that seemed relevant to me is this ghostwriter, right?

00:18:53.000 So the ghostwriter purposefully deletes this evidence that seems to be, like, show culpability of Biden's crimes, and you don't charge him.

00:19:03.000 Why did you not charge the ghostwriter with obstructing justice and deleting evidence?

00:19:08.000 Well, for a number of reasons that are laid out in the report.

00:19:11.000 But in brief, Congressman, yes, when we interviewed the ghostwriter, he did tell us, and I'm trying to get the exact language, that one of the things on his mind, one of the things he was aware of, was that I had been appointed special counsel and was conducting an investigation.

00:19:25.000 So he didn't, just so everybody knows, the ghostwriter didn't delete the recordings just as a matter of happenstance.

00:19:32.000 Ghostwriter has recordings of Biden making admissions of crimes.

00:19:37.000 He then learns that you've been appointed.

00:19:39.000 He then deletes the information that is the evidence, and you don't charge him.

00:19:45.000 That is reflected in the report, and one of the reasons...

00:19:48.000 What does somebody have to do to get charged with obstruction of justice by you?

00:19:51.000 If deleting the evidence of crimes doesn't count, what would meet the standard?

00:19:57.000 As we state in the relevant chapter of the report, one of the things that Mr. Zwanager did not delete was transcripts of the recordings that he had created that included inculpatory evidence relating to Mr. Biden.

00:20:08.000 Oh, so if you destroy some evidence but not other evidence, that somehow absolves you of the evidence you destroy?

00:20:15.000 Like, here's what I see.

00:20:16.000 Zwanager should have been charged.

00:20:18.000 Wasn't.

00:20:19.000 Biden and Trump should have been treated equally.

00:20:21.000 They weren't.

00:20:22.000 And that is the double standard.

00:20:24.000 That I think a lot of Americans are concerned about.

00:20:26.000 I see my time's expired.

00:20:27.000 I yield back.

00:20:30.000 The senile cooperator theory.

00:20:33.000 Isn't that something?

00:20:34.000 If someone proves that they are so out to lunch in responding to basic facts, and if they show up to demonstrate that senility, apparently it is absolving of crimes.

00:20:47.000 And since when is cooperating with the government the thing that you have to do to not get charged?

00:20:53.000 Doesn't everyone have the right under the Fifth Amendment to not cooperate with the government when the government is trying to pin something on you that is biased, that is inequitable, that is a misapplication of the law?

00:21:09.000 It seems as though Trump's being punished for something that isn't even a crime, not cooperating with the government when they're trying to lie about you.

00:21:16.000 Rob Herr, quite something.

00:21:18.000 Now, he also had an exchange with Democrat Congressman Steve Cohen regarding the memory of Joe Biden.

00:21:23.000 We found that interesting.

00:21:24.000 Take a listen.

00:21:27.000 That's what Joe Biden does in understanding Social Security and Medicare.

00:21:31.000 Medicaid are important institutions that help seniors, not senile people.

00:21:37.000 I mean, I really object to that comment.

00:21:39.000 Nobody suggests he's senile.

00:21:41.000 And that's disrespectful of senior people with any kind of memory disability.

00:21:44.000 Lots of seniors have memory disability, but they're not senile.

00:21:47.000 And to do such, we're shameful.

00:21:50.000 Joe Biden is a competent, good president who knows American values. 0.61

00:21:59.000 Sometimes the hit dog will holler and it seems as though the criticism of Joe Biden is inept has certainly hit with some of my Democrat colleagues.

00:22:06.000 What's also hitting is a wave of illegal migration in the state of Florida as a consequence of the deteriorating conditions on the island of Hispaniola, particularly Haiti.

00:22:15.000 There the criminal gangs are running the country and so you've got this mass exodus of people Coming to Florida, I'm worried the Biden administration is not ready for it.

00:22:25.000 We get this reporting from the New York Post.

00:22:27.000 Florida border agents placed on high alert for refugees following breakdown of order in Haiti.

00:22:32.000 Border agents in Miami have been told to prepare for a wave of migration from Haiti.

00:22:38.000 Following the takeover of the country by bloodthirsty gangs, the Post has learned, it is unlikely Haitians who take to the sea and enter Florida illegally will be repatriated back to their home country.

00:22:51.000 Given this instability, roughly 15,000 people have been internally displaced in recent days due to the gang takeover of the country.

00:22:59.000 According to the UN, gangs have wrecked violence and terror through the burning of buildings, lootings and attacks on police stations and government infrastructure resulting in the closure of hospitals, disease and starvation.

00:23:11.000 With the breakdown of the government in Haiti, repatriating Haitians may not be happening for the foreseeable future, the email read.

00:23:20.000 So I guess...

00:23:21.000 If all this is going on in Haiti, and it's the view of some in the Biden administration that we're not going to repatriate them, that just becomes the new situation in Florida.

00:23:28.000 Guess what?

00:23:29.000 Florida's not going to become Haiti.

00:23:31.000 Miami's not going to become Port-au-Prince.

00:23:34.000 We have to deter this invasion, and when we apprehend these people, whether it is at sea or whether it is in our beloved Florida, we have to send them back.

00:23:43.000 We have to activate authorities right now with the U.S. military to get this done.

00:23:50.000 I pressed senior Biden administration military officials on this question just yesterday.

00:23:54.000 Take a listen.

00:23:56.000 So what's the difference between Haiti and a failed state?

00:24:04.000 It's telling, right?

00:24:05.000 We can't really identify them, because the gangs are in charge, the government has been thrown out, and as a Florida man, I'm deeply concerned about this wave of people that we're about to have, that we are having, coming from Haiti, and it will accelerate, because I've gone to Opelaka, and I've spent time with the folks that are engaged in Operation Vigilant Century, and they say the number one push factor That drives these Haitians into Broward County, Palm Beach County, where they don't disperse throughout the country. 1.00

00:24:30.000 They stay in Southeast Florida.

00:24:33.000 That driving factor is the deterioration of conditions in Haiti.

00:24:36.000 So what are we doing to prepare for that wave and to ensure that these people are not paroled into the United States as the administration has done with people on the southern border, but instead are repatriated back at the dock at Port-au-Prince?

00:24:53.000 Go ahead.

00:24:56.000 Congressman, we're doing a number of things to ensure that we're keeping track of the situation and we're prepared.

00:25:01.000 At the moment, we have not yet seen large numbers, what we would characterize as a maritime mass migration.

00:25:08.000 You anticipate a mass migration, though?

00:25:10.000 We are alert to that possibility.

00:25:12.000 I think you're right that the driving conditions in Haiti could very well press more people.

00:25:19.000 We've recently approved some additional assistance that we can provide to the Coast Guard.

00:25:25.000 I think that that has now fully been approved.

00:25:28.000 We'll be providing notifications, if we haven't already, to provide additional shipboard assistance.

00:25:33.000 Because I've talked to the Coast Guard, and what they say would really support them would be more naval vessels, would be DOD support.

00:25:41.000 And because I think you correctly said that there is an anticipated mass migration here.

00:25:47.000 There are specific legal authorities that we can access, that I would implore you to access.

00:25:51.000 Specifically, George W. Bush signed Executive Order 13276. And in that executive order, there is the ability for any president to designate an anticipated mass migration and then get gray-haul naval vessels into the Straits of Florida to deter that migration and then to repatriate those people So,

00:26:14.000 General Richardson, is it your best military advice, based on what we just heard from Ms. Zimmerman, that we activate the authorities anticipating a mass migration?

00:26:25.000 So I think that we need to be postured appropriately for that, exactly what you're talking about.

00:26:31.000 And I have put in a request for increased capability to do exactly that.

00:26:36.000 And we are ready if a mass migration, if we need to deal with a mass migration, we did a full walkthrough of our contingency plan on Gitmo last summer with all of the interagency and all of my components.

00:26:49.000 When I talk to the Coast Guard folks, they seem to say that we don't have to go drop these folks off at Gitmo, where they become a burden on the U.S. taxpayer.

00:26:56.000 We can interdict at sea and then repatriate directly at Port-au-Prince.

00:27:00.000 When you say you're preparing for that, does that specifically mean DOD assets?

00:27:07.000 So, for what happens on a daily basis that the Coast Guard is doing and the repatriation under Homeland Security authorities back to Cap-Haitian happens on a daily basis.

00:27:18.000 Yeah, no, I got that.

00:27:19.000 But when I go down to Opelika and get eyeball to eyeball with these folks, they say, Congressman, we really could use the DOD assistance, not more money for the Coast Guard, not more meetings, conference calls and committees, but gray hull vessels in the Straits of Florida doing the interdictions, doing the repatriations.

00:27:36.000 So when you say you're anticipating, I think Ms. Zimmerman laid it out correctly, So given the fact that an anticipated maritime mass migration is specifically contemplated pursuant to 46 U.S.C. 70051, can I leave this discussion believing that it will be your best military advice to the administration to utilize DOD assets for this purpose, General Richardson?

00:27:59.000 If I'm requested to do that, I will definitely do that.

00:28:02.000 No, I want you to make the request, not be requested.

00:28:05.000 That's what I'm trying to ascertain.

00:28:07.000 Okay.

00:28:08.000 Yes, Congressman.

00:28:10.000 Yes, you will make that request for DOD assets.

00:28:13.000 So I will talk with District 7 and our Coast Guard on the Atlantic side, Atlantic area, and see if they need additional DOD gray holes.

00:28:23.000 They have not requested that specifically from Southcom, but if there's a need for that, I would absolutely request it.

00:28:30.000 Thank you for that, because I really think getting ahead of this will ensure that the humanitarian conditions will be far better, that we could perhaps deter some of this, because, I mean, it's tragic conditions.

00:28:44.000 When you talk to these folks and they say that these Haitians are pouring gasoline on little babies and doing everything they can to deter interdictions, it sharpens the minds of my fellow Floridians to want to make sure you guys are doing everything possible, and I greatly appreciate the exchange today.

00:28:59.000 You'll be back.

00:29:01.000 We're back live.

00:29:02.000 A lot of comments about this wave of Haitian migrants.

00:29:05.000 Debbie on Facebook says we have a mass migration now.

00:29:08.000 I don't want to be hearing about the anticipated migration and the legal authorities that append there too.

00:29:14.000 Noel on X says he's glad all the Haitians are going to stay in Florida and not go around the country because it will make them easier to round up. 1.00

00:29:21.000 Well, Noel, you must not be from Florida because we do not want to be the dumping ground for the prisons and mental institutions and gang-ridden streets of Haiti. 1.00

00:29:33.000 And Anti-Neocon on YouTube says, send barbecue to Martha's Vineyard.

00:29:39.000 Now, Anti-Neocon is not talking about a pulled pork sandwich.

00:29:43.000 Barbecue is the nickname of a gang leader in Haiti who is rising in prominence.

00:29:48.000 And if you're wondering how one gets the nickname barbecue, it's by lighting people who are alive on fire.

00:29:54.000 So I don't really think we should have barbecue in Florida.

00:29:57.000 I think barbecue should stay in Haiti.

00:30:00.000 We'll keep following the story.

00:30:02.000 We'll keep communicating with our state, local, and federal assets to determine how to deter this thing, how to round these people up at sea, and how to drop them right back off in Port-au-Prince before they ever hit Florida's shores.

00:30:17.000 Congressman William Timmons is a Republican from South Carolina and he had some thoughts on diversity, equity, and inclusion to share in a recent congressional hearing.

00:30:27.000 They caught our eye because usually we count on Republicans to be with us to fight against DEI. We think you should treat people the same regardless of their skin color.

00:30:42.000 See if Congressman Timmons is with us in that fight.

00:30:45.000 Take a listen.

00:30:48.000 In the 116th Congress, we made a recommendation to make permanent the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and I am pleased that this recommendation came to fruition and is now a permanent office.

00:30:57.000 In both this Congress and last Congress, we have heard from many witnesses on ways Congress can improve its hiring practices and promote diversity inclusion broadly.

00:31:07.000 Our objective should be that Every member's office, well, let's start with Congress.

00:31:14.000 Congress should be representative of the country, and then within Congress, every member's office should be representative of the people they represent.

00:31:20.000 So it should be diverse based off of race, gender, geography, socioeconomic background, lifestyle.

00:31:28.000 And it should be proportional based off of the population they represent.

00:31:32.000 Would we benchmark success as making it representative?

00:31:37.000 I mean, is the definition, is our success...

00:31:40.000 My whole thing is it should be proportional.

00:31:46.000 So if there's a decision, if there's a decision about, well, not decision, an option...

00:31:54.000 Go ahead.

00:31:54.000 As a minimal benchmark, that would be great, but if that were our minimal benchmark and that were success, We're not there yet based on the data that we've collected for the House.

00:32:06.000 If we wanted to set that as a baseline benchmark and to say that we could reach that and that be a success as a benchmark.

00:32:14.000 I couldn't agree more.

00:32:16.000 This is a top priority for this Congress, and we need to get it right.

00:32:20.000 So I just appreciate you working so hard on this.

00:32:23.000 And with that, I will yield back.

00:32:27.000 A top priority for Representative William Timmons, the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

00:32:32.000 You can count on this office to be on the opposite side of that fight.

00:32:37.000 We believe in merit.

00:32:39.000 Merit.

00:32:40.000 That is the way to advance in American life and in American society.

00:32:44.000 Before we go, we've got breaking news.

00:32:46.000 A Fulton County judge has killed six counts in the Trump indictment.

00:32:49.000 This from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

00:32:52.000 Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Wednesday struck down six counts of the August indictment that alleged felony conduct by former President Donald Trump and 18 others, saying they lacked sufficient detail.

00:33:03.000 McAfee dismissed counts logged against Trump, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, lawyer Charles Eastman, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and attorneys Ray Smith and Bob Cheesley.

00:33:15.000 Many of the charges relate to allegations that defendants illegally urged Georgia elected officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, then House Speaker David Ralston, and members of the General Assembly, to violate their oaths of office by convening a special session of the legislature to appoint pro-Trump electors.

00:33:31.000 Quote, the court's concern is less that the state has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the defendants.

00:33:37.000 In fact, it is alleged in abundance, McAfee wrote.

00:33:40.000 However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned opinion, fatal.

00:33:49.000 McAfee said the six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes, but don't provide enough detail regarding the alleged felonies committed.

00:33:57.000 Quote, they do not give defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligibly, he added.

00:34:04.000 All of the remaining defendants are still under indictment for racketeering and other Offenses.

00:34:07.000 McAfee noted this does not mean the entire indictment is dismissed.

00:34:11.000 If you are Trump, Meadows, the lawyers...

00:34:15.000 This is good news.

00:34:16.000 You want to narrow the issues.

00:34:18.000 You want to thin out some of these charges where the pleadings did not occur with particularity and those pleading deficiencies are important for due process.

00:34:27.000 Notice the ability to prepare your defense to know what's coming and what should be coming in that entire Fulton County prosecution is a broad dismissal based on the conduct of Thank you so much, as always, for joining us.

00:34:52.000 We always appreciate it.

00:34:53.000 If you're listening on Spotify, iTunes, give us a five-star rating.

00:34:58.000 That helps more people get our program in their recommendations to stay up to date as to what's going on.

00:35:03.000 And we love when all of our supporters get on Rumble, follow at RepMacGates, and ensure that you've got the app downloaded with that notification able to give you real-time information, real-time notice whenever we go live and give our reports.

00:35:17.000 Have a great day.

00:35:18.000 Roll the credits.

Firebrand - Matt Gaetz - March 13, 2024

Episode 159 LIVE: House Bans TikTok – Firebrand with Matt Gaetz

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