The Anchormen Show with Matt Gaetz - March 13, 2024


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


Episode Stats

Length

34 minutes

Words per Minute

163.8081

Word Count

5,584

Sentence Count

352

Misogynist Sentences

3

Hate Speech Sentences

9


Summary

In this episode of Firebrand, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-GAetz) speaks to the Judiciary Committee about his opposition to a bill that would ban TikTok, and why he thinks it s a good idea. Also, special counsel Rob Herr delivers a blistering testimony to the House Judiciary Committee.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Matt Gaetz, the biggest firebrand inside of the House of Representatives.
00:00:07.200 You're not taking Matt Gaetz off the board, okay?
00:00:09.980 Because Matt Gaetz is an American patriot and Matt Gaetz is an American hero.
00:00:14.720 We will not continue to allow the Uniparty to run this town without a fight.
00:00:20.300 I want to thank you, Matt Gaetz, for holding the line.
00:00:24.400 Matt Gaetz is a courageous man.
00:00:26.400 If we had hundreds of Matt Gaetz in D.C., the country turns around. It's that simple.
00:00:31.980 He's so tough, he's so strong, he's smart, and he loves this country. Matt Gaetz.
00:00:38.080 It is the honor of my life to fight alongside each and every one of you.
00:00:43.300 We will save America. It's choose your fighter time. Send in the firebrands.
00:00:48.660 Welcome to Firebrand. We are live broadcasting out of room 2021 of the Rayburn House Office Building here at the Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C.
00:01:01.420 Already a busy week in Washington.
00:01:04.060 Special Counsel Rob Herr testifying to the House Judiciary Committee yesterday.
00:01:07.560 I'll have some of our exchanges there.
00:01:09.980 We'll talk about some of the peculiarities of the conclusions in Rob Herr's report.
00:01:14.340 Who was prosecuted? He wasn't the double standard.
00:01:17.520 And there is a mass wave of humanity coming across the Florida Straits from Haiti.
00:01:24.420 Haiti has collapsed into a failed state run by gang violence.
00:01:29.200 The government has essentially dissolved there.
00:01:32.140 And the result is that Southeast Florida will see a wave of migration from these folks from Haiti.
00:01:39.060 I, just moments ago, was speaking to a local law enforcement official in Southeast Florida, saying that these arrivals are often violent.
00:01:47.140 They are often desperate.
00:01:48.660 They end up in our jails.
00:01:50.080 They end up in our hospitals.
00:01:51.780 And we've got to do a lot to deter that.
00:01:54.320 We're going to talk about it.
00:01:55.520 And also, a member of Congress, a Republican, going all in in favor of DEI.
00:02:02.400 You will not want to miss who that is and how we plan to hold him accountable.
00:02:06.740 But first, I want to bring us to the news of the day.
00:02:09.640 The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would ban TikTok.
00:02:14.060 Now, TikTok is a national security concern.
00:02:16.220 I actually think it should be banned.
00:02:17.580 It's a way the Chinese Communist Party has an ability to collect facial recognition, information, voice acquisition, all of those things.
00:02:28.020 They store it in China.
00:02:29.440 ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has the capability to access that stuff.
00:02:33.660 But here's the problem, as is typically the case in the U.S. House of Representatives.
00:02:39.380 We had a bad bill to deal with a real problem.
00:02:43.840 This legislation was overbroad.
00:02:46.340 It dealt with websites.
00:02:48.980 It wasn't even available for amendment.
00:02:52.520 If we really were serious about banning TikTok, and we should be, my assessment is that we ought to have a deliberative process.
00:03:00.020 We shouldn't rush something to the floor.
00:03:02.660 And then the way you make it better is you offer amendments, you take consideration, you take votes.
00:03:10.240 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.
00:03:22.500 If we did this right, we should have been able to get the job done.
00:03:24.980 The bill will now go to the Senate.
00:03:26.820 But we expect the Senate to have a perspective on it that I would hope would appropriately lash the solution to the problem.
00:03:35.240 Some of the debate in favor of creating this TikTok ban was offered by Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthy in committee.
00:03:43.240 Take a listen.
00:03:45.740 Mr. Ray, you've also talked about various threats associated with TikTok, including its ability to potentially mobilize public opinion.
00:03:55.320 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.
00:04:07.220 Because they felt this was exactly the nature of the threat that the legislation was being proposed to address.
00:04:14.940 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?
00:04:26.080 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.
00:04:35.380 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.
00:04:50.180 So Americans need to ask themselves whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control access to their data, whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control the information they get through the recommendation algorithm,
00:05:03.980 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.
00:05:14.240 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.
00:05:26.240 Let me just make it clear.
00:05:27.780 You cannot rule out that the Chinese Communist Party actually ordered this particular pop-up to appear on people's phones that day, right?
00:05:36.880 That's right.
00:05:37.300 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.
00:05:47.900 You can't tell.
00:05:48.340 To detect.
00:05:49.340 And that's what makes it such a pernicious risk.
00:05:51.920 And that's the problem.
00:05:52.640 You can't tell.
00:05:54.340 Because the CCP ultimately controls ByteDance, ByteDance can manipulate the algorithm and has access to all this data.
00:06:02.960 Now, Director Haynes, in this year's threat assessment on page 12, you said, TikTok accounts run by a PRC propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the U.S. midterms in 2022, right?
00:06:21.200 Can you just speak up?
00:06:23.980 Sorry.
00:06:24.640 Yes.
00:06:24.980 I was just getting to the page.
00:06:26.260 Apologies.
00:06:27.080 So just to be clear, TikTok has already been used to influence the elections in 2022.
00:06:32.380 And then on that same page, it says, TikTok could, quote, attempt to influence elections in 2024.
00:06:39.820 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?
00:06:53.580 We cannot rule out that the CCP could use it.
00:06:56.540 Correct.
00:06:57.400 Thank you.
00:06:58.240 I yield back.
00:07:01.340 We're back live.
00:07:02.180 I thought that was a very effective presentation by Raja Krishnamoorthy about the specific threat of TikTok.
00:07:07.620 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.
00:07:16.040 We hope you download.
00:07:16.880 We hope you have your notifications turned on so that you see when we give you these updates.
00:07:20.300 They worry about its impact on X.
00:07:23.440 Oasis on Rumble saying, just closer to banning free speech.
00:07:27.440 So, as we speak to the direct impact of TikTok, I wanted to show you what Krishnamoorthy was arguing.
00:07:35.380 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.
00:07:45.680 Take a listen.
00:07:46.700 Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time that restricting speech has been pursued in the interest of national security.
00:07:55.980 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. Missouri.
00:08:06.120 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.
00:08:23.600 Described by the lower court as the most massive attack on free speech in U.S. history.
00:08:28.380 And even as that pins for a decision by the Supreme Court, Congress would, in this legislation, say, in effect, hold my beer.
00:08:37.720 I don't use TikTok.
00:08:39.820 I think it's ill-advised to do so.
00:08:42.960 Members of this body are famous on TikTok.
00:08:46.340 And I think that's unwise.
00:08:48.160 But I respect the choices of 170 million users in the United States.
00:08:58.380 The Trump administration attempted to ban TikTok in 2020, and it was held that it couldn't do so in two court decisions because, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, are subject to the Berman Amendment,
00:09:15.500 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,
00:09:27.920 but cannot ban the free flow of information across international boundaries.
00:09:32.080 I've heard that described as a gap in the law.
00:09:35.280 But it's a feature, sir.
00:09:36.700 It's not a bug.
00:09:37.800 Now, this change cannot be, this legislation cannot be described as other than receding from the Berman Amendment and that principle in American law,
00:09:52.660 which does not, by the way, did not emerge from the brow of Representative Berman in 1988,
00:10:00.180 but was predicated on a much earlier principle of First Amendment law established in 1965 by the United States Supreme Court,
00:10:08.540 in the case Postmaster versus, or Lamont versus Postmaster General,
00:10:12.600 which said the American people have a right, a First Amendment right of access to foreign propaganda.
00:10:20.520 At first, it may be remarkable or strike one as odd to hear that,
00:10:27.540 but that's because the proper relationship between government and citizen in the United States
00:10:32.460 is that the citizen decides what to be exposed to and what ideologies to embrace and consider,
00:10:38.460 and is always free to engage in expression, including across international boundaries.
00:10:45.700 That remains the prevailing constitutional law today,
00:10:49.180 and it begs this question.
00:10:52.800 How could it be that Congress should be working hard to devise a means to circumvent that principle,
00:11:00.900 that prevailing principle of the First Amendment
00:11:03.460 against the use of a particular means of expression by 170 million Americans?
00:11:12.580 And isn't it ironic that the technical advisors in the construction of this legislation,
00:11:22.860 to design it so that it can get around legislation challenges,
00:11:26.620 including isolating litigation challenges to 180 days,
00:11:30.780 and only in the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia,
00:11:34.560 those technical advisors are the same folks at the Department of Justice
00:11:38.480 who devised that plan to embed agents of the Department of Justice and other federal agencies
00:11:43.700 with social media platforms in the United States to restrict what Americans could say online?
00:11:51.480 Mr. Speaker,
00:11:54.060 America confronts a grave challenge in China,
00:11:56.880 and it will not prevail by becoming more like it by yield.
00:12:04.500 That was U.S. Congressman Dan Bishop,
00:12:06.400 and following the debate we had a vote where the legislation was passed overwhelmingly,
00:12:10.540 more than two-thirds of Congress voting in the affirmative for the ban TikTok bill
00:12:15.300 that I hope doesn't do all of the terrible things that go well beyond banning TikTok
00:12:20.980 and that could be weaponized against folks just as a consequence of some sort of viewpoint discrimination.
00:12:27.000 We've seen that all too often when the federal government gets involved in these matters.
00:12:30.540 Again, I am against TikTok.
00:12:32.840 I think it's bad.
00:12:33.680 I wouldn't have it in my house.
00:12:34.800 I wouldn't have it in my family.
00:12:36.280 But at the same time,
00:12:38.020 when you construct a regulatory regime that can zap a variety of different platforms,
00:12:45.320 I think you've got to look to that with great skepticism.
00:12:47.320 I did.
00:12:47.800 I voted no.
00:12:48.520 Now we'll see how that legislation fares in the United States Senate,
00:12:51.560 where Lindsey Graham and some others actually want larger swaths of power
00:12:56.520 for the executive to be able to take action against digital platforms.
00:12:59.620 I actually think it should be narrowed a bit.
00:13:02.280 In the House Judiciary Committee this week,
00:13:03.600 we had Special Counsel Rob Herr.
00:13:05.200 Rob Herr is the person who was initially working at the Department of Justice for Rod Rosenstein
00:13:11.500 when Hillary Clinton got off the hook.
00:13:13.720 He was appointed by President Trump to then go be U.S. Attorney in Maryland
00:13:16.420 and then brought back by Merritt Garland to serve as special counsel narrowly on the Biden records matter.
00:13:24.120 Remember the boxes of records in Biden's garage next to the Corvette?
00:13:29.140 Well, Herr was to determine whether or not Joe Biden would be charged.
00:13:31.940 He determined that he would not be charged.
00:13:34.360 And a few of us thought that was a little strange.
00:13:36.620 Here's my exchange with Special Counsel Herr.
00:13:38.420 Take a listen.
00:13:38.760 February 8th, the White House question.
00:13:43.400 Mr. President, why did you share classified information with your ghostwriter?
00:13:48.040 The President, I did not share classified information.
00:13:51.120 I did not share it.
00:13:52.180 I guarantee I did not.
00:13:54.700 That's not true, is it, Mr. Herr?
00:13:56.780 That is inconsistent with the findings based on the evidence in my report.
00:14:01.060 Yes, it's a lie.
00:14:01.960 It's just what regular people would say, right?
00:14:03.560 Yeah, all right.
00:14:05.320 So the next one.
00:14:07.060 And all the stuff that was in my home was in filing cabinets that were either locked or able to be locked.
00:14:14.520 That wasn't true either, was it?
00:14:15.960 That was inconsistent with the findings of our investigation.
00:14:18.880 Another lie, people might say, right?
00:14:20.740 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.
00:14:28.340 So here's what I'm understanding, right?
00:14:30.340 As Mr. Armstrong laid out, you find in your report that the elements of a federal criminal violation are met.
00:14:36.520 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 get a conviction.
00:14:45.120 And I actually think you get to the right answer in that.
00:14:48.100 I don't think Biden should have been charged.
00:14:49.520 Don't think Trump should have been charged.
00:14:50.580 But under 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?
00:15:03.140 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.
00:15:09.380 One of the elements of the relevant mishandling statute is the intent element.
00:15:14.140 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 met.
00:15:22.180 Right. But the reason you have that doubt is the is the senile cooperator theory.
00:15:26.580 The fact that Joe Biden is so inept in responding that you can't prove the intent, which, again, I don't quibble with that conclusion.
00:15:33.520 But it's frustrating to be like, oh, well, this guy's not getting treated the same way as Trump because the elevator is not going to the top floor.
00:15:39.140 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 he just he just blatantly lies.
00:15:46.620 And what I'm trying to figure out is whether or not Biden's lying because he's still so senile.
00:15:50.640 He hasn't read your report or whether it's a little craftier and a little more devious and perhaps a little more intentional than we might otherwise think.
00:15:58.760 So I also want to go to this Biden pen center.
00:16:01.500 Like, did you did it give concern to you that the Biden pen center where all this classified stuff was being mishandled was being floated by foreign governments?
00:16:12.900 Congressman, we were concerned with getting the bottom of all of the classified documents that were recovered during the course.
00:16:19.340 But the but like what bothers me is that the money that was paying for the place where the documents were being inappropriately held.
00:16:26.520 It was the Chinese and it was other foreign countries that did that play into your analysis.
00:16:32.340 Did you did you look into the billion dollars in foreign funding sources at the Biden center at UPenn, for example?
00:16:38.560 Congressman, we conducted a thorough, impartial and fair investigation.
00:16:42.480 And we were very, very concerned with getting to the bottom of all the relevant questions relating to the recovered.
00:16:49.260 Sir, did you look into the fact that the Chinese were floating the place where this guy was keeping the documents unsecure?
00:16:54.260 Yes or no, Congressman, to the extent that we identified evidence that was relevant and significant to our investigation, we put it in our report.
00:17:01.380 OK, it seemed relevant to me, maybe not to you.
00:17:03.880 Another thing that seemed relevant to me is this ghostwriter.
00:17:06.300 Right. So the ghostwriter purposefully deletes this evidence that seems to be like show culpability of Biden's crimes.
00:17:15.420 And you don't charge him. Why did you not charge the ghostwriter with obstructing justice and deleting evidence?
00:17:21.480 Well, for a number of reasons that are laid out in the report.
00:17:24.580 But in brief, Congressman, yes, when we when we interviewed the ghostwriter, what 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.
00:17:38.420 So so so so he didn't just so everybody knows the ghostwriter didn't delete the recordings just as a matter of happenstance.
00:17:46.140 Ghostwriter has recordings of Biden making admissions of of of crimes.
00:17:50.440 He then learns that you've been appointed.
00:17:52.740 He then deletes the information that is the evidence and you don't charge him.
00:17:58.200 That is reflected in the report. And one of the reasons like what does somebody have to do to get charged with obstruction of justice by you, if like deleting the evidence of crimes doesn't count, what would meet the standard?
00:18:09.360 So, Congressman, as we as we state in the relevant chapter of the report, one of the things that Mr.
00:18:15.280 Zwanitzer did not delete was transcripts of the recordings that he had created that included inculpatory evidence relating to Mr.
00:18:21.940 Oh, so if you if you destroy some evidence, but not other evidence that somehow absolves you of the evidence you destroy.
00:18:29.000 Like, here's what I see. Zwaniger should have been charged, wasn't Biden and Trump should have been treated equally.
00:18:35.240 They weren't. And that is the double standard that I think a lot of Americans are concerned about.
00:18:39.660 I see my time's expired. I yield back.
00:18:43.580 The senile cooperator theory.
00:18:45.940 Isn't that something? 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 of of of crimes.
00:19:00.540 And since when is like cooperating with the government the thing that you have to do to not get charged?
00:19:06.440 Like, 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?
00:19:22.700 It seems as though Trump's being punished for something that, like, isn't even a crime.
00:19:26.640 Not cooperating with the government when they're trying to lie about you.
00:19:30.160 Rob Hur, quite something.
00:19:31.520 Now, he also had an exchange with Democrat Congressman Steve Cohen regarding the memory of Joe Biden.
00:19:36.940 We found that interesting. Take a listen.
00:19:40.560 That's what Joe Biden does.
00:19:42.620 And understanding Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid, are important institutions that help seniors, not senile people.
00:19:50.680 I mean, I really object to that comment.
00:19:52.460 People see he's not. Nobody suggests he's senile.
00:19:54.720 And that's disrespectful of senior people with any kind of memory disability.
00:19:58.360 Lots of seniors have memory disability, but they're not senile.
00:20:00.940 And to do such, we're shameful.
00:20:03.700 Joe Biden is a competent, good president who knows American values.
00:20:12.780 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.
00:20:20.260 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.
00:20:27.940 Haiti. There, the criminal gangs are running the country, and so you've got this mass exodus of people coming to Florida.
00:20:35.900 I'm worried the Biden administration is not ready for it.
00:20:38.940 We get this reporting from the New York Post.
00:20:40.700 Florida border agents placed on high alert for refugees following breakdown of order in Haiti.
00:20:46.660 Border agents in Miami have been told to prepare for a wave of migration from Haiti.
00:20:52.160 Following the takeover of the country by bloodthirsty gangs, the Post has learned,
00:20:56.580 it is unlikely Haitians who take to the sea and enter Florida illegally will be repatriated back to their home country.
00:21:04.380 Given this instability, roughly 15,000 people have been internally displaced in recent days due to the gang takeover of the country.
00:21:12.520 According to the UN, gangs have wrecked violence and terror through the burning of buildings,
00:21:17.660 lootings, and attacks on police stations and government infrastructure resulting in the closure of hospitals, disease, and starvation.
00:21:25.480 With the breakdown of the government in Haiti, repatriating Haitians may not be happening for the foreseeable future, the email read.
00:21:33.260 So I guess 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,
00:21:39.940 that just becomes the new situation in Florida.
00:21:42.440 Guess what? Florida's not going to become Haiti.
00:21:44.740 Miami's not going to become Port-au-Prince.
00:21:47.580 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,
00:21:54.600 we have to send them back.
00:21:56.920 We have to activate authorities right now with the U.S. military to get this done.
00:22:03.340 I pressed senior Biden administration military officials on this question just yesterday.
00:22:07.860 Take a listen.
00:22:10.260 So what's the difference between Haiti and a failed state?
00:22:14.740 It's telling, right?
00:22:18.900 We can't really identify them because the gangs are in charge, the government has been thrown out,
00:22:23.140 and as a Florida man, I'm deeply concerned about this wave of people that we are having coming from Haiti,
00:22:30.640 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,
00:22:36.460 and they say the number one push factor that drives these Haitians into Broward County, Palm Beach County,
00:22:42.340 where they don't disperse throughout the country, they stay in southeast Florida,
00:22:46.320 that that driving factor is the deterioration of conditions in Haiti.
00:22:50.080 So what are we doing to prepare for that wave and to ensure that these people are not paroled into the United States,
00:22:58.560 as the administration has done with people on the southern border,
00:23:01.260 but instead are repatriated back at the dock at Port-au-Prince?
00:23:09.660 Congressman, we're doing a number of things to ensure that we're keeping track of the situation and we're prepared.
00:23:15.040 At the moment, we have not yet seen large numbers, what we would characterize as a maritime mass migration.
00:23:21.020 Do you anticipate a mass migration, though?
00:23:23.820 We are alert to that possibility.
00:23:26.020 I think you're right that the driving conditions in Haiti could very well press more people.
00:23:32.380 So we've recently approved some additional assistance that we can provide to the Coast Guard.
00:23:38.960 I think that that has now fully been approved.
00:23:41.940 We'll be providing notifications, if we haven't already, to provide additional shipboard assistance.
00:23:46.920 Because I've talked to the Coast Guard, and what they say would really support them would be more naval vessels,
00:23:52.480 would be DOD support.
00:23:54.400 And because I think you correctly said that there is an anticipated mass migration here,
00:24:00.420 there are specific legal authorities that we can access that I would implore you to access.
00:24:04.760 Specifically, George W. Bush signed Executive Order 13276.
00:24:10.580 And in that executive order, there is the ability for any president to designate an anticipated mass migration
00:24:17.860 and then get gray hull naval vessels into the Straits of Florida to deter that migration
00:24:24.200 and then to repatriate those people before they get to Florida.
00:24:27.780 So, General Richardson, is it your best military advice, based on what we just heard from Ms. Zimmerman,
00:24:33.020 that we activate the authorities anticipating a mass migration?
00:24:37.540 So, I think that we need to be postured appropriately for that, exactly what you're talking about.
00:24:44.880 And I have put in a request for increased capability to do exactly that.
00:24:49.740 And we are ready if a mass migration, if we need to deal with a mass migration.
00:24:54.520 We did a full walkthrough of our contingency plan on Gitmo last summer
00:24:58.580 with all of the interagency and all of my components.
00:25:02.340 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,
00:25:07.220 where they become a burden on the U.S. taxpayer.
00:25:09.680 We can interdict at sea and then repatriate directly at Port-au-Prince.
00:25:13.500 When you say you're preparing for that, does that specifically mean DOD assets?
00:25:20.400 So, for what happens on a daily basis that the Coast Guard is doing
00:25:24.460 and the repatriation under Homeland Security authorities back to Cap-Haitien happens on a daily basis.
00:25:31.400 Yeah, no, I got that.
00:25:32.960 But when I go down to Opelika and get eyeball to eyeball with these folks,
00:25:36.780 they say, Congressman, we really could use the DOD assistance.
00:25:40.960 Not more money for the Coast Guard, not more meetings, conference calls, and committees,
00:25:44.540 but gray hull vessels in the Straits of Florida doing the interdictions, doing the repatriations.
00:25:49.460 So, when you say you're anticipating, I think Ms. Zimmerman laid it out correctly.
00:25:53.840 So, given the fact that an anticipated maritime mass migration is specifically contemplated
00:25:59.740 pursuant to 46 U.S.C. 70051,
00:26:04.140 can I leave this discussion believing that it will be your best military advice to the administration
00:26:10.080 to utilize DOD assets for this purpose, General Richardson?
00:26:13.080 If I'm requested to do that, I will definitely do that.
00:26:15.660 No, I want you to make the request, not be requested.
00:26:18.960 That's what I'm trying to ascertain.
00:26:21.280 Okay.
00:26:21.840 Yes, Congressman.
00:26:23.960 Yes, you will make that request for DOD assets in the Straits of Florida.
00:26:27.040 So, I will talk with District 7 and our Coast Guard on the Atlantic side, Atlantic area,
00:26:32.180 and see if they need additional DOD gray hulls.
00:26:36.880 They have not requested that specifically from Southcom.
00:26:40.580 But if there's a need for that, I would absolutely request it.
00:26:43.920 Thank you for that, because I really think getting ahead of this will ensure that the humanitarian conditions
00:26:50.760 will be far better, that we could perhaps deter some of this, because, I mean, it's tragic conditions.
00:26:57.960 When you talk to these folks, and they say that these Haitians are pouring gasoline on little babies
00:27:02.680 and doing everything they can to deter interdictions,
00:27:05.500 it sharpens the minds of my fellow Floridians to want to make sure you guys are doing everything possible,
00:27:10.340 and I greatly appreciate the exchange today.
00:27:12.640 You'll be back.
00:27:14.680 We're back live.
00:27:15.640 A lot of comments about this wave of Haitian migrants.
00:27:18.880 Debbie on Facebook says,
00:27:19.920 We have a mass migration now.
00:27:22.260 Don't want to be hearing about the anticipated migration and the legal authorities that append there, too.
00:27:27.420 Noel on X says he's glad all the Haitians are going to stay in Florida and not go around the country,
00:27:32.300 because it will make them easier to round up.
00:27:34.440 Well, Noel, you must not be from Florida,
00:27:36.440 because we do not want to be the dumping ground for the prisons and mental institutions and gang-ridden streets of Haiti.
00:27:47.400 And Anti-Neocon on YouTube says,
00:27:50.200 Send barbecue to Martha's Vineyard.
00:27:52.700 Now, Anti-Neocon is not talking about a pulled pork sandwich.
00:27:57.060 Barbecue is the nickname of a gang leader in Haiti who is rising in prominence.
00:28:01.420 And if you're wondering how one gets the nickname barbecue, it's by lighting people who are alive on fire.
00:28:07.020 So I don't really think we should have barbecue in Florida.
00:28:10.640 I think barbecue should stay in Haiti.
00:28:13.860 We'll keep following the story.
00:28:15.600 We'll keep communicating with our state, local, and federal assets to determine how to deter this thing,
00:28:23.500 how to round these people up at sea,
00:28:25.500 and how to drop them right back off in Port-au-Prince before they ever hit Florida's shores.
00:28:31.140 Congressman William Timmons is a Republican from South Carolina,
00:28:34.280 and he had some thoughts on diversity, equity, and inclusion to share in a recent congressional hearing.
00:28:40.620 They caught our eye because usually we count on Republicans to be with us to fight against DEI.
00:28:49.480 We think you should treat people the same, regardless of their skin color.
00:28:55.480 See if Congressman Timmons is with us in that fight.
00:28:58.700 Take a listen.
00:28:59.060 In the 116th Congress, we made a recommendation to make permanent the Office of Diversity and Inclusion,
00:29:06.340 and I am pleased that this recommendation came to fruition and is now a permanent office.
00:29:11.120 In both this Congress and last Congress, we have heard from many witnesses on ways Congress can improve its hiring practices
00:29:18.140 and promote diversity and inclusion broadly.
00:29:20.720 Our objective should be that every member's office, well, let's start with Congress.
00:29:27.400 Congress should be representative of the country, and then within Congress,
00:29:31.160 every member's office should be representative of the people they represent.
00:29:34.280 So it should be diverse based off of race, gender, geography, socioeconomic background, lifestyle,
00:29:41.380 and it should be proportional based off of the population they represent.
00:29:44.980 Would we benchmark success as making it representative?
00:29:51.060 I mean, is the definition, is our success?
00:29:56.900 My whole thing is, it should be proportional.
00:29:59.600 So if there's a decision, if there's a decision about, well, not decision, an office should, go ahead.
00:30:07.880 As a minimal benchmark, that would be great.
00:30:11.080 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.
00:30:19.880 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.
00:30:27.900 I couldn't agree more.
00:30:29.780 This is a top priority for this Congress, and we need to get it right.
00:30:33.660 So I just appreciate you working so hard on this, and with that, I will yield back.
00:30:40.300 A top priority for Representative William Timmons, the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
00:30:46.300 You can count on this office to be on the opposite side of that fight.
00:30:50.680 We believe in merit.
00:30:52.480 Merit.
00:30:53.620 That is the way to advance in American life and in American society.
00:30:57.500 Before we go, we've got breaking news.
00:30:59.340 A Fulton County judge has killed six counts in the Trump indictment.
00:31:03.120 This from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
00:31:05.940 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.
00:31:16.880 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.
00:31:29.040 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.
00:31:45.140 Quote, the court's concern is less that the state has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the defendants.
00:31:51.380 In fact, it is alleged in abundance, McAfee wrote.
00:31:53.940 However, the lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned's opinion, fatal.
00:32:02.880 McAfee said the six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes, but don't provide enough detail regarding the alleged felonies committed.
00:32:10.080 Quote, they do not give defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligibly, he added.
00:32:17.320 All of the remaining defendants are still under indictment for racketeering and other offenses.
00:32:21.380 McAfee noted this does not mean the entire indictment is dismissed.
00:32:25.200 If you are Trump, Meadows, the lawyers, this is good news.
00:32:30.160 You want to narrow the issues.
00:32:32.200 You want to thin out some of these charges where the pleadings did not occur with particularity.
00:32:37.760 And those pleading deficiencies are important for due process.
00:32:40.940 Notice the ability to prepare your defense to know what's coming.
00:32:44.080 And what should be coming in that entire Fulton County prosecution is a broad dismissal based on the conduct of the prosecutors.
00:32:52.500 We've covered it extensively.
00:32:54.100 And you just know there are going to be more delicious tidbits from Fonnie Willis and Nathan Wade as they pursue their campaign against justice and law and order.
00:33:03.240 Thank you so much, as always, for joining us.
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00:33:28.280 real-time notice whenever we go live and give our reports.
00:33:31.140 Have a great day.
00:33:31.920 Roll the credits.
00:33:32.340 Roll the credits.
00:33:32.400 Roll the credits.
00:33:32.440 Roll the credits.
00:33:35.340 Roll the credits.