The Glenn Beck Program - Best of the Program ｜ Guests： Senator Mike Lee & Brad Polumbo ｜ 12⧸12⧸19

00:00:00.440 Hey, welcome to the podcast. It's Thursday. And what a Thursday it's going to be. We have the the house debating impeachment articles and voting on it. Stu, what will they do? I am completely at odds with an opinion on we are on the edge of our seat. We just can't wait. Do you have free will? Or are you being manipulated?

00:00:27.480 Crowder on the YouTube purge. That's kind of weird. Emotional support bees. And the new Space Force. All on today's program.

00:00:45.920 You're listening to the best of the Glenn Beck program.

00:00:50.080 An Arizona man's emotional support animal is creating quite a buzz.

00:01:02.520 Prescott Valley, Arizona resident David Keller thinks the application process to register an emotional support animal is too easy.

00:01:10.280 So he's tried to register a swarm of bees as his service pet.

00:01:16.580 It worked.

00:01:18.540 That's unbelievable.

00:01:22.720 A lot of people thought it was hilarious and a lot of people were getting upset.

00:01:28.040 Keller told the CBS affiliate.

00:01:29.480 We recently went on a website called USA service dog registration dot com and successfully uploaded a random photo of a beehive as a service animal to bring awareness to the issue that anyone could do this.

00:01:42.420 So now I want you to I want you to understand he went to the USA service dog registration dot com and he registered a beehive.

00:01:53.160 So it's not even a dog.

00:01:57.300 There's no leashes that can be put on these.

00:01:59.640 Well, if you have tiny leashes.

00:02:01.320 Well, yeah, little teeny tiny leashes.

00:02:04.000 What did they tell him when he tried to register to buzz off?

00:02:10.240 Anyway, he was inspired to go through the registration after seeing a service dog that was visibly untrained.

00:02:15.800 He said I could tell that it was not a service animal because it was pulling the owner to the parking lot.

00:02:20.600 I was thinking this is too easy.

00:02:23.380 The website he used to register his swarm is just one of many that make the application process for emotional pets too easy.

00:02:30.900 Experts say they're silly.

00:02:32.720 They don't mean anything.

00:02:34.340 You can pay for a registry on one of those websites.

00:02:36.440 And basically, you're paying for a piece of paper to put a name on a list.

00:02:41.660 Training is how you can tell whether it's a service animal or not.

00:02:45.240 And not all animals can be trained.

00:02:48.240 Bees can be trained.

00:02:49.020 All right.

00:02:49.420 Sure they can.

00:02:50.940 I mean, I don't see why not.

00:02:52.160 Yeah.

00:02:52.500 Can you tell if they're sitting?

00:02:54.260 You just can't see it.

00:02:55.960 Right.

00:02:56.360 Like it could be sitting.

00:02:57.340 Stay.

00:02:58.200 I mean, if they're trained or not.

00:02:59.400 Make honey.

00:03:00.020 Yeah.

00:03:01.320 And you get a little teeny newspaper and you bat them on the nose if they, if they, I don't know, if they've got to urinate.

00:03:10.700 Do bees poop? 1.00

00:03:12.440 These are great questions.

00:03:13.900 These are great.

00:03:14.380 And emotional support animals are in the eye of the bee holder. 0.58

00:03:21.480 Miniature horses remain clear to fly as services animals.

00:03:25.180 Although emotional support dogs in two twos were recently booted off a flight after showing signs of distress.

00:03:32.240 Now, for the first time, I have, I have an, an, an actual service dog.

00:03:39.780 We have trained killers that will rip your throat out.

00:03:44.620 Uh, and they're, I mean, yeah.

00:03:47.240 And, you know, they are trained, uh, and, you know, they're really, really good.

00:03:53.320 Uh, and for the very first time, you know, he's got the vest and everything and it's even red for Christmas time.

00:03:59.140 But we, you know, we, we bring him with the family, usually wherever we go, unless we have been flying, you know, commercially, we'll take him in the car or if we're lucky enough to fly privately or whatever, we'll do that.

00:04:12.280 But we've not taken him on the plane until they started loading horses on the plane.

00:04:18.500 And then I'm like, you know what, I, this is an actual service to the family.

00:04:24.820 I'm taking this dog.

00:04:26.700 And so we took him and, you know, he's clearly a service dog and he's like a hundred pounds, but he has to sit at our feet and getting him to sit.

00:04:35.860 If he wasn't trained, he'd eat us.

00:04:39.080 And he sat right at our feet and didn't move.

00:04:42.120 The stewardesses were like, oh my gosh, what a really good dog. 1.00

00:04:45.060 And we're like, yeah, he, he is.

00:04:46.940 Uh, and he sat and just laid underneath our feet the whole time.

00:04:51.880 It was uncomfortable him for uncomfortable for us, but that's a service dog.

00:04:58.400 I see these dogs walking in the airport now and I see all these things that I'm like, okay, that's, that's not a service dog, but I'm not going to complain.

00:05:06.240 Whatever.

00:05:06.660 Yeah.

00:05:06.800 I mean, that's cool.

00:05:07.420 I don't care.

00:05:08.200 Service dogs too.

00:05:09.120 There's a seemingly a line between service dogs, which are allowed pretty much anywhere.

00:05:13.740 Right.

00:05:14.140 I mean, like, yeah, especially when you think of traditional service dog, you think of, you know, seeing eye dog, right?

00:05:19.660 Like that.

00:05:20.280 Well, but no, but an emotional support dog now is the same.

00:05:22.840 You can't seem, there's no line, not take, you cannot refuse an emotional support animal.

00:05:27.940 I mean, obviously, you know, this is why these things happen, right?

00:05:33.220 I mean, it wasn't the, I mean, we've seen some ridiculous examples.

00:05:35.860 The swarm of bees is my favorite one.

00:05:37.900 Oh, this is the greatest.

00:05:38.780 This is better than the horse.

00:05:40.300 The horse made it on a plane.

00:05:42.540 I'd like this guy to take a jar of bees.

00:05:47.360 Just hang a hive from the overhead luggage compartment.

00:05:51.340 No, they've got to be with me the whole time.

00:05:53.600 Just so relaxing.

00:05:54.840 Listen to that buzz.

00:05:55.520 Everyone else is terrified.

00:05:59.540 This is a great example of our society, though, right?

00:06:02.500 I mean, you have, like, one person who's upset at Santa Claus on the town square.

00:06:07.780 Yeah.

00:06:08.120 And everyone else just has to deal with it.

00:06:09.740 Right.

00:06:10.000 That's the emotional support bee.

00:06:11.500 And this should be the one that everybody in this society supports.

00:06:15.640 Everyone should support the bee guy. 0.97

00:06:17.940 Because everyone else, sure, yes, they will be tortured and unhappy.

00:06:20.640 But that's not what this is about.

00:06:22.300 This is about the one person who requested the one thing.

00:06:25.940 And so they've got to fly next to you on a plane.

00:06:30.160 I'd like to register a lot of bees.

00:06:32.460 I think you should take his whole beehive, but break it up between his family so they're all sitting with, like, a jar of bees.

00:06:39.420 I mean, there's a guy, someone's just going to get this through.

00:06:47.040 It'll actually work somewhere if people keep trying.

00:06:49.860 And we should talk to this guy because I think he probably has a plan.

00:06:52.420 Oh, I think this guy's brilliant.

00:06:53.000 Because, look, I think we, this is the taking advantage of people's good nature.

00:06:59.480 Americans have a good nature.

00:07:01.160 And you know what?

00:07:02.140 If you have trouble flying and it will be a little easier for you to, if you can pet your dog on the flight, give you a little emotional support.

00:07:09.960 An emotional support dog, sure, whatever.

00:07:12.060 That's, generally speaking, the attitude here.

00:07:14.340 And then you have people who are going to take it to the bee level.

00:07:16.940 Because there's so many people who just like their dog and want it on the flight.

00:07:20.740 Which, again, is, I mean, I guess it's up to the airline or whatever.

00:07:24.000 Yeah, I don't really care.

00:07:25.340 I'm allergic to dogs, believe it or not.

00:07:26.940 I have a hard time petting.

00:07:29.020 Oh, really?

00:07:29.700 Yeah.

00:07:30.060 I have to wash my hands right out.

00:07:31.940 Otherwise, I break out in hives and stuff.

00:07:34.220 Hives? 0.95

00:07:37.820 So.

00:07:39.580 That one was unintentional.

00:07:40.880 That's nice.

00:07:42.260 You know, and so I'm allergic to dogs and cats and everything else.

00:07:45.140 So I, you know, I don't want to be sitting on an airplane full of animals.

00:07:48.360 But, you know, okay.

00:07:51.360 It's just like, it's going to be like a bus from Indiana Jones where there's just chickens all over the place and feathers flying in your face.

00:07:58.240 It will be.

00:07:59.240 It's a donkey in a cage in the middle of the aisle.

00:08:01.680 We have all, cage?

00:08:03.440 How dare you?

00:08:04.740 How dare you?

00:08:06.360 How dare you put them in a cage?

00:08:08.800 I'm calling Greta.

00:08:09.440 How dare you?

00:08:10.400 Sorry, Greta.

00:08:11.180 I didn't mean to get you up so early.

00:08:13.020 All right.

00:08:13.320 We're going to take a quick break.

00:08:14.320 Then we're coming back with Ben Sasse.

00:08:16.000 He has caused a, I don't know how many liberal heads to explode with his questioning yesterday on the FISA abuse accusations.

00:08:29.760 And I just want you to listen to him because he's not a guy who's been, you know, exactly all over Donald Trump as we got to support him no matter what.

00:08:41.360 And they are hammering Ben Sasse and saying, well, looks like he just turned into a Trump guy.

00:08:48.340 I want you to listen to his testimony and tell me how this can be interpreted at all about anything at all about Donald Trump.

00:08:58.080 This is about your security.

00:09:02.260 This is about the Fourth Amendment.

00:09:05.420 This, there's, I don't think I have seen a more important hearing and trial than this impeachment trial and all of the other things now with the IG report.

00:09:19.080 I don't, this is it.

00:09:20.420 This is truly last call for the Constitution.

00:09:24.560 Because if this is just all swept under the rug, we're doomed.

00:09:30.100 We're doomed.

00:09:30.460 If they'll do this to a president and to a presidential campaign where they know everybody's going to be looking into it, what do you think they're going to do to you?

00:09:42.020 It's really amazing.

00:09:44.700 We had a lot of great senators yesterday in examination on this.

00:09:49.920 The press made this into nothing.

00:09:53.500 I want you to listen to him and tell me this is nothing to be worried about.

00:10:01.920 The best of the Glenn Beck Program.

00:10:10.340 Hey, it's Glenn, and you're listening to the Glenn Beck Program.

00:10:13.340 If you like what you're hearing on this show, make sure you check out Pat Gray Unleashed.

00:10:17.800 It's available wherever you download your favorite podcasts.

00:10:21.080 Let me play Ben Sasse and his testimony yesterday.

00:10:25.260 This is with Horowitz, the IG, the Inspector General for the Justice Department, who is looking into what is the FBI doing?

00:10:33.620 How is this FISA thing working?

00:10:36.040 And listen to this exchange.

00:10:37.660 Mr. Horowitz, thank you for being here and to all of your team.

00:10:41.620 You've done important work, so thank you to all of you in the rows one and two as well.

00:10:46.300 There are a number of things that are really troubling, but some of them have been unpacked pretty fully so far.

00:10:52.340 So I'm going to pick up some loose ends.

00:10:55.700 Bruce Orr, who is he and what's his role at the department?

00:11:00.180 And then let's ask some questions about the bizarre pathway by which he became involved in this investigation.

00:11:05.520 So at the time of these events, he was an associate deputy attorney general and the head of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, working out of the deputy attorney general's office.

00:11:14.760 The Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force.

00:11:17.740 And that's connected to election interference by the Russians how?

00:11:21.100 It is not.

00:11:22.440 What the hell is he doing here?

00:11:23.720 That was precisely the concern that we lay out here.

00:11:28.360 He had no role in any of the election interference matters.

00:11:35.280 We have a bunch of people in the media who wanted to read this as a Rorschach test,

00:11:39.620 and they wanted to have a predetermined answer for exactly how to interpret each piece of this.

00:11:44.160 And so as the chairman began today, he said, you know, predicate of investigation, appropriate, but some minor mistakes and errors were made.

00:11:53.720 You've outlined in this 478 or 434, depending on whether we count all the Roman numerals, page report, 17 significant errors in this investigation.

00:12:04.020 Bruce Orr, who has a very significant senior role, ODAC, for those who don't know, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General,

00:12:11.080 has primary oversight of all law enforcement agencies in America.

00:12:14.420 So if you're in the FBI and you might make a mistake in your investigation, the people you'd be in trouble with normally are in the Deputy Attorney General's office.

00:12:23.940 And here's a guy in the Deputy Attorney General's office who ultimately gets involved, inserts himself into this investigation.

00:12:30.060 And I think it's pretty important to recognize we've got a massive cultural systemic failure.

00:12:34.840 If a guy from ODAC, who should be doing oversight of this case, if he weren't off on another assignment about organized crime and drug trafficking,

00:12:42.720 if he were going to get involved in this, he should be checking the work of the people who were doing the work.

00:12:47.900 And there are a whole bunch of department protocols and provisions that were violated throughout this.

00:12:51.980 But Bruce Orr, he ultimately decides to get extra information out of Christopher Steele after Christopher Steele or his employer, Fusion GPS, had been cut off by the FBI.

00:13:05.020 Why did the FBI decide to no longer listen to Christopher Steele?

00:13:08.940 So he was closed in November of 2016 after the FBI learned of his disclosure to Mother Jones magazine that he had been working with the FBI previously.

00:13:20.540 And we know from the evidence that Senator Cruz went through, there were a whole bunch of subsources that Christopher Steele was summarizing.

00:13:29.540 And the FBI at that point was believing he might be a credible guy.

00:13:33.120 And they ultimately realized that this is a bunch of BS.

00:13:35.820 And his subsources are saying, I said some of this in jest and some of it's stuff that I overheard in a bar.

00:13:41.120 None of it is information that I had firsthand knowledge of.

00:13:43.860 And so the FBI decides reasonably that Mr. Steele's information isn't credible, right?

00:13:48.880 So they cut him off.

00:13:49.680 Actually, let me just be clear.

00:13:50.840 That isn't what caused them to cut him off.

00:13:52.560 What caused them to cut him off is they learned he had talked to the press in Mother Jones magazine.

00:13:56.180 They actually had that other information and didn't tell anybody about it.

00:13:59.840 Okay.

00:14:00.340 So you're disagreeing with me only to say the problems with Mr. Steele are twice as bad as I summarized.

00:14:06.260 I'm just saying that isn't why they cut him off.

00:14:08.780 Okay.

00:14:09.060 Right?

00:14:09.280 That's the concern is that they are doing it.

00:14:10.680 Well, then Bruce Orr, who doesn't have any responsibilities in this area, decides he'll insert himself into the investigation and go get additional information from or about Christopher Steele and the people who are funding Christopher Steele.

00:14:22.600 Can you just remind us, who's Bruce Orr married to?

00:14:26.520 Bruce Orr's spouse, Nellie Orr, had formerly been, at the time he started interacting in November 2016 with Steele, had been a former independent contractor for Fusion GPS.

00:14:40.640 So, in other words, Bruce Orr decides to insert himself into an investigation after the professional agents involved in this investigation said, Mr. Steele isn't reputable, isn't credible, and has been talking to the media.

00:14:53.000 So we're now not going to talk to Christopher Steele anymore.

00:14:55.580 Bruce Orr says, actually, I should.

00:14:57.080 And he meets with these people who are funding or who are the employers of Christopher Steele or own his dossier, who's also Bruce Orr's wife's source of compensation.

00:15:08.720 Had been.

00:15:09.500 Had been.

00:15:10.080 As of, I think, September 2016, she had no longer been an independent contractor.

00:15:16.220 And I want to also, I think it's important to be clear, because this is relevant, again, to the significance of some of the inappropriate actions here.

00:15:24.540 The FBI was not a reluctant participant in this relationship that was the conduit from Bruce Orr, through Bruce Orr, to Steele, as we lay out here.

00:15:35.560 So I just want to be clear.

00:15:36.460 They're not saying, we don't want to deal with him.

00:15:38.880 And they're saying, oh, yeah, essentially, if you have something, we would love to hear from you.

00:15:43.880 Stop.

00:15:44.320 I want to just, is that a problem?

00:15:47.280 Because this is only one of the problems.

00:15:49.940 That's the first one he concentrated on, Ben Sasse.

00:15:52.360 Is that a problem that the FBI says, no, we can't talk to him, but only because he's talking to the press, not because they know the information he has given them is inaccurate.

00:16:06.300 They know it, and they don't get rid of him for that.

00:16:11.220 They get rid of him because he's talking to the press.

00:16:14.360 Then they say, hey, by the way, and I know we're not supposed to be talking to him, but if you get any information from him, just pass it on through to us.

00:16:22.080 This is the least of the problems.

00:16:26.440 I want you to listen to yesterday.

00:16:28.920 This is Ben Sasse apologizing to Mike Lee.

00:16:31.480 Listen.

00:16:31.660 I want to just say that I wish Mike Lee weren't sitting here, two people away from me right now, because as a national security hawk, I have argued with Mike Lee in the four and a half or five years that I've been in the Senate, that stuff just like this couldn't possibly happen at the FBI and at the Department of Justice.

00:16:50.000 So as somebody who is embarrassed on behalf of the FBI about your report, because I believe that it is critically important that we have the FISA statute, I think the FISC is an incredibly important court.

00:17:02.400 The approval rating of applications that come before the FISC are off the charts.

00:17:06.720 I don't know the current numbers, but a couple years ago when I saw them, I think it was 97.9%.

00:17:11.240 Is that a fair?

00:17:12.500 I think it was the last number I saw was roughly 98%.

00:17:15.220 Okay, so a 98% approval rating of applications that come before the FISC.

00:17:19.300 Why would it be that high, people would normally say?

00:17:23.340 And I'm asking you to answer that.

00:17:24.780 I'm saying that the good answer is in an ex parte, I'm not an attorney, but in an ex parte proceeding before the court, when you, the American citizen who might be being surveilled or be suspected of something that would open a surveillance warrant against you, the assumption would be if you can't be there to defend yourself, it's because the department's lawyers are so super scrupulous

00:17:47.120 that if there's any information that might exonerate you or that might counteract the view that led them to first pursue a theory of the case that had them wanting to surveil you,

00:17:56.180 they would say the bar is so high here, we'll always err on the side of privacy unless we believe there's a good reason to pursue this investigation.

00:18:03.280 And so Mike Lee has warned me for four and a half years, the potential for abuse in this space is terrible.

00:18:08.840 And I constantly defended the integrity and the professionalism of the Bureau and of the department that you couldn't have something like this happen.

00:18:16.760 Let's move on from Bruce Orr.

00:18:18.140 Mike Lee is here.

00:18:19.400 I don't want to talk about the conversations that you and Ben Sass had, but I know you're not happy that he had to say that or felt compelled to say,

00:18:27.660 crap, I was wrong, Mike was right, this is not good for America, Mike, at all.

00:18:33.600 That's right.

00:18:34.360 But, you know, yesterday was a big day for the American people, a big win.

00:18:38.060 It was a huge loss for the deep state.

00:18:39.640 You're exactly right.

00:18:40.480 I'm not happy that he had to say that.

00:18:43.100 He was nonetheless better late than never that we have an acknowledgement of the fact that we've got a big, big problem.

00:18:50.740 By the way, Ben Sass offered to buy me a drink in the same context.

00:18:54.340 And he said, if Mike Lee were a drinking man, I'd love to take him out and buy him drinks over this.

00:19:00.340 Mike, I don't think you're going to need any help with whiskey if things continue to go down as fast as they are in Washington.

00:19:09.540 The press is making this into no big deal.

00:19:16.400 Forget about the impeachment.

00:19:18.260 Forget about everything else.

00:19:19.940 This, the Fourth Amendment, is gone.

00:19:22.700 And everyone who said, we can't have these secret courts because they will abuse it, that's exactly what they're doing. 0.72

00:19:33.560 My question to you is, why did the inspector general come out and say that these were inaccuracies?

00:19:42.460 They weren't.

00:19:43.580 They forged documents.

00:19:46.340 This is as bad as it can get.

00:19:49.760 Why didn't they say it that way?

00:19:51.380 It really is bad.

00:19:54.020 And, you know, what this tells us is something very significant.

00:19:59.800 Faced with the facts in this report, the supporters of the spying that occurred on the Trump campaign must admit,

00:20:06.360 first, either that these FBI agents purposely used the power of the federal government to wage a political war against a presidential candidate they despised,

00:20:15.400 or that these agents were so incompetent that they somehow allowed a two-bit foreign political operative to weaponize the FISA program into a spying operation on a rival political campaign.

00:20:27.720 Neither conclusion is acceptable.

00:20:29.880 Neither one of these can simply be tolerated by the American people, not for another day.

00:20:35.520 Now, for years, as Ben Sasse alluded to, I've raised concerns that this FISA process is ripe for not just abuse like this, but abuse that is this, that's exactly like this,

00:20:46.840 only to be told, just trust us, don't worry, we've got safeguards in place, don't worry, we've got really good people and internal procedures.

00:20:54.180 But the finding contained in the IG report really does prove my point, and they can't get around that.

00:20:59.620 So, Mike, I personally think the entire FISA court should be closed until we know what's going on,

00:21:08.880 and I know that's dangerous for the country, they will say, but this is more dangerous.

00:21:13.760 If we don't get this right, as Ben said yesterday in his testimony, when this gets sophisticated,

00:21:20.740 this was a shoddy attempt, you know, Russia was clunky, and when it gets sophisticated, we're all in real trouble.

00:21:34.660 As American citizens, all of us, if they'll do this to a case where they know they're going to be investigated,

00:21:42.940 why don't we shut the FISA court down right now until we get, until we know?

00:21:47.440 Well, this is what caused me yesterday at the hearing to raise the question of whether it's time for us to suspend the FISA program altogether,

00:21:56.620 or at least to undertake a major overhaul, and perhaps suspend it while we overhaul it.

00:22:02.880 Look, those who argue the other side of this will always say, well, you've got to balance your privacy against your security,

00:22:12.360 and if you give people too much privacy, if you focus too much on things like the Fourth Amendment,

00:22:18.400 you know, that pesky constitutional issue, then we will have diminished security.

00:22:23.500 But you know what, Glenn?

00:22:25.260 Our privacy is not at odds with our security.

00:22:27.860 Our privacy is part of our security.

00:22:30.160 We are not truly secure unless the Fourth Amendment is honored.

00:22:33.580 We have sown into the seeds of our law.

00:22:37.180 We've sown seeds into our law that will bring about the destruction of the Fourth Amendment if we allow this to continue.

00:22:43.880 It already has.

00:22:44.980 I mean, this is the destruction of the Fourth Amendment.

00:22:47.700 This case, as you said, is not like what you warned might happen.

00:22:52.100 It's exactly what you warned will happen, and it's exactly as everyone outlined.

00:22:58.400 And it's even worse than that when you consider the fact that this was a presidential campaign.

00:23:03.880 Yes.

00:23:04.200 These guys knew they were up against a formidable foe.

00:23:06.640 They put some of their best people up on it.

00:23:08.780 What about the cases where the president of the United States or the future president of the United States is not on the target list?

00:23:14.400 What about the average American citizen out there who's being surveilled and doesn't know about it and won't ever find out about it?

00:23:22.440 That person, too, needs to be stood up for, and that's why this is so much worse even than this appears on its face.

00:23:29.920 And Carter Page, he wrote an op-ed yesterday, I think.

00:23:34.800 His life has been ruined.

00:23:36.880 His name is ruined.

00:23:38.880 You know, he will ever, forever be under suspicion in the minds of a lot of people as working with the Russians.

00:23:45.720 And they forged documents to make a FISA court think that he might be.

00:23:54.140 This is what happens when you stand up to the deep state.

00:23:57.520 This is what happens when you've got people inside the government who operate these levers of government control, who text things to each other like, we've got to make sure that this guy is an elected president and we've got to have an insurance policy.

00:24:12.160 We can't take the risk that the American people would be so foolish as to elect someone we don't like.

00:24:17.620 This is the sort of thing that happens.

00:24:19.420 We've known that this was inhuman nature.

00:24:22.680 Federalist 51 tells us that this sort of thing will happen.

00:24:26.180 Madison meant it when he said if men were angels, they wouldn't need a government.

00:24:29.180 If we had angels to run our government, we wouldn't need rules for government.

00:24:32.780 But we're not angels.

00:24:33.700 We don't have access to angels.

00:24:35.280 And so we've got to have rules.

00:24:36.340 We have to stick by those rules.

00:24:37.600 We have to enforce them.

00:24:38.560 And our laws can't allow them to be circumvented.

00:24:41.120 So, Mike, I heard this morning, and I keep hearing back and forth, I heard this morning that the Senate is now thinking that they're not going to call any witnesses.

00:24:49.380 They're just going to move past and just present documents that will move this impeachment forward.

00:24:56.260 Mike, if we are to save the republic, all of this must come out full light of day and people must be held accountable for all of it or we will have no trust in any justice system.

00:25:09.100 Yeah, I think that's a very fair point, and that's probably what's going to end up happening in the Senate trial.

00:25:16.660 A lot of that is going to be left at the discretion of the president's very capable legal team headed by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, in whom I have a lot of confidence.

00:25:25.080 He's prepared to go to trial, if necessary, tomorrow.

00:25:28.160 If the impeachment articles were to come over to us tomorrow, he'd be ready to go.

00:25:33.080 I hear both sides.

00:25:35.540 I hear that sometimes yesterday, I think it was the Trump legal team wanted a full open trial with lots of witnesses.

00:25:43.860 Then the day before, I heard that it was McConnell that wanted that and Trump didn't.

00:25:50.680 What's the truth?

00:25:51.700 What do people – which way are we headed?

00:25:56.380 A full open trial that will really expose this?

00:25:59.300 You know, I want to be very careful that I not speak for anyone other than myself.

00:26:05.640 I'll tell you, from my vantage point, I can see some advantage in doing a full trial because they haven't had an opportunity to call the witnesses they'd like to call,

00:26:15.180 to cross-examine the witnesses they'd like to cross-examine in the House of Representatives.

00:26:19.880 And that could be helpful to inform the public and bring the public along.

00:26:23.080 The White House counsel's office and the president's defense team will have to make a judgment call as we're going through the process about what to do.

00:26:32.920 And we get to a situation where if they believe they've got 51 votes to end the proceedings, whether they pull that lever.

00:26:40.920 I'm here to support them regardless of what they do.

00:26:43.240 But there's a part of me that would very much like to see a full trial for the very reasons you're describing.

00:26:48.060 Why – explain to me a legal reason why you would just want this just quickly brushed under the rug and not expose all that has happened.

00:27:02.120 It's a very simple legal calculation.

00:27:05.920 And, again, I'm not saying this is the right thing to do.

00:27:08.620 But if one were to reach that conclusion, if one were making that argument, what one might say was at any moment, if you believe you've got the case won,

00:27:16.380 if you believe you've got 51 votes to end the proceedings, it might be tempting to pull that lever,

00:27:23.140 even though there are additional gains that can be achieved by having a full trial.

00:27:27.580 My late father was a lawyer.

00:27:28.900 He died about 24 years ago, but he used to tell me when you've won your case in court, you sit down and you don't say another word lest you upturn the victory you've just achieved.

00:27:40.160 And so that would be the strategy there.

00:27:42.160 But, again, there are other considerations here, including the fact that the American people need to hear the whole story.

00:27:47.060 That's why I'm very sympathetic to the view that maybe we ought to just have a full-blown trial.

00:27:50.360 You know, and, Mike, I have to tell you, you know, there's a way of talking to Donald Trump that he relates to and understands.

00:28:00.120 And only he could take this on, make sure American eyeballs are watching it,

00:28:08.940 and he is in the unique position of truly draining the swamp.

00:28:15.240 He becomes one of the greatest presidents in history just based on this one thing.

00:28:22.040 If he exposes the media in this trial, if he exposes the deep state in this trial,

00:28:30.080 if he exposes the DOJ and the way they have used FISA courts,

00:28:36.260 only Donald Trump has been given this opportunity to turn this dirty system inside out.

00:28:44.000 And, quite honestly, I don't believe the Democrats survive a five- or ten-year period after he does that.

00:28:52.600 I think they go the way of the Whigs after he exposes what they have done. 0.60

00:28:57.840 Yeah, that is an outstanding argument and one that I need to communicate to the president next time I talk to him.

00:29:05.260 I know he's being very well advised on this.

00:29:08.360 I talk to him on a regular basis.

00:29:10.160 His attorney talks to him many times a day.

00:29:14.960 And I know he's being briefed on those very arguments.

00:29:17.080 But you raise a very good point for the simple reason that I think we are well past the point where we can be quite assured

00:29:24.400 they don't have a good case against him.

00:29:26.560 We're going to win this.

00:29:28.480 Yes.

00:29:28.760 He's not going to be removed.

00:29:30.000 So as long as that's the case, let's turn it into an educational tool.

00:29:33.840 And let him drain the swamp.

00:29:35.820 We should do that.

00:29:36.080 Let him be the guy who will forever be remembered as setting this corruption in its place and shutting this corruption down at the highest levels, exposing it.

00:29:49.960 This is what people, everybody I talked to that voted for him, they all said, I just, you know, the system is so far broken, he'll just go in and burn the whole thing down.

00:29:59.680 I thought that was a bad idea at the time, but I see what they're talking about.

00:30:04.820 And that's what his voters want right now.

00:30:07.380 They want him to burn the infection out.

00:30:11.180 And this is the vehicle to do it.

00:30:13.100 Yeah, the American people are starting to see what he saw from the beginning and what they what the people intuitively know, which is that American voters for too long have been asked to put too much faith and almost religious amount of faith in government.

00:30:29.920 Yes.

00:30:30.140 That's not how it's supposed to work.

00:30:31.740 We put too much faith and therefore too much discretion.

00:30:34.200 It's been weaponized against us.

00:30:35.840 We've got to expose it for what it is.

00:30:37.440 Mike, we're praying for a Christmas miracle.

00:30:39.140 Thank you so much.

00:30:39.920 Appreciate it.

00:30:40.980 Thank you, Glenn.

00:30:41.600 God bless.

00:30:42.400 Senator Mike Lee.

00:30:46.240 This is the best of the Glenn Beck program.

00:30:48.620 Hey, it's Glenn.

00:31:00.440 And if you like what you hear on the program, you should check out Pat Gray Unleashed.

00:31:04.740 His podcast is available wherever you download your favorite podcast.

00:31:08.840 Hi, it's Glenn.

00:31:09.740 If you're a subscriber to the podcast, can you do us a favor and rate us on iTunes?

00:31:14.280 If you're not a subscriber, become one today and listen on your own time.

00:31:18.200 You can subscribe on iTunes.

00:31:19.960 Thanks.

00:31:20.620 Welcome to the program.

00:31:21.740 If you're an old Phil Hendry fan, I think I can legitimately introduce my next guest, Brad Palumbo, as gay man, gay journalist.

00:31:31.640 Welcome to the program, Brad.

00:31:34.740 Hey, thanks for having me.

00:31:35.960 You bet.

00:31:36.660 You're the deputy contributors editor of the Washington Examiner.

00:31:40.700 We've had you on.

00:31:41.500 You're very reasonable.

00:31:42.580 And this, I think, is the first time that I think we may have a disagreement on something.

00:31:46.760 Um, you are, you are backing the, um, fairness for all act.

00:31:55.180 And for people, I've been watching this for almost a year, uh, now.

00:32:00.140 And, uh, it's, to me, it's disturbing.

00:32:03.580 So tell me your point of view on it and, and let people know what it is.

00:32:10.000 Yeah, look, so my point of view is that I come, I come at this entire debate from the perspective of a person who's a gay libertarian conservative.

00:32:17.980 Right.

00:32:18.420 So I believe in both, uh, gay rights, but I also believe in religious liberty and the first amendment.

00:32:23.200 So I'm one of these people that's not trying to force Jack Phillips to bake a cake or chase down Christian schools and force them to employ trans people.

00:32:31.160 But I also don't think that a corporation like McDonald's should be able to hire some, fire someone just because they're gay or that a massive apartment complex should be able to evict someone because they're transgender.

00:32:43.520 So that's why I wrote a column in support of the effort from Representative Chris Stewart from Utah, Utah's second district, I believe, who's actually a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has backed his bill, which essentially the Fairness for All Act, it tries to do the same thing that the Equality Act does, which is update the Civil Rights Act to include protections for gay and transgender people.

00:33:07.380 But importantly, unlike the Equality Act, which crushes religious liberty and has no exceptions, this bill has very clear carve-outs, in my opinion, that adequately protect religious liberty, but also would add legal protections for LGBT people.

00:33:23.420 So, Brad, when am I going to get protection for being a conservative, straight, old, white guy?

00:33:30.820 And I mean that sincerely.

00:33:33.020 There are many jobs I'm not even considered for.

00:33:36.180 There is no way, and that I'm highly qualified for, but there is no way Netflix, Amazon would ever, ever hire me, even though I'd make them a ton of money, but they won't do it because I don't fit their message.

00:33:56.380 Yeah, I mean, I think there's a difference, to be honest, between someone not hiring a person like me or you because we're conservative.

00:34:04.540 What's the difference?

00:34:05.140 I think there is a difference.

00:34:07.660 Well, I know.

00:34:08.080 What is it, do you think?

00:34:09.980 Well, it's like being gay or transgender is almost a demographic, right?

00:34:13.320 It's not an ideology in the same way.

00:34:15.740 It's like firing – I view it more as like firing someone for being black than firing someone for being Republican. 0.72

00:34:20.580 But I do want to say one thing, Glenn, that this bill, the Fairness for All Act, actually would add some protections for people like you.

00:34:27.560 You know, it goes out of its way to block the crazies like Beto O'Rourke and put into law that federal tax-exempt status can never be denied due to religious beliefs or practices regarding marriage or sexuality.

00:34:40.200 It also includes specific provisions that prohibit the government from targeting or punishing religious individuals.

00:34:47.180 So this act, actually – I spoke with Representative Chris Stewart about it, and he said that part of his motivation for doing this was that he thinks religious liberty is under attack.

00:34:56.640 And I agree – this bill isn't just about LGBT rights.

00:35:00.400 It's also about putting concrete rules for religious liberty in place.

00:35:04.520 Here's my problem, Brad, because I agree with you 100 percent and Chris Stewart and the backers of this bill that this does protect religious liberty, but it leaves the door open for everyone else.

00:35:17.280 So, you know, I appreciate the fact that it is protecting religious organizations, but what about just the idea that I have a guy who's running the front desk and my business, you know, is my business?

00:35:39.740 And the guy decides that he's going to be married, and he comes to work in a dress, and he's a big guy, and I don't want him at the front desk.

00:35:49.220 Can I fire him?

00:35:52.440 Look, I think if you're running – if you're talking about your church or you're talking about your Christian bakery, then that's one thing, and you'd be able to.

00:35:59.480 But in a normal role where somebody – it's just a regular business, I don't think you should be able to fire someone because of something like that because ultimately it doesn't relate to the job, and you're firing them.

00:36:11.240 I mean, it's honestly like – I'm sympathetic to this idea that business owners, you know, I'm libertarian-leaning, should have wide discretion and latitude.

00:36:19.460 But I do believe in the Civil Rights Act.

00:36:21.220 I don't believe that someone's right extends to fire someone for being black or fire someone just because they're a woman. 0.98

00:36:26.300 And in the same sense, I really don't think that within reasonable exceptions like this bill lays out, you should be able to fire someone just because you personally disagree with an aspect of who they are.

00:36:38.080 It's interesting, Greg, because I think one of the issues I've heard about this bill – because most – you know, 90 percent of the stuff I think you're saying here, everyone agrees with, right?

00:36:45.160 Like, I mean, it's hard to argue with.

00:36:47.200 It's ridiculous to throw someone out of their apartment because you don't like who they're interested in.

00:36:53.680 But the – and you mentioned the cake thing, which is interesting.

00:36:58.320 This has been one of the things I've heard pushback on, and maybe the bill deals with this directly in that it says – a lot of people say, okay, religious liberty sort of ends at the church.

00:37:08.860 Yes, we'll protect you inside your church.

00:37:10.940 You can worship however you like.

00:37:12.280 This is sort of the left's approach to these issues.

00:37:14.240 But when it comes out to you being in the public sphere, if you believe something that disagrees with these guidelines, well, you're kind of out of luck.

00:37:23.440 Does the bill deal with that directly?

00:37:24.840 It does.

00:37:25.420 It does.

00:37:26.020 If I'm correct, Brad, it does.

00:37:28.560 But it's only for companies that have 15 or fewer employees.

00:37:32.820 So the cake guy is fine.

00:37:35.620 But if I have more than 15 employees, I'm not fine.

00:37:39.320 The idea is it's really hard to strike the right balance with these things.

00:37:44.220 It's incredibly difficult.

00:37:45.460 And where do you draw the line?

00:37:46.880 15, 20, 10.

00:37:48.300 But the idea is that Jack Phillips would be fine, but McDonald's would not be.

00:37:53.560 The point is you have to have a line somewhere.

00:37:55.780 And it's also – in terms of the public sphere, this bill also specifically sets up a system in which medical professionals are allowed to not provide certain services as long as they provide –

00:38:07.320 I've always looked at it like this, like you shouldn't be able, if you're a general doctor, to not give someone their vaccines because they're gay.

00:38:14.160 But you shouldn't be forced to give someone trans hormone therapy if you object to that.

00:38:18.660 So it basically sets up that kind of equal access, but they can deny specific services.

00:38:24.140 So it actually sets up in public life.

00:38:26.380 Except that's what we had at the beginning with abortion, and now it doesn't matter what your religious belief is.

00:38:32.460 I mean, these lines keep getting blurred because we keep making special exceptions.

00:38:38.020 Look, everyone should have exactly the same rights.

00:38:42.180 Everyone.

00:38:43.060 The problem that we entered into with the civil rights movement is blacks didn't have the same rights.

00:38:49.620 You have to have the same exact right.

00:38:53.420 But you also have to let people be stupid or jerks.

00:38:58.560 You also have to let businesses do what businesses do, Hobby Lobby.

00:39:04.600 If a bunch of militant transgender decided to go en masse to apply at Hobby Lobby, would Hobby Lobby have to hire them, 0.73

00:39:17.800 or would they be caught in litigation in any way because they could say they're discriminating?

00:39:23.260 So it actually would depend on how Hobby Lobby is classified, and I don't know that off the top of my head.

00:39:30.460 If they're classified as a religious nonprofit or a – so if they're just a private business –

00:39:36.540 They're a business.

00:39:37.100 Then if they're just a private business, then they would be bound by anti-discrimination laws.

00:39:43.860 It's interesting because these are obviously tough things to deal with.

00:39:46.820 We know Chris Stewart really well.

00:39:48.040 He's a good friend of the show, and he is someone who's honestly trying to deal with these issues in this bill.

00:39:54.560 But it does – I mean, I think you could see this, Brad, as well.

00:39:57.100 It does – it's going to pop up with some interesting conundrums that are – I don't think the bill itself can solve.

00:40:05.220 I mean, you know –

00:40:06.080 No.

00:40:06.240 And the intent behind it is because worse things are coming down the pike.

00:40:12.520 And so this is a way to cut off at the pass, pass this, so worse things don't come down the pike. 0.93

00:40:20.360 And I understand that, and I even appreciate that.

00:40:23.540 But that doesn't mean you pass bad legislation to stop worse legislation.

00:40:28.700 So I actually – I don't agree with you, Glenn.

00:40:31.960 I get your point.

00:40:33.020 But whether – I think for the people facing the conservative movement, the trend of public opinion is that if you – we have to pass compromise legislation like this, because if not, we're going to be stuck under the Equality Act a decade from now.

00:40:45.840 When there's a Democrat – next time there's a Democrat Congress, they're going to pass it.

00:40:49.820 We're trending in that way.

00:40:51.160 So honestly, my pitch to social conservatives for this legislation is that we're working with you on this.

00:40:56.580 We want it to be fair.

00:40:57.600 We want it to be balanced.

00:40:58.880 It's very complicated.

00:41:00.160 But we're working to make exceptions.

00:41:01.680 Work with us on this legislation.

00:41:03.500 Let's pass something like this, because if you don't, unfortunately, the reality is you're going to be stuck under the Equality Act 10 years from now, I would bet.

00:41:11.540 Brad, I don't want to leave this conversation with you thinking anything other than I really respect you.

00:41:16.440 I respect you for coming on and debating this with me, and we're on different ends of the argument on this one.

00:41:22.980 But I'd like to continue this conversation because maybe I'm just missing something.

00:41:28.060 But as a libertarian, I don't like special rights ever for anyone.

00:41:36.180 It is – it just – it shouldn't be that way.

00:41:39.300 You have a right to live your life.

00:41:41.400 And I mean that as transgender, and I mean that as a straight white man.

00:41:46.680 You have a right to rule your life, to be stupid, to be different, to be whatever it is you are.

00:41:53.340 You have that right.

00:41:54.860 No special rights for anybody.

00:41:57.200 No special rights.

00:41:59.260 Can we get one quick comment out of Brad, though, before you leave?

00:42:02.560 Yeah.

00:42:02.680 I'm concerned, Brad, that the left is noticing that Pete Buttigieg is not gay enough.

00:42:08.360 Oh, jeez.

00:42:08.820 And is there an appropriate amount of gay that Pete should be? 1.00

00:42:12.420 Do you have any perspective on this?

00:42:15.120 Look, I don't like Pete.

00:42:16.560 He represents none of my policy beliefs.

00:42:18.560 I don't think he's moderate in the slightest.

00:42:21.280 No.

00:42:22.000 But I will say that the woke left makes him look good when they launch this ridiculous attacks against him.

00:42:28.040 You know, the latest one that I think you're referencing is the BuzzFeed News article.

00:42:31.180 Yeah.

00:42:31.760 It said, queer people can never be released until we no longer live in a country powered by capitalism.

00:42:38.480 And basically the article criticizes Pete Buttigieg because he gets ahead by acting like a normal person pretty much.

00:42:45.800 God forbid he is really a normal person.

00:42:48.660 It's a bad thing.

00:42:49.760 Yeah.

00:42:49.980 Yeah, I mean, the points of the article seems to be, well, of course they're accepting Pete Buttigieg because he's acting like them.

00:42:57.400 A guy who wears a suit and is all buttoned up and talks about marriage all the time.

00:43:02.440 Well, that's not – they're not really accepting us.

00:43:05.520 And, you know, this is what you get if all you do is go after gay marriage. 0.78

00:43:09.560 You know, it's a really – I felt it was a really insulting argument to the average gay person.

00:43:16.060 No, it is insulting.

00:43:18.240 And I have to say that we see these things on BuzzFeed and Out and the New Republic and all these crazy screeds.

00:43:24.400 Those aren't representative of the guys I play with on my gay soccer league.

00:43:28.980 Like, I'm telling you, the average gay person does not think what the crazy, woke internet people think.

00:43:34.400 All right.

00:43:35.220 Thankfully.

00:43:35.840 Brad, thank you so much for being on the program.

00:43:37.900 Brad Palumbo.

00:43:38.660 He is WashingtonExaminer.com.

00:43:41.060 Thanks for being a part of the program.

00:43:43.340 Thank you, Brian.

00:43:44.180 You bet.

00:43:44.920 I want to say something in full disclosure.

00:43:46.860 Wait for a second, Sarah.

00:43:47.700 I want to say something in full disclosure here.

00:43:50.660 This Fairness for All Act is really being spearheaded by my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

00:44:02.000 because they are very, very concerned that we are strong on family, strong on marriage, and strong on gender.

00:44:10.640 And we always have been.

00:44:12.900 And they are very concerned about the rights of religious people and religious organizations.

00:44:20.280 And I 100% understand that.

00:44:23.000 And I have met with leaders of my faith on this and talked to them in depth.

00:44:28.980 I disagree with them on this.

00:44:31.460 And I've had to do a lot of praying on this because, you know, I respect them.

00:44:38.820 And I've come to the conclusion through counsel with many of them that their calling is their calling.

00:44:51.340 Their calling is to protect the church.

00:44:53.680 My calling is to tell you about what's happening in government and the Constitution.

00:44:59.920 And my calling, my feelings on this is this does not protect the average person.

00:45:07.800 It does protect the churches.

00:45:09.860 And if you want to protect the churches and you believe that working together and holding hands with people who are most times shown us to be wildly dishonest,

00:45:23.380 and they are progressive, they take progressive steps,

00:45:28.800 this then would only be a progressive measure.

00:45:33.640 I could be wrong on it.

00:45:36.560 But I will tell you that I have talked to members of my own faith in all levels of government as well,

00:45:45.620 and attorneys and everything else, and it is split.

00:45:49.740 But I will tell you that I truly, it hurts me to say, because I am somebody who believes in unity.

00:45:58.440 I am somebody who believes in coming together.

00:46:01.220 But I believe this to be the wrong path.

00:46:05.520 Nuff said.

00:46:06.280 The Blaze Radio Network.

00:46:10.720 On Demand.

The Glenn Beck Program - December 12, 2019

Best of the Program ｜ Guests： Senator Mike Lee & Brad Polumbo ｜ 12⧸12⧸19

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