Verdict with Ted Cruz - July 12, 2025


16 Crosses and a State in Mourning, ICE gets Ambushed plus Brennan & Comey in DOJ Crosshairs Week In Review


Episode Stats


Length

33 minutes

Words per minute

156.01439

Word count

5,249

Sentence count

387

Harmful content

Misogyny

9

sentences flagged

Toxicity

21

sentences flagged

Hate speech

4

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Ted Cruz was on the ground at Camp Mystic, and what did he learn about the flooding and recovery efforts? Also, a massive rise in threats and attacks on ICE agents. Who s to blame? Could it be the leadership of the Democratic Party? We ve got their quotes, and you can decide. And finally, the FBI has opened investigations into John Brennan and James Comey. The deep state that was in charge of trying to overthrow the will of the voters to get rid of Donald Trump now may be finally out accountable for their actions.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.520 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.180 Welcome. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:00:07.620 Week in Review. Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:09.980 And these are the stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week.
00:00:13.620 First up, Senator Ted Cruz was on the ground at Camp Mystic.
00:00:17.940 What did he see?
00:00:19.240 And what did he learn about the flooding and the recovery efforts?
00:00:23.460 Also, a massive rise in threats and attacks on ICE agents.
00:00:28.480 Who's to blame? Could it be the leadership of the Democratic Party?
00:00:32.340 We've got their quotes and you can decide.
00:00:35.360 And finally, the FBI has opened investigations into John Brennan and James Comey.
00:00:41.880 The deep state that was in charge of trying to overthrow the will of the voters to get rid of Donald Trump
00:00:46.940 now may be finally out accountable for their actions.
00:00:51.260 It's the Week in Review and it starts right now.
00:00:54.020 But I'll tell you, Ben, the most difficult thing I did today is I went to Camp Mystic.
00:00:59.960 And I went and walked the grounds at Camp Mystic.
00:01:04.440 And I think it may be the most horrifying thing I've ever seen in my life.
00:01:09.700 You walk through, and actually as you walk through, the river was calm and peaceful and beautiful.
00:01:21.180 But it rose and it rose suddenly.
00:01:26.480 And I will say the press, I think, has been less than clear and honest about how Camp Mystic is set up.
00:01:34.760 Because they've described it as saying, well, the cabins for the young girls were down by the riverbank
00:01:41.120 and all of the other cabins were up high.
00:01:44.540 That's not accurate.
00:01:45.720 And walking the grounds, the cabins are all hundreds of yards removed from the riverbank.
00:01:52.020 There's a lot of distance between the river and where the cabin is.
00:01:55.280 And the cabins are all about the same elevation.
00:01:58.200 There's some differences, but not massive differences in elevation between the cabins at Mystic.
00:02:04.480 And I was talking with one of the longtime employees there who said there had been a flood decades before.
00:02:12.740 And it had gotten up and crossed a little bit of the ground.
00:02:17.020 And it had come to sort of the foundation of one of the buildings that was not a cabin,
00:02:22.440 but one of the buildings closer to the river.
00:02:24.040 But it had never gotten close to the cabins.
00:02:26.440 So that's one thing to understand.
00:02:28.280 People say, well, gosh, this is prone to floods.
00:02:30.940 Yes.
00:02:32.360 But in the 100 years of Camp Mystic, there'd never been a flood where the water had gotten to the cabins.
00:02:38.220 And in this case, the water was eight feet deep in the cabins.
00:02:45.220 Walking through.
00:02:46.160 And every building, you could see the water line.
00:02:48.360 You could see the water line outside the buildings.
00:02:51.280 And it was eight feet deep.
00:02:53.820 And in the cabins, the water shattered the windows.
00:02:58.980 It swept the furniture out.
00:03:01.060 You looked in the cabins.
00:03:02.160 And every one of the cabins, the furniture had been swept out.
00:03:06.980 The windows were all shattered.
00:03:08.860 And I got to tell you, look, there was one cabin.
00:03:17.180 It's called the Bubble Inn.
00:03:21.240 And it's a cabin at Mystic where the youngest girls were.
00:03:24.320 And outside the Bubble Inn were 16 white crosses.
00:03:34.160 And on each one of those was a name of a little girl.
00:03:38.920 And they're names that we've read in the paper.
00:03:42.900 They're names of little seven- and eight-year-old girls, third graders, who lost their lives.
00:03:49.720 And one of the crosses was for Dick Eastland, the camp director, who drowned trying to save the girls' lives.
00:03:57.720 And he had spent – he graduated from UT 50 years ago and had spent 50 years of his life running this camp for girls.
00:04:06.820 And he was in his suburban – they showed me where he drowned.
00:04:10.360 It was a couple hundred yards from where I was standing in the river.
00:04:12.600 He was trying to save the girls, and the water swept them away, and he drowned.
00:04:15.900 And the 16 crosses, reading those names, two of those little girls go to school with my daughter.
00:04:30.880 They're third graders at her school.
00:04:33.600 The parents of one of those little girls lives a block away from me.
00:04:38.180 And I'll tell you, I just knelt and wept.
00:04:49.920 There were families there, Ben.
00:04:57.720 There was a mom and dad who was kneeling in front of those crosses.
00:05:02.040 And they were kissing the cross.
00:05:10.780 And I stood back.
00:05:12.260 I didn't want to interrupt their grieving.
00:05:14.920 But just watching them.
00:05:18.860 The mom came to that cabin. 0.65
00:05:21.420 The bubble in.
00:05:23.960 And she just broke down in tears.
00:05:25.620 In front of every cabin, there were the children's belongings.
00:05:34.440 There were trunks.
00:05:36.500 There were electric fans.
00:05:39.080 There were slippers and flip-flops and crocs.
00:05:45.500 There were teddy bears.
00:05:46.420 There were stuffed animals everywhere.
00:05:47.740 These were little girls.
00:05:50.640 And many of them have their names on them.
00:05:52.460 And there were moms and dads picking through the rubble, looking for their girls' belongings.
00:06:05.200 And I don't know which of those moms and dads lost a daughter.
00:06:10.700 We know of 27 who were lost.
00:06:14.160 And there may be more.
00:06:16.900 There are 11 that are missing.
00:06:18.180 And there were girls picking through the rubble. 0.89
00:06:24.320 I don't know if those girls were campers themselves who had survived.
00:06:29.040 I don't know if they're siblings who had lost a sibling.
00:06:32.320 But everyone is walking around.
00:06:36.700 Shell shock doesn't begin to describe it.
00:06:40.160 They're up on the field.
00:06:41.600 There was a field that was basically a parking lot for the cars of counselors.
00:06:50.220 And the waters had thrown the cars on top of each other.
00:06:55.040 It was like they were matchbox cars.
00:06:56.460 Just flipped over.
00:06:57.720 You saw car after car after car stacked on each other.
00:07:00.500 Flipped on its side.
00:07:01.400 Flipped over.
00:07:02.740 Tossed around.
00:07:03.860 The dining hall.
00:07:08.060 An entire wall of the dining hall had been ripped off.
00:07:12.120 They had heavy wooden tables that filled the dining hall.
00:07:15.340 Every one of them had been pulled out.
00:07:16.840 And the bubble in, which is where a large percentage of the fatalities occurred,
00:07:23.740 the water swept in and just pulled those girls out the windows. 1.00
00:07:29.420 Seeing that, and I saw it first from the helicopter, and you could see all their belongings spread out,
00:07:42.940 but then standing there and viewing it from the perspective of a dad.
00:07:52.300 You know, I've helped my daughters pack their trunks.
00:07:55.680 I've, you know, can't pick up every year.
00:08:01.860 You go and pick up your daughter's trunk, and it's a joyful time.
00:08:10.560 Our state is mourning right now, Ben.
00:08:15.960 I tell you, for everyone listening, and I say this, just pray for the people that are affected.
00:08:22.840 Pray for the people in Texas.
00:08:24.100 Pray for the families who are still without their loved ones.
00:08:30.540 They're still trying to find them.
00:08:32.360 Pray for the moms and the dads who are planning the funerals.
00:08:36.800 We know people personally that are doing that and getting ready for that this week.
00:08:41.560 Pray for the moms. 1.00
00:08:42.720 God, please pray for the moms. 1.00
00:08:44.920 Yes.
00:08:45.820 Yes.
00:08:46.020 And anything you can do to help with all of the—
00:08:48.100 there's so many different groups that are helping the people in Comfort and Kerr County,
00:08:53.820 and there are people that need help, and we focus so much on the kids,
00:08:57.180 but there's a lot of elderly people that have been affected by this.
00:09:00.020 There are a lot of people that lost their lives and all their belongings,
00:09:03.820 and help any way you can with all of the nonprofits that are getting involved that are doing this.
00:09:12.040 And we're going to keep you updated, but I would just say hug your babies.
00:09:17.000 And, Ben, I want to say three more things of encouragement.
00:09:23.540 So in Hunt, there's a store that's kind of a focal point.
00:09:27.920 It's called the Hunt Store, and it's right at the junction of two of the highways.
00:09:32.320 You go up one highway to go to one of the big camps.
00:09:35.440 You go up another highway to go up to Mystic and La Junta,
00:09:37.660 and actually La Junta is right across the street from the Hunt Store.
00:09:41.780 The Hunt Store, the flood utterly gutted it.
00:09:45.760 It's just ripped out in a hollow shell.
00:09:50.300 I went and stopped at the Hunt Store and just visited people who were there or gathering there,
00:09:55.020 and they'd actually changed the sign where it said Hunt Store,
00:09:58.380 and instead of Hunt Store, they'd changed the sign to read Hunt Strong.
00:10:06.140 And, you know, Heidi and Catherine were at the Hunt Store last week.
00:10:14.380 I mean, I've been there dozens of times.
00:10:18.660 The owners were there.
00:10:20.020 I just hugged them, and there were just like residents there who were just there mourning and grieving.
00:10:26.460 And I'll tell you, there was set up, there was a giant barbecue truck.
00:10:30.680 All right, so this is a story that is amazing that you're going to like.
00:10:33.860 It's a barbecue truck from Rockport.
00:10:36.120 Rockport is a town down on the Gulf Coast.
00:10:39.700 And Rockport, when Hurricane Harvey hit, it devastated the Gulf Coast from deep east Texas to south,
00:10:49.080 all the way really to Corpus Christi.
00:10:50.760 So that's a lot of, and Rockport is right in there.
00:10:53.380 It's by Port Aransas and Aransas Pass, and Rockport was devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
00:10:58.440 Well, these guys, and these are big old Texans with big old beards. 0.90
00:11:03.740 They look like ZZ Top, and they said, well, you know, when Hurricane Harvey hit,
00:11:10.940 there was a group from Hunt, Texas, a little town in the hill country,
00:11:15.740 that came down to Rockport and set up a food truck and fed us when we had lost our homes.
00:11:21.400 And so they got in a truck and drove up this giant smoker and griller,
00:11:26.480 and they were just giving away free barbecue.
00:11:29.480 And one of the things that's really cool, I was at, in Rockport, several times after Hurricane Harvey,
00:11:37.980 and I was in all the towns up and down the Gulf Coast.
00:11:39.760 But I was at those food trucks, so I don't recall visiting with someone
00:11:45.440 and hearing that they were from Hunt down in Rockport.
00:11:47.780 But you know what? In Rockport they remembered that.
00:11:50.420 And that's something we see happening, just Texans coming together.
00:11:56.820 The Cajun Navy from Louisiana came and were there helping people out.
00:12:00.840 So that was incredible, and I just had a chance.
00:12:05.260 I visited with a family, one dad who introduced me to two little boys,
00:12:10.840 and he said both of them lost some of their closest friends in the flood.
00:12:18.140 And I just said, you know, little kids, and they're not much older than your boys,
00:12:24.360 they shouldn't have to deal with death and loss at that age.
00:12:28.520 But I'll tell you, in that same parking lot at the Hunt store,
00:12:34.000 there was a car that had written on the back of it a Bible verse,
00:12:39.280 written in like shaving cream on the back window.
00:12:42.720 And it was Isaiah 43.2 that says,
00:12:48.660 when you go through deep water, I will be with you.
00:12:55.740 Amen.
00:12:56.260 That is, look, you just asked folks to pray.
00:13:00.400 Let me just underscore that.
00:13:03.480 For the moms and dads who have a yearning, gaping hole in their heart,
00:13:09.500 I think there is no pain, no agony like losing a child.
00:13:14.000 And nothing will ever fill that hole.
00:13:16.640 That pain will never go away.
00:13:18.080 But they need love.
00:13:20.440 They need support.
00:13:21.420 They need friends.
00:13:22.360 They need families to hug them, to hold them tight,
00:13:26.800 to just give them a shoulder to cry on and to hold them up.
00:13:30.740 And I've got to tell you, this is a time for the church.
00:13:34.020 One of the reasons, Texas, I think we are so resilient when facing natural disasters
00:13:39.420 is because the church is strong in Texas.
00:13:42.000 And you see churches step.
00:13:44.640 I started the day actually by visiting with a number of chaplains who, look,
00:13:49.140 you want to talk about it was brutal on the chaplains.
00:13:51.600 When you're dealing with moms and dads who've lost their kids and they're just weeping.
00:13:56.000 Even a chaplain, a man or woman of strong faith, I mean, it rips your heart out 1.00
00:14:02.540 to be with a parent who's lost a seven or eight-year-old daughter.
00:14:07.480 And right down from the Hunt store, there was a church that had a big sign,
00:14:14.880 free barbecue, lunch and dinner, all are welcome.
00:14:18.340 And that's what the church should be doing is helping and clothing and comforting 0.96
00:14:22.360 and taking care of the needy.
00:14:23.760 And that we, the church should always be doing that, but especially in time of crisis.
00:14:29.800 Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation,
00:14:32.180 you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.
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00:15:07.060 Now on to story number two.
00:15:09.400 Senator, I want to move to another big story,
00:15:11.600 and that is the rising threat that has just become oh so real
00:15:15.800 with federal law enforcement and there was a shooter that ambushed Texas Border Patrol agents.
00:15:24.220 Words from elected officials, in my opinion, have major influence, but also consequence.
00:15:32.320 We have seen time and time again right now,
00:15:35.580 Democrats coming out and saying that ICE are evil, stand up to ICE, fight ICE.
00:15:41.840 These are words coming from so many Democrats that are actually elected to office.
00:15:47.220 Well, listen, as you noted, words have consequence.
00:15:50.460 And we have seen an awful lot of Democrats, we have seen the corporate media denounce ICE, 0.63
00:15:55.200 call them Nazis, call them goose-stepping fascists. 0.55
00:15:59.160 And unfortunately, that rhetoric fuels a rage. 0.85
00:16:02.340 It fuels a rage that we have seen manifesting in violence over and over again.
00:16:09.060 Leftists engaging in active violence against ICE agents.
00:16:12.840 So, just a few days ago, an active shooter opened fire on ICE agents in McAllen, Texas.
00:16:22.480 And here's the story from Fox News.
00:16:25.740 Active shooter killed in attempt to ambush Border Patrol agents in Texas.
00:16:29.340 One McAllen police officer wounded, but in stable condition,
00:16:33.140 following apparent planned ambush at Rio Grande Valley facility.
00:16:37.360 And here's what the article says.
00:16:39.240 An active shooter, armed with tactical gear and a rifle,
00:16:42.280 opened fire upon Border Patrol agents as they arrived at a Border Patrol annex facility
00:16:46.420 in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley on Monday, law enforcement sources say.
00:16:52.320 Agents and local police returned fire and killed the gunman.
00:16:55.680 No federal agents were hit, but one McAllen police officer was struck.
00:17:01.920 Law enforcement sources say the officer is in stable condition.
00:17:05.800 Quote,
00:17:06.200 This morning, an individual opened fire at the entrance of the United States Border Patrol
00:17:10.500 sector annex in McAllen, Texas.
00:17:13.140 Both Border Patrol agents and local police helped neutralize the shooter,
00:17:16.840 the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement of Fox News.
00:17:19.180 This is an ongoing investigation led by the FBI.
00:17:23.120 More information will be shared as it becomes available.
00:17:26.060 Now, I'll tell you, I have walked into and out of that Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas,
00:17:32.600 multiple times.
00:17:33.980 The fact that you have violent criminals, and this is a criminal who lost his life
00:17:38.700 because he showed up and wanted to shoot at law enforcement officials.
00:17:42.460 He was doing so, we don't know this conclusively, but we can certainly infer that he was doing so
00:17:49.320 because he's been listening to the extreme rhetoric that these are Nazis.
00:17:53.300 And so he was like, you know what? 1.00
00:17:54.900 If you've got Nazis, let's kill the Nazis. 1.00
00:17:57.600 That is the consequence of the unhinged and deranged rhetoric on the left right now. 1.00
00:18:03.520 You talk about that rhetoric.
00:18:05.680 Let's give actual quotes.
00:18:07.080 House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said it employed people to, quote,
00:18:11.180 fight the Trump administration in the streets, quote, unquote.
00:18:14.920 He also declared ICE agents, quote, will be unsuccessful in protecting their identities,
00:18:20.960 no matter what it takes, advocating for doxing and putting their families at risk, ICE agents.
00:18:26.860 Representative Jayapala of Washington called ICE agents, quote, unquote, deranged
00:18:31.580 and said it is, quote, inspiring to obstruct immigration enforcement.
00:18:37.780 Representative McIver of New Jersey, who was arrested and charged with forcibly impeding
00:18:42.760 and interfering with federal officers outside an ICE detention facility,
00:18:47.120 incited her supporters to, quote, shut down the city because we are at war, quote, unquote.
00:18:53.720 And even the former vice presidential candidate, the Minnesota governor, Tim Waltz,
00:18:57.740 getting in on the action, called ICE agents the modern day Gestapo, Chicago's mayor this
00:19:03.940 past week.
00:19:05.120 Johnson accused the ICE agents of being, quote, unquote, the secret police and, quote, terrorizing
00:19:11.240 our communities.
00:19:12.020 And you add in Eric Swalwell of California.
00:19:14.840 He said it was, quote, his priority to ensure ICE agents, quote, are no longer faceless, comparing
00:19:22.580 them to some 1800s bank robbers or some KGB officers in Russia.
00:19:30.580 Words have consequences.
00:19:32.740 And this is the rhetoric coming from some of your colleagues in D.C.
00:19:37.340 Well, and not only do they have consequences with the armed shooter who was killed in McAllen,
00:19:42.240 Texas, but in North Texas, 11 people were arrested for plotting to ambush to kill ICE
00:19:50.300 correction officers.
00:19:51.980 And I want to read from this story from the Daily Wire, quote, 11 people have been arrested
00:19:57.580 in what law enforcement officers described as a, quote, planned ambush of corrections officers
00:20:03.480 at an ICE detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, on July 4th.
00:20:08.340 One Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck during the attack and is expected to survive.
00:20:13.840 Quote, early reports indicate that more than a dozen masked individuals dressed in black
00:20:21.180 arrived at the Prairieland ICE detention facility late Friday night and vandalized vehicles and
00:20:27.300 security cameras in the parking lot, CBS News reported.
00:20:30.680 The individuals launched fireworks in an apparent effort to lure law enforcement.
00:20:35.960 On July 5th, Deputy Attorney General Tom Blanche posted on X, quote, we are closely monitoring
00:20:41.520 the attacks on DHS facilities in Prairieland, Texas, and Portland, Oregon, and are coordinating
00:20:46.880 with USAOs and our law enforcement partners.
00:20:50.040 The department has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring
00:20:57.280 the full weight of the law against those responsible.
00:21:01.200 On Monday, Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson stated, quote, we're here to tell you that
00:21:05.760 late at night on July 4th, Friday night at approximately 10.37 p.m.
00:21:10.320 at Prairieland ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas, 10 to 12 individuals dressed in black,
00:21:18.340 military-style clothing, began shooting fireworks and engaging in acts of vandalism at the facility
00:21:24.020 that was part of an organized attack.
00:21:26.900 Today, my office has charged 10 individuals with three counts of attempted murder of a federal
00:21:32.620 officer.
00:21:33.840 Wow.
00:21:33.940 Each of the 10 are also charged with three counts of discharging a firearm in relation
00:21:40.360 to a crime of violence.
00:21:41.680 Each of these defendants faces a mandatory prison term of 10 years and up to life in prison.
00:21:48.860 An additional co-conspirator was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy for attempting
00:21:53.980 to conceal and destroy evidence in relation to the attack and faces up to 10 years in prison.
00:21:59.440 And she continued, quote, let's discuss the incident.
00:22:07.180 It was a planned ambush with the intent to kill ICE corrections officers.
00:22:14.640 Make no mistake, this was not a so-called peaceful protest.
00:22:19.680 It was indeed an ambush.
00:22:23.800 This is the violence we are seeing.
00:22:25.960 And it turns out when you call law enforcement officers, federal law enforcement officers that 0.92
00:22:30.960 are keeping us safe, when you call them Nazis, when you call them Gestapo, lunatics on the 0.92
00:22:37.100 left hear that. 0.98
00:22:38.400 And sadly, we are seeing over and over again, they are acting, they're acting with violence.
00:22:42.320 You look at even on Tuesday, you had Democratic Senator Padilla of California and Cory Booker
00:22:48.260 of New Jersey.
00:22:48.780 They introduced that legislation to require ICE officers to, quote, display clearly visible
00:22:54.540 IDs and not wear masks, no matter what, during their enforcement operations, accusing, quote,
00:23:00.080 the Trump administration of alarming immigration enforcement tactics that have terrorized communities
00:23:05.000 across California and the nation.
00:23:07.080 And we know what the left has done here.
00:23:09.100 They want to dox these ICE agents, their family members.
00:23:13.360 They've been putting their kids even online and posting people, been posting their home
00:23:18.540 addresses, hoping that basically people go after the ICE agents who are just doing their
00:23:23.540 jobs. 0.97
00:23:24.120 That's how sick these people are. 0.95
00:23:26.220 Well, listen, there's a simple choice. 0.84
00:23:28.180 There's a choice for Americans all across the country.
00:23:30.920 Who do you stand with?
00:23:32.780 Do you stand with cops?
00:23:34.620 Do you stand with law enforcement agents?
00:23:36.320 Do you stand with the men and women who risked their lives to keep us safe?
00:23:40.760 You and I both stand with them.
00:23:42.820 Or as the Democrats have chosen, do you stand with illegal immigrants?
00:23:46.800 Do you stand with murderers?
00:23:47.940 Do you stand with rapists?
00:23:48.940 Do you stand with child molesters?
00:23:50.660 Do you stand with Venezuelan gang members who are engaged in human trafficking?
00:23:54.900 Sadly, the Democrats, and inexplicably, they've decided to stand with the criminals and
00:23:59.760 not law enforcement.
00:24:00.900 And we're seeing the consequences.
00:24:02.120 As before, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can
00:24:07.020 go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.
00:24:10.920 Allô, Nissan.
00:24:12.960 Hey, grosse tempête, hein? 0.96
00:24:14.020 Hey, Karine, oui, je sais, les vilains bonhommes de neige sont de retour.
00:24:17.620 Mais avec le Nissan Rogue Attraction Intégrale, c'est pas stressant.
00:24:20.340 Exact, il est conçu et testé pour nos hivins.
00:24:22.460 Oh, Karine, il y a un bonhomme dans le Rogue.
00:24:24.140 Ah, c'est correct.
00:24:25.080 J'ai allumé les sièges chauffants.
00:24:27.000 Ah, bien joué, Karine.
00:24:28.380 Je le fous.
00:24:29.400 Maîtrisez toutes les conditions.
00:24:30.720 Louez le Rogue S2026 à partir de 0,4 % jusqu'à 36 mois, incluant une réduction
00:24:35.080 fidélité de 0,5 % pour les clients Nissan admissibles.
00:24:37.940 Jusqu'au 2 mars, sur approvation de crédit, les conditions s'appliquent des tailles chez
00:24:41.200 Nissan.
00:24:42.240 I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed.
00:24:46.440 Senator, I want to get into this and get your reaction to the FBI launching an investigation
00:24:52.640 into John Brennan, into James Comey over the Trump-Russia probe.
00:24:57.980 I think we need to go back and just remind people of what they were peddling that they knew
00:25:02.700 was false.
00:25:03.560 Basically, in my opinion, it was a coup attempt against the American people who chose Donald
00:25:09.440 Trump in 2016 to be their president.
00:25:11.220 They didn't like it.
00:25:12.120 And they're like, no worries.
00:25:13.060 Well, you know, we'll do what the Lisa Page, Peter Strzok were doing, right?
00:25:17.040 We'll fix it.
00:25:18.040 We'll take care of it after the fact, after he gets sworn in.
00:25:21.260 And we're going to go after him and we're going to undermine him.
00:25:23.400 We're going to get him impeached and that'll be all fine.
00:25:25.340 Well, I got to say, this is an astonishing story.
00:25:29.400 John Brennan was the head of the CIA.
00:25:31.820 James Comey was the head of the FBI.
00:25:35.000 Both of them are right now under active criminal investigations.
00:25:39.700 Here's what Fox News has reported.
00:25:41.500 Quote, former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are under criminal
00:25:46.680 investigation for potential wrongdoing related to the Trump-Russia probe, including allegedly
00:25:53.520 making false statements to Congress, Justice Department sources told Fox News Digital.
00:26:00.020 CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred evidence of wrongdoing by Brennan to FBI Director Cash
00:26:05.340 Patel for potential prosecution, DOJ sources told Fox News Digital.
00:26:10.540 The sources said the referral was received and told Fox News Digital that a criminal investigation
00:26:15.940 into Brennan was opened and is underway.
00:26:19.420 DOJ sources declined to provide further details.
00:26:21.820 It is unclear at this point if the investigation spans beyond his alleged false statements to
00:26:28.320 Congress.
00:26:29.920 As for Comey, DOJ sources told Fox News Digital that an investigation into the former director
00:26:35.520 is underway but could not share details of what specifically is being probed.
00:26:40.160 The full scope of the criminal investigations into Brennan and Comey is unclear.
00:26:43.960 But two sources described the FBI's view of the duo's interactions as a, quote, conspiracy, which could
00:26:52.140 open up a wide range of potential prosecutorial options.
00:26:56.460 The FBI and the CIA declined comment.
00:27:00.800 I mean, this is massive on so many different levels.
00:27:04.020 And John Brennan, by the way, he went on TV on MSNBC and it was pretty funny because it 0.99
00:27:11.400 was like he was just playing dumb. 0.74
00:27:13.720 And it was like, I don't even know why they would be investigating me. 0.96
00:27:17.100 I don't know what they would be looking at.
00:27:18.920 I don't understand how this is even a thing in his own words.
00:27:24.460 And in fact, I'm going to play it because I want you to hear it.
00:27:27.180 I'm going to get your reaction.
00:27:28.200 Here's John Brennan, MSNBC, after finding out that he's the target of an investigation.
00:27:33.020 If there is an investigation that people will be questioned, I would be questioned about
00:27:37.740 it.
00:27:37.920 But again, I've had no contact from them.
00:27:40.600 But again, I testified in front of many, many congressional committees in the House and
00:27:45.420 the Senate over the years.
00:27:46.760 And I continue to explain exactly what we did during this process, why we tried to make
00:27:52.040 sure we stayed true to our intelligence responsibilities and that we were not going to do anything at
00:27:58.000 all to try to interfere in that election.
00:27:59.640 And again, it was a challenging time, but also one, I think that the people who actually
00:28:05.540 worked this, both in terms of trying to collect intelligence prior to the election and then
00:28:10.300 the ones who put together the intelligence assessment, they really, I think, showed the
00:28:13.880 best of what the intelligence community and what CIA is made of.
00:28:17.160 So again, I am clueless about what it is exactly that they may be investigating me for.
00:28:23.720 That may be the fastest, Senator, I've ever heard John Brennan speak on TV ever.
00:28:29.800 And I've watched him a lot over the years.
00:28:31.520 That seemed like a very nervous man to me.
00:28:33.920 Well, and let me give a little more background on who John Brennan is.
00:28:37.360 He was the director of the CIA from 2013 to 2017 under Barack Obama.
00:28:43.220 Now, in 1976, John Brennan was a young man.
00:28:49.260 1976, you were not alive.
00:28:50.780 Is that right, Ben?
00:28:51.940 I was not, no.
00:28:53.880 Now, you're enough of a political student and scholar.
00:28:58.060 Let me ask you, who were the presidential candidates in 1976?
00:29:03.080 Jimmy Carter?
00:29:04.700 Yeah.
00:29:05.660 All right.
00:29:06.180 And on the Republican side, I love when you play these games with me.
00:29:12.140 Did Reagan, was Reagan 76 as well?
00:29:14.420 No, no.
00:29:15.200 So Reagan ran, but he lost.
00:29:18.500 It was Ford.
00:29:19.460 It was Ford.
00:29:20.280 Ford was the incumbent president.
00:29:21.540 So remember, Richard Nixon had been president.
00:29:23.160 He resigned.
00:29:24.280 So Ford was the incumbent president.
00:29:25.780 Reagan primaried Ford, but he lost in that primary.
00:29:28.920 So the general election was Gerald Ford versus Jimmy Carter.
00:29:33.300 Now, let me ask you, all right, in that election, who would you vote for?
00:29:37.520 I'm going to probably go with the Republican there, not Jimmy Carter.
00:29:41.520 Yeah, look, although I will say, and by the way, do you know, this is my first political
00:29:45.580 memory.
00:29:45.960 I'm about 10 years older than you are.
00:29:47.860 My first political memory is when I was five years old, 1976, and my mother voted for
00:29:55.820 Jimmy Carter.
00:29:56.500 My mother's a strong conservative. 1.00
00:29:57.800 She just thought Gerald Ford was an idiot. 0.99
00:29:59.480 And I remember my father, my father, who's an immigrant from Cuba, he was not yet a U.S. 0.99
00:30:04.020 citizen.
00:30:04.420 He is today, but he was not in 76.
00:30:06.780 And my father was furious because he felt like my mom had the family's vote.
00:30:11.980 And she voted for Jimmy Carter.
00:30:14.180 It's funny.
00:30:14.520 My mom is 90 now, and she's incredible and a wonderful conservative and an incredible
00:30:18.840 person.
00:30:19.440 But when I bring this up, she's like, I'm sorry.
00:30:21.820 I'm sorry.
00:30:22.500 I didn't know. 0.70
00:30:24.580 Jimmy Carter was an absolute disaster. 0.98
00:30:27.800 He was a left-wing wacko. 0.97
00:30:29.860 He was the worst president this country had ever seen until Joe Biden. 0.90
00:30:33.400 Joe Biden managed to be worse than Jimmy Carter.
00:30:37.920 Now, how is this relevant to John Brennan?
00:30:40.220 Well, John Brennan was in college at the time.
00:30:42.920 He was faced with a choice between Gerald Ford and ultra left-wing crazy Jimmy Carter.
00:30:49.880 What do you think John Brennan did?
00:30:52.580 I'm ready.
00:30:53.420 Give me the punchline here.
00:30:54.840 He cast his vote for a guy named Gus Hall.
00:30:59.400 Do you know who Gus Hall was?
00:31:00.640 I do not.
00:31:02.220 He was the presidential candidate for the Communist Party USA.
00:31:07.740 And there's your sign.
00:31:09.300 So John Brennan decided Jimmy Carter is too right-wing for him.
00:31:14.740 And he voted for someone who I'm not calling him a communist.
00:31:18.080 He was the nominee of the Communist Party.
00:31:21.540 And John Brennan said, I want America governed by a communist president.
00:31:26.440 That's who Barack Obama put in charge of the CIA.
00:31:30.140 And that's who played an integral role in orchestrating the whole Russiagate fraud.
00:31:37.220 And it's important to understand just how extreme and radical this guy is.
00:31:43.720 I've got to tell you, I don't know, to be honest, I don't know anybody else in public life who thought Jimmy Carter was too conservative.
00:31:53.980 John Brennan is literally to the left of every Democrat senator, every Democrat House member, every single person I've ever encountered in public life.
00:32:01.920 The lefty loons all voted for Jimmy Carter, except for John Brennan, who said, nope, we need a full-on communist.
00:32:09.360 That's who this guy is.
00:32:11.040 Final question on this.
00:32:12.680 How concerned do you think these two individuals should be about this investigation?
00:32:18.640 Or is this one of those moments where you say, okay, yeah, there's an investigation, but I don't have to worry because nothing ever really happens to us when we're the elites.
00:32:26.820 Well, listen, the greatest exposure they have is for lying to Congress, because lying to Congress, you're under oath.
00:32:32.220 And lying under oath, that carries a prison sentence.
00:32:35.020 That carries up to five years in prison.
00:32:37.420 James Clapper, who was the director of national intelligence under Barack Obama, I think the evidence is very clear that he lied to Congress.
00:32:46.140 Whether John Brennan did, whether James Comey did, I think this investigation will reveal.
00:32:50.860 It will depend upon, there's no doubt they were terrible heads of the CIA and the FBI.
00:32:57.300 Whether they committed criminal conduct or not, I think that that is the purpose of this investigation.
00:33:02.980 But I got to say, it is a big damn deal that the former head of the FBI and the former head of the CIA are being criminally investigated for felony conduct.
00:33:14.000 That's what's happening right now.
00:33:15.140 As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:33:20.740 Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day.
00:33:24.400 You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards.
00:33:27.660 I'd love to have you as a listener to, again, the Ben Ferguson podcast.
00:33:31.500 And we will see you back here on Monday morning.
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