Verdict with Ted Cruz - BONUS POD： Bought a MAGA Hat？ You May Have Ended Up in Federal Records

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.320 Guaranteed human.

00:00:04.520 In 200 meters, turn left toward India. 0.94

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00:02:16.760 I believe that whoever was in that room

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00:02:23.620 tells the story of a shocking crime and a cover-up

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00:02:47.060 You're the people that built America.

00:02:49.640 You're not the people that demand everything, 0.98

00:02:51.760 like Ilhan Omar, who says, who comes in from a ninth-rate country.

00:03:00.480 It's not even third-rate, ninth-rate.

00:03:02.440 No, they come from countries that have nothing going. 0.83

00:03:05.520 They're not even countries, okay?

00:03:07.160 They don't have officers.

00:03:08.400 They don't have anything.

00:03:09.220 They don't have police.

00:03:10.180 They don't have military.

00:03:11.580 And then they come over here and they tell us how we should run the United States of America.

00:03:15.420 No, thank you.

00:03:16.300 No, thank you.

00:03:17.240 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.

00:03:21.240 Good Thursday morning. Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.

00:03:25.060 And we start with shocking news.

00:03:27.880 If you bought a MAGA hat between 2021 and 2025,

00:03:32.800 there's a very good chance that Jack Smith had a spreadsheet with your name and home address.

00:03:39.460 Well, let me let that sink in for a moment.

00:03:42.000 Senator Chuck Grassley is now saying more than a half million conservatives

00:03:46.500 that may have bought a hat or given just $1 to Donald Trump were on a hit list.

00:03:52.180 We'll explain it all to you and how you can find out if you're on the list.

00:03:56.400 But before we get to that, I want to talk to you about Regent University.

00:04:01.000 Somewhere along the way, we got the crazy idea that a serious education

00:04:05.060 and a strong Christian faith have to live in two different worlds.

00:04:08.980 They don't.

00:04:10.160 And at Regent University, faith isn't an afterthought.

00:04:13.880 It's at the heart of the education.

00:04:16.580 Students are challenged to think deeply, pursue excellence, and see their education through

00:04:20.880 a Christian worldview.

00:04:22.580 And make no mistake, Regent is also serious about academics.

00:04:26.460 They have more than 150 areas of study.

00:04:29.640 Regent has earned national recognition for academic excellence because a great education

00:04:34.780 shouldn't just prepare you to make a living, it should prepare you to make a difference,

00:04:39.360 to lead with integrity, and use your God-given talents with purpose.

00:04:43.880 And here's the great part.

00:04:44.880 You can get the same Regent education online.

00:04:48.660 Learn from wherever you are on a schedule that works around your career and family

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00:04:57.080 Exceptional academics, flexible online learning, and unapologetically Christian.

00:05:02.880 Learn more at regent.edu.

00:05:05.980 That's regent.edu, Regent University Christian Leadership to Change the World.

00:05:11.260 It's a 47 morning update, and it starts right now.

00:05:14.880 Story number one.

00:05:16.240 I want you to imagine something for me.

00:05:19.540 I want you to imagine going to work.

00:05:22.100 99% of you are hardworking Americans listening to me.

00:05:25.340 You pay your taxes.

00:05:27.140 You follow the law.

00:05:28.540 You raise your family.

00:05:30.480 And you basically, you know, mind your own business.

00:05:34.340 One day you decide, you know what?

00:05:36.400 I like this guy by the name of Donald Trump.

00:05:38.600 And I want to help him get elected because I like what he's saying.

00:05:42.160 And I like that he's America first.

00:05:44.060 And so you decide to donate $5.

00:05:47.380 Maybe you go big, you donate $20.

00:05:50.540 Or maybe it's just you decide, I'm going to buy a red Make America Great Again hat.

00:05:59.640 Now, maybe you purchase a Trump campaign t-shirt as well.

00:06:04.180 Now, have you committed a crime by doing that?

00:06:06.600 No.

00:06:07.300 Did you threaten anybody?

00:06:08.560 No.

00:06:09.680 Have you done anything illegal?

00:06:11.360 No, you just decided to buy a hat that says make America great again or a shirt or a mug.

00:06:17.380 What did you do?

00:06:19.380 Legally, you exercised your constitutional right to participate in American politics in an American election.

00:06:29.400 Fast forward to what we've now learned from a whistleblower.

00:06:32.260 Imagine right now, and many of you may be finding this out right now,

00:06:35.980 that your name, that your address, that your occupation, that your political affiliation,

00:06:42.760 your donation history, and potentially we're being told now other personal financial information

00:06:49.660 has now ended up in records obtained by federal prosecutors investigating Donald Trump.

00:06:57.420 Ladies and gentlemen, that's exactly what's unfolding in Washington right now.

00:07:02.800 The numbers we're being told is not like a couple of us, like I am for sure, that the number of people that are listening to me right now, there is a significant number of you listening that are in the list I'm now telling you about.

00:07:18.080 because the numbers are staggering 639,000 that we know of let me say that again 639,000

00:07:26.640 Republican donors Republican voters and Trump supporters were caught up in the weaponization

00:07:33.940 of our government now let me also be clear that's the minimum number of people whose information

00:07:40.240 was included in records obtained by Jack Smith's office and the Biden Justice Department according

00:07:46.380 to this new explosive whistleblower findings that have been released by Senator Chuck Grassley.

00:07:52.560 That's more than a half million Americans.

00:07:54.380 And here's what makes this story even more significant.

00:07:56.900 Just two weeks ago, we were talking about 4,782 donor checks that were obtained by Smith's investigators.

00:08:07.740 So if you wrote a check to Donald Trump for president, 4,782 donors checks were obtained by Smith in his investigation, quote unquote.

00:08:19.780 Now, that number has exploded.

00:08:23.280 Grassley's committee has disclosed information involving at least 639,000 people, and that could be getting even bigger.

00:08:31.900 It raises a question that every American should want answered, by the way.

00:08:36.380 Why on earth did a federal criminal investigation involving Donald Trump

00:08:44.380 need so much information about ordinary Americans who supported Donald Trump?

00:08:51.680 The whistleblower, and let me just start with the breaking news.

00:08:55.140 Chuck Grassley is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

00:08:58.020 He announced today that new whistleblower information reveals the scope of personal

00:09:04.140 that obtained during the Arctic Frost investigation.

00:09:08.240 Now, Arctic Frost, you may remember, was the FBI investigation that eventually became part

00:09:13.020 of Jack Smith's special counsel investigation to Donald Trump's efforts, they claimed,

00:09:17.340 to overturn the 2020 elections.

00:09:19.960 According to Grassley, subpoena returns reviewed by his committee contain information concerning

00:09:27.340 at least, at a minimum, 639,000 Republican donors, not Democrats, independent Republican

00:09:33.400 donors voters and supporters this wasn't simply a list of major political donors writing million

00:09:40.660 dollar checks either the records include information about people making very small

00:09:46.140 contributions that would be you and me some donors were as little as one dollar one dollar

00:09:54.700 got you on the fbi list somebody donated a dollar to a political campaign and then the information

00:10:01.100 about that donation ends up in material obtained by federal investigators by the FBI. And the

00:10:07.080 records weren't limited to names and donation amounts either were now being told because of

00:10:12.500 the whistleblower. According to Grassley, they included information such as your home addresses,

00:10:18.440 your dates of birth, your occupations, even your employers, and then your political registration,

00:10:25.560 and then all of your political donation histories that of course involve Donald

00:10:30.460 Trump, and other conservatives. It gets even worse. Some records included partial credit

00:10:37.600 card information. Grassley says the records included information about people purchasing

00:10:43.140 Trump campaign merchandise. We're talking about MAGA red hats. We're talking about campaign

00:10:50.200 t-shirts. We're talking about MAGA mugs. We're talking about other campaign products that

00:10:55.500 were offered now why was information about people buying political merchandise included in the

00:11:02.340 material that federal prosecutors obtained and and what was the investigative purpose was it to

00:11:09.840 terrify americans or put us on political hit list was it to make us fearful to ever give a donation

00:11:15.580 again to republican or conservative candidate and then there's the other question how is this

00:11:21.340 information use folks and who determined what the government needed it for those are all questions

00:11:28.220 the justice department should be able to answer by the way now the number that changes the story

00:11:33.100 is also another part of this um this has changed a lot in the last few days because you just go

00:11:40.640 back to september the 29th and that's when grassley said that smith's team had attained

00:11:45.240 at least 4,782 checks

00:11:49.320 from people who donated to Trump and Republican-aligned organizations.

00:11:53.700 So it didn't even have to be Trump.

00:11:55.200 It was just if you went and gave a check

00:11:56.940 to a Republican-aligned organization,

00:11:59.000 apparently that was enough to get your information

00:12:01.300 into an investigation with the FBI.

00:12:04.140 Now, we also learned the scope of this.

00:12:06.860 Those checks came from donors across all 50 states.

00:12:09.940 and personal checks also contain extremely sensitive financial information right bank

00:12:16.940 account numbers routing numbers signatures home addresses and that information was then given to

00:12:24.580 the prosecutors now that is circulating through a government investigation and circulating through

00:12:32.380 a government i would call it a hit list now how do we go from 4 000 to 639 000 people

00:12:39.860 well apparently they said anybody that had anything to do with trump let's just take

00:12:45.360 all their data as well and the new disclosure reveals a much larger universe of people

00:12:51.060 who the government said under jack smith under joe biden we're going to spy on you and we're

00:12:58.700 going to weaponize our government to come after you now some of the donor information we're also

00:13:03.420 being told went back all the way to 2005 so if you think well i didn't give a check to donald trump

00:13:07.820 in the last presidential cycle it doesn't matter or conservative group this went all the way back

00:13:12.560 to 2005. donald trump by the way didn't announce his presidential campaign just to put this in

00:13:17.640 perspective until a decade later it was 2015 in fact if you go back to 2005 donald trump was a

00:13:23.100 democrat now the investigation they say involved alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election

00:13:28.680 so that goes back to this question if the investigation was about donald trump in 2020

00:13:33.640 why were you going back and getting donor information all the way back to 2005 unless

00:13:38.600 you were putting together a political hit list a political enemies list the other question is what

00:13:43.560 was the investigative jurisdiction for even obtaining donor information going back 15 years

00:13:49.160 before the election that was at the center of this case you understand why this was actually

00:13:55.540 not about donald trump this was about who do we hate and who do we want to go after and who's

00:14:00.480 been giving money to republicans since 2005 15 years earlier folks 15 years now let's also

00:14:08.740 remember how we got here when did this investigation begin and began after the 2020 presidential

00:14:14.820 election the fbi was weaponized and began investigating what they said were efforts by

00:14:20.300 trump and his allies to overturn the election results that that investigation had the name

00:14:26.080 arctic frost in november of 2022 you had the attorney general merrick garland who appointed

00:14:32.300 jack smith as a special counsel you may remember that this is to make sure that donald trump was

00:14:36.660 never able to run for office and win or become the president again even though he is right now

00:14:41.500 which is amazing, the best part of this story.

00:14:45.160 Now, Smith brought federal criminal charges against Trump.

00:14:49.760 Trump denied wrongdoing, challenged the prosecution.

00:14:52.100 Smith maintained his investigation, quote,

00:14:54.300 focused on alleged criminal conduct, not political beliefs.

00:14:57.180 We now know that's a lie.

00:14:59.500 The government had a, quote, legitimate responsibility, he claimed,

00:15:02.800 to investigate potential crimes.

00:15:04.700 Really? Because that's not what they were doing,

00:15:07.580 now based on the whistleblower's reporting.

00:15:09.380 You had a government that investigated a political opponent

00:15:13.460 to make sure they could take out that political opponent

00:15:16.920 so that that political opponent could never be present again.

00:15:21.280 That's what they were doing.

00:15:23.480 And what they decided to do with that was say,

00:15:26.180 hey, not only are we going after Donald Trump,

00:15:28.160 let's go after the supporters.

00:15:30.580 Because apparently if you're a supporter of Donald Trump,

00:15:32.840 you have no constitutional rights.

00:15:34.460 You have no right to donate.

00:15:35.960 You have no right to volunteer.

00:15:37.020 You have no right to purchase campaign merchandise.

00:15:39.380 You have no right to associate with any political organization connected to Donald Trump,

00:15:44.260 but you have to understand it wasn't even about Donald Trump.

00:15:46.840 They went back to 2005 because it was about coming after you, not just Donald Trump.

00:15:52.920 They wanted to make sure that you didn't have the right to participate in the political process

00:15:56.900 without being treated as a criminal suspect simply because of your political beliefs.

00:16:02.520 That is why the scope of these subpoenas matter.

00:16:05.820 And let's also go back to what Jack Smith admitted.

00:16:09.380 Now, Jack Smith has already been questioned about his team's collection of donor information.

00:16:15.060 During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing September the 29th,

00:16:18.920 Grassley pressed Smith about the financial records obtained during the investigation.

00:16:23.440 And Smith acknowledged his team acquired financial information.

00:16:27.200 He also defended the subpoenas as part of a, quote, criminal investigation.

00:16:30.920 And he explained that he could not recall every subpoena issued by his team.

00:16:35.200 Now, here's the distinction that you need to understand.

00:16:37.560 Smith acknowledgement confirms that investigators obtain financial information.

00:16:44.560 That is important because you have a guy that says, well, there was the existence of a criminal investigation and therefore it automatically justifies every request for information.

00:16:54.840 No, it doesn't.

00:16:56.560 And that's why Grassley's question matters now more than ever.

00:16:59.680 because how do you get a 2020 investigation

00:17:03.880 that goes to Donald Trump

00:17:06.960 that somehow goes all the way back to 2005 donor information

00:17:10.860 a decade before Donald Trump even announced he was running for president

00:17:13.640 when he was a Democrat?

00:17:14.900 That doesn't make any sense.

00:17:19.080 Why were they obtaining donor databases, entire databases

00:17:22.540 that contain information about people like you and I

00:17:25.580 with no apparent connection to the alleged offense or crime

00:17:30.540 they claimed that they were investigating.

00:17:33.340 That is why, like, these requests were clearly politically motivated.

00:17:38.720 The Justice Department, by the way, did not take steps

00:17:41.060 to protect information belonging to people who were not suspects

00:17:44.820 because the 600 plus thousand people that they got this information on,

00:17:49.800 like, if you gave a political donation in 05, you clearly were not a suspect

00:17:53.680 or 06 or 07 or 08 or 09 or 10 or 11 or 12 or 13 or 14 or 15 for that matter or 16 or 17

00:17:59.980 because this is supposed to be at about the overturning of election in 2020 so why would

00:18:05.840 they need my information or your information if you bought a MAGA hat in 2015 or 16 or 17 or 18

00:18:11.120 or 19 unless you were making a political enemies list that is the question that you should be

00:18:17.380 asking right now and this is a question that not only raises serious privacy questions but

00:18:23.580 But Americans deserve to know what happened with this information after they got it.

00:18:28.500 Now, I want to go back to the campaign merchandise for a second.

00:18:32.040 Why is buying a MAGA hat putting me on an FBI list?

00:18:36.520 Let me go back to the campaign merchandise real quick.

00:18:39.260 I think this is one of the details that will really resonate with so many Americans.

00:18:46.000 You buying a MAGA hat, you order online, you pay for it, you wear it to a rally,

00:18:50.320 and that should be, right, in theory, the end of the story.

00:18:53.580 You're not involved in any alleged criminal conspiracy.

00:18:56.160 You're not coordinating with political operatives.

00:18:58.460 You're not accused of breaking the law.

00:18:59.920 You're simply supporting a presidential candidate and a former president.

00:19:03.720 Yet information about campaign merchandise purchasers was included in the records obtained by the investigators of the DOJ, the FBI.

00:19:13.280 Why?

00:19:14.240 Grassley's committee identified merchandise purchase information in the subpoena returns.

00:19:19.680 And that leads us to a very basic question.

00:19:22.200 What connection did these purchases have to the alleged crimes being investigated that, by the way, we now know were bogus, which was Donald Trump tried to overthrow the, you know, and steal an election.

00:19:32.840 Right. Like that. That's what they were claiming they were investigating.

00:19:36.060 So how is how is it that if you bought a hat, how is it that me buying that hat put me on a list?

00:19:43.940 This sinks to high heavens, folks. High heavens.

00:19:47.100 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.

00:19:51.160 Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now.

00:19:56.920 And for more in-depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast,

00:20:01.360 and we will see you back here tomorrow.

00:20:21.160 We'll have the highlights.

00:20:22.540 If Fernando Mendoza or any of those rookies are balling out,

00:20:25.160 we'll break down the tape.

00:20:26.420 Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and an all-star cast of co-hosts

00:20:29.680 as we preview and recap every game.

00:20:31.980 Listen to NFL Daily on the iHeartRadio app,

00:20:35.180 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:20:38.120 The World Cup is over, but if you caught the soccer bug

00:20:40.380 and aren't sure what to do now,

00:20:41.860 check out our podcast, Big Kick Energy.

00:20:43.680 I'm Cameron Dicker, the kicker from the Los Angeles Chargers,

00:20:46.780 and I'm here with Timmy Tillman, current LAFC star player.

00:20:50.180 So, we know a little something about kicking balls.

00:20:53.080 Each week, we'll tackle things like,

00:20:54.820 who's winning the Premier League this year?

00:20:56.780 What do you think is harder,

00:20:58.400 scoring a penalty kick or scoring a field goal?

00:21:00.600 Join us each week for a quick chat

00:21:02.400 with your soccer-loving bros about the best sport in the world.

00:21:05.060 Soccer. Just don't tell my coaches I said that.

00:21:07.940 Listen to Big Kick Energy on the iHeartRadio app,

00:21:10.600 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

00:21:14.400 Hey, it's Drew Franklin from NFL Cover Zero.

00:21:16.800 The 2026 season is underway,

00:21:18.740 and we are loving football on TV.

00:21:21.360 Here's what you can expect from the podcast in our second season.

00:21:23.980 I would suggest for these preseason games,

00:21:26.620 I think they should do what they do on the NFL draft. 0.96

00:21:30.480 You know, when coverage of the NFL draft is basically for moms

00:21:33.280 and they're just like, hey, he has a dog named Spartan.

00:21:39.420 Listen to NFL Cover Zero on the iHeartRadio app,

00:21:42.220 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:21:44.460 I believe that whoever was in that room and did that was a murderer.

00:21:51.020 A new podcast series, Faultline Haditha,

00:21:53.500 tells the story of a shocking crime and a cover-up

00:21:56.300 at the highest levels of the United States Marine Corps.

00:21:59.540 If you've got five players and you offer immunity to four,

00:22:02.480 you better be right about the fifth.

00:22:04.260 Because if you're not, then you've just given immunity to your killer.

00:22:07.240 Listen to Faultline Haditha on the iHeartRadio app,

00:22:10.200 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:22:14.460 You

Verdict with Ted Cruz - October 15, 2026

BONUS POD： Bought a MAGA Hat？ You May Have Ended Up in Federal Records

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