BONUS POD： Comer Wrapping Up Biden Autopen Investigation plus Defense Secretary in Puerto Rico
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Summary
Two major stories coming out of the White House that you need to know about. First up, it's a smoking gun. We're now finding out a lot more because of the investigation into the Biden administration about what was actually going on in the final days when the auto pen caught fire. Also, the man in charge of the Pentagon, Pete Hedgeseth, visits Puerto Rico without telling people in advance. Well, apparently it's connected to fighting the drug cartels that have now been declared as terrorist organizations.
Transcript
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America has always been a nation that believes in the power of prayer.
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We will defend our liberties, our values, our sovereignty.
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And with the help of amazing faith communities across the land,
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We will truly make this the golden age of America.
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You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
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So nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
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And we've got two major stories for you coming out of the White House that you need to know about.
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We're now finding out a lot more because of the investigation into the Biden administration
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about what was actually going on in the final days,
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And apparently the president knew nothing about it.
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There were people raising concerns within the Biden administration.
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Also, the man in charge of the Pentagon, Pete Hedgeseth,
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visits Puerto Rico without telling people in advance.
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Well, apparently it's connected to fighting the drug cartels
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that have now been declared as terrorist organizations.
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It's the 47 Morning Update, and it starts right now.
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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said his panel is now wrapping up its investigation
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to President Joe Biden's use of the auto pen after a new report revealed major concerns
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that were raised within the former Biden administration itself.
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The new records reveal that President Biden's own administration at the highest levels closest
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to the president raised significant concerns about not only the auto pen use, but especially
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This is a historic scandal with massive repercussions, is what James Comer said in response to the newest
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Quote, as President Joe Biden declined, his aides carried out executive actions without
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his approval, casting even more doubt on the legitimacy of thousands of pardons and also
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Comer added, the House Oversight Committee is in the final stages of its investigation, and
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he said there must be accountability for this scandal.
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President Trump has also weighed in on this newest breaking news, saying, quote, the Biden
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Not as big as the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax or the rigged 2020 presidential election, but
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In fact, a former White House Biden staffer said the pardon process, well, it was totally
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fine, saying, quote, Republicans like to talk about Biden whenever news hits that they don't
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Today, they don't want to talk about, what is it, the worst job gained since 2020.
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Instead, they want to talk about Biden because Trump, he says, is responsible for the latest
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Now, let's go back to what the reality of the situation is.
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He's a constitutional attorney on Fox News Channel.
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And here's what he had to say about the developments, especially when it comes to Biden and top aides
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saying they rarely saw or even talked to the president while giving out thousands of pardons.
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Let's bring in constitutional attorney Mark Smith.
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Let's bring up this snippet from this Axios report that says that there were people within
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the Biden administration who had major concerns about this.
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An email from Biden's chief of staff, Jeff Zients, at 1031 p.m.
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the night of January 19th, less than 14 hours before Biden was to leave office, confirmed
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the use of the presidential auto pen for those pardons.
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I approve the use of the auto pen for the execution of all of the following pardons.
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What do you make of this latest Axios report, Mark?
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Brian, I think the big picture here is this is very good news politically and legally for
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As you know, there are a series of these Supreme Court cases over the power of the president
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And historically, in the last several decades, Brian, as you know, the deep state, these unelected
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bureaucrats have been running amok, controlling the executive branch and running the government
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And this is just a more recent example and a very good example to highlight the problems with
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unelected people, but will run the auto pen or run the White House and so on.
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And I think all this is going to be very good in terms of atmospherics to helping Donald
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Trump continue to win these cases before the Supreme Court, because the one thing Donald
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Trump is doing very, very well is reminding people that as the president of the United
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States, all of the executive powers in Article 2 of the Constitution is vested in him
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as the president, the one person that's elected by all the people voted on by all
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And I think this is very helpful in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, which is why Donald
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Trump keeps winning for the Supreme Court these questions of executive power and his
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Well, atmospherics and politics aside, what about legally by the law?
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Is there any sense here that these more historic, a record number, 4,250 pardons and
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clemencies that were signed with this auto pen, do they get thrown out the door?
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Well, at a very high level, certainly a president is allowed to use an auto pen or an electronic
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I mean, people use electronic signatures to sign contracts every day in American life,
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But this all assumes, Brian, that the person who is doing this, is signing off on this,
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has actually approved the use of, in this case, the auto pen.
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And that really gets into, did Joe Biden actually approve these pardons using the auto pen or not?
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And I think the only way to know whether or not this is true would be if somebody comes forward
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from the Biden administration says, you know what, he really didn't know what was going on.
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These were being, these pardons were being issued with an auto pen by people that lack the authority
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And it's going to be very difficult to get those inside facts, I suspect, but the oversight
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committee is certainly working on trying to get to the bottom of this.
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But the question is, did Joe Biden as president really authorize these or not?
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There is a very good chance this is going to work its way all the way to the Supreme Court.
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And you heard him mention there that the president keeps having big victories at the Supreme Court.
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The Supreme Court has allowed ICE agents, we're now being told, to keep arresting illegal aliens
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So whether it's on the auto pen or on this issue of arresting illegal immigrants in L.A.,
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the Supreme Court keeps backing the president of the United States of America.
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And they granted the request from President Donald Trump's administration to override a
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lower court's ruling from an activist judge that barred immigration and customs enforcement
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known as ICE agents from carrying out federal immigration enforcement operations under the
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claim that such raids could constitute racial profiling.
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And they can still do their job to keep Americans safe.
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He has arrived in Puerto Rico amid the U.S.-Venezuela tensions that are continuing to rise.
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This is an important visit because it was unannounced.
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And not only was the U.S. defense secretary there, but the Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Cain,
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It was an unannounced visit, an unplanned visit for the public to Puerto Rico,
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as the U.S. has ramped up military activities in the Caribbean aimed at drug trafficking networks.
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They met officials at the 156th Wing Air National Guard base.
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Edseth addressed roughly 300 service members while he was there.
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And the question you may be asking yourself is this.
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The trip follows a September the 2nd U.S. military strike in the Southern Caribbean
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with U.S. officials saying 11 suspected members of the Trandaigra cartel,
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they are also a terrorist organization, were all killed.
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Venezuela also denied the U.S. allegations and criticized the operation.
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So now the question is, why is the Pentagon weighing Puerto Rico as a hub?
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Or is this more about expanding counter-narcotics operations altogether?
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Now, we also know that plans include deploying 10 F-35 fighter jets to the island
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and conducting military flights out of Puerto Rico.
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An unusually large cluster of U.S. warships, about eight,
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Seven elements of the 22nd Marine Unit are in Puerto Rico for amphibious and flight training,
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Puerto Rico's governor estimated 1,000 Marines on the island,
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and the Guard says the training was pre-planned and, quote,
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CBS News had it this way on the unplanned visit and what it could mean.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dan Cain
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arrived in Puerto Rico this morning as tension continues to build between the United States
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They were welcomed there by Puerto Rico governor, Jennifer Gonzalez, who said on, in part on X,
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we thank President Trump and his administration for recognizing the strategic value Puerto Rico
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has to the national security of the United States and the fight against drug cartels in our hemisphere,
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For more on this, I want to bring in John Burns.
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He is the strategic director for Concerned Veterans for America
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after serving more than 22 years in the Marine Corps and the Army National Guard.
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What does this arrival here of Hegseth and Cain to Puerto Rico signal to you?
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One of the key takeaways for me, aside from just the situation with Venezuela
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is the national defense strategy, which is a little overdue,
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is said to be released within the next seven to ten days.
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And early reporting indicates that there's a large pivot towards defense of the American hemisphere
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and away from being heavily engaged in other parts of the world, Europe.
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I think there's probably still going to be an emphasis to a degree on the Indo-Pacific,
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But this is the key role that our Department of Defense, Department of War should be playing.
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Our primary interest is securing our hemisphere and our homeland.
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John, of course, this arrival, this trip comes with the backdrop of the United States
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deploying eight warships and fighter jets into that area,
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in addition to amassing troops off Puerto Rico.
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If this is a war on drugs, what kind of guardrails, if any,
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exist for the president to send troops into Venezuela?
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Well, the president has said that he doesn't want to see
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or that he's not considering this a regime change mission,
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As much as the media tries to lie to you and tell you that the president's going for regime change,
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This is all about fighting narco-terrorism.
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And yes, they are terrorists that are killing Americans.
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Why would you choose this for this counter-cartel operation?
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Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands sit inside the Caribbean transit zone,
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historically a gateway for cocaine, fentanyl, and other drugs,
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That strategic position, plus U.S. sovereignty, eases the basing,
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the logistics, and also the prosecutions of those that are caught alive.
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And then you just have access and response times from a military standpoint.
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From Puerto Rico, aircraft and ships can quickly reach the Mona Passage,
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the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico Corridor, and the sea lanes north of Venezuela,
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improving time to intercept for go-fast boats and motherships.
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This builds on the intricacies and the model that has been used by the Coast Guard there for years as well.
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It's about sending a clear message that the president is going on offense,
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that the literal war on cartels has just begun.
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And this is part of where Puerto Rico also comes in.
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You have additional air and maritime assets in Puerto Rico.
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This will help with surveillance and interaction coverage over the choke points
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The Coast Guard's layered approach, as it was described by the White House,
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will have large cutters, aircraft, and partner forces,
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and all the benefits of the DOD platforms and their increased presence combined.
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President of the United States of America is saying,
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And we're going to do this with all of the technology and the forces that America has.
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Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
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