Verdict with Ted Cruz - December 20, 2025


Deportations Cure Rent Inflation, When We Have No Evidence meets Do It Anyway plus the Final 3 Historic Victories of 2025 Week In Review


Episode Stats


Length

30 minutes

Words per minute

174.7781

Word count

5,376

Sentence count

290

Harmful content

Misogyny

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

10

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Ted Cruz and Ben Fergus review the top breaking news stories of the week, including: Deportations, the raid at Mar-A-Largo, and the FBI raid on Trump s home. Also, we find out that the FBI found no probable cause to raid Trump's home. And finally, three big wins in the last year that affect all Americans.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.540 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.300 Welcome, it is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:00:06.520 The Week in Review, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:08.860 And these are the stories that you may have missed
00:00:10.680 that we talked about this week.
00:00:12.340 First up, deportations.
00:00:14.860 They're happening at record pace.
00:00:16.840 More than 2 million illegal immigrants
00:00:18.700 have been deported from this country this year.
00:00:21.840 And it's having a major effect now
00:00:23.800 on rental prices of homes and housing prices.
00:00:27.480 So what could happen going into 2026?
00:00:30.580 It could be very big news for you
00:00:33.000 if you're looking to rent or buy a new home.
00:00:36.020 We'll have that for you in a moment.
00:00:37.780 Also, we found out in writing
00:00:39.880 that there was no cause to raid Donald Trump's home at Mar-a-Lago.
00:00:45.040 So how did the FBI get away with doing it?
00:00:47.980 And who actually ordered it,
00:00:49.580 knowing that those in the field were saying
00:00:52.400 there is no probable cause?
00:00:54.860 And finally, three big wins in the last year
00:00:58.380 that affect all Americans.
00:01:00.380 We go through those wins and what it means for you.
00:01:03.320 It's The Week in Review, and it starts right now.
00:01:06.760 Finally, I want to move to another shocking, breaking news story.
00:01:10.600 And that is, if you get rid of people in this country
00:01:13.540 that are here illegally,
00:01:15.040 then you don't have to compete for them, Senator, for housing.
00:01:18.100 We have seen the medium age of first-time homebuyers,
00:01:21.900 the numbers skyrocket to 40-plus years old,
00:01:25.460 depending on where you live.
00:01:27.100 It's the highest we've seen, and certainly in my lifetime,
00:01:29.400 and the highest we've seen since World War I, I think,
00:01:31.800 if I looked at the data correctly.
00:01:33.660 That was something that should be very eye-opening.
00:01:37.240 Rental prices have also skyrocketed
00:01:39.580 because, well, you're competing when it comes to renting a home,
00:01:43.300 especially those entry-level homes
00:01:45.080 with tens of millions of illegal immigrants.
00:01:48.060 We are now finally seeing Donald Trump's deportations
00:01:52.000 and the shutting down of the southern border completely
00:01:54.160 turning into, guess what,
00:01:56.200 lower rent and lower home prices for Americans.
00:01:59.860 Yeah, and look, this is, at the end of the day,
00:02:02.960 very simple economics.
00:02:04.420 And in Economics 101, you learn that prices,
00:02:08.480 prices are determined by two factors,
00:02:11.220 supply and demand.
00:02:12.680 And their graft and where they intersect
00:02:16.040 is where the price is.
00:02:17.400 So supply, it's pretty simple to understand.
00:02:20.040 The more of something there is,
00:02:22.420 the lower the price is.
00:02:24.180 If there are a whole bunch of houses,
00:02:27.520 the price of housing goes down.
00:02:28.960 If there are a whole bunch of bananas,
00:02:31.140 the price of bananas go down.
00:02:33.020 But the other thing that determines price is demand.
00:02:36.260 If there are a ton of people that want to buy houses
00:02:39.460 or bananas, the price goes up.
00:02:41.900 And so those two counterbalance each other.
00:02:44.000 And actually, rising prices typically are a market signal
00:02:47.880 that we need more supply.
00:02:49.580 And so if banana prices skyrocket
00:02:52.500 because suddenly people decide
00:02:53.800 they really, really like bananas,
00:02:55.680 you know what's going to happen?
00:02:56.720 People are going to plant more bananas
00:02:58.120 and grow more bananas to meet the demand
00:03:00.700 and the price will fall.
00:03:01.740 Well, what did Joe Biden do?
00:03:03.040 Joe Biden imported, allowed more than 12 million
00:03:08.220 illegal aliens to come into this country.
00:03:09.940 Now, when they came into this country, 1.00
00:03:11.400 most of those illegal aliens didn't live in a tent.
00:03:14.180 They didn't sleep on a park bench.
00:03:16.400 They went and rented an apartment
00:03:17.620 or they rented a house or they bought a house.
00:03:19.380 And you bring in 12 million people.
00:03:21.980 That's 12 million people that are trying to rent.
00:03:24.340 And when demand goes up a lot,
00:03:27.000 you end up having prices go up.
00:03:29.500 Now, here's what Scott Besson reported.
00:03:31.720 Scott Besson said that last month,
00:03:36.060 apartment rents fell 1.1% compared to the same time last year.
00:03:42.180 And they dropped 5.2% compared to the same time period in 2022
00:03:47.060 when rents had peaked under Joe Biden.
00:03:51.120 And Besson did an interview on Fox Business Channel
00:03:54.180 where he said rents are down
00:03:56.620 and the story of the Biden administration
00:03:58.660 doesn't want to talk about the mass unfettered immigration
00:04:01.580 that pushed up rents,
00:04:03.140 especially for working Americans.
00:04:06.040 And he continued to say,
00:04:07.900 there's a recent study out from the Wharton School
00:04:10.660 that shows every 1% increase in population,
00:04:15.600 rents went up 1%.
00:04:17.060 So President Trump, by enforcing the border
00:04:20.100 and sending home more than 2 million illegals,
00:04:24.020 we're now seeing rents coming down substantially.
00:04:27.180 I think that will continue for the rest of the year.
00:04:29.820 We brought down interest rates.
00:04:31.700 And so we brought mortgage rates down.
00:04:33.720 And I think everything else will follow that.
00:04:35.980 That is a major victory.
00:04:37.320 And by the way, it's exactly what President Trump said
00:04:40.520 on the campaign trail,
00:04:41.840 which is that if we deport the illegal aliens 0.92
00:04:44.260 that Joe Biden's open borders brought into this country,
00:04:46.780 the result is going to be rents are going to come down
00:04:49.740 and housing is going to be more affordable.
00:04:51.580 We now have the data backing that up.
00:04:53.520 You know, messaging, I think, Senator,
00:04:54.940 is going to be so important going into the midterms.
00:04:57.700 And one of the things I do think
00:04:59.220 we have not messaged well enough on our side
00:05:02.540 is what is about to happen in 2026.
00:05:05.480 And there are laws that were passed in 2025
00:05:07.760 that are enacted in 2026.
00:05:10.840 You combine what you just said about home prices
00:05:14.340 and what the Treasury Secretary was talking about there
00:05:16.760 with something that's going to have a huge impact
00:05:19.720 on our economy.
00:05:20.600 No tax on tips is coming in this new year.
00:05:23.840 No tax on overtime is coming this year.
00:05:26.840 And no tax on Social Security for seniors is coming.
00:05:30.520 Those are three massive victories
00:05:32.960 that I think many Americans have actually
00:05:34.980 kind of forgotten about
00:05:36.080 that are going to be implemented this year.
00:05:37.960 That's going to have a very big impact on our economy,
00:05:41.220 but also affordability and living.
00:05:43.320 No, that's exactly right.
00:05:45.580 And I got to say, by the way,
00:05:47.240 for people that make substantial tipped wages
00:05:50.280 or overtime,
00:05:52.440 millions of Americans are going to be entitled
00:05:55.700 to a refund from the IRS starting in January.
00:05:58.540 Starting in just a couple of weeks,
00:05:59.780 they'll be entitled to a refund
00:06:01.280 because of those tax cuts,
00:06:03.560 because of the working family tax cut.
00:06:06.100 And look,
00:06:07.860 the latest mantra
00:06:09.680 of both Democrats and the media,
00:06:13.000 because in many instances,
00:06:14.300 they're one in the same,
00:06:15.780 is affordability.
00:06:17.180 Now, affordability,
00:06:18.280 I am certain that that came from a focus group
00:06:20.680 the Democrats put on,
00:06:22.160 that that was a word they could blame
00:06:23.640 and blame on Trump.
00:06:26.140 Affordability,
00:06:26.760 about 12 minutes ago,
00:06:27.800 used to be called two things,
00:06:29.080 jobs and inflation.
00:06:30.320 That's how we used to talk about it.
00:06:32.520 Jobs,
00:06:33.120 we're seeing economic growth,
00:06:34.740 and that is coming from
00:06:36.180 the historic tax cut we passed,
00:06:39.380 and it's coming from President Trump's
00:06:40.840 incredible leadership,
00:06:41.960 cutting job-killing regulation.
00:06:44.280 And then inflation,
00:06:45.760 we are seeing inflation coming down.
00:06:48.360 And this is interesting.
00:06:50.160 The HUD Department,
00:06:51.360 the Housing and Urban Development Department,
00:06:53.900 published this month a report,
00:06:56.820 an investigation that concluded
00:06:59.200 Biden's importing of millions of migrants 1.00
00:07:01.740 drove up prices for Americans
00:07:04.320 who are low-income,
00:07:05.960 but who do not receive public assistance.
00:07:08.520 And here's what the report concluded.
00:07:10.040 Quote,
00:07:10.920 One key cause of elevated worst-case needs
00:07:13.800 is immigration.
00:07:15.580 Between 2021 and 2024,
00:07:17.660 the foreign-born population
00:07:19.060 of the United States
00:07:19.940 increased more than 6 million,
00:07:21.960 the largest such increase
00:07:23.840 over such a short period
00:07:25.200 in American history.
00:07:27.340 This immigration-driven increase 0.98
00:07:29.460 in households
00:07:30.100 has contributed to a significant increase
00:07:32.720 in housing demand,
00:07:35.160 thus driving up housing prices.
00:07:36.520 In fact,
00:07:38.280 in some markets,
00:07:39.900 immigration has accounted
00:07:41.120 for nearly all
00:07:42.520 of the increase
00:07:43.720 in housing demand
00:07:44.600 in recent years.
00:07:45.880 That is hurting affordability.
00:07:48.500 Accounting for nearly all.
00:07:49.080 Nearly all.
00:07:50.500 What else do you need to know?
00:07:52.400 Yeah,
00:07:52.720 that's Democrat policies
00:07:54.580 killed jobs
00:07:55.800 and drove up inflation.
00:07:57.480 And right now,
00:07:58.220 under common-sense
00:07:59.340 conservative policies,
00:08:00.960 we're seeing jobs come back
00:08:02.480 and we're making progress
00:08:03.880 turning around
00:08:05.000 and driving down
00:08:06.220 the Biden inflation
00:08:08.420 that hurt so many Americans.
00:08:09.880 Now,
00:08:10.340 if you want to hear
00:08:10.960 the rest of this conversation,
00:08:12.480 you can go back
00:08:13.480 and listen to the full podcast
00:08:14.880 from earlier this week.
00:08:17.060 Canadian women
00:08:17.860 are looking for more.
00:08:19.200 More out of themselves,
00:08:20.260 their businesses,
00:08:21.200 their elected leaders,
00:08:22.160 and the world around them.
00:08:23.360 And that's why
00:08:23.840 we're thrilled to introduce
00:08:25.000 the Honest Talk podcast.
00:08:27.080 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:08:28.240 And I'm Catherine Clark.
00:08:29.260 And in this podcast,
00:08:30.680 we interview Canada's
00:08:31.640 most inspiring women.
00:08:33.280 Entrepreneurs,
00:08:33.960 artists,
00:08:34.640 athletes,
00:08:35.240 politicians,
00:08:35.960 and newsmakers,
00:08:36.840 all at different stages
00:08:37.880 of their journey.
00:08:39.020 So,
00:08:39.380 if you're looking to connect,
00:08:40.820 then we hope you'll join us.
00:08:42.240 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast
00:08:43.600 on iHeartRadio
00:08:44.640 or wherever you listen
00:08:45.600 to your podcasts.
00:08:48.000 Now,
00:08:48.660 on to story number two.
00:08:50.160 New files are revealing
00:08:51.500 that the Department of Justice
00:08:52.700 and the FBI,
00:08:53.980 quote,
00:08:54.300 did not have cause
00:08:55.440 to raid Mar-a-Lago.
00:08:57.360 Hold on a second.
00:08:58.280 You're telling me
00:08:59.080 the people in charge
00:08:59.880 of the government,
00:09:00.520 Senator,
00:09:01.380 under the Biden regime
00:09:02.480 knew that they were
00:09:03.380 going after Donald Trump
00:09:04.500 for political reasons
00:09:05.640 and not because
00:09:06.280 they thought he broke a law?
00:09:07.260 Can't,
00:09:07.640 I could not imagine this.
00:09:09.180 You know,
00:09:09.820 it really is astonishing.
00:09:11.100 So,
00:09:11.240 the Department of Justice
00:09:12.040 and FBI
00:09:12.580 handed documents over
00:09:13.780 to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
00:09:15.780 And here's what Fox News
00:09:17.020 has reported
00:09:17.540 about those documents.
00:09:19.000 FBI doubted probable cause
00:09:20.700 for Mar-a-Lago raid
00:09:21.740 but pushed forward
00:09:22.600 amid pressure
00:09:23.280 from Biden DOJ.
00:09:25.200 Emails reveal,
00:09:26.900 quote,
00:09:27.140 very little has been developed
00:09:28.460 related to who might be culpable
00:09:29.920 for mishandling the documents,
00:09:31.420 an FBI official wrote.
00:09:33.820 The FBI did not believe
00:09:35.320 it had probable cause
00:09:36.400 to raid President Donald Trump's
00:09:38.460 Mar-a-Lago home in 2022
00:09:39.940 but moved forward
00:09:41.060 amid pressure
00:09:41.740 from the Biden Justice Department
00:09:43.160 with an official saying
00:09:44.920 he didn't,
00:09:46.440 quote,
00:09:46.520 give a damn
00:09:47.260 about the optics of the search,
00:09:49.360 newly declassified documents
00:09:51.020 reveal.
00:09:52.160 and you have emails
00:09:54.920 between the FBI
00:09:56.060 and the Justice Department
00:09:57.100 in the months leading up
00:09:58.100 to the August 2022
00:09:59.280 raid of Mar-a-Lago
00:10:00.240 and FBI officials
00:10:02.220 explicitly express concern
00:10:04.120 about a lack
00:10:05.000 of probable cause
00:10:05.940 to execute the search warrant
00:10:07.500 on the president's residence.
00:10:10.680 Quote,
00:10:11.480 very little has been developed
00:10:13.580 related to who might be culpable
00:10:15.040 for mishandling the documents.
00:10:16.300 This is written by an FBI agent
00:10:17.800 serving as the assistant
00:10:18.800 special agent in charge
00:10:20.280 to another FBI official.
00:10:22.260 Quote,
00:10:23.140 from the interviews
00:10:24.120 the Washington field office
00:10:25.320 has gathered information
00:10:26.380 suggesting that there may be
00:10:27.580 additional boxes
00:10:29.040 presumably of the same type
00:10:30.400 as were sent back to NARA
00:10:31.520 in January at Mar-a-Lago.
00:10:33.480 The Washington field office
00:10:34.640 has been drafting
00:10:35.340 a search warrant affidavit
00:10:36.560 related to those potential boxes
00:10:38.000 but has some concerns
00:10:39.640 that the information
00:10:40.440 is single source,
00:10:41.640 has not been corroborated
00:10:42.920 and may be dated.
00:10:45.560 DOJ CES opines, however,
00:10:48.260 that the search warrant
00:10:49.600 meets the probable cause standard.
00:10:51.740 Quote,
00:10:52.500 even as we continue
00:10:53.640 down a path
00:10:54.320 towards a search warrant,
00:10:55.360 the Washington field office
00:10:56.420 believes that a reasonable
00:10:57.520 conversation
00:10:58.180 with the former
00:10:59.240 president's attorney
00:11:00.120 stating that the FBI
00:11:01.760 and DOJ are readying
00:11:02.820 a search warrant
00:11:03.400 and developed information
00:11:04.400 there may be more documents
00:11:05.560 at Mar-a-Lago
00:11:06.700 ought not to be discounted.
00:11:08.940 At a minimum,
00:11:09.840 even if the former
00:11:10.500 president's attorney
00:11:11.240 is correct
00:11:11.860 and the documents
00:11:12.560 were all declassified
00:11:14.220 or believed to be
00:11:15.000 declassified,
00:11:16.900 it can be reasonably argued
00:11:18.380 that the documents
00:11:19.120 remain sensitive
00:11:19.980 and should be properly secured
00:11:21.300 until the matter
00:11:21.960 of classification
00:11:22.560 is sorted out.
00:11:24.000 This conversation
00:11:25.060 could easily be accomplished
00:11:26.120 at the same time
00:11:27.200 that the Washington field office
00:11:28.760 presses forward
00:11:29.460 with the investigation
00:11:30.220 and continues building out
00:11:31.560 the search warrant.
00:11:33.200 Weeks later,
00:11:34.440 an FBI agent
00:11:35.500 writes in a new email,
00:11:36.780 quote,
00:11:37.040 this is stunning,
00:11:38.320 we haven't generated
00:11:39.660 any new facts
00:11:40.780 but keep being given
00:11:42.520 draft after draft
00:11:43.640 after draft.
00:11:44.400 Absent a witness
00:11:46.420 coming forward
00:11:47.260 with recent information
00:11:48.440 about classified on site,
00:11:50.680 at what point
00:11:51.620 is it fair
00:11:52.520 to table this,
00:11:54.560 the agent writes.
00:11:55.780 It is time consuming
00:11:57.240 for the team
00:11:58.040 and not productive
00:11:59.660 if there are no
00:12:01.080 new facts
00:12:02.140 supporting probable cause.
00:12:04.540 Another email revealed
00:12:06.300 that the Washington,
00:12:07.000 the FBI's
00:12:08.280 Washington field office,
00:12:09.460 quote,
00:12:09.960 did not believe
00:12:11.240 and has articulated
00:12:12.320 to DOJ CES
00:12:13.560 that we have established
00:12:14.620 probable cause
00:12:15.600 for the search warrant
00:12:16.960 for classified records
00:12:18.260 at Mar-a-Lago.
00:12:19.240 Let me read that again.
00:12:20.720 The FBI Washington field office,
00:12:22.600 this is in writing,
00:12:24.180 quote,
00:12:24.560 did not believe
00:12:25.740 and has articulated
00:12:27.600 to the DOJ CES
00:12:29.180 that we have established
00:12:30.440 probable cause
00:12:31.460 for the search warrant
00:12:32.840 for classified weapons,
00:12:34.640 of classified records
00:12:36.320 at Mar-a-Lago.
00:12:38.380 And the response,
00:12:40.220 quote,
00:12:40.600 DOJ has opined
00:12:41.620 that they do have
00:12:42.180 probable cause,
00:12:43.480 requesting a wide scope
00:12:44.940 including residence,
00:12:46.020 office,
00:12:46.480 storage space
00:12:47.260 and the FBI
00:12:49.480 also said
00:12:50.320 a raid
00:12:51.000 would be,
00:12:51.700 quote,
00:12:51.820 counterproductive
00:12:52.720 and suggested,
00:12:54.540 quote,
00:12:54.860 alternative,
00:12:56.080 less intrusive
00:12:56.940 and likely quicker options
00:12:58.640 for resolution
00:12:59.660 to reclaim
00:13:00.980 any potential
00:13:01.720 classified records.
00:13:02.800 This is stunning
00:13:04.040 because it...
00:13:05.580 I can't,
00:13:06.000 I don't think
00:13:06.520 you can overstate
00:13:07.860 how stunning this is.
00:13:10.100 The field office,
00:13:11.200 they're saying
00:13:11.880 this is stupid, 0.94
00:13:13.140 this is abuse of power
00:13:14.560 in essence,
00:13:15.200 and they're to the point
00:13:15.980 where they're putting it
00:13:16.800 in writing.
00:13:18.180 And by the way,
00:13:19.280 what it means
00:13:20.440 if you don't have
00:13:21.600 probable cause
00:13:22.500 for a search warrant
00:13:23.440 but you nonetheless
00:13:24.840 engage in the search,
00:13:27.540 the search is illegal.
00:13:29.240 Without probable cause,
00:13:30.340 you don't have a basis
00:13:31.320 for the search
00:13:32.460 that is justified.
00:13:34.640 And if the FBI
00:13:35.280 is saying
00:13:35.860 it would be illegal
00:13:36.940 to search
00:13:37.940 President Trump's home,
00:13:39.760 apparently the Biden
00:13:40.740 Department of Justice,
00:13:41.720 they were so partisan,
00:13:42.940 their objective
00:13:43.800 was not to actually
00:13:45.800 prosecute a crime.
00:13:47.380 Their objective
00:13:48.100 was to stop
00:13:48.860 the American people
00:13:49.780 from voting
00:13:50.380 for Donald Trump.
00:13:51.260 They were acting
00:13:51.760 as political operatives.
00:13:53.600 And so their view,
00:13:54.600 as one of the officials said,
00:13:56.380 they don't give a damn
00:13:57.140 about the optics.
00:13:58.260 The optics they wanted
00:13:59.720 was President Trump
00:14:00.700 in a mugshot.
00:14:01.560 They got that optic,
00:14:02.440 but it backfired
00:14:03.420 on them,
00:14:04.040 backfired bigly
00:14:05.660 as President Trump
00:14:06.780 might have said
00:14:07.660 in the first term.
00:14:09.180 But this was
00:14:10.580 a political persecution
00:14:11.900 and what's stunning
00:14:13.020 is they knew it
00:14:14.540 at the time.
00:14:15.520 Well, let's go
00:14:16.400 to accountability
00:14:16.980 and this is where
00:14:18.340 some of you
00:14:18.980 listening and watching
00:14:20.020 this on Facebook
00:14:22.520 or on YouTube
00:14:23.740 are going to want
00:14:25.520 to ask the question
00:14:26.580 that I'm going
00:14:27.080 to ask you now.
00:14:29.020 It's clear abuse
00:14:30.080 of power.
00:14:31.100 Where's the accountability
00:14:32.140 because at this point
00:14:34.480 it's like we know
00:14:35.660 they did it.
00:14:36.640 We've got the information.
00:14:38.440 We know that they were
00:14:39.300 breaking the law
00:14:40.440 or the rules
00:14:41.440 and no one seems
00:14:43.800 to be held accountable
00:14:44.580 for this.
00:14:45.200 So in the rest
00:14:46.220 of my lifetime
00:14:46.840 I have a feeling
00:14:47.540 there's going to be
00:14:48.120 a Democrat
00:14:48.620 that's going to get
00:14:49.160 back in the White House.
00:14:50.700 Then why would there
00:14:51.720 be an incentive
00:14:52.500 for them not to abuse
00:14:53.660 their power
00:14:54.240 and go after
00:14:54.820 any other conservatives
00:14:55.820 in the same way?
00:14:56.940 So there wouldn't
00:14:57.520 be an incentive
00:14:58.200 and look,
00:14:58.880 who knows,
00:14:59.260 it may not be
00:14:59.740 a Democrat
00:15:00.160 in the White House.
00:15:01.080 The Democrat Party
00:15:02.460 may have radicalized
00:15:03.320 so much
00:15:03.760 that maybe
00:15:04.120 the next nominee
00:15:04.880 will be a member
00:15:06.100 of the Turtle Island
00:15:07.380 Liberation Front.
00:15:08.400 I mean,
00:15:08.640 that's how extreme
00:15:10.020 these guys are getting.
00:15:11.500 Look,
00:15:11.800 there has to be
00:15:12.280 accountability.
00:15:12.940 There has to be
00:15:13.500 people who engage
00:15:14.400 in the abuse of power
00:15:15.300 need to be fired.
00:15:16.300 Now,
00:15:16.900 the Trump Department
00:15:18.020 of Justice and FBI
00:15:19.000 have fired a number
00:15:19.860 of people.
00:15:20.420 That's moving
00:15:21.040 in the right direction.
00:15:22.060 But anyone
00:15:22.460 who knew
00:15:22.980 they were participating
00:15:23.840 in an abuse of justice,
00:15:26.180 an abuse of power,
00:15:27.360 and anyone
00:15:28.160 who knew
00:15:29.440 that it was illegal.
00:15:30.440 Let me ask,
00:15:31.140 why was there not
00:15:32.420 anyone who stood up
00:15:34.560 and said,
00:15:35.460 this is not right
00:15:37.600 at the Department
00:15:38.280 of Justice
00:15:38.800 to abuse our power?
00:15:39.940 Why were there
00:15:40.340 no whistleblowers?
00:15:41.280 Why was there
00:15:42.400 no pushback
00:15:45.120 from within DOJ?
00:15:48.620 Let me ask you
00:15:49.540 that question.
00:15:50.120 There's a lot
00:15:50.700 of appointees,
00:15:51.580 and I want to get
00:15:52.380 in the weeds here
00:15:52.880 on this because
00:15:53.180 I do think
00:15:53.460 it's important
00:15:53.940 to paint the picture.
00:15:54.860 When I was
00:15:55.940 in the Bush administration,
00:15:57.460 there are political appointees
00:15:59.100 and there's non-political.
00:16:00.600 There's lifers.
00:16:01.520 There's people
00:16:01.900 that stay
00:16:02.340 in certain positions
00:16:03.300 at the DOJ,
00:16:04.240 for example,
00:16:04.800 at the FBI.
00:16:05.800 They don't change
00:16:07.040 based on the election
00:16:08.340 or who is
00:16:09.420 in the White House
00:16:10.300 or who's in charge
00:16:11.740 of the House
00:16:12.600 or the Senator
00:16:13.080 of Congress
00:16:13.540 in general.
00:16:14.940 Those individuals
00:16:16.480 are the ones
00:16:17.380 that you would hope
00:16:17.920 would stand up here.
00:16:18.660 The problem
00:16:19.380 seems to be
00:16:20.380 that there's
00:16:21.300 either massive fear
00:16:22.560 when the Democrats
00:16:24.000 were in charge
00:16:24.760 that their careers
00:16:25.380 would be over,
00:16:26.520 A,
00:16:27.220 or B,
00:16:28.100 that they just put in
00:16:29.200 so many of their
00:16:30.160 liberal friends
00:16:31.020 that the entire
00:16:32.380 DOJ leadership
00:16:33.540 and those below them
00:16:34.620 that were supposed
00:16:35.280 to be the non-political
00:16:36.320 appointees
00:16:36.920 were actually
00:16:37.800 incredibly partisan.
00:16:39.740 I go back to
00:16:40.560 Peter Strzok
00:16:41.580 and Lisa Page
00:16:42.560 or whatever the hell
00:16:43.120 their names were.
00:16:43.840 I mean,
00:16:44.700 there's two examples
00:16:45.780 of, quote,
00:16:46.560 non-political people
00:16:47.540 that were absolutely
00:16:48.740 political.
00:16:50.340 There are far
00:16:51.400 too many
00:16:52.060 extreme partisans
00:16:53.260 who burrowed
00:16:54.000 in to both agencies,
00:16:55.460 the FBI
00:16:55.920 and the Department
00:16:56.600 of Justice.
00:16:57.720 As you know,
00:16:58.940 a book I wrote
00:17:00.100 a few years ago
00:17:00.940 was called
00:17:01.500 Justice Corrupted,
00:17:02.540 How the Left
00:17:03.060 Has Weaponized
00:17:04.020 Our Legal System.
00:17:05.640 And I detailed,
00:17:07.480 this was written
00:17:07.880 at the beginning
00:17:08.380 of the Biden administration,
00:17:09.280 so I did not cover
00:17:10.560 the prosecutions
00:17:12.060 of Trump
00:17:12.560 or the Mar-a-Lago raid
00:17:14.100 because it hadn't
00:17:14.520 happened yet.
00:17:14.940 By the way,
00:17:15.480 how right were you
00:17:16.280 on writing that book?
00:17:17.340 I mean,
00:17:17.580 knowing what happened
00:17:18.480 afterwards.
00:17:19.060 Good grief.
00:17:20.020 And the book starts,
00:17:21.480 chapter one
00:17:22.100 is actually about Watergate.
00:17:23.440 It's about Nixon.
00:17:24.220 And I am not
00:17:24.920 a Richard Nixon fan.
00:17:26.060 I think he was corrupt
00:17:27.280 and dishonest
00:17:29.020 and he abused power.
00:17:30.640 But if you look at
00:17:32.440 one of the things
00:17:33.160 Nixon tried to do
00:17:34.360 is get the Department
00:17:35.120 of Justice
00:17:35.580 and the FBI
00:17:36.260 to go after
00:17:37.040 his political enemies.
00:17:38.560 But at the time,
00:17:40.500 DOJ and the FBI
00:17:42.140 and the IRS,
00:17:43.340 they all resisted.
00:17:44.220 They pushed back
00:17:45.240 and said,
00:17:45.740 no,
00:17:46.120 that's an abuse
00:17:46.940 of our power.
00:17:47.720 We're not going
00:17:48.460 to do that.
00:17:50.060 And what Richard Nixon
00:17:51.880 tried to do,
00:17:54.100 Joe Biden succeeded
00:17:55.420 in doing.
00:17:56.160 Why?
00:17:56.520 Because nobody,
00:17:57.840 not a political,
00:17:58.860 not careers,
00:18:00.120 nobody pushed back
00:18:01.240 effectively
00:18:01.780 and stopped it.
00:18:03.380 And we saw
00:18:05.780 that started
00:18:06.500 with Barack Obama.
00:18:08.260 Barack Obama
00:18:09.220 weaponized
00:18:10.160 the Department of Justice,
00:18:11.260 the FBI,
00:18:11.920 the IRS.
00:18:13.400 And then when Trump
00:18:14.180 became president,
00:18:15.380 those partisans...
00:18:15.460 And by the way,
00:18:15.680 he was just slicker about it.
00:18:17.200 I do want people
00:18:17.780 to understand that.
00:18:18.520 He was very smart
00:18:20.260 about it compared
00:18:20.940 to the blaze
00:18:22.220 and abuse of power
00:18:23.140 by the Biden administration.
00:18:24.780 But there were...
00:18:25.380 And I want to remind
00:18:26.180 just a couple examples
00:18:27.840 of the abuse of power
00:18:29.740 under Barack Obama.
00:18:31.500 Give us a couple
00:18:32.140 of those highlights
00:18:32.740 so people remember
00:18:33.380 what they did do
00:18:34.580 and how this started
00:18:35.440 a long time ago.
00:18:36.120 And the reason why
00:18:37.060 is, Senator,
00:18:38.360 there were a lot of people
00:18:39.240 that got into the DOJ
00:18:40.800 and the FBI then
00:18:42.420 that were lower in rank
00:18:44.340 who are now running
00:18:45.240 the damn place
00:18:46.000 if you fast forward
00:18:47.180 to the Biden years.
00:18:48.300 Yeah, you look at,
00:18:49.200 I mean,
00:18:49.420 one of the classic examples
00:18:51.120 is Lois Lerner
00:18:51.840 at the IRS.
00:18:53.120 And the IRS
00:18:54.280 deliberately targeted
00:18:55.960 conservative groups.
00:18:57.060 It targeted Tea Party groups.
00:18:58.660 It went after them.
00:18:59.740 It persecuted them.
00:19:01.460 And the search words,
00:19:02.740 among things
00:19:03.840 they were looking for
00:19:04.680 is any group
00:19:05.260 dedicated to the Constitution
00:19:06.500 or the Bill of Rights.
00:19:07.860 Yeah.
00:19:08.100 And mind you,
00:19:08.980 they didn't mean
00:19:09.600 the ACLU.
00:19:10.500 They didn't mean
00:19:11.060 leftist groups.
00:19:12.120 They meant
00:19:12.920 anyone that was conservative,
00:19:15.000 any pro-Israel groups
00:19:16.260 they targeted.
00:19:17.060 I mean,
00:19:17.240 it was an ideological purge
00:19:20.040 and it was an ideological purge
00:19:22.580 that the political officials
00:19:23.700 did everything they could
00:19:24.780 to cover up.
00:19:25.980 And ultimately,
00:19:27.560 you know,
00:19:28.240 you look at Eric Holder,
00:19:30.460 who was Attorney General,
00:19:31.480 described himself
00:19:32.440 as Barack Obama's wingman.
00:19:34.880 Yeah.
00:19:35.320 And he ended up being held
00:19:36.340 in contempt of Congress,
00:19:37.960 which was stunning.
00:19:39.260 But it began
00:19:42.860 during the Obama administration
00:19:44.160 when Trump became president.
00:19:46.140 Many of those partisans,
00:19:48.000 they burrowed into
00:19:48.940 senior career positions
00:19:50.460 at the agency.
00:19:51.720 And for four years
00:19:52.460 of the first Trump term,
00:19:53.820 they waged war
00:19:55.240 on Donald Trump
00:19:56.100 from within the agency,
00:19:57.960 trying to overturn
00:19:59.020 the duly elected president,
00:20:01.000 trying to overturn
00:20:01.540 an election.
00:20:02.580 And then when Biden
00:20:04.300 got into power,
00:20:05.760 they came out in the open
00:20:06.920 and they were brazen.
00:20:07.900 And part of the reason
00:20:08.800 Biden was so much worse
00:20:10.140 than Obama
00:20:10.680 is they saw
00:20:11.720 there were no consequences
00:20:12.960 when it happened
00:20:13.800 under Obama,
00:20:14.440 that it worked,
00:20:15.080 that they were able
00:20:15.740 to weaponize the system.
00:20:17.420 And I suspect
00:20:18.080 many good people
00:20:19.780 just left the agencies
00:20:22.520 and those,
00:20:23.280 many of those who remained
00:20:24.540 were either they were afraid
00:20:27.400 or they were willing
00:20:28.060 to go along with it.
00:20:29.100 But it's why
00:20:30.040 one of the most important
00:20:32.660 obligations,
00:20:33.700 responsibilities
00:20:34.280 that the Trump DOJ
00:20:36.000 and the Trump FBI have
00:20:37.220 is to restore integrity
00:20:38.980 to those agencies,
00:20:40.360 to go after criminals
00:20:41.520 and bad guys
00:20:42.400 like terrorists
00:20:43.380 planning to set off bombs
00:20:45.200 in Los Angeles
00:20:45.980 rather than using it
00:20:48.060 to target political opponents.
00:20:49.880 What will accountability
00:20:51.020 look like specifically
00:20:52.100 on these emails
00:20:53.440 and the people there?
00:20:54.660 And will Congress
00:20:55.440 get involved in this?
00:20:56.800 Now seeing this letter,
00:20:58.500 Grassley, etc.
00:21:00.280 Yeah, look,
00:21:01.080 I would certainly expect
00:21:02.540 we'll see hearings
00:21:03.240 in Congress.
00:21:03.880 I'd like to see
00:21:04.400 the Senate Judiciary Committee
00:21:05.620 hold hearings on this
00:21:07.740 and engage in oversight.
00:21:09.120 This was released
00:21:10.080 by Chuck Grassley,
00:21:11.100 the chairman
00:21:11.620 of the Judiciary Committee.
00:21:12.580 So that's beneficial.
00:21:14.760 And, you know,
00:21:15.620 look, I want to commend
00:21:16.680 the Trump Justice Department
00:21:17.980 for handing these emails over.
00:21:19.620 Part of the reason
00:21:20.600 that the Biden DOJ
00:21:22.520 wrote these
00:21:23.080 is because they thought
00:21:23.980 no one would ever know
00:21:25.000 that they thought
00:21:26.460 Biden was going to be reelected
00:21:28.040 or Kamala Harris
00:21:28.680 was going to be elected.
00:21:30.120 And so this would remain
00:21:31.580 hidden forever.
00:21:33.200 What changed the rules
00:21:34.520 is you have a new
00:21:35.380 attorney general
00:21:36.020 and a new FBI director
00:21:37.220 who decided
00:21:37.920 we're going to give this
00:21:38.880 to we're going to show
00:21:39.620 the American people
00:21:40.440 exactly what was going on.
00:21:42.360 That was the right thing to do.
00:21:43.820 As before,
00:21:44.300 if you want to hear
00:21:45.120 the rest of this conversation
00:21:46.360 on this topic,
00:21:47.500 you can go back
00:21:48.360 and download the podcast
00:21:49.660 from earlier this week
00:21:50.520 to hear the entire thing.
00:21:52.800 Canadian women
00:21:53.500 are looking for more,
00:21:54.800 more of themselves,
00:21:55.880 their businesses,
00:21:56.820 their elected leaders,
00:21:57.620 and the world are open.
00:21:59.020 And that's why
00:21:59.460 we're thrilled to introduce
00:22:00.620 the Honest Talk podcast.
00:22:02.520 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:22:03.920 And I'm Catherine Clark.
00:22:05.140 And in this podcast,
00:22:06.220 we interview Canada's
00:22:07.260 most inspiring women,
00:22:08.760 entrepreneurs,
00:22:09.600 artists,
00:22:10.260 athletes,
00:22:10.860 politicians,
00:22:11.520 and newsmakers,
00:22:12.440 all at different stages
00:22:13.500 of their journey.
00:22:14.660 So if you're looking to connect,
00:22:16.460 then we hope you'll join us.
00:22:17.880 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast
00:22:19.260 on iHeartRadio
00:22:20.240 or wherever you listen
00:22:21.220 to your podcasts.
00:22:23.600 I want to get back
00:22:24.700 to the big story
00:22:25.900 number three of the week
00:22:26.840 you may have missed.
00:22:28.080 Senator,
00:22:28.580 as we're doing
00:22:29.200 our year in review,
00:22:30.240 I love getting to say this one.
00:22:32.440 We had a big win
00:22:33.260 on the issue of space.
00:22:34.680 We're not talking about
00:22:35.160 you finding aliens or anything,
00:22:36.640 but we do have
00:22:37.560 an update on space.
00:22:39.200 That's near and dear
00:22:39.860 to your heart
00:22:40.280 with NASA and Houston,
00:22:41.400 of course.
00:22:42.200 Talk about the big victory there.
00:22:44.200 Well,
00:22:44.720 in the working families
00:22:45.740 tax cut,
00:22:47.540 we invested $10 billion
00:22:49.100 in NASA
00:22:50.400 and commercial space,
00:22:52.140 and in particular
00:22:52.840 in going back to the moon.
00:22:54.720 And again,
00:22:55.380 because that falls
00:22:57.080 within the jurisdiction
00:22:57.940 of the Commerce Committee,
00:22:58.720 I wrote this provision,
00:22:59.980 and we are in a race
00:23:01.520 to go back to the moon.
00:23:02.540 We're in a race with China. 0.99
00:23:04.000 China has said publicly
00:23:05.280 they are going to go
00:23:06.060 to the moon by 2030,
00:23:07.240 and they're trying
00:23:08.000 to get back there.
00:23:09.160 And it's also a race
00:23:10.300 not just to get there,
00:23:11.840 but to also to build
00:23:13.840 sustained human habitation
00:23:15.760 on the surface of the moon,
00:23:17.060 to begin mining
00:23:18.100 on the surface of the moon.
00:23:19.260 That's the next challenge
00:23:20.620 that we're moving towards.
00:23:21.960 China is moving full speed ahead, 0.98
00:23:23.580 and we did major investments
00:23:26.020 to say America
00:23:27.700 is going to beat China
00:23:28.960 back to the moon.
00:23:30.280 We are going to have
00:23:31.280 sustained human habitation
00:23:32.800 on the lunar surface
00:23:33.900 or in cislunar orbit.
00:23:36.180 And that investment,
00:23:37.440 it is in the bill.
00:23:38.840 It is critically important.
00:23:40.040 And the objective is
00:23:41.000 for us to land on the moon
00:23:42.240 by 2028,
00:23:43.900 two years before China,
00:23:45.460 with President Trump
00:23:46.600 still in the Oval Office.
00:23:48.600 And that investment
00:23:49.900 will make it,
00:23:50.620 and I'll tell you,
00:23:51.440 this is a point I made.
00:23:52.540 If we lose,
00:23:54.380 if we were to lose
00:23:55.340 the race to the moon,
00:23:57.140 I think the impact
00:23:58.460 of seeing the Chinese 0.93
00:23:59.620 on the moon
00:24:00.260 before we could get there,
00:24:01.400 I think it would be
00:24:02.300 a bigger blow
00:24:03.320 to the country
00:24:04.080 than Sputnik was.
00:24:05.500 Sputnik,
00:24:05.980 when the Russians launched
00:24:07.080 the first satellite Sputnik
00:24:08.700 around the Earth,
00:24:10.460 it was a massive blow.
00:24:12.020 It started the space race.
00:24:14.120 And I think losing the moon
00:24:16.160 to China would be
00:24:17.080 orders of magnitude worse.
00:24:18.820 That investment is in there.
00:24:20.260 It matters.
00:24:20.680 And it matters also enormously
00:24:22.140 there are over 50,000
00:24:24.000 high-paying jobs
00:24:25.200 in Texas
00:24:26.200 that are directly
00:24:27.060 connected to space.
00:24:27.880 So it's big for jobs,
00:24:30.100 jobs in the economy as well.
00:24:32.920 Selfishly,
00:24:33.480 I just think
00:24:34.200 it would be so cool
00:24:35.180 for kids' minds
00:24:36.380 to be blown,
00:24:38.420 to see in HD,
00:24:40.360 people walking on the moon,
00:24:42.080 just the wonder
00:24:43.260 and the inspiration
00:24:44.660 that would come from that
00:24:45.780 for an entire generation.
00:24:47.100 You know,
00:24:47.240 with everything that's AI
00:24:48.260 and technology-driven,
00:24:50.200 like,
00:24:50.400 just to have a moment
00:24:51.460 of pause
00:24:51.980 where we're like,
00:24:52.700 we went to the moon
00:24:53.620 and you can see it HD.
00:24:55.100 I can't imagine
00:24:56.080 what that does
00:24:56.540 for kids that are dreamers
00:24:57.640 for their futures
00:24:58.660 and their education as well.
00:25:00.360 Look,
00:25:00.660 I spend a lot of time
00:25:01.900 at Johnson Space Center.
00:25:04.600 I spend a lot of time
00:25:05.420 with NASA
00:25:05.860 and, like,
00:25:06.560 the inspiration
00:25:07.700 that astronauts provide.
00:25:09.840 Now,
00:25:10.080 do you know
00:25:10.620 the connection
00:25:11.200 that Rice University
00:25:12.300 has to us
00:25:13.200 going to the moon
00:25:13.760 the first time?
00:25:14.660 No,
00:25:14.860 I do not.
00:25:16.060 So it was
00:25:16.720 at Rice University,
00:25:18.140 at the Rice Stadium,
00:25:19.440 you've been to that
00:25:20.040 football stadium,
00:25:21.520 that JFK
00:25:23.160 gave the speech
00:25:24.680 where he committed
00:25:26.320 we will go to the moon
00:25:28.000 within a decade
00:25:28.760 and, in fact,
00:25:29.880 what he said,
00:25:31.320 he said,
00:25:32.920 why does Rice
00:25:35.540 play the University
00:25:36.660 of Texas?
00:25:38.220 They do so
00:25:39.220 not because it is easy
00:25:40.660 but because it is hard.
00:25:42.940 There you go.
00:25:43.260 And that was
00:25:44.260 his explanation
00:25:45.080 for why are we
00:25:45.960 going to the moon?
00:25:46.760 We're going to the moon
00:25:47.520 for the same reason
00:25:48.360 Rice plays UT.
00:25:50.360 Not because it is hard
00:25:52.940 and it inspired
00:25:53.780 millions of kids.
00:25:55.900 We're going to do that again
00:25:56.980 but it's also critical.
00:25:58.620 Listen,
00:25:59.220 there are major
00:26:00.660 economic benefits.
00:26:02.000 I predicted
00:26:02.520 for a long time
00:26:03.360 the first trillionaire
00:26:04.680 is going to be
00:26:05.560 made in space.
00:26:06.380 That may well be
00:26:07.080 Elon Musk.
00:26:07.760 He's already
00:26:08.340 halfway there.
00:26:10.480 I think the mining
00:26:11.640 that we're going to see
00:26:12.380 on the moon
00:26:12.900 and ultimately on Mars
00:26:14.040 is going to generate
00:26:14.860 enormous economic activity
00:26:16.600 and it also matters
00:26:17.900 from national security
00:26:19.040 and from a military
00:26:20.720 perspective
00:26:21.400 controlling what is
00:26:23.080 quite literally
00:26:23.960 the high ground
00:26:24.880 is really important
00:26:26.080 for keeping America safe.
00:26:28.040 CAFE standards.
00:26:28.760 I want to make sure
00:26:29.280 we get this in there
00:26:30.000 before the end of the show.
00:26:30.760 Let's talk about
00:26:31.360 that victory as well.
00:26:33.620 Another provision
00:26:34.560 I wrote in the bill
00:26:35.440 we zeroed out
00:26:36.560 CAFE standards.
00:26:37.600 Now what are
00:26:37.960 CAFE standards?
00:26:38.960 The rules
00:26:40.720 the Biden administration
00:26:41.780 put in place
00:26:43.140 to drive up
00:26:43.920 the cost of your car
00:26:45.040 and drive up
00:26:45.580 the cost of your truck
00:26:46.580 and what they did
00:26:47.560 is they jacked up
00:26:48.580 the mileage
00:26:49.180 it had to get
00:26:50.020 to what were
00:26:51.100 unsustainable levels
00:26:52.280 and they were doing that
00:26:53.160 because they wanted
00:26:53.780 to ban the internal
00:26:54.720 combustion engine.
00:26:55.520 They wanted to
00:26:55.980 make it impossible
00:26:57.000 for you to buy
00:26:58.320 a gasoline car.
00:26:59.440 They wanted to force you
00:27:00.520 to buy an electric vehicle.
00:27:02.280 And by the way
00:27:02.700 let's be clear
00:27:03.260 it also put you
00:27:04.400 and your family
00:27:05.560 at risk
00:27:06.620 because of having
00:27:08.440 to be forced
00:27:09.360 to make the cars lighter.
00:27:11.120 They had to get rid
00:27:11.800 of the steel
00:27:12.460 in cars that made
00:27:13.320 them so safe
00:27:14.080 like tanks
00:27:14.720 and that's the reason
00:27:15.720 why everything's now
00:27:16.380 in plastic
00:27:17.240 and the bumpers
00:27:18.020 and if you've had
00:27:18.920 a small wreck
00:27:19.960 you see how things
00:27:20.980 just shatter.
00:27:21.740 It's because they're
00:27:22.340 trying to meet
00:27:22.980 those standards.
00:27:24.380 Yeah look
00:27:24.640 my first car
00:27:25.840 was a 1978
00:27:26.860 Ford Fairmont.
00:27:28.040 It was my grandfather's
00:27:29.000 car that he gave it to me.
00:27:30.460 It was
00:27:30.820 we called it
00:27:31.480 the green bomb.
00:27:32.160 I knew you weren't cool
00:27:32.420 when you were younger.
00:27:33.240 I knew it.
00:27:33.700 That was confirmation
00:27:34.440 right there.
00:27:34.860 Are you kidding?
00:27:35.760 That was the coolest car.
00:27:37.000 We called it
00:27:37.420 the green bomb
00:27:38.140 and it was a tank
00:27:39.200 and if you got
00:27:39.900 a 16 year old boy
00:27:41.360 all 16 year old boys
00:27:43.360 are idiots
00:27:43.860 and for the teenagers
00:27:45.080 listening I apologize
00:27:46.100 but I was there
00:27:46.960 I was an idiot
00:27:47.940 and I promise you
00:27:49.020 when you get older
00:27:49.580 you'll understand
00:27:50.180 it's just part of life
00:27:51.340 growing up
00:27:52.220 and like putting
00:27:53.480 your kids in a car
00:27:54.640 that is big enough
00:27:55.580 that if they hit
00:27:56.360 something like an idiot 0.67
00:27:57.380 that they're not going
00:27:58.780 to be badly hurt
00:27:59.800 or killed
00:28:00.320 that matters.
00:28:01.640 We zeroed it out.
00:28:02.620 The effect of that
00:28:04.140 is going to be
00:28:04.820 to lower the cost
00:28:05.920 of you getting
00:28:07.140 a car or a truck
00:28:08.260 lower it by thousands
00:28:09.380 of dollars.
00:28:10.460 That's another victory
00:28:11.340 that is in the bill
00:28:12.200 and it also is going
00:28:12.940 to save lives
00:28:13.500 just as you said
00:28:14.280 because you'll be able
00:28:16.140 to make cars
00:28:16.760 that are safer
00:28:17.320 with more steel
00:28:18.080 and less plastic.
00:28:19.600 Yeah it really is
00:28:20.320 incredible.
00:28:20.920 Finally one last thing
00:28:21.980 I do want to hit
00:28:22.660 and it's important one
00:28:23.660 to end the show.
00:28:24.820 Take it down act
00:28:25.600 something that you
00:28:26.380 worked so hard on
00:28:27.200 became a reality
00:28:28.000 as well this year
00:28:28.740 and it keeps kids safe.
00:28:29.920 Yeah it's a great victory.
00:28:31.620 Look there is a growing
00:28:32.960 problem with what's
00:28:34.100 called non-consensual
00:28:35.320 intimate imagery
00:28:36.400 and we're talking
00:28:37.640 both real world
00:28:39.100 so called revenge porn
00:28:40.440 where you have
00:28:41.160 boyfriend or girlfriend
00:28:42.400 they have an intimate
00:28:43.160 relationship
00:28:43.780 they take explicit
00:28:45.000 pictures or videos
00:28:45.960 of each other
00:28:46.600 and then they have
00:28:47.460 a breakup
00:28:47.840 and one of them
00:28:49.000 is ticked off
00:28:49.700 and decides
00:28:50.220 alright I'm going
00:28:50.740 to stick it to you
00:28:51.420 and I'm going to
00:28:52.040 release this to the world
00:28:53.300 and it is a grotesque
00:28:55.920 violation of privacy
00:28:57.680 nobody has a right
00:28:58.640 to do that
00:28:59.200 to somebody else
00:29:00.080 there is secondly
00:29:02.300 a more recent
00:29:03.460 aspect of that
00:29:07.180 which is
00:29:07.760 deep fakes
00:29:09.000 and people are
00:29:09.960 using AI
00:29:11.040 to create deep fakes
00:29:12.400 where they take
00:29:12.980 pictures of real people
00:29:14.680 and they use AI
00:29:15.640 to make it appear
00:29:16.780 that they're naked
00:29:17.500 or in explicit
00:29:18.840 and sexual situations
00:29:20.060 more than 95%
00:29:22.260 of the victims
00:29:22.860 of this
00:29:23.420 are women 0.97
00:29:24.040 or teenage girls
00:29:25.380 and so I drafted
00:29:27.740 a bill that's called
00:29:28.480 the Take It Down Act
00:29:29.460 that number one
00:29:30.300 makes it a crime
00:29:31.860 makes it a felony
00:29:32.680 to post non-consensual
00:29:34.380 intimate imagery
00:29:35.040 either real pictures
00:29:36.720 or fake pictures
00:29:38.240 and secondly
00:29:39.680 it gives you the right
00:29:41.320 if God forbid
00:29:42.060 you're the victim of this
00:29:43.260 any tech platform
00:29:45.300 that is displaying
00:29:46.180 that content
00:29:46.920 you have a federal
00:29:47.900 statutory right
00:29:48.840 to demand
00:29:49.480 they take it down
00:29:50.760 and they have to
00:29:51.680 take it down
00:29:52.220 immediately
00:29:52.680 and we pass that
00:29:54.280 through the Senate
00:29:54.860 we pass that
00:29:55.600 through the House
00:29:56.380 the First Lady
00:29:57.820 Melania Trump
00:29:58.580 was a big champion
00:29:59.480 she joined with me
00:30:00.880 and I was in the Rose Garden
00:30:03.040 right next to the President
00:30:04.160 and right next to the First Lady 0.58
00:30:05.680 when he signed
00:30:06.480 that legislation
00:30:07.280 protecting kids
00:30:08.400 protecting teenage girls
00:30:09.980 teenage boys
00:30:10.800 women 1.00
00:30:11.320 protecting everyone
00:30:12.280 and also standing up
00:30:14.700 to the abuse of AI
00:30:16.640 creating deep fakes
00:30:17.940 and victimizing people
00:30:19.600 as always
00:30:20.760 thank you for listening
00:30:22.240 to Verdict
00:30:23.060 with Senator Ted Cruz
00:30:24.120 Ben Ferguson
00:30:24.840 with you
00:30:25.140 don't forget
00:30:25.620 to download my podcast
00:30:26.880 and you can listen
00:30:27.620 to my podcast
00:30:28.260 every other day
00:30:28.800 you're not listening
00:30:29.380 to Verdict
00:30:29.740 or each day
00:30:30.560 when you listen
00:30:30.960 to Verdict
00:30:31.260 afterwards
00:30:31.820 I'd love to have you
00:30:33.180 as a listener
00:30:33.660 to again
00:30:34.540 the Ben Ferguson podcast
00:30:35.740 and we will see you
00:30:36.660 back here
00:30:37.280 on Monday morning
00:30:38.420 this is an iHeart Podcast
00:30:41.040 Guaranteed Human 0.83
00:30:43.040 I'll see you next time
00:30:44.040 and I'll see you next time
00:30:44.760 and I'll see you next time