Verdict with Ted Cruz - May 28, 2025


FBI To Re-Open Investigations on Cocaine in the White House, J6 Pipe Bomber & SCOTUS Leak, plus Comey Advocates Murder of Trump


Episode Stats


Length

40 minutes

Words per minute

177.55377

Word count

7,116

Sentence count

553

Harmful content

Misogyny

7

sentences flagged

Toxicity

19

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joins Sen. Ben Fergus (D-NY) to discuss the FBI's new investigations into the Democratic National Committee and other Democratic Party cover-ups, and NPR's new lawsuit against the government.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.560 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.860 Good Wednesday morning.
00:00:07.320 Nice to have you with us.
00:00:08.640 It's Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:11.600 And Senator, we're going to get some redos on some cover-ups on the Democratic Party, apparently.
00:00:18.240 This is going to be music to many people's ears on accountability.
00:00:21.900 Well, the FBI has announced three brand new investigations on stories that just broke,
00:00:26.680 things that just happened yesterday.
00:00:28.160 So just yesterday, cocaine was found in the White House.
00:00:33.140 Just yesterday, there was a secret leak from the Supreme Court of a decision the court had not yet issued.
00:00:40.300 It was a decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
00:00:42.600 It was shocking.
00:00:43.800 It was incredible.
00:00:45.020 And I'll tell you, the FBI was on it.
00:00:47.680 And just yesterday, unbelievably, a pipe bomb was planted outside the DNC.
00:00:53.800 It was on the day of the certification of what ended up being the certification of Joe Biden's presidency.
00:01:00.280 And all three of these, understandably, when they occurred, they were major news stories, horrific crimes, grotesque violation of laws.
00:01:09.120 So, of course, the FBI devoted all of the resources to discover nothing.
00:01:14.840 Well, we have a new FBI.
00:01:16.760 We have a new DOJ.
00:01:18.080 And now the FBI and DOJ is going back to do what they should have done years ago when these stories actually happened.
00:01:24.380 They're going to go investigate.
00:01:25.440 And I hope they're going to fine the wrongdoers, fine the criminals, prosecute them, and put them in jail.
00:01:32.600 Also, we're going to look into recent comments and actions by the former head of the FBI, that crack law enforcement official who managed not to investigate those crimes we just talked about, James Comey,
00:01:43.920 who spent the entire Trump presidency or much of the Trump presidency undermining the president of the United States, attacking the president of the United States until finally he was rightly fired.
00:01:54.020 He's made some comments that are nothing short of shocking, and he has effectively called for the assassination of the president of the United States.
00:02:05.600 You might think that as hyperbole, but we're going to break down exactly what James Comey did.
00:02:10.580 And finally, we're going to talk about a lawsuit that NPR has filed.
00:02:16.300 NPR, National Public Radio, has filed a lawsuit saying that President Trump, trying to cut off taxpayer funding for their wildly partisan,
00:02:24.020 unbiased, dishonest reporting, well, their allegation is that not paying for that wildly dishonest, partisan reporting violates the First Amendment to the Constitution,
00:02:35.240 that the First Amendment mandates that you and I and all of us pay for NPR's lying.
00:02:39.780 We're going to explain the absolute nonsense of that lawsuit, and we're going to get into the details right now.
00:02:48.220 Yeah, it's really an incredible story.
00:02:50.680 Let me tell you real quick about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and you're seeing something that's really shocking and disturbing.
00:02:57.980 It's anti-Semitism, and it's on the rise, not just around the world, but sadly right here in the U.S.
00:03:04.660 Jewish schools have been targeted.
00:03:06.820 Synagogues have been threatened.
00:03:08.600 Families are actually living in fear.
00:03:11.180 And it's something we hoped we'd never see again in our lifetime, and right now is the time that we make sure we're not silent as this is happening.
00:03:20.600 This is the moment that we can all take a stand for the people in Israel.
00:03:25.100 And that's why I want you to know about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
00:03:30.040 They're on the front lines providing real help where it's needed the most.
00:03:34.440 They're giving food and shelter to Jewish families under threat.
00:03:37.500 They're even building bomb shelters for children in Israel as we speak.
00:03:42.660 And they help survivors of hate rebuild their lives.
00:03:45.920 And they don't just respond to the crisis.
00:03:48.180 They work every day to prevent it as well.
00:03:50.860 That is where your simple gift of only $45 will help support their life-saving work by helping provide food, shelter, and so much more.
00:04:00.620 The Bible's pretty clear.
00:04:02.280 It says, I will bless those who bless you.
00:04:05.460 And supporting the IFCJ is a spiritual stand.
00:04:09.800 It's showing up for God's people when it counts.
00:04:12.860 So give them a buzz and get in the game.
00:04:15.620 The number, 888-488-IFCJ.
00:04:20.100 That's 888-488-4325.
00:04:24.660 You can also go online to ifcj.org.
00:04:28.700 Every dollar helps.
00:04:30.140 Don't wait.
00:04:31.140 Be the difference.
00:04:32.040 Visit ifcj.org or 888-488-IFCJ.
00:04:38.500 All right.
00:04:39.120 So, Senator, let's talk about, and you had some humor there in the lead up to this topic,
00:04:44.200 because it is insane that we had these three massive investigations that got us no information.
00:04:51.040 Everybody just moved on in the last administration.
00:04:53.460 And the opening up of these investigations, yet again, by the FBI, I don't think this should be looked at as an issue of, like, revenge.
00:05:03.160 It's an issue of justice that clearly didn't happen and was covered up in the past.
00:05:07.540 Well, understand that when you're dealing with the politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice and the FBI and the law enforcement apparatus, there are two components of it.
00:05:18.520 One component of it is using it as a weapon to attack your political opponents.
00:05:22.760 We saw Joe Biden and the Democrats do that over and over and over again, most notably when they indicted Donald Trump not once, not twice, not three times, four separate times.
00:05:32.160 That was a clear illustration of weaponization.
00:05:35.180 It was designed ultimately to fight democracy.
00:05:37.800 It was designed because they were terrified the voters would do what, in fact, they did in November, reelect Donald J. Trump as president of the United States.
00:05:45.380 But there's another aspect of weaponization, and that is refusing to investigate crime, refusing to enforce the law against your friends and political allies.
00:05:55.140 And we saw the Biden Department of Justice, the Biden FBI do that over and over and over again.
00:06:00.520 And these three cases are among the most egregious.
00:06:04.440 You know, you're in my friend, Dan Bongino.
00:06:06.260 So Dan Bongino is now the deputy director of the FBI.
00:06:08.960 Cash Patel is the director of the FBI.
00:06:11.900 Dan tweeted out this week the following.
00:06:14.600 A few updates.
00:06:16.300 The director and I have most of our incoming reform teams in place by next week.
00:06:20.720 The hiring process can take a little bit of time, but we are approaching that finish line.
00:06:25.320 This will help us both in doubling down on a reform agenda.
00:06:28.300 Shortly after swearing in, the director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest.
00:06:39.020 We made the decision to either reopen or push additional resources and investigative attention to these cases.
00:06:45.960 These cases are, number one, the D.C. pipe bombing investigation.
00:06:50.620 Number two, the cocaine discovery at the prior administration's White House.
00:06:54.520 And number three, the leak of the Supreme Court's case.
00:06:57.860 I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly.
00:07:02.920 And we are making progress.
00:07:05.860 If you have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us, then please contact the FBI.
00:07:14.120 That is really significant.
00:07:16.840 And by the way, I'm going to add a fourth one that is not in this tweet, but it is something that both Cash Patel and Don Bongino and also Pam Bondi have committed to,
00:07:25.700 which is transparency regarding Jeffrey Epstein.
00:07:28.180 And I will say the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case was grotesque.
00:07:33.140 I think the American people need to know every name in that little black book.
00:07:37.100 I think they need to know the clients.
00:07:38.440 I think they need to know everyone who participated in the child sex trafficking.
00:07:44.340 And I do believe I've had multiple conversations with Pam Bondi, with Cash Patel, with Dan Bongino about it.
00:07:51.160 I do believe we will see transparency.
00:07:52.980 I know a lot of people are frustrated that we haven't seen all that information yet.
00:07:57.760 My understanding from those conversations is on Epstein, there is a vast trove of information, much of which implicates minors.
00:08:07.240 And what I've been told is they are working to put it in a format where it can be released,
00:08:12.080 where you don't release, say, video of a minor being sexually assaulted, which would obviously be inappropriate for protecting that child.
00:08:20.520 A little boy or girl should not have that image released by the government for the world.
00:08:25.020 But at the same time, the assaulter, the criminal, his image should be released.
00:08:30.680 And I have every expectation we will see transparency on that front.
00:08:34.980 And I will continue asking both of the Department of Justice and FBI to provide transparency and pressing them to do so as fast as possible.
00:08:43.980 But on these three cases as well, look, let's take them one at a time.
00:08:47.960 Cocaine in the West Wing of the White House.
00:08:50.940 All right, Ben, you worked in the West Wing.
00:08:52.420 Tell me, how big a deal would it be when you worked in the George W. Bush White House?
00:08:56.640 Can you imagine the reaction if cocaine were found in that White House?
00:09:00.340 No.
00:09:00.620 And it would have been a wall-to-wall story.
00:09:02.500 And it would have been 24-7.
00:09:04.700 And the media would have dug and dug and dug and demanded answers.
00:09:08.780 And they would not have let up until they had a name or someone who had been fired or dismissed.
00:09:14.900 And they would have also then, I think, TMZ'd it where they would have said, how many people are high at the White House?
00:09:20.540 How many people are around the Situation Room?
00:09:22.780 Which, by the way, this cocaine was not far from.
00:09:25.520 The stories would have exploded out to hurt George Bush.
00:09:30.680 Ben, explain to people where this was.
00:09:33.620 Because you said it wasn't far from the Situation Room.
00:09:35.800 You're right.
00:09:36.260 But give people a sense of the layout of the West Wing and where exactly this was.
00:09:39.500 If you walk in the West Wing from basically the EEOB, the old executive, or the Eisenhower Building, there's kind of a breezeway.
00:09:46.720 And when you walk in there, if you go in there.
00:09:48.260 I want to stop you for a second.
00:09:50.520 There is an interesting divide in Washington.
00:09:53.400 And you can tell how long someone has been in Washington by what acronym you use.
00:09:59.260 And you actually just use both of them.
00:10:01.120 Yes.
00:10:01.620 So there's a building.
00:10:02.360 I was bridging the gap there.
00:10:03.760 Did you like that?
00:10:04.420 I did.
00:10:05.220 But I want to explain it to our listeners because this is a very insidery little thing.
00:10:09.780 But it is kind of funny and it's real.
00:10:12.320 So there's a giant building right next to the White House that is the executive office building.
00:10:17.940 And a lot of the offices that are said to be, quote, in the White House are actually in that building.
00:10:23.560 That building is much bigger than the White House and is part of the White House campus.
00:10:27.020 So when you enter the White House grounds, if you're walking up Executive Avenue, on the right is the West Wing.
00:10:34.000 On the left is the executive office building.
00:10:36.680 Now, folks who have been in D.C. a long time, they call that the OEOB.
00:10:42.320 Why is that?
00:10:43.000 That stands for the old executive office building.
00:10:46.560 So the O is OEOB.
00:10:48.800 And at some point, and I don't know what year, actually, maybe when we're talking, you can Google it and give us the answer, Ben.
00:10:53.620 But at some point, they renamed the building the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
00:10:59.620 They put up a sign that says Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
00:11:02.580 And so now it's called EEOB.
00:11:04.720 And you can tell people who I would say have been to D.C. in the last decade or two, they call it the EEOB and old farts. 0.89
00:11:12.780 And you're actually young enough you're not fully an old fart. 0.74
00:11:15.480 Exactly. 0.91
00:11:16.100 I'm going to take pride in that, by the way.
00:11:17.660 And by the way, I can tell you when they changed the name.
00:11:20.260 Are you ready for this?
00:11:21.200 I heard you typing.
00:11:22.460 When I said use the Google, you click clacked on your keyboard.
00:11:26.620 So I knew you had an answer.
00:11:28.080 Yes.
00:11:28.400 President Bill Clinton approved legislation changing the name on November the 9th of 1999 from the old executive office building to was renamed to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
00:11:39.940 So there you go.
00:11:40.680 99 November 9th.
00:11:42.340 So that's just a quick aside.
00:11:43.920 And you can really tell someone's.
00:11:46.600 So, look, I came to D.C.
00:11:48.600 I was a law clerk in D.C. in 1995 to 96.
00:11:51.780 And then I was a law clerk at the Supreme Court in 96 to 97.
00:11:55.140 And so when I first moved there, it was called the OEOB.
00:12:00.560 So I'm just barely on the old fart line of it.
00:12:03.940 But as you said, it was renamed in 1999.
00:12:06.420 So you're very much on the young fart line of it.
00:12:09.180 And yet I like that you use them both.
00:12:11.460 Yeah.
00:12:11.980 It's a cool building.
00:12:13.760 And you can also.
00:12:14.880 It's beautiful.
00:12:15.220 We always used to laugh because you could always tell who was full of it and who was lying.
00:12:19.760 If they said they worked in the White House and then they actually worked in the EOB, you're like, hold on a second.
00:12:24.500 Like, wait, wait.
00:12:25.480 Are they flexing saying that they work in the West Wing when they really don't?
00:12:29.880 Because 99% of the staff does not work in the actual White House.
00:12:33.620 They work in the EOB.
00:12:34.960 And so the White House itself, you've got a lot of the White House that's like a museum and that has beautiful rooms and you have tours going through it.
00:12:42.820 And it's it's it's a quasi public area.
00:12:46.860 You've got the residence, which is upstairs.
00:12:49.160 And that's where the president, the first family lives.
00:12:51.780 And then you have the West Wing, which is where the senior offices working for the president are.
00:12:59.240 And the West Wing is not very big.
00:13:01.160 No, it's tiny.
00:13:02.260 It's three stories.
00:13:03.120 You've got a basement.
00:13:03.980 You've got a first floor and second floor.
00:13:05.680 The offices are not very big.
00:13:07.040 Actually, the OEOB offices are much bigger than the West Wing offices.
00:13:11.220 But but in the White House, power and prestige is measured by one thing, and that is proximity to the president, proximity to the Oval Office.
00:13:18.560 And so a tiny little closet next to the Oval is much more prestigious than a huge grand office.
00:13:27.120 All right.
00:13:27.260 I'll tell you something funny, Ben.
00:13:28.420 And so, you know, the little office off the West Wing where Bill Clinton did not have sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.
00:13:36.880 Yes.
00:13:37.220 And by the way, for those of y'all too young to remember, Bill Clinton, when he was accused of having oral sex with with an intern, Monica Lewinsky, he said to press conference, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. 0.93
00:13:50.620 That was turned out to be a flat out lie because he did.
00:13:52.900 And there's a little room off the West Wing where those interactions occurred.
00:13:58.500 Do you know what Donald Trump has turned it into?
00:14:00.460 So I know this.
00:14:01.780 It's I know you laugh.
00:14:03.180 It's the trinket room.
00:14:04.360 Now, if he likes you and he says, come over here, you can get you some swag from the Oval Office.
00:14:09.740 Like it's got he's got MAGA hats in there.
00:14:12.380 He's got presidential cuff links.
00:14:14.740 He's got all sorts of it.
00:14:15.740 He just goes and says, take whatever you like.
00:14:17.660 And there's just like a bunch of stuff.
00:14:19.180 And it's really cool.
00:14:22.580 So so he's got he doesn't have those in in in the swag room.
00:14:26.100 But but but he also has.
00:14:27.840 Have you seen Trump's challenge coins?
00:14:30.400 They're incredible.
00:14:31.420 You so when you went into the Oval recently, you you got a couple coming back and I got to see them.
00:14:36.420 They're amazing and they're huge.
00:14:37.900 So so a challenge coin, for those of y'all who are not familiar, a challenge coin is a tradition both in the military and in law enforcement.
00:14:45.020 And so when when you meet with with typically senior officers of the military, they'll have a challenge coin that that is branded with their unit, with their battalion and they'll give it to you.
00:14:55.840 And there's a whole culture of like having to present your challenge coin.
00:14:58.760 And if you don't have it, having to buy drinks.
00:15:00.780 And so in my office, I have a whole display behind my desk of probably 150 challenge coins that have been given to me by military leaders across the country and across the world.
00:15:12.360 That's behind my desk.
00:15:13.620 And then in front of my desk on the other end of the office is a display with challenge coins from law enforcement.
00:15:20.020 And so it's a similar thing.
00:15:21.780 Police officers, sheriffs, police chiefs, firefighters, federal law enforcement will have challenge coins and they give them.
00:15:29.000 And usually they're about the size of a silver dollar and they're elaborate.
00:15:32.760 Well, Trump has made these presidential challenge coins that are about the size, somewhere between the size, the diameter of a baseball and a softball.
00:15:42.520 I think they're a little bigger than a baseball, but not quite as big as a softball.
00:15:45.660 And they're gorgeous.
00:15:47.100 And, of course, Trump's challenge coin is bigger because because how would it be otherwise?
00:15:52.440 Yeah, of course.
00:15:53.360 And that's the part about I do say people that go to the Oval Office and get to meet with him.
00:15:58.240 You have no idea what you're going to leave with, including, I will say, his cufflinks.
00:16:02.240 I got a pair in the first in the 45 years.
00:16:05.780 You got the new pair from 47.
00:16:08.040 I'm very jealous because they are absolutely beautiful.
00:16:11.460 Yeah.
00:16:11.800 So anyway, where the cocaine was found is right as you walk into the entrance of the West Wing.
00:16:19.340 By the way, that entrance is where where Trump now parks his brand new Tesla.
00:16:23.540 It's literally parked right out front.
00:16:24.920 So I tweeted out a picture.
00:16:26.880 It's because I've never seen a car of the president.
00:16:29.000 Like when you become president, they take your car keys and they don't let you drive and you're driven around in the beast.
00:16:34.320 And so his car is parked right out front.
00:16:36.220 Now, actually, they don't let Trump drive either.
00:16:38.940 So he doesn't get to drive his Tesla.
00:16:42.080 And so I'm told a staffer about once a week has to drive the Tesla like several times around the block.
00:16:47.240 So it just so it doesn't die entirely.
00:16:50.300 That's not a bad job, by the way, if you get that job.
00:16:53.280 But as you mentioned, you walk in that entrance there and where they found the cocaine.
00:16:57.940 It is probably, I don't know, 30 to 40 feet away from the door to the situation room.
00:17:05.920 Because when you walk in the West Wing, your lockers are to the left where you put your phones up.
00:17:10.840 Traditionally, that's where they found this cocaine was over in that area. 0.98
00:17:14.880 You go straight for 10, 12 feet.
00:17:17.320 You go to your right.
00:17:18.400 And then right down there is a little area where you can get food and something to drink.
00:17:23.440 And immediately to your right is where you walk in to the situation room.
00:17:28.260 Like, it's right there.
00:17:29.520 Like, the idea that cocaine was found in the White House, it should have been, like, hell to pay.
00:17:35.380 And no one stopped reporting on the story until somebody was arrested.
00:17:40.140 So, look, I am very glad the FBI is going to investigate that.
00:17:45.220 You take another case.
00:17:47.280 January 6th, the Biden Justice Department spent thousands and thousands of man hours,
00:17:53.700 spent enormous money investigating every little old lady on the mall, waving a flag, singing God bless America.
00:18:00.280 They treated those poor little old ladies like they were Osama bin Laden. 1.00
00:18:05.320 And the actual terrorist who plants a pipe bomb outside the DMC. 0.96
00:18:11.020 Look, if you plant a pipe bomb that can blow up people and murder people, there's a word for that. 0.99
00:18:15.760 You are a terrorist if you're planting a pipe bomb. 0.98
00:18:18.240 There is video of this dude planting the pipe bomb.
00:18:21.700 And yet, we've had four-plus years transpire, and we know nothing about the actual terrorist who planted a pipe bomb
00:18:31.900 that could have killed multiple people.
00:18:34.140 It was actually, it was found before it exploded, thank God.
00:18:37.540 But it could have been, it could have resulted in a serious loss of life if it hadn't.
00:18:41.320 I'm very glad that they're finally investigating that.
00:18:44.640 And then, an action.
00:18:47.240 Can we just pause, though, and ask your gut on this one?
00:18:49.600 Why was it not investigated?
00:18:51.000 I don't know.
00:18:51.940 I really, look, there's conspiracy theories online.
00:18:57.280 Some of them have to do with FBI informants, undercover agents in the crowd on January 6th.
00:19:05.800 As you know, I've questioned the FBI and the Department of Justice multiple times about the informants they had underground.
00:19:11.800 They refused to make that public.
00:19:13.160 I'll tell you, I also have urged Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to make that public.
00:19:16.880 I hope that they do, that they engage in radical transparency.
00:19:21.840 I don't know.
00:19:23.000 I find it weird because it is the action on that day that could have resulted in the greatest loss of life had the pipe bomb detonated.
00:19:32.320 I mean, it's on a busy public street where people are walking by every minute.
00:19:35.600 It could have killed multiple people.
00:19:39.040 And we don't know.
00:19:40.820 And so all sorts of people, I mean, Twitter and the Internet speculates like crazy.
00:19:46.700 I'm not interested in speculation.
00:19:48.600 I would like to find out who actually planted it, why, and I'd like them to go to jail.
00:19:53.180 And I hope, listen, I'm encouraged by Dan Bongino's post on X that we are making progress.
00:20:01.400 I hope that we can find out who did it.
00:20:03.420 And I will say of the three, ironically, the one that is the most consequential, I think, is the third one, which is the leak of the Supreme Court's Dobbs case.
00:20:15.540 And it is hard to overstate how much damage that leak did, not just to the Supreme Court of the United States, but also to the rule of law.
00:20:27.060 The way the Supreme Court operates, justices deliberate on cases.
00:20:32.100 They circulate opinion drafts back and forth.
00:20:34.760 They change opinion drafts.
00:20:36.580 A given opinion, particularly in a consequential opinion, can change 100 times or more.
00:20:41.800 They're literally negotiating over every sentence, over every footnote.
00:20:45.540 And in 250 years of our nation's history, never once has a draft of an opinion of the Supreme Court been leaked until the Dobbs case.
00:20:58.420 And it did, I think, irreparable damage to the trust between the justices, to the ability of the justices to have candor with each other.
00:21:08.020 And the person who leaked it, at the end of the day, it is a really small universe of people who would have access to that draft opinion.
00:21:16.700 It is essentially the justices, and I refuse to believe a justice did that.
00:21:21.400 Unless you had irrefutable proof, I just, I have too much faith in the institutions of our country to believe a justice did it.
00:21:31.220 I believe it was very likely a law clerk and a law clerk from one of the liberal justices.
00:21:36.580 But, look, there are only 36 law clerks.
00:21:39.460 There are not that many, and I am confident, having been one of them myself, these people are not master criminals.
00:21:45.400 They are not incredibly adept at hiding their tracks, and so I think we did not get a thorough investigation into it.
00:21:53.660 And of the three, if I could pick one to be solved, it would be finding the leaker of the Dobbs opinion,
00:22:02.120 prosecuting him or her, and locking them up, because I think that did lasting damage to the rule of law in this country.
00:22:09.000 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them. 0.98
00:22:16.080 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.
00:22:19.800 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:22:20.980 And I'm Catherine Clark.
00:22:22.200 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.
00:22:25.980 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.
00:22:31.700 So, if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.
00:22:34.680 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:22:39.000 This is, again, goes back to the basic issue of law and order, and this is something that this administration keeps saying over and over again.
00:22:48.980 Like, they're not joking.
00:22:50.540 They're going to treat everyone the same, and we're going to look at things through the glasses of law and order
00:22:57.160 instead of picking winners and losers based on politics.
00:23:01.580 Well, yes, and that is unless the head of the FBI is calling for the murder of the President of the United States.
00:23:08.580 And that is another story that broke in the last few days.
00:23:11.960 So, the former FBI director, James Comey, he tweeted out this image.
00:23:18.180 And it is an image of seashells on the beach that spell out 86-47.
00:23:25.700 Now, 47 is obviously Donald Trump.
00:23:28.220 And 86, on the face of it, to 86-someone is standard slang for killing someone.
00:23:36.120 And as I posted on social media, is there any other reasonable interpretation of this
00:23:41.400 other than the former head of the FBI publicly calling for the murder of the President of the United States?
00:23:49.720 And Comey backed away from it, and I've got to say, part of the reason I think he put it out
00:23:53.980 is he's got a new book coming out and he wanted some attention.
00:23:57.560 But it is unimaginable that a head of the FBI would be particularly a president
00:24:07.180 who has had two assassination attempts.
00:24:09.540 This is not theoretical.
00:24:11.460 Donald Trump was shot.
00:24:12.780 He came within a half inch of being killed in Butler, Pennsylvania.
00:24:19.420 And yet, the head of the FBI is openly calling for people to 86 Donald Trump.
00:24:26.200 Well, and not only, as you mentioned, is it a dog whistle, but also, yeah, he had a book coming out.
00:24:31.720 He's like, hey, if I do this, and maybe there's just narcissism and arrogance to a level that
00:24:36.640 even I didn't realize with him, and I thought it was pretty high, where he's like, I'm so powerful,
00:24:43.920 I can get away with this.
00:24:45.360 And then everybody will want to interview me.
00:24:47.920 I get to dog whistle this against the president while also guaranteeing that every single show
00:24:53.460 will want to book me to talk about my book, a.k.a. and also the seashells on the beach.
00:24:59.360 It was one hell of a move, and I think it's one where he thought nothing's going to happen to me,
00:25:04.360 even if I do get interviewed by the Secret Service.
00:25:06.680 Who cares?
00:25:08.100 Well, and I will say he doubled down this week by calling on the FBI, essentially,
00:25:14.620 to fight the president of the United States and accusing the Trump administration of being,
00:25:22.580 in his words, quite white supremacist adjacent.
00:25:26.520 Listen to this.
00:25:27.880 So a follow-up on the seashell situation.
00:25:30.720 When you were explaining why you took it down, but what were you trying to communicate to the public?
00:25:38.140 Impeach Trump?
00:25:39.360 What was your reasoning for it?
00:25:41.560 No, I just thought it was a cool picture.
00:25:44.020 Some was expressing a political view in a very clever way.
00:25:47.480 I mean, shells that were organized by the same color for each of the letters.
00:25:51.540 I just thought, what a cool thing.
00:25:53.360 And I'm well-known as a political opponent of Donald Trump, and I just thought, well, that's cool.
00:25:57.720 My Instagram account is family politics stuff, including stuff like this.
00:26:02.820 I put a shell on last fall.
00:26:04.820 I thought it was cool someone had painted the inside of a big shell to say, vote Kamala.
00:26:08.840 And I thought, oh, that's really cool.
00:26:09.920 So I put that on.
00:26:11.000 But so it's not any particular message other than that.
00:26:13.960 I was just going to ask you about the MSNBC interview you were doing.
00:26:17.480 Because on social media, everyone's saying he's talking about the white supremacist adjacent Republican Party.
00:26:24.560 Everybody in the party, voters, what's, you want to clarify?
00:26:28.780 I don't want to answer that one.
00:26:29.440 No, thank you.
00:26:30.400 No clarification at all?
00:26:31.780 No, I'm not going to comment on it.
00:26:32.840 Okay.
00:26:33.680 Be well.
00:26:34.380 Thank you.
00:26:34.920 Hello.
00:26:35.560 I love it.
00:26:36.420 Be well.
00:26:37.060 I'm not going to clarify on that.
00:26:38.320 I'm going to keep that out there as well.
00:26:40.020 Buy my book. 0.99
00:26:42.040 What utter garbage. 0.98
00:26:44.340 Oh, I just thought it was kind of interesting. 0.99
00:26:47.120 I just thought it was, you know, kind of pretty.
00:26:50.640 The seashells were pretty.
00:26:52.340 Like, what an absurd claim.
00:26:56.440 And there's something mocking about it that he could claim. 1.00
00:27:03.220 Okay, number one, James Comey is not a stupid man. 0.98
00:27:07.760 Yeah, he's smart. 0.99
00:27:08.720 He knows what he's doing.
00:27:09.840 He knows exactly what he is doing.
00:27:13.240 And James Comey, number one, he knows who 47 is.
00:27:18.620 He knows exactly who 47 is.
00:27:20.660 47 is the 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.
00:27:25.840 Number two, the claim that he didn't know what 86 is.
00:27:30.380 Listen, that is absurd.
00:27:38.080 It is not remotely credible.
00:27:40.980 And the fact that he's saying that, the fact that he's saying that is mocking.
00:27:45.740 It is a level of contempt.
00:27:47.100 And listen, I got to say, I don't know Comey personally, but in my view, he is someone who was consumed by power.
00:27:59.800 When he was the head of the FBI, I think he had delusions of grandeur.
00:28:02.880 I think he believed he was J. Edgar Hoover.
00:28:05.600 And he wanted to have presidents of the United States reporting to him.
00:28:09.980 By the way, do you happen to know off the top of your head what 18 U.S.C. Section 871 provides?
00:28:18.320 No, what is it?
00:28:19.540 What's funny, it's actually a felony.
00:28:22.280 Threatening the president of the United States is a felony that's punishable by up to five years in prison.
00:28:26.520 And you would think the head of the FBI would know that.
00:28:30.300 And yet he blithely said, oh, I just saw some pretty seashells, you know, nothing to see here.
00:28:36.400 And let's just remind people, when you said that he's smart,
00:28:39.820 this is the same guy that mocked the Trump administration the first time right when they got into office
00:28:46.080 when he just sent a couple FBI agents over to try to entrap General Flynn.
00:28:50.340 Like, never forget, that's how calculated this guy is.
00:28:53.000 So for him to say, oh, I just saw a picture here and I thought it was really cute, there's seashells. 0.99
00:28:57.140 I don't buy that crap for a moment. 0.98
00:28:59.280 He proposed sending someone wearing a wire to entrap the president of the United States. 0.99
00:29:03.780 And I want you to listen to him with Nicole Wallace on MSNBC, 0.76
00:29:07.740 because I want you to listen to just this smarmy, sanctimonious, dishonest.
00:29:14.600 You can tell what I think about him.
00:29:15.820 Just play his words and see if you agree with me.
00:29:18.760 You are back in the middle of a political firestorm.
00:29:23.000 Yeah, for walking on the beach with my wife.
00:29:25.500 So I don't know how we ended up here.
00:29:27.460 It never occurred to me that it was any kind of controversial thing, but that's the time we live in.
00:29:32.640 Okay.
00:29:33.940 Ben, there's a technical word for what he just said there.
00:29:36.820 That would be called a lie.
00:29:38.500 He is deliberately lying.
00:29:39.700 He knows he's lying.
00:29:41.160 He is not in trouble for walking on the beach with his wife.
00:29:43.800 He is understandably in trouble for publicly advocating the murder of the president of the United States.
00:29:50.260 And yet there's a lot of people think he knew exactly what he was doing.
00:29:53.440 And yeah, he may get hauled in for some questioning, but he's not going to get arrested because he's the former FBI director.
00:29:59.000 And that guy never gets in trouble, right?
00:30:01.180 Well, we shall see.
00:30:03.180 I will say Kash Patel and Dan Bongino are not your typical heads of the FBI.
00:30:08.820 Yeah, that's a great point.
00:30:09.920 It'll be very interesting to see what happens moving forward.
00:30:12.360 We'll keep you updated on it.
00:30:13.400 I want to move also to the NPR lawsuit and get your take on that, Senator, as well.
00:30:18.720 So this week, NPR, National Public Radio, and three Colorado public radio stations filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Trump White House,
00:30:28.940 against the president's executive order barring the use of funds for NPR and for PBS.
00:30:35.240 And the lawsuit says, quote,
00:30:37.100 It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment.
00:30:44.020 But this wolf comes as a wolf.
00:30:46.320 The order targets NPR and PBS expressly because in the president's views, their news and other content is not fair, accurate or unbiased.
00:30:57.780 Now, let me stop and say, listen, you could file a reasonable lawsuit arguing that on any of these particular executive orders that where you're dealing with congressional appropriations,
00:31:10.780 that challenging the authority of an executive order to limit congressional appropriations, that that's an area that's being litigated, that's going to be litigated.
00:31:18.420 And reasonable minds can can differ on what is permissible.
00:31:21.460 And we've talked in previous podcasts that there is that there is a significant dispute over the president's authority to engage in what is called impoundment,
00:31:31.640 which is essentially to decline to spend money that Congress has appropriated that.
00:31:37.500 You want to file a lawsuit over that?
00:31:39.840 OK, courts will sort that out. 0.99
00:31:41.720 That'll be litigated.
00:31:42.980 But but here what this lawsuit is claiming is that the First Amendment prohibits defunding NPR.
00:31:49.300 And the reason they say it really is absurd is you can't defund the NPR simply because, quote,
00:31:56.860 their news and other content is not fair, accurate or unbiased.
00:32:00.980 Now, let me say, I think no objective person on planet Earth can contend that NPR or PBS are fair, accurate or unbiased.
00:32:10.100 And so we really are in Alice in Wonderland through the looking glass where you now have litigants arguing because NPR and PBS are dishonest and political.
00:32:21.700 You can't cut off funding because cutting off funding would be silencing our right to be dishonest and political.
00:32:27.320 And not just look, you absolutely have a right to be dishonest and political.
00:32:32.160 So MSNBC can publish any nonsense they want. 1.00
00:32:36.380 CNN can publish any nonsense they want.
00:32:38.340 Now, nobody watches them.
00:32:39.780 It's kind of a tree falling in the woods, but they have a right to say it. 0.96
00:32:42.840 They have a right to say utter nonsense.
00:32:46.100 But NPR's argument is not only do they have a right to say it, which I agree they do,
00:32:49.800 but they have a right to have the taxpayers fund them forever, that that it is illegal for us to stop paying for their partisan lies.
00:32:58.700 I got to say that is an absurd claim.
00:33:02.480 And it is the simple, simple reality of the absurdity of the left.
00:33:09.560 Yeah, it is.
00:33:10.660 And I wonder when we will actually get resolution on this.
00:33:14.560 Is there a real chance you think that we could actually defund NPR, PBS and just say, hey, make it on your own?
00:33:21.580 Is there a real chance?
00:33:23.380 Look, I certainly hope so.
00:33:24.660 I am pressing to do so.
00:33:25.980 I'm pressing Congress to do so.
00:33:28.480 I'm pressing Congress to enact and codify the doge cuts that we've seen Elon Musk and doge put in place.
00:33:35.660 We're going to have a battle on Congress.
00:33:37.100 We're going to have a battle in Congress.
00:33:38.300 If it has to go through regular order, what regular order means is is is the standard path of legislation.
00:33:45.400 That means it's subject to filibuster.
00:33:47.360 That means you need 60 votes in the Senate, which means you need seven Democrats.
00:33:51.400 If you have to get seven Democrats and that's how they save it is what you're saying.
00:33:55.380 That's right.
00:33:55.820 That's their ideal situation is you guys complain about it and we keep giving billions to our propaganda machines.
00:34:02.260 Yeah. Zero Democrats will vote to defund NPR or PBS, which means if it goes through regular order, it will not happen.
00:34:10.940 The other way is that proof of just how biased they are.
00:34:13.540 The fact that zero of them would would go to defund it because they know how valuable it is to their propaganda.
00:34:17.980 And they don't care. In fact, I want you to listen to Catherine Marr, the CEO of NPR, who describes the First Amendment as the, quote, the greatest challenge that she faces to controlling narratives here.
00:34:32.280 Give a listen.
00:34:32.680 The number one challenge here that we we see is, of course, the First Amendment in the United States is a fairly robust protection of rights.
00:34:43.300 And and that is a protection of rights, both for platforms, which I actually think is very important.
00:34:47.580 The platforms have those rights to be able to regulate what kind of content they want on their sites.
00:34:51.900 But it also means that it is a little bit tricky to really address some of the real challenges of where does bad information come from and sort of the influence peddlers who have made a real market economy around it.
00:35:04.700 I mean, that's where your tax dollars are going. And that's the woman who's in charge. 1.00
00:35:08.400 Damn it. That pesky First Amendment. We want to censor. 1.00
00:35:11.820 We want to silence voices we disagree with. And that First Amendment stands in the way.
00:35:16.200 And here, I want you to listen to this this this montage of Catherine Marr being being grilled at congressional hearing.
00:35:24.200 Give a listen to just how extreme the NPR CEO is.
00:35:28.700 And I welcome the opportunity to discuss the essential role of public media in delivering unbiased, nonpartisan, fact based reporting to Americans.
00:35:38.320 Madam Chair, thank you so much for the opportunity to address this.
00:35:41.640 Is it up to you and NPR to crack down on bad information or decide the truth? Answer the question. Yes or no, Ms. Marr?
00:35:48.980 Absolutely not. I'm a very strong believer in free speech. And I believe that more speech...
00:35:52.840 Your public statements say otherwise.
00:35:55.380 During the COVID pandemic and the 2020 election, you said you censored information through conversations with government.
00:36:03.420 Which governments were those, Ms. Marr? The Biden administration? Yes or no?
00:36:07.420 Madam Chair, Wikipedia never censored any information.
00:36:09.780 These are your public statements, Ms. Marr.
00:36:12.460 Madam Chair, we are in full compliance with the FCC's inquiry and will continue to cooperate.
00:36:17.940 I remind you you're under oath. I'm assuming you're concerned. Both of you are concerned about this.
00:36:22.180 And that's why you brought so many attorneys with you today.
00:36:24.600 First of all, I want to recognize your concerns.
00:36:27.100 One of the first things that I did in coming in in May was to beef up our editorial standards.
00:36:32.220 Why is NPR even doing editorials?
00:36:34.680 I'm so sorry.
00:36:35.880 A federally funded entity that's supposed to provide the news.
00:36:40.140 Can you not provide the news?
00:36:42.160 Of course.
00:36:42.500 Fair and balanced?
00:36:43.220 Of course, Congressman.
00:36:44.040 An article by Uri Berlinger.
00:36:46.180 I've been at NPR for 25 years. Here's how we lost America's trust.
00:36:50.300 Well, I do want to say that NPR acknowledges that we were mistaken and failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively and sooner.
00:36:57.560 Our current editorial leadership, Wuhan, we recognize that we were reporting at the time, but we acknowledge that the new CIA evidence is worthy of coverage and have covered it.
00:37:06.880 You've even talked about the First Amendment kind of getting in the way of what you wanted to get done.
00:37:10.420 NPR is now taking this non-biased approach.
00:37:12.960 I so appreciate the opportunity to perhaps clarify some things.
00:37:16.420 My talk about truth was really referencing the way that people use truth to refer to belief as opposed to facts.
00:37:22.940 Your comments said that truth was getting the way of getting things done and that you were prioritizing what you wanted to get done over truth.
00:37:30.040 Did they come up in your job interview?
00:37:31.980 Like, do you see a problem?
00:37:34.220 Congressman, thank you for the question.
00:37:35.520 No, they never came up in my job interview.
00:37:38.800 You're a rabid progressive.
00:37:40.720 Like, do you not think it's a problem that your political leanings make it seem to the American people that you're not biased and you're not doing your job?
00:37:50.640 Because you agree that your job is to have journalistic integrity, right?
00:37:54.080 Absolutely.
00:37:54.640 But there is a strong firewall between the newsroom and anything that I do.
00:37:58.040 Let's talk about the newsroom.
00:37:59.080 You have 87 registered Democrats, not a single Republican in your editor boards.
00:38:04.700 So, I mean, how does that work to give us the perception that you're doing your job of actually delivering unbiased information?
00:38:11.640 Well, I would agree with you that that number is a concern if it is accurate.
00:38:14.820 I do believe that we need to have journalists who represent the full breadth of the American society so that we can report well for all Americans.
00:38:21.860 Well, I just got to stop it there.
00:38:23.540 This goes on for several more minutes.
00:38:25.160 But that part there at the end where he's like, you got 87 people on the editorial board.
00:38:28.960 They're all Democrats.
00:38:29.680 You don't have a single Republican.
00:38:30.600 And then she's like, yeah, if that number is true, then it is a concern.
00:38:36.540 The argument of NPR is that the First Amendment requires for you and me to keep paying for them to propagandize and lie.
00:38:46.760 And I got to say, one of my favorite facts, as I said, it's not just NPR.
00:38:50.920 It's three Colorado radio stations, the statewide Colorado public radio station based in Denver, KSUT, which was originally founded by the Southern Ute Indian tribe.
00:39:04.840 And this is the one that cracks me up, the Aspen Public Radio, which broadcasts in Aspen, one of the richest communities on planet Earth.
00:39:16.020 If you're in Aspen and you look at the airport, you just see a line of private jets as far as the eye can see.
00:39:23.880 And their argument is the First Amendment mandates that we tax American workers to pay for propaganda in Aspen because the poor, wretched masses of Aspen can't afford to pay for their own propaganda.
00:39:38.920 They need to tax American workers instead. 0.92
00:39:41.520 Yeah, there it is.
00:39:42.480 And now you know why Donald Trump's doing what he's doing.
00:39:45.440 Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
00:39:47.900 Hit that subscribe or auto download button so you don't miss a single episode.
00:39:51.940 Right after today, five-star review, if you wouldn't mind.
00:39:54.940 It helps us reach new listeners.
00:39:57.640 And this sooner I will see you back here on Friday morning.
00:40:01.040 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:40:03.920 Guaranteed human.