Verdict with Ted Cruz - July 26, 2025


Final Six Victories in the 1BBB, Cartels Outpace U.S. Law Enforcement in the Skies & Gabbard Drops the Receipts Week In Review


Episode Stats

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

18


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.180 Welcome, it is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:00:07.580 Week in Review, Ben Ferguson with you,
00:00:09.680 and here are the three major stories
00:00:11.240 that you may have missed that we talked about this week.
00:00:13.680 First up, we put together an incredible list
00:00:16.720 of 12 things that you may not have known
00:00:19.600 that were in the big, beautiful bill
00:00:21.780 that will impact your life in a major way.
00:00:24.820 I've got the final six great things for you in today's list,
00:00:28.660 and you can also go back and hear the entire list
00:00:31.160 from earlier this week.
00:00:32.940 Story number two, real problem with enemy drones in the skies
00:00:37.020 and the national threat they pose to our national security.
00:00:41.220 So what can Congress do to protect all of us?
00:00:44.140 We're gonna break that down for you as well.
00:00:46.920 And finally, in the biggest story of the week,
00:00:49.420 the bombshell report from the Director
00:00:51.420 of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, on Barack Obama,
00:00:55.000 what now is being described as treasonous actions by Obama.
00:00:59.480 And the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has jumped into the case.
00:01:03.700 It's the Week in Review, and it starts right now.
00:01:07.200 I told you I'm gonna give you 12 major conservative victories
00:01:10.980 in the one big, beautiful bill.
00:01:12.120 We're at six.
00:01:12.780 I actually want listeners to pause for a second.
00:01:15.200 How many of you could list the first six
00:01:17.160 before this podcast?
00:01:18.740 And I just wanna make the point.
00:01:20.860 What kind of job does the corporate media do?
00:01:23.020 I'm willing to bet virtually none of our listeners
00:01:25.920 could have listed those first six
00:01:27.680 because the news hasn't covered it.
00:01:29.640 And it's why we do this podcast,
00:01:31.380 to give you information so that when you're talking
00:01:34.880 to your friends and your colleagues,
00:01:36.240 you will know what's being accomplished.
00:01:38.580 There's a reason President Trump is so excited
00:01:40.680 about this one big, beautiful bill,
00:01:42.280 because it is massive, massive victories for America.
00:01:46.920 Number seven.
00:01:47.680 Number seven, spectrum.
00:01:50.600 Now, spectrum, what is spectrum?
00:01:52.200 Electromagnetic spectrum.
00:01:53.520 It is how we communicate.
00:01:55.340 It's how our cell phones work.
00:01:56.420 It's how Wi-Fi works.
00:01:57.500 It's how satellites work.
00:01:58.760 It's how streaming works.
00:01:59.860 It's all of electronics.
00:02:02.380 Spectrum, the largest holder of spectrum
00:02:05.340 is the United States government.
00:02:07.060 The United States government has vast swaths of spectrum.
00:02:10.040 And under Joe Biden, the United States government
00:02:12.920 stopped making new spectrum available
00:02:15.360 to the private sector.
00:02:16.280 They ended auction authority.
00:02:17.760 It was grotesquely irresponsible.
00:02:20.140 It did massive damage to America.
00:02:22.040 It destroyed jobs in America.
00:02:23.900 And it let China get ahead of America.
00:02:27.680 In this bill, I wrote the legislation
00:02:30.860 that directs the federal government
00:02:32.860 to auction to the private sector
00:02:34.800 800 megahertz of spectrum
00:02:38.140 for private sector investment.
00:02:39.780 What does that mean?
00:02:41.440 Number one, that will generate
00:02:44.260 in excess of $100 billion of revenue
00:02:48.340 to the federal government.
00:02:49.880 Wow.
00:02:50.360 Real money.
00:02:51.240 Now, even in government terms,
00:02:53.720 $100 billion is real money.
00:02:55.640 And listen, you and I are deeply concerned
00:02:57.240 about the deficit and the debt.
00:02:58.820 The entire commerce title that I wrote
00:03:01.860 that had historic investments in Coast Guard
00:03:04.040 and a bunch of other things,
00:03:06.420 I ended up saving over $40 billion,
00:03:09.240 reducing the deficit and the debt
00:03:10.760 by over $40 billion.
00:03:12.220 And the driver was,
00:03:13.920 because of Spectrum Auction Authority,
00:03:16.080 we brought in,
00:03:17.160 we will bring in $100 billion
00:03:18.900 to pay down the debt.
00:03:20.980 That's real money,
00:03:21.920 but it's not the biggest piece of this.
00:03:23.720 The biggest piece of this
00:03:25.140 is by auctioning the Spectrum off,
00:03:27.560 we will open up billions
00:03:30.200 and billions of dollars
00:03:31.640 of private sector investment.
00:03:33.220 The companies that buy this Spectrum
00:03:34.880 are going to invest.
00:03:36.280 It is going to create
00:03:37.480 hundreds of thousands of jobs.
00:03:40.140 That is not an exaggeration.
00:03:41.920 Hundreds of thousands of jobs.
00:03:43.720 And you know what Spectrum is all about?
00:03:45.920 Beating China to 6G.
00:03:48.020 I mentioned my consistent theme,
00:03:49.780 beat China,
00:03:50.420 beat China in the Arctic
00:03:51.840 with the Coast Guard,
00:03:53.160 beat China to 6G with Spectrum.
00:03:56.300 And I got to tell you,
00:03:57.960 three months ago,
00:03:59.460 there was nobody in Washington
00:04:02.040 who thought we could get this done.
00:04:04.240 I sat in the office
00:04:05.120 of the Speaker of the House,
00:04:06.860 Mike Johnson,
00:04:07.480 a good friend of mine.
00:04:08.360 I said,
00:04:08.620 Mike, we're going to do Spectrum
00:04:10.480 on the one big, beautiful bill.
00:04:12.060 And Mike laughed in my face.
00:04:13.340 He's a good friend.
00:04:14.140 Yeah, he's like,
00:04:14.640 there's no way.
00:04:15.500 He said,
00:04:15.880 there's no chance
00:04:16.860 because the Department of Defense
00:04:18.940 and the CIA will fight you.
00:04:20.920 They will stop you.
00:04:21.700 You cannot get it done.
00:04:23.940 We not only got it done
00:04:25.260 when I cut the deal
00:04:26.300 and got it in the bill,
00:04:27.580 President Trump called me
00:04:28.700 the next morning.
00:04:29.480 He said,
00:04:29.880 Ted,
00:04:30.740 this is incredible.
00:04:32.400 This is like,
00:04:33.280 how did you get
00:04:34.460 such an incredible deal?
00:04:38.220 Historic spectrum
00:04:39.400 auction authority
00:04:40.360 producing hundreds
00:04:41.280 of thousands of jobs
00:04:42.400 and beating China to 6G?
00:04:44.480 That's in the bill.
00:04:46.120 Number eight,
00:04:47.480 air traffic control.
00:04:49.140 This bill invests
00:04:50.520 $12.5 billion
00:04:51.920 modernizing our air traffic control
00:04:54.360 to keep your family safer
00:04:56.020 when you fly,
00:04:56.740 to keep my family safer
00:04:57.880 when we fly,
00:04:59.060 to stop using outdated radars,
00:05:01.320 to stop using computers
00:05:02.540 that have floppy disks
00:05:03.600 and little slips of paper.
00:05:04.880 Copper wire
00:05:05.740 to modernize
00:05:07.100 our air traffic control,
00:05:08.340 a massive investment
00:05:09.760 in keeping
00:05:10.500 the American public safe.
00:05:12.280 This bill,
00:05:12.860 I wrote that portion,
00:05:13.880 that is also
00:05:14.400 in the commerce title,
00:05:15.300 so I wrote that portion
00:05:16.440 that will fund
00:05:17.600 and improve
00:05:18.200 air traffic control
00:05:19.400 a huge victory.
00:05:20.980 Number nine,
00:05:22.480 space.
00:05:23.220 Yep.
00:05:24.040 This bill has
00:05:24.880 $10 billion for NASA
00:05:27.320 to go to the moon
00:05:28.980 for the Artemis program,
00:05:30.540 for the Gateway program,
00:05:31.760 to beat China
00:05:33.520 to the moon.
00:05:34.760 China has said
00:05:35.440 they intend to return
00:05:36.300 to the moon by 2030.
00:05:38.620 In my view,
00:05:39.680 if we lose the moon
00:05:40.680 to China,
00:05:42.080 it would be
00:05:42.700 a catastrophic loss.
00:05:44.100 It would be a loss
00:05:44.960 if we woke up
00:05:46.060 in a few years
00:05:46.740 and China was on the moon
00:05:47.840 and China established
00:05:48.780 a base on the moon,
00:05:49.640 which is what they said
00:05:50.320 they intend to do
00:05:51.160 with the Russians.
00:05:52.620 And they made that very clear.
00:05:53.820 That is the sole intent
00:05:55.260 of going,
00:05:55.560 it's not just to go to the moon,
00:05:56.380 it's to have a base
00:05:57.500 on the moon.
00:05:58.160 Yes.
00:05:58.820 If they did that
00:06:00.020 and we lost,
00:06:01.380 I think it would be
00:06:02.580 worse than Sputnik,
00:06:04.560 that it would be
00:06:05.480 a national body blow
00:06:07.560 that would crush
00:06:08.800 this country.
00:06:09.500 And look,
00:06:09.820 the moon is critical,
00:06:11.300 number one,
00:06:11.860 for national security.
00:06:12.940 The moon is the high ground.
00:06:14.360 You look at so much
00:06:15.420 of our national security
00:06:16.380 and so much
00:06:16.860 of our commerce
00:06:17.440 depends on satellites
00:06:18.940 in orbit around the Earth.
00:06:20.520 The moon gives you
00:06:21.380 the high ground.
00:06:22.720 It is very dangerous
00:06:23.880 for us to cede that
00:06:25.160 to China.
00:06:25.740 It is unacceptable
00:06:26.600 for us to cede that
00:06:27.980 to China.
00:06:28.500 But number two,
00:06:29.600 there are massive
00:06:30.620 rare earth minerals
00:06:31.520 on the moon.
00:06:33.080 There are enormous
00:06:33.760 economic advantages.
00:06:35.520 It is current U.S. law
00:06:37.120 that it is the policy
00:06:38.920 of the American government
00:06:39.980 to have a sustained
00:06:41.040 human habitation
00:06:42.020 either on the lunar surface
00:06:43.460 or in cislunar orbit.
00:06:46.580 This investment
00:06:47.800 in beating China
00:06:49.100 to the moon,
00:06:49.600 and by the way,
00:06:50.080 the moon is a stepping
00:06:51.900 stone to Mars.
00:06:52.820 We will go to Mars,
00:06:53.900 but we haven't landed
00:06:55.060 on a celestial body
00:06:56.100 in over 50 years,
00:06:56.940 so we're going to land
00:06:57.520 on the moon first
00:06:58.240 to make sure we know
00:06:59.180 how to do it,
00:06:59.700 and then we're going
00:07:00.080 to go to Mars.
00:07:01.340 This investment,
00:07:02.600 I wrote this investment
00:07:03.700 in there.
00:07:04.680 I will say there was
00:07:05.940 significant resistance,
00:07:08.700 and without getting
00:07:09.680 too much into the
00:07:10.480 sausage making,
00:07:12.100 we won against
00:07:13.060 the resistance.
00:07:13.960 This is in there.
00:07:15.260 It is a massive investment
00:07:17.180 to beat China.
00:07:17.580 And China is going to
00:07:18.320 notice this as well, yeah.
00:07:19.560 That is exactly right.
00:07:21.180 That's number nine.
00:07:21.940 Number ten,
00:07:23.480 CAFE standards.
00:07:25.280 The standards
00:07:25.960 that mandate
00:07:26.780 you keep having
00:07:27.500 to have higher
00:07:28.140 and higher fuel
00:07:28.700 efficiency on your cars.
00:07:30.700 That's what the
00:07:31.380 Biden administration
00:07:32.120 has used as its tool,
00:07:34.140 as one of its tools,
00:07:35.340 to wage the war
00:07:37.060 on the internal
00:07:37.600 combustion engine,
00:07:38.360 to try to force
00:07:38.980 every car to be electric,
00:07:40.340 is they keep jacking up
00:07:41.440 CAFE standards
00:07:42.140 higher and higher and higher.
00:07:44.280 What does that mean?
00:07:45.180 Number one,
00:07:45.500 it drives up the cost
00:07:46.280 of your cars.
00:07:47.020 You notice cars
00:07:47.620 have gotten a lot
00:07:48.040 more expensive.
00:07:48.660 Trucks have gotten
00:07:49.220 a lot more expensive.
00:07:50.600 Number two,
00:07:51.020 it makes cars less safe,
00:07:52.140 because one of the ways
00:07:53.460 you get the gas
00:07:54.080 efficiency higher
00:07:54.820 is you replace metal
00:07:55.740 with plastics.
00:07:56.520 Yeah, make a lighter.
00:07:58.060 Cheap plastic
00:07:58.900 that crumbles
00:07:59.740 in a crash
00:08:00.620 and more people die.
00:08:02.180 In the commerce section
00:08:03.100 of the one big
00:08:04.140 beautiful bill,
00:08:04.860 you know what we did
00:08:05.300 to CAFE standards?
00:08:06.700 What was that?
00:08:07.540 Zeroed them out.
00:08:08.480 Really?
00:08:08.940 They're gone.
00:08:09.900 So it's actually...
00:08:10.900 So you're telling me
00:08:11.980 that my car,
00:08:12.680 instead of being all plastic
00:08:13.700 where you have a little
00:08:14.200 fender bender
00:08:14.520 and everything breaks,
00:08:15.860 they could actually
00:08:16.460 go back and say,
00:08:17.000 hey, we're not trying
00:08:17.540 to save weight here,
00:08:18.260 we're trying to actually
00:08:18.940 make safe cars again.
00:08:20.000 It can be a great
00:08:21.320 American car again,
00:08:22.820 made of steel,
00:08:23.780 tough as hell.
00:08:24.640 And by the way,
00:08:25.320 you want to buy
00:08:25.720 an electric car?
00:08:26.400 Great.
00:08:26.920 That's your choice.
00:08:27.960 You want to buy
00:08:28.400 a hybrid?
00:08:28.980 Great.
00:08:29.260 You want to buy
00:08:29.740 a gas car?
00:08:30.700 Great.
00:08:31.180 It ought to be
00:08:31.720 consumers choosing.
00:08:32.780 And actually,
00:08:33.160 the way we did this,
00:08:35.300 we very much modeled
00:08:36.600 how in 2017
00:08:37.760 we repealed
00:08:38.920 the individual mandate
00:08:39.880 on Obamacare.
00:08:40.640 So that was a fight
00:08:41.300 I led in 2017,
00:08:43.100 the individual mandate.
00:08:44.340 The way we eliminated it
00:08:46.040 is under the rules
00:08:49.020 of reconciliation,
00:08:50.220 we could not eliminate
00:08:52.160 the legal mandate
00:08:53.780 to buy health insurance,
00:08:55.180 which was the individual
00:08:55.800 mandate under Obamacare.
00:08:57.300 So you know what we did?
00:08:58.660 We made the penalty zero.
00:09:01.120 So it used to be
00:09:02.060 the IRS fines you.
00:09:03.120 If you didn't buy
00:09:03.580 health insurance,
00:09:04.220 the IRS would fine you.
00:09:05.380 It is still the law.
00:09:06.700 You're required
00:09:07.220 to buy health insurance.
00:09:07.900 And if you don't,
00:09:09.040 you will be fined
00:09:09.740 zero dollars and zero cents.
00:09:11.520 We did the same thing
00:09:12.480 to CAFE standards.
00:09:13.260 So they can put
00:09:13.840 their standards out,
00:09:14.760 but the penalty
00:09:15.700 for violating it
00:09:16.820 is zero.
00:09:18.260 And I want to mention,
00:09:19.360 look, this is again,
00:09:21.080 like PBS and NPR,
00:09:23.260 this has been a conservative
00:09:24.480 battle for 50 years.
00:09:27.220 And Democrats have been
00:09:28.360 winning for 50 years,
00:09:29.440 unfortunately.
00:09:30.060 And we got this done.
00:09:31.460 I wrote this portion.
00:09:32.680 It is in the bill.
00:09:33.760 It is zeroed out.
00:09:35.060 And we got this done.
00:09:36.460 And I'm willing to bet
00:09:37.540 fewer than 1%
00:09:39.320 of our listeners
00:09:40.040 even knew we had done it
00:09:41.840 because we won
00:09:43.140 so many victories
00:09:44.260 that this falls
00:09:45.320 all the way down
00:09:46.000 to number 10 on the list.
00:09:47.640 Incredible.
00:09:48.300 Well done.
00:09:49.060 The final two.
00:09:49.960 Yep.
00:09:50.380 The final two,
00:09:51.240 as you know,
00:09:51.660 are very near and dear
00:09:52.680 to my heart.
00:09:54.040 Number 11 is school choice.
00:09:56.140 In this bill,
00:09:57.340 we passed the single,
00:09:59.180 largest,
00:09:59.860 and most consequential
00:10:00.920 federal school choice bill
00:10:02.140 in the history
00:10:03.280 of our country.
00:10:03.980 I wrote this provision.
00:10:05.900 Every single American
00:10:06.920 taxpayer can now
00:10:08.260 contribute up to
00:10:09.820 $1,700 a year
00:10:11.400 to a scholarship
00:10:12.640 granting organization
00:10:13.680 in the states
00:10:14.440 and get a dollar
00:10:15.620 for dollar credit
00:10:16.660 on their taxes.
00:10:18.060 It means the money
00:10:18.660 is free.
00:10:19.640 The effect of this
00:10:21.020 is going to be
00:10:22.460 tens of billions
00:10:23.620 of new scholarship money
00:10:25.120 in the states
00:10:26.780 for school choice,
00:10:28.680 for K-12 school choice.
00:10:30.600 We're going to do
00:10:31.100 a subsequent pod
00:10:31.940 that does a really
00:10:32.660 deep dive because
00:10:33.780 This is part of
00:10:35.340 your legacy,
00:10:35.920 by the way.
00:10:36.500 This is going to be
00:10:37.280 part of your legacy.
00:10:37.860 This is the issue
00:10:38.540 I care more about
00:10:39.920 than anything else.
00:10:41.360 I have spent
00:10:41.820 30 years fighting for it.
00:10:43.560 And we're going to do
00:10:44.060 another pod
00:10:44.540 where we do
00:10:44.840 a very deep dive
00:10:45.640 because there are
00:10:46.180 some aspects of this
00:10:47.340 that I want the listeners
00:10:48.520 to appreciate
00:10:49.220 that are both
00:10:49.880 incredible policy victories
00:10:51.920 but also massive
00:10:53.580 political victories.
00:10:54.700 We are creating
00:10:55.460 incentives
00:10:56.000 to turn blue states
00:10:57.840 red,
00:10:58.500 to build constituencies
00:11:00.100 of parents and kids
00:11:01.360 who want
00:11:02.040 fantastic education.
00:11:04.040 This is,
00:11:04.720 I told the president,
00:11:05.680 if and when we get
00:11:07.220 this done,
00:11:07.860 you will go down
00:11:08.520 in history
00:11:09.040 as one of the
00:11:09.900 greatest civil rights
00:11:10.860 presidents in our
00:11:11.660 nation's history.
00:11:12.500 Your critics will
00:11:13.120 never acknowledge that.
00:11:14.200 Yeah, but the reality
00:11:15.060 will be you're going
00:11:15.700 to change poor communities.
00:11:17.180 The reality is
00:11:18.120 the school choice
00:11:19.140 provision is massive
00:11:21.100 and it's in the bill.
00:11:23.140 And then the final
00:11:24.120 number 12
00:11:24.820 are the Trump accounts,
00:11:25.800 the Invest America accounts.
00:11:27.120 Again, I wrote
00:11:27.620 this provision.
00:11:28.760 This could fundamentally
00:11:29.540 change this country,
00:11:30.680 by the way.
00:11:31.160 Starting next year,
00:11:32.700 July 4th of next year,
00:11:34.000 the 250th anniversary
00:11:36.100 of the United States
00:11:36.980 of America.
00:11:38.220 Every child in America
00:11:39.400 will have a personal
00:11:40.720 investment account.
00:11:42.080 Every newborn child
00:11:43.060 will have it seated
00:11:43.740 with $1,000.
00:11:45.960 Parents,
00:11:47.000 family,
00:11:48.500 employers can contribute
00:11:49.700 up to $5,000 a year
00:11:51.540 in a tax-advantaged account.
00:11:53.400 All of that money
00:11:54.140 is invested in the S&P 500,
00:11:56.080 is invested in the stock market.
00:11:57.580 That enables every kid
00:11:59.440 to enjoy the incredible
00:12:00.740 benefits of compound growth,
00:12:02.780 which will transform
00:12:05.100 our kids.
00:12:06.200 The wealth creation
00:12:07.520 for the next generation
00:12:08.960 of Americans
00:12:09.520 will be utterly transformative.
00:12:11.700 And not only that,
00:12:12.880 this creates a new generation
00:12:14.380 of capitalists
00:12:15.180 as our kids
00:12:16.000 will all be owners
00:12:17.820 of the largest employers
00:12:19.160 in America.
00:12:20.800 These two victories,
00:12:22.280 school choice
00:12:22.920 and personal investment
00:12:25.420 accounts for kids,
00:12:27.000 without exaggeration,
00:12:28.400 Ben,
00:12:28.520 and I've told
00:12:28.880 the president this,
00:12:29.680 I think 10 years,
00:12:31.640 20 years,
00:12:32.400 30 years from now,
00:12:34.080 these will be the two things
00:12:35.560 everyone remembers
00:12:36.360 from this bill.
00:12:37.060 Everything else I listed,
00:12:38.360 1 through 10,
00:12:39.320 which are massive.
00:12:40.420 Yeah.
00:12:40.680 They are conservative victories
00:12:42.240 for the generations.
00:12:43.760 I think 11 and 12
00:12:45.340 will dwarf 1 and 10.
00:12:47.100 Because the difference,
00:12:49.060 we will see trillions
00:12:50.740 of dollars invested
00:12:52.060 in 401ks for kids
00:12:54.400 in these Trump accounts
00:12:55.640 that will change the future
00:12:57.020 of every one of our kids
00:12:58.060 and make them all
00:12:59.140 have skin in the game
00:13:00.420 in our capitalist society.
00:13:01.980 And school choice
00:13:02.820 is going to literally provide
00:13:04.760 hope and opportunity
00:13:06.220 to millions of kids.
00:13:07.820 We got both of them done.
00:13:09.480 Those are victories,
00:13:11.040 generational victories.
00:13:12.760 And when the president
00:13:13.480 signed it on July 4th,
00:13:15.020 they were victories
00:13:15.580 for all of America.
00:13:16.880 Now, if you want to hear
00:13:17.640 the rest of this conversation,
00:13:19.180 you can go back
00:13:20.160 and listen to the full podcast
00:13:21.740 from earlier this week.
00:13:23.700 Canadian women
00:13:24.480 are looking for more,
00:13:25.860 more out of themselves,
00:13:26.640 their businesses,
00:13:27.800 their elected leaders,
00:13:28.840 and the world around them.
00:13:30.000 And that's why we're thrilled
00:13:30.940 to introduce
00:13:31.600 the Honest Talk podcast.
00:13:33.720 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:13:34.900 And I'm Catherine Clark.
00:13:36.120 And in this podcast,
00:13:37.260 we interview Canada's
00:13:38.240 most inspiring women.
00:13:39.880 Entrepreneurs,
00:13:40.560 artists,
00:13:41.240 athletes,
00:13:41.860 politicians,
00:13:42.500 and newsmakers,
00:13:43.420 all at different stages
00:13:44.480 of their journey.
00:13:45.620 So if you're looking to connect,
00:13:47.420 then we hope you'll join us.
00:13:48.840 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast
00:13:50.240 on iHeartRadio
00:13:51.240 or wherever you listen
00:13:52.200 to your podcasts.
00:13:54.780 Now on to story number two.
00:13:56.640 I want to move
00:13:57.280 to something else
00:13:58.060 and this is about
00:13:58.960 securing our skies.
00:14:00.920 Law enforcement
00:14:02.040 and drones
00:14:02.700 and public safety
00:14:03.780 are something I think
00:14:04.420 a lot of people
00:14:04.860 are paying attention to,
00:14:06.440 especially since
00:14:07.400 we really exposed
00:14:08.620 this on Verdict
00:14:09.580 where we were talking
00:14:10.500 about how
00:14:11.400 the cartels
00:14:13.100 have got
00:14:13.980 an amazing ability
00:14:15.680 to use drones now.
00:14:17.600 They are heavily advanced
00:14:19.520 and have invested
00:14:21.180 in this technology
00:14:23.060 for drones
00:14:23.800 to be able to see
00:14:24.400 what we're doing
00:14:24.960 on our side
00:14:25.500 of the border.
00:14:26.040 See when
00:14:26.460 Border Patrol agents
00:14:27.700 are going one direction
00:14:28.920 or the other
00:14:29.400 so they can get people
00:14:30.340 across,
00:14:30.880 drugs across.
00:14:32.000 It's incredible.
00:14:32.960 There's also another
00:14:33.940 national security standpoint
00:14:35.180 on drones as well.
00:14:36.880 We've witnessed
00:14:37.460 what drones have become
00:14:38.520 in this war
00:14:39.000 with Russia and Ukraine.
00:14:40.480 Yep.
00:14:40.660 And it terrifies me
00:14:42.100 what we're seeing now
00:14:43.580 with drone technology
00:14:44.860 and how drones
00:14:46.400 are changing warfare.
00:14:47.900 and unfortunately
00:14:50.340 you're seeing it
00:14:51.320 have a massive impact
00:14:52.920 on the number
00:14:53.500 of casualties
00:14:54.040 between Russia
00:14:54.920 and Ukraine.
00:14:56.000 You combine
00:14:56.880 those two things,
00:14:57.960 the cartels,
00:14:58.840 the drugs,
00:14:59.440 the human trafficking,
00:15:00.400 sex trafficking,
00:15:01.100 child trafficking,
00:15:02.400 the fentanyl,
00:15:03.360 and the war aspect
00:15:05.360 of this,
00:15:06.140 and there's
00:15:06.760 nefarious individuals,
00:15:08.120 ISIS,
00:15:08.560 al-Qaeda,
00:15:09.000 the list goes on and on.
00:15:10.440 You guys are looking
00:15:11.500 at this from an issue
00:15:12.740 of we've got to secure
00:15:13.780 our skies
00:15:14.760 with this new legislation
00:15:16.540 that you're advocating for.
00:15:17.660 Talk about that.
00:15:19.260 Well, war often foreshadows
00:15:21.540 the next threats
00:15:22.360 we will face,
00:15:23.020 the next threats
00:15:23.600 we will face
00:15:24.100 from terrorism,
00:15:25.340 the next threats
00:15:26.060 we will face
00:15:26.620 from criminal attacks,
00:15:28.120 and you're right.
00:15:29.340 The war in Ukraine
00:15:30.460 right now,
00:15:31.120 if you look at
00:15:31.960 how drones are being used,
00:15:33.440 it illustrates
00:15:34.120 the profound threat.
00:15:35.660 We had a hearing
00:15:36.220 this week
00:15:36.760 in the Senate
00:15:37.240 Judiciary Committee.
00:15:38.720 I raised some questions
00:15:40.480 on this.
00:15:41.040 I laid this out.
00:15:42.240 Give a listen
00:15:42.680 to what I had to say
00:15:43.500 in the Judiciary Committee
00:15:44.380 hearing.
00:15:44.760 This week.
00:15:45.820 In 2024,
00:15:48.180 Thomas Crooks
00:15:49.020 flew a drone
00:15:49.720 over a Trump rally site
00:15:51.020 for 11 minutes,
00:15:52.440 scouting the grounds
00:15:53.480 before his attempted
00:15:55.820 assassination
00:15:56.380 of President Trump.
00:15:58.300 That same year,
00:16:00.460 drones hovered
00:16:01.300 over Naval Air Station
00:16:02.860 Fort Worth
00:16:03.600 for more than two hours,
00:16:06.600 unintercepted.
00:16:08.260 At our southern border,
00:16:10.500 cartels now operate
00:16:11.780 drone fleets,
00:16:12.800 smuggling fentanyl,
00:16:13.780 coordinating illegal crossings,
00:16:16.040 and jamming U.S. surveillance.
00:16:18.420 They've formed
00:16:19.540 specialized drone units.
00:16:22.500 They've dropped bombs.
00:16:25.000 They've deployed jammers.
00:16:28.320 Drones right now
00:16:29.240 are outpacing our law enforcement
00:16:32.160 at every turn.
00:16:33.620 In our prisons,
00:16:35.560 drones drop weapons,
00:16:37.940 drones drop weapons,
00:16:39.940 and fentanyl,
00:16:42.340 arming inmates
00:16:43.300 and fueling the deadliest
00:16:45.400 drug epidemic
00:16:46.720 in American history.
00:16:48.220 And here's the most damning part.
00:16:51.980 Cartels right now
00:16:53.140 have more drone capability
00:16:56.500 than American law enforcement.
00:16:59.140 Let me repeat that.
00:17:01.480 Cartels today
00:17:02.720 have more drone capability
00:17:05.080 than American law enforcement.
00:17:07.240 Mr. Hardy,
00:17:09.500 you work at the intersection
00:17:10.840 of law and policy
00:17:11.920 regarding drones
00:17:12.940 at the DOJ.
00:17:14.280 Is it true
00:17:15.320 that only a handful
00:17:17.220 of federal agents
00:17:18.200 under narrow legal authority
00:17:19.860 can intercept
00:17:21.520 or disable a drone?
00:17:23.500 Thank you, Senator.
00:17:24.560 That is
00:17:25.420 generally true
00:17:27.460 under the 2018 Act
00:17:28.740 that gives
00:17:29.300 DHS and DOJ
00:17:31.560 authority
00:17:32.060 to conduct detection
00:17:34.000 and mitigation operations.
00:17:36.020 That's shocking, Senator.
00:17:37.820 That's it.
00:17:39.140 Like, that's weird.
00:17:40.160 You want to talk about
00:17:40.900 being behind the eight ball.
00:17:42.320 Like, good grief.
00:17:43.520 Yes,
00:17:44.080 and it's not just
00:17:45.060 at the hearing.
00:17:45.720 We also got into
00:17:46.640 the fact that
00:17:47.720 federal law enforcement
00:17:48.640 is highly limited
00:17:49.440 and actually state
00:17:50.360 and local law enforcement
00:17:51.400 is even more limited.
00:17:53.220 So understand
00:17:53.940 the threat
00:17:54.380 we're going to face.
00:17:55.940 We are going to see
00:17:57.340 a major terrorist attack
00:17:58.780 carried out by drones.
00:18:00.480 We are going to see
00:18:01.800 people killed
00:18:02.780 via drones.
00:18:05.240 We may see a drone
00:18:06.600 flown into
00:18:07.380 a commercial airline.
00:18:09.200 We are going to see,
00:18:10.340 I believe,
00:18:11.180 political leaders
00:18:12.060 assassinated
00:18:13.040 using drones.
00:18:14.660 The threats
00:18:15.360 are massive
00:18:16.280 and right now
00:18:17.280 the authority
00:18:18.000 of law enforcement
00:18:18.880 to take out a drone,
00:18:19.940 if there's a drone
00:18:21.220 that is over
00:18:21.960 a sports stadium
00:18:22.800 for a football game,
00:18:24.380 a baseball game,
00:18:25.380 a World Cup game,
00:18:26.960 right now
00:18:28.160 there is
00:18:28.820 extremely limited,
00:18:30.260 almost no authority
00:18:31.180 to take out that drone
00:18:32.360 even
00:18:33.940 moments before
00:18:36.080 it detonates
00:18:36.900 a bomb
00:18:37.480 or
00:18:37.900 distributes
00:18:39.860 a bioweapon
00:18:41.000 or engages
00:18:41.580 in some other
00:18:42.400 act of terrorism.
00:18:44.660 This is the most
00:18:45.560 scary, I think,
00:18:46.360 part about red tape
00:18:47.380 with government.
00:18:48.220 If you see a threat
00:18:49.880 and it's there,
00:18:51.400 it's almost like
00:18:52.280 you have to hope
00:18:53.080 that law enforcement
00:18:54.020 will just say,
00:18:55.100 I'll deal with
00:18:55.720 one of the consequences
00:18:56.640 later because I know
00:18:57.460 I'm doing the right thing
00:18:58.580 and you worry
00:18:59.480 that people are like,
00:19:00.200 well, hold on a second,
00:19:00.980 you can't do that,
00:19:01.880 you don't have the authority
00:19:02.660 and then the worst
00:19:03.580 case scenario happens.
00:19:05.380 Yeah, look,
00:19:06.460 and this hearing
00:19:07.380 is driving,
00:19:08.160 we need legislation
00:19:09.140 that gives law enforcement
00:19:10.360 the authority
00:19:10.960 to protect us
00:19:11.760 to take out drones,
00:19:12.760 take out drones
00:19:13.480 that are a threat
00:19:14.140 to airplanes.
00:19:16.440 I am very concerned
00:19:17.820 about an aviation
00:19:18.640 accident of a drone
00:19:19.840 getting in the way
00:19:20.620 of a commercial aircraft.
00:19:22.600 We need authority
00:19:24.380 to take out drones
00:19:25.560 that pose a threat
00:19:26.540 to civilians,
00:19:27.460 pose a threat
00:19:28.060 to sports gatherings,
00:19:30.420 pose a threat
00:19:31.160 as I laid out
00:19:33.420 the assassination attempt
00:19:34.920 on Donald Trump.
00:19:37.060 The assassin
00:19:38.100 who shot President Trump
00:19:40.060 used a drone initially
00:19:41.480 to scout it out.
00:19:43.240 This is coming
00:19:44.800 and it is dangerous
00:19:46.080 and I think we have
00:19:47.400 a responsibility
00:19:48.060 to act and to act,
00:19:50.040 you know,
00:19:50.520 there's a long phenomenon
00:19:52.140 that when it comes
00:19:53.200 to warfare,
00:19:54.820 generals far too often
00:19:56.200 fight the last war
00:19:57.460 rather than the next war.
00:19:59.240 If you look at the war
00:20:00.540 in Ukraine,
00:20:01.160 it gives us a window
00:20:02.260 into the future
00:20:03.080 because drones allow
00:20:05.120 for asymmetric attacks
00:20:06.780 for those who lack power
00:20:09.180 to use a $400 drone
00:20:12.400 to take out
00:20:14.060 a multi-million dollar tank
00:20:15.760 or a multi-million dollar
00:20:16.920 fighter jet.
00:20:18.460 That asymmetry is dangerous
00:20:20.880 and I think we need
00:20:22.520 real leadership,
00:20:23.640 real leadership
00:20:24.120 on the part
00:20:24.700 of the Trump administration,
00:20:25.860 real leadership
00:20:26.300 on the part of Congress
00:20:27.300 to enhance our ability
00:20:29.660 to stop dangerous drones
00:20:31.900 and to recognize
00:20:33.700 this is the next frontier
00:20:35.940 for warfare,
00:20:38.140 for terrorism,
00:20:39.900 and for threats
00:20:41.140 of violence
00:20:41.820 against civilians
00:20:42.600 across this country.
00:20:44.000 Final question on this.
00:20:45.520 Do you believe
00:20:46.420 this is at least
00:20:47.280 one of those issues
00:20:48.040 where you can get
00:20:48.720 bipartisan support,
00:20:50.300 that this won't be
00:20:51.380 Republican
00:20:51.980 and be Democrat
00:20:52.900 and make this so hard
00:20:54.080 to do?
00:20:54.440 Are Democrats
00:20:55.960 on board with this
00:20:57.220 because it's a national
00:20:58.020 security issue?
00:20:59.260 So I hope so.
00:21:00.380 I don't know yet
00:21:01.520 if Democrats will be
00:21:02.460 willing to work together.
00:21:03.400 It should be.
00:21:04.180 I mean, this ought to be
00:21:04.880 a level of common sense
00:21:06.480 that people would recognize.
00:21:08.200 This threat is not
00:21:09.400 a partisan threat.
00:21:10.220 It's not a right-wing threat
00:21:11.300 or a left-wing threat.
00:21:12.580 It's a vulnerability
00:21:13.420 we have as a society.
00:21:14.940 And so I'm certainly
00:21:15.620 going to try
00:21:16.320 to get Democrats
00:21:17.540 and Republicans
00:21:18.160 to come together,
00:21:18.840 but I will say it is early
00:21:20.060 so we don't know for sure,
00:21:21.400 but this ought to be
00:21:22.940 an issue that brings
00:21:23.660 us all together.
00:21:24.900 As before,
00:21:25.540 if you want to hear
00:21:26.220 the rest of this conversation
00:21:27.440 on this topic,
00:21:28.560 you can go back
00:21:29.440 and download the podcast
00:21:30.740 from earlier this week
00:21:31.600 to hear the entire thing.
00:21:33.760 Canadian women
00:21:34.520 are looking for more.
00:21:35.860 More out of themselves,
00:21:36.920 their businesses,
00:21:37.860 their elected leaders,
00:21:38.820 and the world around them.
00:21:40.020 And that's why
00:21:40.500 we're thrilled to introduce
00:21:41.640 the Honest Talk podcast.
00:21:43.740 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:21:44.880 And I'm Catherine Clark.
00:21:45.900 And in this podcast,
00:21:47.340 we interview Canada's
00:21:48.300 most inspiring women.
00:21:49.940 Entrepreneurs,
00:21:50.420 artists, athletes,
00:21:51.900 politicians, and newsmakers,
00:21:53.500 all at different stages
00:21:54.540 of their journey.
00:21:55.680 So if you're looking
00:21:56.700 to connect,
00:21:57.500 then we hope you'll join us.
00:21:58.920 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast
00:22:00.280 on iHeartRadio
00:22:01.280 or wherever you listen
00:22:02.260 to your podcasts.
00:22:04.640 I want to get back
00:22:05.800 to the big story
00:22:07.000 number three of the week
00:22:07.940 you may have missed.
00:22:09.040 All right,
00:22:09.440 so let's go
00:22:10.000 to the bombshell center.
00:22:11.600 I was in D.C.
00:22:12.880 when this happened
00:22:13.720 and everyone was talking
00:22:15.360 about the report
00:22:16.240 that was released
00:22:16.900 showing how
00:22:17.540 the Obama administration
00:22:19.040 in essence
00:22:20.320 perpetrated
00:22:21.140 the Russian hoax
00:22:22.460 on Donald Trump
00:22:23.560 to undermine his presidency
00:22:24.640 but also to really
00:22:25.640 get him out of the White House.
00:22:27.560 Well, that's right.
00:22:28.880 And it's important
00:22:29.420 to understand
00:22:29.920 what is new about this.
00:22:31.120 Listen,
00:22:31.480 everyone has known
00:22:32.360 for some time
00:22:33.180 that the Obama team
00:22:34.660 pushed the Russia,
00:22:35.640 Russia, Russia hoax.
00:22:37.060 We've known that.
00:22:38.020 That's been well established.
00:22:39.800 What is new,
00:22:40.860 what Tulsi Gabbard
00:22:41.980 put out this week
00:22:43.100 is that they knew
00:22:44.480 they were lying
00:22:45.340 when they did that
00:22:46.220 because the intelligence
00:22:47.320 had been precisely
00:22:48.540 the opposite
00:22:49.160 and what I want to do
00:22:50.120 is I want to walk
00:22:50.840 through a little bit
00:22:51.460 of this timeline
00:22:52.520 and give you
00:22:53.240 the specific facts.
00:22:54.900 So,
00:22:55.660 August 31st of 2016,
00:22:58.800 a DHS official
00:23:00.060 tells former DNI
00:23:01.700 director James Clapper
00:23:02.900 that there was,
00:23:04.220 quote,
00:23:04.920 no indication
00:23:06.400 of a Russian threat
00:23:08.260 to directly manipulate
00:23:09.560 the actual vote count.
00:23:11.020 That's in August of 2016.
00:23:13.340 Then September 2nd, 2016,
00:23:15.320 the FBI said
00:23:16.920 it was, quote,
00:23:18.020 uncomfortable,
00:23:19.680 implying that there
00:23:20.780 was definitive information
00:23:22.180 that Russia intended
00:23:23.540 to disrupt our elections.
00:23:25.400 Then on September 9th, 2016,
00:23:28.740 quote,
00:23:29.540 the intelligence community
00:23:31.240 concluded
00:23:31.900 that Russia
00:23:33.320 was probably
00:23:34.320 not trying
00:23:36.520 to influence
00:23:37.360 the election
00:23:38.000 by using cyber means
00:23:39.740 to target
00:23:40.640 election infrastructure.
00:23:42.260 That continued,
00:23:43.580 so that was not just
00:23:44.620 through August
00:23:45.600 and September
00:23:46.340 of 2016,
00:23:47.140 but it continued
00:23:47.980 after the election.
00:23:48.980 The election happens
00:23:49.800 in November of 2016.
00:23:52.540 On December 7th, 2016,
00:23:55.840 here are the talking points
00:23:57.520 that DNI director Clapper
00:23:59.080 had prepared for him.
00:24:00.400 Quote,
00:24:01.840 foreign adversaries
00:24:03.400 did not
00:24:04.800 use cyber attacks
00:24:06.980 on election infrastructure
00:24:08.460 to alter the U.S.
00:24:10.360 presidential election outcome.
00:24:11.900 The next day,
00:24:13.360 December 8th,
00:24:14.880 Barack Obama's
00:24:15.780 presidential daily brief
00:24:17.180 read as follows,
00:24:18.140 quote,
00:24:19.440 we assess
00:24:20.140 that Russian
00:24:21.500 and criminal actors
00:24:23.080 did not
00:24:24.200 impact
00:24:25.320 recent U.S.
00:24:26.360 election results
00:24:27.260 by conducting
00:24:28.300 malicious cyber activities
00:24:29.720 against election infrastructure.
00:24:31.080 That's an important point
00:24:32.360 there, by the way.
00:24:33.620 That's what Barack Obama
00:24:35.080 was briefed
00:24:36.040 on December 8th,
00:24:36.900 and then December 9th,
00:24:39.320 2016,
00:24:40.400 everything changed.
00:24:42.040 On December 9th,
00:24:44.300 DNI director Clapper,
00:24:46.080 National Security Advisor
00:24:47.140 Susan Rice,
00:24:48.280 Secretary of State
00:24:48.920 John Kerry,
00:24:50.080 and Deputy FBI
00:24:50.920 Director McCabe,
00:24:52.000 they all met
00:24:53.200 in person.
00:24:55.280 And in that meeting,
00:24:56.900 they reversed course
00:24:58.340 entirely,
00:24:59.340 180 degrees.
00:25:01.180 They flipped
00:25:03.080 and they agreed
00:25:05.080 to recommend
00:25:06.380 sanctioning
00:25:08.000 members of the
00:25:09.020 Russian military
00:25:09.860 intelligence
00:25:10.580 because of the
00:25:11.580 Russia hoax.
00:25:12.920 They tasked
00:25:14.000 the intelligence
00:25:15.140 community with
00:25:15.820 creating an assessment
00:25:16.820 of the tools
00:25:17.560 Moscow used
00:25:18.400 to influence
00:25:18.940 the 2016 election.
00:25:20.940 And that same day,
00:25:23.120 deep state officials
00:25:24.240 in the intelligence
00:25:24.960 community began
00:25:25.900 leaking false
00:25:27.640 intelligence
00:25:28.240 to the Washington
00:25:29.080 Post.
00:25:29.780 this was a decision
00:25:32.220 they made
00:25:33.020 to lie
00:25:33.940 to the American
00:25:34.560 people.
00:25:35.100 And that's the
00:25:35.640 new piece.
00:25:36.180 Deliberately
00:25:36.400 and orchestrated
00:25:37.300 and well planned out.
00:25:38.640 This wasn't just
00:25:39.320 a random
00:25:39.800 let's go out there
00:25:40.480 and lie
00:25:41.000 at a press briefing.
00:25:42.480 This was a plan
00:25:43.860 like writing
00:25:44.460 a movie script
00:25:45.180 of how you were
00:25:46.000 going to lie
00:25:46.700 to the American
00:25:47.300 people and use
00:25:48.280 the intelligence
00:25:48.840 agencies to do it.
00:25:50.380 And what Tulsi Gabbard
00:25:51.760 has now given us
00:25:52.800 the receipts on
00:25:53.760 is they knew
00:25:54.880 they were lying.
00:25:56.040 That for months
00:25:57.000 and months
00:25:57.460 and months
00:25:57.980 the intelligence
00:25:58.600 community
00:25:59.060 had been reporting
00:25:59.760 exactly the opposite.
00:26:01.340 So when they
00:26:01.740 made this decision
00:26:02.720 it was a
00:26:03.640 political determination.
00:26:04.580 It was a
00:26:05.080 political determination
00:26:05.940 because they hated
00:26:06.860 Donald Trump
00:26:07.520 and it was a
00:26:08.300 political determination
00:26:09.160 because they were
00:26:09.940 furious with the
00:26:10.900 American people
00:26:11.720 for electing
00:26:12.840 Donald Trump
00:26:13.360 president.
00:26:13.920 And this was
00:26:14.540 an attempt
00:26:15.020 to subvert
00:26:16.160 democracy
00:26:16.820 and this was
00:26:17.960 an attempt
00:26:18.420 to overthrow
00:26:19.480 the then
00:26:20.300 newly elected
00:26:21.140 president of
00:26:21.760 the United States.
00:26:23.140 And what is
00:26:24.720 brazen about it
00:26:26.380 is that they
00:26:27.860 did it,
00:26:28.320 all of the
00:26:29.060 intelligence
00:26:29.580 that for months
00:26:30.340 and months
00:26:30.740 and months
00:26:31.160 had been reported
00:26:31.880 it suddenly
00:26:32.420 magically
00:26:32.920 disappeared.
00:26:33.580 They didn't
00:26:33.760 acknowledge it.
00:26:34.880 They simply
00:26:35.500 those facts
00:26:36.740 were no longer
00:26:37.400 operative.
00:26:38.180 They had a
00:26:38.660 political agenda
00:26:39.540 facts be damned
00:26:41.100 and they were
00:26:42.280 willing to lie
00:26:42.880 to the American
00:26:43.440 people and they
00:26:44.000 were willing
00:26:44.280 to lie to
00:26:44.720 Congress.
00:26:45.520 Senator,
00:26:45.800 I want to go
00:26:46.240 back into what
00:26:46.780 Tulsi Gabbard said
00:26:47.740 when she went
00:26:49.000 to the White House
00:26:50.000 White House press
00:26:50.660 briefing room
00:26:51.220 and she opened
00:26:52.000 it up as she
00:26:52.680 was introduced
00:26:53.080 by the White House
00:26:53.620 press secretary
00:26:54.120 and here's what
00:26:55.220 she had to say.
00:26:56.400 The stunning
00:26:56.800 revelations that
00:26:57.660 we are releasing
00:26:58.520 today should be
00:26:59.580 of concern to
00:27:00.520 every American.
00:27:01.260 This is not
00:27:01.580 about Democrats
00:27:02.320 or Republicans.
00:27:03.160 This has to do
00:27:03.860 with the integrity
00:27:05.000 of our Democratic
00:27:05.920 Republic and
00:27:07.240 American voters
00:27:07.960 having faith
00:27:08.720 that the votes
00:27:09.340 cast will count.
00:27:11.600 There is irrefutable
00:27:12.820 evidence that
00:27:13.540 detail how
00:27:14.600 President Obama
00:27:15.400 and his national
00:27:16.300 security team
00:27:17.220 directed the creation
00:27:18.360 of an intelligence
00:27:19.680 community assessment
00:27:20.640 that they knew
00:27:22.140 was false.
00:27:23.240 they knew it
00:27:24.720 would promote
00:27:25.200 this contrived
00:27:26.080 narrative that
00:27:26.800 Russia interfered
00:27:27.940 in the 2016
00:27:28.620 election to help
00:27:30.100 President Trump
00:27:30.800 win, selling it
00:27:31.820 to the American
00:27:32.320 people as though
00:27:33.220 it were true.
00:27:34.940 It wasn't.
00:27:36.060 The report that
00:27:36.680 we released today
00:27:37.400 shows in great
00:27:38.180 detail how they
00:27:39.720 carried this out.
00:27:41.260 They manufactured
00:27:42.000 findings from
00:27:43.060 shoddy sources.
00:27:44.260 They suppressed
00:27:45.000 evidence and
00:27:45.980 credible intelligence
00:27:46.920 that disproved
00:27:48.440 their false claims.
00:27:50.160 They disobeyed
00:27:51.520 traditional trade
00:27:53.040 craft intelligence
00:27:54.040 community standards
00:27:55.040 and withheld the
00:27:56.460 truth from the
00:27:57.240 American people.
00:27:58.760 In doing so,
00:27:59.740 they conspired to
00:28:00.800 subvert the will
00:28:01.500 of the American
00:28:02.120 people who elected
00:28:03.200 Donald Trump in
00:28:04.100 that election in
00:28:04.840 November of 2016.
00:28:06.820 They worked with
00:28:07.440 their partners in
00:28:08.340 the media to
00:28:09.020 promote this lie,
00:28:10.460 ultimately to
00:28:11.080 undermine the
00:28:11.680 legitimacy of
00:28:12.440 President Trump
00:28:13.240 and launching what
00:28:14.440 would be a
00:28:15.400 years-long coup
00:28:16.500 against him and
00:28:17.860 his administration.
00:28:19.060 A years-long coup
00:28:20.780 against him and
00:28:22.180 his administration
00:28:22.920 orchestrated with
00:28:24.540 the deep state
00:28:25.200 and the media.
00:28:26.500 She's indicting
00:28:27.180 all of them saying
00:28:28.140 they knew this was
00:28:29.080 a lie.
00:28:29.920 She is, and I
00:28:31.700 will say, as she
00:28:33.000 rightly pointed out,
00:28:34.380 the evidence she
00:28:35.000 put out shows,
00:28:35.980 number one, it was
00:28:37.080 false that Russia
00:28:37.960 was trying to
00:28:38.520 interfere with the
00:28:39.100 election, but number
00:28:39.900 two, a second
00:28:40.760 predicate of their
00:28:41.500 lie is that Russia
00:28:42.860 was trying to
00:28:43.480 interfere to benefit
00:28:44.820 Donald Trump.
00:28:45.600 That was a critical
00:28:46.440 Democrat partisan
00:28:47.560 lie.
00:28:48.080 And one of the
00:28:50.580 pieces that she
00:28:51.460 put out is that
00:28:53.800 the Obama
00:28:54.480 intelligence community
00:28:55.920 assessed that
00:28:57.880 Russia had in
00:28:59.780 its possession
00:29:00.600 damaging information
00:29:02.360 about Hillary Clinton,
00:29:04.260 including DNC
00:29:06.840 communications.
00:29:07.720 So this is the
00:29:08.160 Democrat National
00:29:08.900 Committee communicating
00:29:09.780 saying that Clinton
00:29:10.860 was suffering from,
00:29:12.600 quote,
00:29:12.620 intensified
00:29:14.260 psycho-emotional
00:29:15.520 problems, including
00:29:17.360 uncontrolled fits of
00:29:18.900 anger, aggression,
00:29:21.640 and cheerfulness.
00:29:22.600 And by the way,
00:29:23.100 that's really weird.
00:29:24.480 Well, if you've been
00:29:24.960 around Hillary Clinton,
00:29:25.960 and cheerfulness.
00:29:26.740 If you've been around
00:29:27.280 Hillary Clinton, she's
00:29:28.060 not exactly the most
00:29:28.720 cheerful person, so that
00:29:29.800 would be a red flag.
00:29:30.580 And what the DNC
00:29:33.780 communications further
00:29:34.900 indicated was that
00:29:36.020 Clinton was placed on a
00:29:37.540 daily regimen of,
00:29:39.260 quote, heavy
00:29:40.360 tranquilizers.
00:29:42.620 And while afraid of
00:29:44.360 losing, she remained,
00:29:45.660 quote, obsessed with a
00:29:47.300 thirst for power.
00:29:48.200 Now, I don't know if
00:29:50.200 this supposed Russian
00:29:51.620 intelligence is accurate
00:29:52.680 or not.
00:29:53.820 Tulsi Gabbard released
00:29:54.760 it and said that the
00:29:55.720 Obama intelligence
00:29:56.960 community assessed that
00:29:58.720 Russia had this, and
00:29:59.700 here's the critical
00:30:00.240 part.
00:30:01.240 Russia didn't release
00:30:02.800 it.
00:30:03.020 It clearly would have
00:30:03.720 been damaging to
00:30:04.420 Hillary Clinton.
00:30:04.980 If they wanted Donald
00:30:05.760 Trump to win, they
00:30:07.340 would have put it out
00:30:08.240 presumably in October
00:30:09.280 of 2016.
00:30:10.860 They didn't.
00:30:11.740 That's yet another
00:30:12.680 element of the lie.
00:30:14.260 Yeah, it's a huge
00:30:15.300 element of the lie.
00:30:16.000 So the question now
00:30:16.860 becomes this, where
00:30:18.720 we go from here, and
00:30:19.820 it seems to be moving
00:30:21.080 actually very fast.
00:30:22.640 Great example of that
00:30:23.660 is the Attorney General
00:30:24.500 Pam Bondi, we're now
00:30:25.660 being told, is forming
00:30:27.260 a strike force to,
00:30:28.920 quote, investigate
00:30:29.560 disclosures from the
00:30:30.820 Office of the Director
00:30:31.840 of National Intelligence,
00:30:33.580 that would be Tulsi
00:30:34.520 Gabbard, that raises
00:30:36.100 allegations.
00:30:37.260 The Obama
00:30:37.940 administration, quote,
00:30:39.080 manufactured an
00:30:40.640 intelligence assessment
00:30:41.740 in 2017, promoting the
00:30:44.080 Russian hoax collusion,
00:30:45.320 saying, quote, the
00:30:45.880 Department of Justice
00:30:46.540 announcing the formation
00:30:47.820 of the strike force on
00:30:48.880 Wednesday.
00:30:49.740 The strike force will
00:30:50.800 assess the evidence
00:30:52.100 publicized by the DNI
00:30:54.000 director and investigate
00:30:55.500 any potential, quote,
00:30:57.320 next level steps, which
00:30:59.360 might stem from DNI
00:31:00.920 Gabbard's disclosures.
00:31:01.980 That's coming from the
00:31:03.160 release.
00:31:03.460 And Bondi called the
00:31:04.420 disclosures from Gabbard's
00:31:05.580 office, quote, troubling
00:31:07.180 in the statement.
00:31:08.260 Well, I'm very glad that
00:31:09.900 the Trump Department of
00:31:10.740 Justice is investigating
00:31:11.960 this.
00:31:12.840 Tulsi Gabbard made a
00:31:14.240 criminal referral to the
00:31:15.340 Department of Justice, and
00:31:16.440 Pam Bondi launched this
00:31:18.060 strike force.
00:31:18.900 And many people are asking
00:31:20.080 quite reasonably, is anyone
00:31:21.880 going to be held
00:31:22.460 accountable for this?
00:31:23.300 Because it seems so
00:31:24.160 frustrating to have
00:31:25.000 people breaking the law
00:31:26.160 over and over and over
00:31:27.600 again and nobody being
00:31:28.680 prosecuted, nobody going
00:31:29.880 to jail.
00:31:30.680 I very much hope people are
00:31:32.040 held accountable.
00:31:32.580 I hope that the Trump
00:31:33.480 Department of Justice is
00:31:34.980 able to prosecute and
00:31:36.340 prove, if there is
00:31:37.900 criminal conduct, that
00:31:39.200 they're able to prove it
00:31:40.280 and get convictions and
00:31:41.840 people are held
00:31:42.380 accountable.
00:31:42.840 And I'll tell you, the
00:31:44.120 people who are most
00:31:45.080 likely to face criminal
00:31:46.920 liability are those
00:31:48.660 senior members of the
00:31:50.020 Obama intelligence
00:31:51.040 community, those people
00:31:52.780 that were in the
00:31:54.480 December 9th meeting
00:31:56.200 where they decided to
00:31:57.420 deliberately lie to the
00:31:58.400 American people.
00:31:59.280 Those names, by the
00:32:00.080 way.
00:32:00.280 And in particular, so
00:32:02.340 those names...
00:32:04.480 You're talking about
00:32:05.000 James Clapper is one
00:32:06.460 example.
00:32:07.000 We're talking about the
00:32:07.560 biggest names there.
00:32:08.480 Yes, I'm talking about
00:32:09.280 James Clapper, I'm talking
00:32:10.480 about Susan Rice, I'm
00:32:11.440 talking about John
00:32:12.060 Kerry, and I'm talking
00:32:13.740 about Deputy FBI
00:32:15.780 Director McCabe.
00:32:16.740 Wow.
00:32:17.180 Those were the ones.
00:32:18.320 And in particular, also,
00:32:20.440 it is the senior officials
00:32:21.760 who testified, falsely
00:32:23.860 testified before Congress,
00:32:25.860 and lied and knew they
00:32:27.160 were lying.
00:32:27.640 And there are two
00:32:28.500 relevant federal
00:32:29.780 criminal statutes that
00:32:30.760 are most relevant.
00:32:31.540 Number one is 18 U.S.C.
00:32:33.360 Section 1621, and that
00:32:34.960 is perjury.
00:32:36.340 Whoever, having taken
00:32:37.080 an oath, willfully
00:32:37.820 states any material
00:32:38.760 matter which he does
00:32:39.700 not believe to be true
00:32:40.700 is guilty of perjury.
00:32:42.320 This applies to sworn
00:32:43.680 congressional testimony.
00:32:44.980 And secondly, 18 U.S.C.
00:32:47.160 Section 1001, whoever
00:32:49.340 knowingly and willfully
00:32:50.320 makes any materially
00:32:51.320 false, fictitious, or
00:32:52.440 fraudulent statement
00:32:53.240 in any matter within the
00:32:54.220 jurisdiction of the
00:32:54.980 executive, legislative,
00:32:55.840 or judicial branch, shall
00:32:57.460 be fined or imprisoned.
00:32:58.840 Both of these, you've got
00:33:00.740 in particular two
00:33:02.400 different testimonies that
00:33:03.620 are really problematic.
00:33:05.260 Number one, on May 8,
00:33:07.160 2017, James Clapper
00:33:08.840 testified before the
00:33:09.880 Senate Judiciary
00:33:10.520 Committee about the
00:33:12.860 Russia collusion and
00:33:14.080 what he said, according
00:33:15.240 to what's been released
00:33:16.280 by Tulsi Gabbard, he
00:33:17.260 knew was false.
00:33:18.780 He said in particular,
00:33:20.160 quote, Russia's
00:33:21.540 influence activities in
00:33:22.600 the run-up to the 2016
00:33:23.760 presidential election
00:33:24.760 constituted the high
00:33:25.840 watermark of their
00:33:26.600 long-running efforts.
00:33:27.860 They must be
00:33:28.360 congratulating themselves.
00:33:29.500 This episode is a
00:33:30.300 clarion call for
00:33:31.060 vigilance and action
00:33:32.080 against a threat to
00:33:33.400 the very foundations of
00:33:34.480 our democratic system.
00:33:35.880 And then, in November
00:33:36.920 of 2020, Andrew
00:33:38.340 McCabe testified before
00:33:39.460 the Senate Judiciary
00:33:40.280 Committee.
00:33:41.060 He lied as well, and I
00:33:42.760 will say for the
00:33:43.380 statute of limitations,
00:33:44.260 if it was materially
00:33:45.200 covered up, it is
00:33:47.200 extended.
00:33:48.040 This is the most
00:33:49.080 likely area you'll
00:33:50.020 find criminal liability.
00:33:51.060 As always, thank you
00:33:52.820 for listening to
00:33:53.820 Verdict with Senator
00:33:54.660 Ted Cruz, Ben
00:33:55.660 Ferguson with you.
00:33:56.400 Don't forget to
00:33:57.020 download my podcast, and
00:33:58.400 you can listen to my
00:33:59.080 podcast every other day
00:34:00.000 if you're not listening
00:34:00.580 to Verdict, or each
00:34:01.580 day when you listen to
00:34:02.260 Verdict afterwards.
00:34:03.440 I'd love to have you as
00:34:04.520 a listener to, again, the
00:34:05.900 Ben Ferguson podcast, and
00:34:07.240 we will see you back here
00:34:08.480 on Monday morning.
00:34:10.600 This is an iHeart
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