Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 15, 2024


Hamas Protestors Storm the White House, Hunter Surrenders & ESPN CAUGHT Lying


Episode Stats

Length

40 minutes

Words per Minute

185.8132

Word Count

7,594

Sentence Count

655

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

12


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.680 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.560 Senator, nice to be with you today.
00:00:07.560 And we have got two major topics to talk about.
00:00:10.260 Obviously, Hunter Biden and the possibility he may actually show up.
00:00:13.480 I want to get your prediction on that, but not yet.
00:00:15.620 Before we get to that, I want to deal with something that happened at the White House
00:00:18.980 and also the way that it's covered by the media.
00:00:22.380 We had these pro-Palestinian protesters trying to storm the White House.
00:00:26.620 This has somehow become normal.
00:00:28.520 That concerns me on its face.
00:00:30.620 But we also had, I think what was even more shocking is just how the media that did cover it kind of downplayed it.
00:00:37.000 Like, oh, it wasn't that big of a deal.
00:00:38.780 Yeah, they're pushing on fences.
00:00:40.160 Yeah, they're throwing bottles.
00:00:41.320 Yeah, they're saying blank Joe Biden.
00:00:43.960 I worry about this from what could happen in the future if this becomes the new norm.
00:00:48.040 Does it concern you at all?
00:00:49.760 So it does.
00:00:50.640 This is a story of escalating extremism.
00:00:53.100 This is a story of threats of violence.
00:00:54.940 This is a story of law enforcement applying double standards.
00:00:58.900 This is a story about our exposure to real and serious terrorism.
00:01:03.240 And it's a story about the media silencing any narrative they don't like.
00:01:10.380 I just want to ask you this as you're sitting here listening to this podcast over the weekend.
00:01:16.480 Did you watch any six o'clock news that said today pro-Hamas protesters stormed the White House?
00:01:26.320 You didn't.
00:01:27.460 And there's a reason you didn't.
00:01:28.960 Because none of the news covered it.
00:01:31.040 But take a look at the video at what happened this week.
00:01:33.600 And this is at the White House.
00:01:34.640 So I've got to say that that is some of the most concerted let's go Brandon I have ever heard.
00:01:56.220 Yeah.
00:01:57.180 Let me ask you something.
00:01:58.480 If the same scene had played out, except instead of screaming F. Joe Biden, they screamed the same thing about Donald Trump.
00:02:08.340 How do you think CNN would have handled it?
00:02:10.880 In a very big and very different way.
00:02:12.680 They would have actually covered it probably wall to wall, probably live, probably would have been at the White House and showing it.
00:02:19.040 You know, same thing, ABC, NBC, CBS.
00:02:21.840 And yet when they agree with the protesters, it's not news.
00:02:26.180 Now, there you see them screaming.
00:02:27.660 There you see them slamming into the fences that are guarding the White House.
00:02:31.440 There you see them trying to push them over.
00:02:34.100 You can see bottles being thrown over, rocks being thrown over for you guys that are listening to audio only.
00:02:40.920 And they're throwing them at the White House complex and also at the Secret Service and Capitol Police there.
00:02:47.000 And this is the double standard, I think, as well.
00:02:49.720 Now, if a conservative group was doing this, it would also be wall to wall live coverage, certainly on cable television, that there was a, you know, right to life group, which they wouldn't be doing this, throwing bottles, throwing rocks.
00:03:03.500 And then they would be using the word insurrection, their favorite word.
00:03:06.040 And they would be demanding that there would be lots of arrests.
00:03:09.280 So let's be clear.
00:03:10.840 If you walk out today and you walk out on any public street and you pick up a rock and you throw it at a police officer, what's going to happen?
00:03:18.820 You would hope that that person, I say hope because you never know anymore, would be arrested.
00:03:23.300 In any sane world, they will throw your butt to the ground.
00:03:26.140 They will put you in handcuffs and they will arrest you.
00:03:28.760 You don't get to throw rocks and bottles at police officers or at Secret Service agents.
00:03:33.720 In this instance, we see the protesters in the video.
00:03:38.580 For those of you that are not watching the video, there are multiple rocks.
00:03:41.640 There are multiple bottles being flung over the fence straight at the law enforcement.
00:03:45.200 And right in the background is the White House.
00:03:46.460 I mean, this is this is right on the lawn of the White House where these protesters are throwing rocks, are throwing bottles.
00:03:54.360 And then take a look at this next video.
00:03:56.120 This is the one that concerns me the most because there seems to be real momentum, Senator, of actually breaching the White House.
00:04:06.400 They're trying to breach.
00:04:08.020 They're screaming, break it down.
00:04:12.800 You can hear them there.
00:04:13.980 I mean, this is this is the mob is surging.
00:04:16.380 So if you're not watching this video, there is is temporary fencing erected outside the White House that they put up, presumably because they knew that this protest slash riot was going to happen.
00:04:27.760 And you see the mob surging and trying to tear it down.
00:04:31.460 Now, they didn't succeed in this instance, although the public reports are that they damaged the fencing, but they didn't manage to tear it down.
00:04:38.380 But I got to say, if if you're Hamas and you're watching this and you say, wait a second, it's that easy to almost tear down the fence that gives you access to the White House.
00:04:50.440 What kind of invitation is that for terrorism, especially?
00:04:55.760 Look, all right, fine.
00:04:56.540 You're throwing rocks.
00:04:57.420 You're throwing bottles at police officers.
00:04:59.760 You are trying to push down the gate.
00:05:02.620 You're coming close to pushing down the fence.
00:05:04.640 Actually, hold on.
00:05:06.700 There's one more video you can see where they're climbing the fences.
00:05:08.980 So take a look at this video.
00:05:13.020 And also throwing things over the fence.
00:05:15.280 You can see them trying to remove a piece of the fencing there.
00:05:18.380 If you're not getting to watch this, there's there's sections of this fencing and you see where one of them has become disengaged from the other piece of the fence.
00:05:26.240 And that's the weakest link now in this fence.
00:05:29.040 And that's where all the Secret Service and Capitol Police apparently have surged to protect that so that people can't get through that basic gap where there's no weakness there.
00:05:39.140 And there you can see one of the rioters climbing the fence, trying to get over the fence.
00:05:44.300 Look, on one level, we should be grateful.
00:05:48.280 There have been no reports of injuries of officers.
00:05:51.660 So that's good.
00:05:52.260 I'm very grateful that assuming there were no injuries, that's that's a good thing.
00:05:56.040 When you're flinging rocks and bottles at officers, that's an invitation to violence.
00:06:00.180 And it it may be that these protesters just have a lousy aim.
00:06:03.320 I don't know.
00:06:04.800 But what is striking is in the face of this, what's also been reported is that there were zero arrests.
00:06:11.580 So you can go and try to tear down the fence at the White House.
00:06:14.420 You can go throw rocks.
00:06:15.420 You can go throw throw bottles.
00:06:17.740 You can try to climb over the fence and nothing happens to you.
00:06:21.380 And contrast this to the massive expenditure of law enforcement efforts going after January 6th after every peaceful protest.
00:06:32.140 Mind you, the Department of Justice has made clear the U.S. attorney in D.C. has said they are going after and trying to prosecute people from January 6th who did not engage in violence and who did not enter the Capitol.
00:06:45.220 Yeah. So at this point, they're saying if you stood in a place that we've determined you're not allowed to stand, even though you didn't enter the Capitol, even though you engaged in no acts of violence, we're coming and breaking down your door and we're going to arrest you.
00:06:58.120 It is at this point blatant, brazen.
00:07:01.540 They are not hiding it.
00:07:02.940 January 6th is their excuse to persecute the political opponents of the president.
00:07:08.600 And let's be clear, look, the same thing is true whether you're pro-Trump, pro-Biden or pro-Hamas or pro-Black Lives Matter.
00:07:16.700 If you are engaged in peaceful speech, that is protected by the Constitution.
00:07:21.540 If you are engaged in violence, that is not.
00:07:26.220 What is striking here, they don't arrest you if they agree with what you're doing.
00:07:31.400 And this scene at the White House, it's reminiscent of what happened at the courthouse, the federal courthouse in Portland, where night after night after night, there was an assault on the courthouse.
00:07:40.820 There was an assault on the courthouse that involved throwing rocks, throwing projectiles at law enforcement, throwing essentially Molotov cocktails and firebombs at the courthouse using industrial strength lasers trying to blind law enforcement.
00:07:56.420 There were multiple law enforcement officers injured at the Portland courthouse.
00:08:00.520 And again, what did the local police do?
00:08:02.540 Nothing, because the Democrats there are perfectly willing to allow violent protesters to attack and injure law enforcement if they agree with their policies.
00:08:13.980 The same thing is true here.
00:08:15.840 And because the media is celebrating with these protesters, they're not telling you about this kind of assault at the White House.
00:08:23.680 There's a national security aspect of this, and you mentioned a moment ago, but I go back to the opening scenes of the movie Argo, which is the true story about...
00:08:31.840 Great, great movie, by the way.
00:08:33.200 Phenomenal movie.
00:08:34.100 And that opening scene, if you've never seen it, go watch it.
00:08:36.740 And it's so realistic to what actually happened that day in Iran, where they were protesting day after day.
00:08:42.860 Yep.
00:08:43.080 And the protests kept getting bigger.
00:08:44.880 And then it was all of a sudden, get over the gate.
00:08:47.800 Then it was the gates were let open.
00:08:49.620 And then you had the entire hostage situation that took place.
00:08:53.240 I see this.
00:08:54.260 It's like you're one weld away from a fence breaking, a barrier breaking, and then it's all hell breaks loose.
00:09:02.640 And yet we're tolerating it on a level that is terrifying to me from a national security standpoint, as you mentioned.
00:09:10.300 What if you're Hamas?
00:09:11.460 What if you're Hezbollah?
00:09:12.660 What if you're other terrorist groups that have come across the southern border?
00:09:16.140 You're learning from this.
00:09:17.500 There's no way they don't watch this and learn from it.
00:09:19.820 Look, that's exactly right.
00:09:22.020 And it's important to understand the media angle.
00:09:24.600 You know, a podcast we did a couple of months ago was entitled CNN is Hamas's Air Force.
00:09:31.340 So is ABC.
00:09:32.380 So is MSNBC.
00:09:33.700 If you didn't watch or listen to that podcast, you ought to go back and listen to it.
00:09:37.900 I was actually looking.
00:09:39.100 And it's one of our top ten podcasts we've ever produced.
00:09:41.820 So people really downloaded it.
00:09:44.620 That one is available on audio.
00:09:45.880 All of our podcasts are available on audio.
00:09:47.700 But that one we did, just like this one we're doing right now, as a video podcast.
00:09:52.060 And so you ought to actually go download the YouTube.
00:09:55.440 By the way, when you do it, subscribe to the podcast.
00:09:57.740 You need to subscribe two places.
00:09:59.160 Number one, you need to subscribe on YouTube.
00:10:01.340 That gets you the video podcast we do.
00:10:04.200 Typically, one out of every three pods we do is video.
00:10:07.060 And so those ones, you can see what we're putting up.
00:10:10.100 And then you also need to subscribe on audio, whether it's Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, because all of our podcasts are audio.
00:10:18.360 So if you just do YouTube or Rumble or some other video source, you'll only get a third of our podcasts.
00:10:23.800 If you do audio, you'll get all of them.
00:10:25.540 But that particular podcast, CNN is Hamas's Air Force.
00:10:29.920 We played like a dozen stories from actual news stories.
00:10:33.540 We put the video up and we walked through one at a time, one at a time, how Hamas has a strategy that they know the useful idiots in the media will be their propaganda arms.
00:10:45.680 They will amplify any story they can to make Israel look bad, to demonize the Israelis, to elevate the Hamas protesters.
00:10:56.160 And so why is it?
00:10:57.220 It's not an accident.
00:10:58.240 It's not like, you know, it was a really busy news day.
00:11:02.320 This weekend was not that busy a news day.
00:11:04.160 It did feature the Texans putting an ass whipping on Cleveland.
00:11:08.680 Yes, it did.
00:11:09.320 And I'd be OK if that led the news everywhere.
00:11:12.920 I'd be all right with that.
00:11:13.980 Two pick sixes consecutively was spectacular.
00:11:18.160 So, look, if that wanted to be the lead headline for the weekend, that would be fine.
00:11:21.680 But it wasn't.
00:11:22.620 The reason CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC didn't lead with this or even cover it on the news is because this narrative.
00:11:31.880 It's inconvenient for what they want.
00:11:33.280 This looks bad for Hamas.
00:11:34.940 Yeah.
00:11:35.660 Violently assaulting the White House.
00:11:37.260 And let's be clear.
00:11:38.440 They're not violently assaulting a building.
00:11:40.640 The reason they are pressing the fence, trying to tear down the fence to the White House, trying to violently tear down the fence to the White House.
00:11:48.240 The reason they are yelling F Joe Biden.
00:11:50.760 They are threatening physical violence.
00:11:53.120 That should not be lost on anybody.
00:11:56.020 These are people throwing rocks and bottles.
00:11:58.020 They're not just waving signs.
00:12:00.320 And in this instance, we also know that the White House relocated, number one, reporters.
00:12:06.140 Yeah.
00:12:06.480 And number two, White House staff said, all right, you guys need to move because this is dangerous.
00:12:10.600 Inside the White House.
00:12:11.560 Let's be very clear about that.
00:12:12.660 Let me ask you something.
00:12:13.720 If you're one of the reporters who was relocated, you know what I'd like?
00:12:17.380 The names of every reporter who was relocated.
00:12:19.200 And I'd like to know, did any one of them report on it?
00:12:21.460 Yeah.
00:12:21.660 Like, if you're a reporter and they tell you you're at the White House, you cannot stay where you are because you are not physically safe.
00:12:29.100 Last I checked, that's news.
00:12:30.740 In a normal, sane world, that would be news.
00:12:34.260 I promise you, if the protesters were wearing MAGA hats.
00:12:38.960 It'd be news.
00:12:39.920 Jake Tapper would be having a heart attack on air.
00:12:43.640 Yeah.
00:12:44.320 This is what insurrection looks like.
00:12:45.940 This is what they've learned from Donald Trump.
00:12:47.740 This is a continuation of January 6th.
00:12:49.740 The headlines write itself.
00:12:50.900 And every reporter who was moved knows about it.
00:12:54.100 Every one of them, if you were told you're no longer safe where you are, they should report on this.
00:13:01.040 But the reason they didn't, as I said, go back and watch our pod if you didn't, CNN is Hamas's Air Force,
00:13:06.860 because this is deliberate and Hamas counts on their active assistance to undermine and attack Israel.
00:13:14.880 Last question on this, and it goes back to a story we talked about earlier this week,
00:13:17.880 that also, you know this, Sunday's the biggest news day, right?
00:13:21.200 It's where all the talking heads get together.
00:13:22.960 They do the biggest week, you know, the week in review shows on Sunday morning.
00:13:27.080 There was a massive story, and we covered it.
00:13:29.940 No one else did.
00:13:31.360 That there's a real concern now from the United States government that Hezbollah could carry out an attack inside the United States of America.
00:13:40.080 That was also another story that was not covered as well that, I think, ties to these types of stories as well, right?
00:13:46.840 But you have a real concern now from within our U.S. government that Hezbollah could have people in this country already.
00:13:53.580 And the FBI keeps going to the White House saying this risk is real and it's growing.
00:13:56.880 Yeah, and yet the media is also not covering that narrative as well.
00:14:01.160 Don't the American people deserve to see that headline first and foremost?
00:14:04.660 Of course they do.
00:14:05.380 Look, there is an open border.
00:14:06.960 There's a byproduct of this, which is a national security issue.
00:14:09.860 And now we have warnings going to the White House from the government that Hezbollah could actively be planning some sort of significant attack within the United States of America in our border.
00:14:18.980 Well, and when they see that this sort of protest slash riot can start to get violent, can try to tear down fences, can throw rocks and bottles and nothing can happen to them, that is an invitation for terrorists to do worse.
00:14:34.100 And when the media doesn't cover it, it makes it all the more likely.
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00:16:01.860 Senator, I want to move to another story that this week was one that kind of made me laugh.
00:16:07.800 Hunter Biden came to Congress.
00:16:09.840 He had this stunt.
00:16:11.520 He went to this committee hearing where they're going to hold him in contempt.
00:16:14.820 And then he walks out.
00:16:15.780 We found out that there were camera crews there for his documentary.
00:16:18.880 Apparently, he's trying to make money now off of this, which is pretty hilarious.
00:16:22.440 And we also found out that he does, in fact, know who's buying his art.
00:16:26.860 70% to 80% of the people that are buying his art, apparently he knows about.
00:16:29.720 The White House promised us they would all be anonymous, so they couldn't buy influence over the White House.
00:16:35.320 That was a massive lie.
00:16:36.920 And now we've got a new letter from his attorney saying, well, okay, we might come and testify,
00:16:43.380 but you've got to give us new reasons to come testify and new requests to testify,
00:16:48.080 because we say the other ones were invalid.
00:16:50.380 It sounds pretty insane.
00:16:51.960 Walk us through it.
00:16:53.340 Well, listen, this is either a massive retreat from Hunter Biden and his legal team,
00:16:58.000 or it's a legal game, or both.
00:17:01.520 Or just part of a great documentary.
00:17:03.500 Well, it could be.
00:17:04.740 That could be.
00:17:05.280 It may explain why he showed up at the hearing, actually.
00:17:08.780 And showing up at the hearing was an odd decision, because it had to have made Joe Biden deeply unhappy.
00:17:15.460 It had to have made the White House deeply unhappy.
00:17:17.500 They didn't like the pictures of him sitting there smugly while he's in the process of being held in contempt.
00:17:23.080 It's not a good look.
00:17:24.380 If you're Joe Biden, that's not a good look.
00:17:26.060 That kind of defiance, that kind of I am beyond reproach, that's not a good political story for the White House.
00:17:34.060 So why did he do it?
00:17:34.980 Well, this letter may give a key.
00:17:37.120 So his lawyer wrote a letter to James Comer, to Jim Jordan.
00:17:40.980 And he said, he says, number one, he says, look, Hunter did comply with your subpoena.
00:17:46.920 And here's why he says he complied.
00:17:49.200 He said, you know, you're complaining that Hunter is seeking special treatment.
00:17:52.960 But Hunter took you up on the offers you gave.
00:17:56.580 And he says, for example, and he has two different quotes.
00:17:59.020 He has one.
00:18:00.620 And these are quotes from James Comer.
00:18:05.240 Quote number one, quote, we're in the downhill phase of this investigation now because we have had so many documents.
00:18:10.480 And we can bring these people in for depositions or committee hearings, whichever they choose.
00:18:16.360 And he italicizes whichever they choose.
00:18:18.780 And then a second quote, quote, Hunter Biden is more than welcome to come in front of the committee.
00:18:24.820 He's invited today.
00:18:25.980 We will drop everything in front of the committee as italicized.
00:18:29.340 And what Hunter argues is, in fact, I'll read the next paragraph from the letter.
00:18:34.580 Obviously, accepting your unqualified invitation to choose a forum for his testimony is neither seeking special treatment nor contemptuous behavior.
00:18:43.780 Nevertheless, your actions demonstrate you were not serious about getting facts of the truth and simply wanted to stage some gotcha political theater and create another legal issue for Mr. Biden.
00:18:52.940 Now, that explains maybe why Hunter showed up is that his lawyers and he's got very good, very experienced.
00:19:00.940 Washington lawyers may have been trying to set this letter up and say, oh, look, you can't hold him in contempt because he showed up.
00:19:07.100 He would have testified at a public hearing.
00:19:08.940 And you said, give us a deposition or give us a hearing.
00:19:12.760 That's clever.
00:19:13.800 I think it's too clever by half.
00:19:15.140 But that's their argument is we we tried to comply.
00:19:18.200 We showed up and you didn't take him up on it.
00:19:20.300 That's argument number one.
00:19:21.840 Argument number two.
00:19:23.220 He goes back early into the Trump impeachment inquiry when there was a big dispute about whether the subpoenas were valid to various witnesses involved in the Trump impeachment.
00:19:33.320 Before the House of Representatives had voted to open an impeachment inquiry and Republicans had argued, well, the House hasn't voted to open an impeachment inquiry.
00:19:42.500 So these subpoenas aren't valid.
00:19:43.860 And what he argues is, well, you know, you're a subpoenas to Hunter.
00:19:46.860 Yeah.
00:19:47.460 Were issued before the House had voted to open an impeachment inquiry.
00:19:50.740 Remember, Kevin McCarthy at the outset said, oh, we don't have the vote, so we're not going to vote to do that.
00:19:56.300 Now, subsequently, they got the votes.
00:19:58.580 And so they voted to open an impeachment inquiry and the House has voted formally to authorize an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.
00:20:05.720 And so but what he argues is at the time you issued the subpoenas, they were invalid because there was not a House vote.
00:20:12.160 All of which leads up to the end of the letter where he says, quote, if you issue a new proper subpoena now that there is a duly authorized impeachment inquiry,
00:20:24.660 Mr. Biden will comply for a hearing or deposition.
00:20:30.800 We, meaning the lawyers, will accept such a subpoena on Mr. Biden's behalf.
00:20:36.000 So what he's saying is, all right, he'll show up either for a hearing or a deposition.
00:20:41.000 Here's what I think the House should do.
00:20:42.640 Look, on one level, they can be annoyed.
00:20:44.340 They can be pissed.
00:20:45.120 These are legal games.
00:20:46.400 These legal arguments are technicalities.
00:20:48.480 They're playing games.
00:20:50.020 Here's my very strong advice.
00:20:52.180 So what?
00:20:52.860 If he's offering to show up, take him up on it.
00:20:55.640 Take him up on it right now.
00:20:57.300 The House is back on Tuesday.
00:20:59.160 Issue the subpoena on Tuesday.
00:21:00.980 You are hereby subpoenaed to show up for a deposition.
00:21:04.180 Make it a very short window.
00:21:06.060 Make it a week.
00:21:07.220 If they issue it on Tuesday, you are hereby subpoenaed to show up next Tuesday.
00:21:12.540 You have one week.
00:21:13.600 Now, look, I can understand there will be some lawyers in the House saying, we don't need a new subpoena.
00:21:17.940 Our other one was fine.
00:21:19.860 So what?
00:21:21.220 There will be others who will say, well, the House was getting ready to vote on a contempt hearing.
00:21:28.320 For example, here's what Steve Scalise just tweeted out.
00:21:31.920 Floor vote announcement with two red sirens.
00:21:34.580 Next week, the House will vote to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for repeatedly defying subpoenas.
00:21:40.920 Enough of his stunts.
00:21:42.460 He doesn't get to play by a different set of rules.
00:21:44.600 He's not above the law.
00:21:45.560 Now, that may have been one of the major predicates that they're getting ready this this week to vote on on contempt.
00:21:51.620 Here's my advice.
00:21:52.940 Hold off a week.
00:21:54.100 Issue the subpoenas right now.
00:21:56.040 And say you got a week to show up.
00:21:57.220 You got a week to show up and delay the contempt vote by a week.
00:22:00.580 If he shows up, don't hold him in contempt.
00:22:02.180 Remember, and this is what I would urge.
00:22:04.140 Listen, James Comer is my friend.
00:22:05.860 Jim Jordan is my friend.
00:22:06.880 Steve Scalise is my friend.
00:22:07.780 These are good guys.
00:22:08.640 Remember, remember, remember, Hunter Biden is not the target.
00:22:13.400 It's the president of the United States of America.
00:22:15.460 And why is that?
00:22:16.460 Because the evidence is growing every day that the president of the United States is corrupt.
00:22:20.760 And so engaging in a yearlong battle with Hunter Biden about whether or not subpoena number one was technically accurate, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:22:28.640 Who cares?
00:22:29.480 Yeah.
00:22:30.000 Move on quickly.
00:22:30.860 If we do that, if the House does that, they are playing into the White House's hands.
00:22:36.360 That's what they want.
00:22:37.220 They want a year of legal skirmishes over issues that don't matter.
00:22:41.440 He says, if you give me a subpoena, I will show up.
00:22:44.200 Issue it right now.
00:22:45.380 Say we accept.
00:22:46.420 Put up or shut up.
00:22:47.160 And by the way, I'd also say, fine, all right, you're really excited about doing a deposition.
00:22:52.180 Subpoena him for a deposition in a week and subpoena him for a hearing in three weeks.
00:22:57.620 Like, we need to get the hearing moving fast.
00:23:01.220 You do the deposition in a week, a hearing in three weeks.
00:23:03.500 You got two weeks to study everything from the deposition.
00:23:06.100 But let's be clear.
00:23:07.080 It is January already.
00:23:09.120 The White House's strategy is very simple.
00:23:11.560 Delay this past election day.
00:23:13.320 Run out the clock.
00:23:14.120 Run out the clock.
00:23:15.340 And so the House, they're great guys, but they need to understand that the Democrats are fighting this like street fighters.
00:23:23.000 They need to be smart and savvy and move forward.
00:23:26.040 I don't know if they'll show up or not.
00:23:27.960 This may be a ruse.
00:23:29.260 If you issue the subpoena on Tuesday, you give him one week and he doesn't show up in one week.
00:23:33.340 Vote on the contempt the next day.
00:23:35.740 Like, you can speed this up.
00:23:37.320 But if he's offering to surrender, give him a chance to do so.
00:24:07.320 If you'll join us, listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:24:12.360 Let's talk politics of the White House for this for a moment, because I don't believe that anybody in the White House that is a sane political operative would have advised Hunter Biden to show up last week in Congress the way that he did.
00:24:29.500 It brought a lot more, I think, noise to the story.
00:24:33.260 It made the news cover it.
00:24:34.140 It made the news do their job, which and if it was for a documentary, that was incredibly stupid.
00:24:39.880 I also don't know how much.
00:24:41.380 Is it any stupider than than smoking crack, then even your laptop and some guys.
00:24:47.540 Yeah, place.
00:24:48.120 Yeah.
00:24:48.340 Like, look, I've never met Hunter Biden, but but I think it's fair to say he's not going to be granted honorary Mensa membership anytime soon.
00:24:55.080 I would agree.
00:24:57.080 He has made a series of life choices that were suboptimal.
00:25:01.080 And many of those life choices were disastrously bad for daddy.
00:25:07.080 Now, to be clear, just taking that narrative on its face is not the right way to look at it, because if you just say, you know, poor Joe Biden has a ne'er-do-well son.
00:25:16.200 You know, unfortunately, look, that happens.
00:25:19.280 And parents don't control the acts of their children any more than children control the acts of their parents.
00:25:25.080 The reason this is a matter of public concern, and I want to keep underscoring it because it's easy to lose focus.
00:25:32.920 It's not Hunter Biden's drug problems.
00:25:35.360 It's not his own personal criminal activity.
00:25:38.400 If his name were Hunter Smith, no one would care.
00:25:41.100 The reason it matters is because the evidence, I think, is now overwhelming that he had a business for years, for decades, of selling favors from daddy.
00:25:55.220 That is official corruption.
00:25:56.940 Daddy was the vice president of the United States.
00:25:59.300 Daddy is now the president of the United States.
00:26:01.120 And the evidence is growing that it's not just Hunter profiting.
00:26:03.980 It's the entire family.
00:26:05.760 It is millions of dollars.
00:26:06.940 It is shell corporations.
00:26:08.040 It is money laundering.
00:26:09.380 That this is a family business.
00:26:11.560 You know, the phrase, the Biden crime family.
00:26:14.180 I used to not like that.
00:26:15.520 In fact, you and I on this podcast, you would use that phrase.
00:26:18.580 And I was hesitant to go down there.
00:26:20.200 And I've got to admit, as the evidence is piled up, if it ain't that, I don't know what it is.
00:26:24.520 But it's sure, you know, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, that's a duck, damn it.
00:26:29.100 And so what I would encourage House Republicans is, remember, the focus, the reason this matters is official corruption by the president of the United States.
00:26:39.800 Everything else, Hunter, at the end of the day, is a witness.
00:26:44.180 He is a co-conspirator.
00:26:45.260 He is a criminal.
00:26:46.080 But he is also a witness to the corruption by the officeholder.
00:26:50.880 And that's where the focus needs to stay.
00:26:52.180 And that brings me back to the question about the White House.
00:26:54.980 We saw, I think, I don't know how much the president's honestly involved in this.
00:26:58.900 I think you would probably agree with me on that.
00:27:01.400 I don't know if he's picking up the phone saying, yeah, go show up to his son.
00:27:05.440 I'm certain he's not.
00:27:06.780 I would think.
00:27:07.680 No.
00:27:08.180 I don't know.
00:27:08.640 I don't know because I don't know how much he's even involved in the real strategies here.
00:27:13.260 Because nobody focused on Joe Biden's political interest.
00:27:16.980 And I do believe Joe Biden is very interested in Joe Biden's political interests.
00:27:21.180 Would advise Hunter to do that.
00:27:22.740 That was a decision that hurt the White House.
00:27:26.100 Well, then, and that's where I go back to how concerned do you think they are that if
00:27:30.320 he testifies, he might be unhinged enough to say something stupid.
00:27:35.160 Because we saw Joe Biden, the first lady came out.
00:27:37.980 We played this earlier this week in one of our episodes.
00:27:40.700 Go back and listen to it.
00:27:41.960 Joe Biden came out and did a one-on-one interview and talked about this and talked about, you
00:27:46.820 know, their son.
00:27:48.740 And, well, he's an addict and you should feel sorry for him.
00:27:51.180 In fact, she accused Republicans saying, how dare you put him through this pain of having
00:27:56.280 to answer these questions you're picking on him.
00:27:58.960 Stop it.
00:27:59.720 How dare your husband sell influence and sell favors?
00:28:02.380 How dare your husband make, make, and your family make millions of dollars, not from our
00:28:07.200 friends, but from corrupt oligarchs in communist China, in Russia, in Ukraine.
00:28:11.820 This is, this is about official corruption.
00:28:14.280 And they're going to try to play the sympathy card and say it's, it's, it's just substance
00:28:19.340 abuse.
00:28:19.900 No, if that were it, you should send him to rehab.
00:28:23.400 It's not just substance abuse.
00:28:25.200 The evidence here is of official corruption.
00:28:28.800 That's why it matters.
00:28:29.860 And so, again, I can't underscore this more.
00:28:32.720 We said this when James Comer was on the podcast.
00:28:35.440 The White House wants this to be delayed with all sorts of ancillary legal battles.
00:28:41.080 Was this, was this subpoena valid?
00:28:42.480 Was that subpoena valid?
00:28:43.560 Who's on first?
00:28:44.380 What's on second?
00:28:45.200 Like anything other than the question, what did Joe Biden know?
00:28:49.540 And what, and when did he know it?
00:28:51.060 What did he make?
00:28:51.920 What was his role?
00:28:53.140 They want to protect Joe Biden.
00:28:55.120 And if we're fighting over other issues, we're not focused on Joe Biden.
00:28:58.800 So is it fair that he can move the goalpost and say, oh, I don't like that subpoena, but
00:29:05.020 I like this subpoena.
00:29:06.000 No, but who cares?
00:29:07.340 You're going to show up.
00:29:08.720 Yes, we accept.
00:29:09.760 And if you don't in a week, we'll hold you in contempt.
00:29:12.240 All right.
00:29:12.760 Real quick, though.
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00:30:31.860 All right.
00:30:32.560 Lastly, I do have to ask you about a story.
00:30:35.480 And you love sports as much as I love sports.
00:30:38.420 I watch a lot of sports.
00:30:40.120 It's my way of just, you know, disconnecting from the political world.
00:30:44.160 There was one story this week that just made me so happy that ESPN got busted.
00:30:49.380 The same people that are so sanctimonious about anybody that they think might be doing something wrong in sports.
00:30:55.540 And they got all in on the Black Lives Matter and all the kneeling protests and stood behind people that were kneeling.
00:31:02.020 So this happened this week.
00:31:04.800 ESPN took awards won by imaginary people whose names they submitted on purpose.
00:31:12.680 So John Doe, Jane Doe, right?
00:31:14.080 People that didn't work for them, didn't even exist.
00:31:16.760 They knew didn't exist.
00:31:17.960 And then had these awards after they won re-engraved to give, quote, on-air personalities statues.
00:31:26.920 ESPN awarded the trophies to front-facing figures to give them more clout.
00:31:32.840 So this was like a clear conspiracy to, like, raise the, you know, the stature of their own on-air people.
00:31:39.220 They gave these figures to college game day hosts such as Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler, Desmond Howard, and Sam Ponder.
00:31:47.380 This is because, quote, hosts were not eligible to be honored in a credit list until 2023.
00:31:55.220 Now, this scheme was something that went on not for like a year or two, went on for decades.
00:32:03.060 What happened?
00:32:04.060 Well, until 2023, they said, we were just trying to give them what we thought was something they needed.
00:32:09.180 They're now being forced to give the statues back.
00:32:12.120 I got to get your reaction to it because it's amazing.
00:32:14.340 Well, listen, like a lot of sports fans, ESPN pisses me off.
00:32:19.320 ESPN pisses me off because they've decided in recent years that they don't actually really care about sports.
00:32:24.180 They care about woke politics.
00:32:25.520 And so they spend, it seems, more time lecturing us about their radical politics than actually covering sports.
00:32:31.500 Like watching amazing plays, watching great catches in the end zones, watching, you know, tomahawk dunks or crushing blocks or, you know, amazing grand slam hits.
00:32:41.700 I mean, sports is fun to watch, but they've said, no, no, no, we're political commentators.
00:32:48.220 We're left wing.
00:32:49.220 And you know what?
00:32:50.680 MSNBC is not woke enough for us.
00:32:53.000 We can be to the left of MSNBC.
00:32:55.300 And it pisses me off because most sports fans are not hardcore Marxists.
00:32:59.480 We're watching it because we enjoy it.
00:33:01.780 And so ESPN, it is almost worth watching it on mute.
00:33:06.320 But I don't quite do that because you do, when they cover sports, you occasionally learn some interesting things.
00:33:12.420 And so I like, you know, I like hearing the commentary of, you know, so-and-so.
00:33:16.000 This is, for example, the Cleveland Browns, I learned when the Texans were winning, were the first team in 20 years to make the playoffs after leading the NFL in turnovers.
00:33:26.540 Did you know that?
00:33:27.120 I did not know that.
00:33:27.840 That's kind of interesting.
00:33:28.820 You know, and Flacco, look, Flacco's a very good quarterback.
00:33:32.440 He just has a bad habit of throwing interceptions.
00:33:34.260 But he's still, he's an old dude.
00:33:35.960 So I sort of like watching old dudes that are not yet put out the past.
00:33:40.320 I like that habit as long as he's on the other team.
00:33:42.200 I love that habit.
00:33:43.760 They weren't interceptions.
00:33:45.080 They were great passes to our defenders who needed to score.
00:33:48.700 Our defense almost outscored the offense.
00:33:50.740 I mean, that was 14 points from the D is pretty good.
00:33:53.820 All right.
00:33:54.220 Anyway, that's commentary you like to hear.
00:33:57.060 That's kind of an interesting factoid.
00:33:58.820 It's like, huh, I didn't know that.
00:34:00.780 But instead, ESPN just yabbers on, and it's a corporate decision.
00:34:05.660 100% corporate.
00:34:07.360 I don't even know.
00:34:08.100 I remember when I saw the change in real life.
00:34:11.360 You remember on ESPN, too, they used to do a show, Cold Pizza?
00:34:14.580 They would have on guests.
00:34:16.220 I was a guest that did that show regularly.
00:34:18.280 And I did it when there was a controversy that was quasi kind of like political in nature with sports.
00:34:24.320 And they used to have both sides.
00:34:25.820 And then all of a sudden, they said, hey, we basically banned all conservatives.
00:34:29.140 Yeah, by the way, I'm curious.
00:34:30.820 Check me on this.
00:34:32.720 When Daily Wire came out with their movie Lady Ballers, in which yours truly has a cameo.
00:34:38.640 Yes.
00:34:39.400 Now, it's a sports movie.
00:34:40.500 It's a sports movie.
00:34:41.220 I wonder if you'll get an Emmy for that.
00:34:42.960 Because that's a real name they could at least nominate, right?
00:34:45.320 To the fake ones at ESPN.
00:34:46.360 But my question, did ESPN cover the movie Lady Ballers?
00:34:50.080 Which was a sports movie.
00:34:51.200 They should have at least mentioned it.
00:34:52.140 It's a sports movie.
00:34:53.240 It's really funny.
00:34:54.280 It's like dodgeball.
00:34:55.160 It's really funny.
00:34:56.120 The premise of Lady Ballers, which if you haven't watched it, you ought to go watch it because you'll laugh.
00:35:01.300 It's well done.
00:35:02.020 I have a tiny cameo, so my part is completely inconsequential.
00:35:05.840 But the premise is a bunch of guys in their 40s who, when they were in high school, were the state champion in basketball, decide to pretend they're women and dominate women's basketball.
00:35:16.820 It's really damn funny.
00:35:18.480 It's amazing no one's made this movie for 20 years because it's an obvious premise.
00:35:22.300 Yeah.
00:35:22.620 But they do it beautifully.
00:35:24.100 It's a very predictable movie that should have been made.
00:35:26.100 But no one would.
00:35:27.120 And by the way, most Hollywood actors won't participate in it because they'd be blackballed for daring to laugh at the idiocies of the woke left.
00:35:36.220 Well, ESPN would never acknowledge it exists.
00:35:39.400 But we now know, and this story is amazing, that ESPN, in addition to being woke leftist propagandists, they are liars.
00:35:49.260 They are engaged in active fraud.
00:35:51.400 For decades.
00:35:51.880 And understand what this lie is.
00:35:53.760 It's really quite stunning.
00:35:54.820 So they're submitting to an award show to win awards, and they're asked to list all of the crew.
00:36:02.740 So if we give you an award, who deserves it?
00:36:05.640 And they just, for decades, put fake names there.
00:36:09.400 Yeah.
00:36:09.700 Now, they won a bunch of these awards, and so they get the award statues with a fake name.
00:36:14.900 You know, you might say, that is a Mickey Mouse award.
00:36:17.280 Well, it might have been a Mickey Mouse award.
00:36:18.780 It might have been awarded to Mickey Mouse because they just, they made up names of human beings that don't exist.
00:36:25.680 Not even people that didn't work on the show.
00:36:28.320 Just totally made up names.
00:36:29.700 And why did they do it?
00:36:30.880 Because they wanted the little statuette.
00:36:33.260 Yeah.
00:36:33.760 The Emmy's a big deal.
00:36:34.880 To pull the nameplate off and put somebody else's name that was their on-air talent, and their on-air talent was ineligible.
00:36:43.760 And understand, ESPN is being forced to return, I think it's 32.
00:36:48.060 37.
00:36:48.740 37.
00:36:49.140 Yeah.
00:36:49.380 So they were ordered ESPN to return a total of 37 trophies, each of which was intended for a behind-the-scenes employee who does not exist.
00:36:58.200 Former ESPN reporter Shelly Smith told the New York Times that in May of 2023, executive Stephanie Dooley ordered her to return her two sports Emmy statues.
00:37:10.080 News, Dooley apparently told her that it was a serious matter and that the reason must stay between them.
00:37:15.660 So it wasn't just that they got busted.
00:37:17.980 There was then a cover-up to make sure that the story didn't go public after they were ordered to give back the 37 trophies.
00:37:23.760 All right.
00:37:24.020 So, Ben, I'm going to go online, and I'm going to see if you can order a fake Emmy.
00:37:27.600 And I'm going to order a fake Emmy with the name Mickey Mouse.
00:37:30.820 Yeah.
00:37:30.960 And then when it arrives, I'm going to take Mickey Mouse off, and I'm going to put Ben Ferguson on.
00:37:34.480 I love it.
00:37:35.080 I'll get you one for Lady Ballers, and we'll just make it up as we go.
00:37:38.740 But I want to put the Emmy up, our Emmy Award-winning podcast, because you know what?
00:37:43.080 We won as many Emmys as the on-air talent at ESPN did.
00:37:47.800 They are literally fraudulent liars.
00:37:50.800 And let me ask you a question.
00:37:52.320 For every on-air talent who had the statue in his office, who had it on TV, how many of them have apologized?
00:37:59.920 How many of them have gone on air and said, you know what?
00:38:01.960 I went on TV with an Emmy behind me that I didn't win, and it was fake, and it was fraudulent, and I'm sorry for lying to you.
00:38:07.600 And by the way, if their claim is, oh, we didn't know, how many of them have said, I want to apologize?
00:38:13.200 I didn't know, but my bosses did.
00:38:15.820 And my bosses put it up because they were lying to you.
00:38:19.320 They claim to be a journalistic outlet, but they are engaged in fraud, and they're lying to you.
00:38:24.760 As far as I can tell, there has been zero journalistic integrity.
00:38:28.700 Or accountability, and there's a cover-up.
00:38:32.340 That's the best part of the story is not only were they busted, but ESPN executives are saying, this has to stay between you and I.
00:38:38.940 I need your Emmy back, and don't talk about it.
00:38:41.460 Don't tell anybody.
00:38:42.400 I need it back quickly.
00:38:43.620 We don't want anybody in the public to find out we were doing this for decades.
00:38:46.960 By the way, I really want to know the names of the fake employees.
00:38:50.780 How good they were?
00:38:51.360 Did they do John Doe?
00:38:53.260 Did they do Mickey Mouse?
00:38:54.440 Did they do Huflung Du?
00:38:55.980 Like, what kind of, you know, Peking Duck?
00:38:59.100 Like, what kind of names did they go with?
00:39:01.920 That would be great to know.
00:39:03.240 I feel confident we will never know because ESPN and their parrot company will do everything they can to say, nothing to see here.
00:39:09.740 This is Disney, right?
00:39:10.720 Just want to throw that out there, right?
00:39:12.140 Doesn't ABC Disney own ESPN?
00:39:13.960 I think that's right.
00:39:14.900 So, to be fair.
00:39:15.940 Maybe Mickey Mouse wasn't too far of a stretch.
00:39:18.820 Maybe they gave the nameplate to Mickey Mouse.
00:39:21.060 So, it was a twofer.
00:39:22.420 It was a twofer.
00:39:23.060 You know, the Seven Dwarves all won Emmys now.
00:39:25.980 Sleepy got one.
00:39:27.260 I like that.
00:39:28.020 Well done.
00:39:28.700 Well done to ESPN.
00:39:29.980 Good job trying to cover it up, and I'm so glad they got roasted.
00:39:32.700 Don't forget we do this show Monday Wednesday, Friday.
00:39:35.040 Please make sure, and the algorithms have changed on Apple, you hit that follow button.
00:39:39.340 You have to check back.
00:39:40.240 They've changed it.
00:39:41.380 Some of you have been complaining that you're not auto-downloading the show anymore.
00:39:44.120 You have to manually go in and hit that follow button or subscribe or auto-download.
00:39:48.200 By the way, can I jump in and say something you told me today, which is weird?
00:39:51.420 Yes.
00:39:51.680 Okay.
00:39:52.020 I'm giving no commentary as to why, but apparently the empirical data is that women, God bless
00:39:58.180 you, are much more effective about hitting subscribe over and over again, which is thank
00:40:01.540 you because Apple's messing with you, and you've got to hit subscribe over and over again.
00:40:05.100 And for whatever reason, women do this.
00:40:07.120 But men are doofuses and don't.
00:40:09.740 Yeah.
00:40:10.260 And so I want to speak to men.
00:40:12.600 Prove Ben wrong.
00:40:14.080 Ben Ferguson says you're a doofus.
00:40:16.200 I want to stand in defense.
00:40:17.000 We did have this conversation before the show, and I was like, you're like, why is this happening?
00:40:21.060 The algorithm change.
00:40:21.840 I'm like, look, all I know is they're saying women are much more focused and supporting
00:40:26.340 shows by making sure they're subscribed, and men are dropping off, and they're like, that's
00:40:30.880 just the way it is.
00:40:32.240 But you know what?
00:40:33.220 Unlike men, I believe in men.
00:40:36.040 I will let you throw me under the bus on that one.
00:40:38.200 There it is.
00:40:39.040 We'll see you back here.
00:40:40.140 Don't forget Monday, Wednesday, Friday, best of the weekend review on Saturdays.
00:40:43.960 As always, pleasure being with you, and we'll see you back here in a couple of days.
00:40:48.040 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:40:51.120 Guaranteed human.