Verdict with Ted Cruz - More Biden Balloon Deceptions plus Twitter Bans a US Senator

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.680 Guaranteed human.

00:00:04.700 Welcome.

00:00:05.320 It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz.

00:00:07.080 Ben Ferguson with you as well.

00:00:08.840 And Senator, you just got out of classified briefings

00:00:12.320 that deal with something the president refused to bring up

00:00:16.560 during the State of the Union.

00:00:17.580 And that is the Chinese government and their balloons 0.99

00:00:20.920 and the fact that they went all the way across our country.

00:00:23.900 And then finally, he said,

00:00:24.800 Ari, I'll deal with it after they pretty much got anything they wanted. 0.91

00:00:27.300 What did you learn today that the American people need to know about?

00:00:31.760 Well, I spent two hours today in a classified briefing

00:00:34.980 in the skiff down in the basement of the Capitol.

00:00:38.220 And by the way, I'll point out that when I left the classified briefing,

00:00:41.740 I didn't bring any classified materials with me

00:00:43.620 because you can't bring it out of the skiff.

00:00:45.140 And so I don't have any at home with me.

00:00:46.760 I don't have many anywhere else.

00:00:48.260 That seems to be very unlike Joe Biden,

00:00:50.520 who seems to have classified materials everywhere he goes.

00:00:53.920 But the two-hour briefing was entirely on the Chinese spy balloon.

00:00:59.820 And it was a detailed briefing.

00:01:02.480 It included senior officials from the Department of Defense

00:01:05.620 and the Department of State and the intelligence community

00:01:08.920 walking through what happened.

00:01:10.600 And they revealed quite a lot.

00:01:13.200 Because it was classified,

00:01:14.780 I'm not going to repeat anything that was said there.

00:01:17.140 But I can characterize the administration's position

00:01:21.540 is they are spinning mightily.

00:01:25.940 Number one, they're trying to diminish the seriousness

00:01:28.740 of the damage to national security

00:01:30.840 that happened from the espionage

00:01:33.460 that China was allowed to undertake in the United States.

00:01:37.780 I did not find their spinning credible.

00:01:40.960 Number two, they were presenting highly legalistic arguments

00:01:46.720 as to why they didn't shoot down the balloon

00:01:51.200 when it first entered U.S. airspace.

00:01:54.580 And mind you, they did shoot down the balloon

00:01:57.220 a week later, after it had spent a week in U.S. airspace,

00:02:01.700 after it had been able to hover over sensitive military facilities

00:02:04.940 and other facilities that implicate national security.

00:02:08.920 And after it had traversed the entire United States of America,

00:02:12.620 it was only when it crossed out into the Atlantic

00:02:14.740 off the coast of South Carolina

00:02:16.820 that more than a week later, they finally shut it down.

00:02:20.160 You know, I have to say it was really striking

00:02:22.080 listening to the administration give these over-lawyered answers

00:02:30.520 suggesting that there were impediments

00:02:33.960 to their shooting it down in Alaska.

00:02:36.480 Apparently, you can shoot it down off of South Carolina, 1.00

00:02:38.720 but not Alaska, which is asinine. 0.96

00:02:43.560 It, I practiced law for a lot of years. 0.98

00:02:48.580 It was, it reeked of after-the-fact rationalization

00:02:52.820 and trying to find a justification

00:02:54.580 for impotently doing nothing for the entire week

00:02:59.720 it was over the United States.

00:03:01.100 And just from the public timeline

00:03:04.640 there's one thing that is critically important

00:03:08.620 that I don't think many people have focused on.

00:03:10.360 So the public timeline

00:03:11.340 it was Saturday, January 28th

00:03:14.260 when the balloon began entering American territory

00:03:17.640 entering Alaskan airspace near the Aleutian Islands.

00:03:20.300 And that was on the 28th.

00:03:25.640 By the 30th, two days later,

00:03:29.060 it left American territory and was over Canada.

00:03:32.960 Did we warn Canada, by the way?

00:03:34.900 I mean, is that something that we would have done?

00:03:37.360 And I know when we say we found this thing

00:03:39.620 coming over Alaska,

00:03:40.700 but that's when the public noticed it.

00:03:43.360 Do we even know if our military noticed it before then?

00:03:48.060 So I know the answers to both of those questions.

00:03:52.840 I'm not able to answer.

00:03:54.740 What I will say is that NORAD and NORTHCOM

00:03:59.160 operates in close coordination with Canada.

00:04:02.840 And so our military is in frequent consultation

00:04:08.480 and discussion with their Canadian counterparts.

00:04:12.000 That's as much as I can say.

00:04:14.680 But here's the other piece that we know,

00:04:17.140 again, from public reports,

00:04:18.300 not from the briefing today.

00:04:20.240 Tuesday, January 31st

00:04:22.240 was the first day President Biden was briefed,

00:04:26.020 which means the Chinese spy balloon

00:04:29.120 was over Alaska for two days.

00:04:32.840 Over U.S. soil, conducting surveillance,

00:04:37.200 and yet Joe Biden had not been brought in the loop.

00:04:40.900 Joe Biden had not been briefed.

00:04:43.480 And so a lot of us, myself included,

00:04:47.020 have asked why the hell didn't they shoot it down

00:04:50.780 when it first entered Alaska?

00:04:52.800 And just from the public record,

00:04:54.840 one of the facts that's there is

00:04:56.500 when it entered Alaska,

00:04:57.900 Joe Biden had no idea

00:04:59.700 because the commander-in-chief

00:05:02.920 had not been informed at that point.

00:05:06.060 That's it.

00:05:06.940 What is the chain of command?

00:05:08.520 Because you just giving that information

00:05:11.400 immediately brings up the question,

00:05:13.260 does the military get to make the decision

00:05:15.680 when it's over Alaska

00:05:16.660 if the president doesn't know to shoot it down?

00:05:19.000 Or does it go to the commander-in-chief every time

00:05:21.780 and they just said,

00:05:22.600 ah, we don't need to inform him of this?

00:05:24.280 I mean, that's a,

00:05:25.380 either way, that is a shocking reality

00:05:27.900 that there could be this much of a disconnect.

00:05:30.440 So there is existing statute that governs this,

00:05:34.020 that if there is an airship,

00:05:37.700 an unmanned airship with hostile intent,

00:05:41.500 with hostile capacity,

00:05:42.620 that our military commanders

00:05:44.540 have the legal authority to engage

00:05:47.340 and to take it out.

00:05:49.260 And so the NORTHCOM commander

00:05:52.360 has the authority to do that.

00:05:54.040 They also have the authority

00:05:55.280 to engage and take it out

00:05:57.100 if it is engaged

00:05:58.660 in hostile intelligence gathering,

00:06:01.020 which I think in this instance

00:06:02.540 it plainly was.

00:06:05.620 It is, to some extent,

00:06:07.340 a judgment call

00:06:08.500 when and to what extent

00:06:11.320 it is reported up the chain of command

00:06:13.860 to the commander-in-chief.

00:06:15.240 So, you know,

00:06:17.820 in a hypothetical

00:06:18.620 where suddenly you see

00:06:21.100 something that has, say,

00:06:25.120 a bomb payload

00:06:26.200 that could do harm

00:06:27.460 in an immediate circumstances,

00:06:29.640 our military can engage

00:06:31.300 and take it out

00:06:32.200 in the instance

00:06:33.920 to protect the American homeland.

00:06:36.560 Well, let's talk about

00:06:37.560 you going in the SCIF

00:06:38.540 for this classified briefing.

00:06:40.040 Who gets invited to this?

00:06:42.060 Is that,

00:06:42.500 and what qualifies you

00:06:44.460 to get this briefing?

00:06:45.440 Can any senator ask

00:06:46.760 to be a part of this,

00:06:47.660 to be a part of this briefing?

00:06:48.820 Or is this based on the committees

00:06:49.920 that you are appointed to

00:06:51.780 that you serve on?

00:06:53.160 So there are often

00:06:54.420 classified briefings

00:06:55.780 that are committee-based.

00:06:56.940 And so I serve

00:06:58.080 on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

00:06:59.940 We have many classified briefings

00:07:02.120 on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

00:07:04.120 I previously served

00:07:05.320 on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

00:07:06.940 We had many classified briefings

00:07:08.440 on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

00:07:09.760 So there are committee-specific reasons

00:07:12.580 that you'll go

00:07:13.260 to classified briefings.

00:07:15.060 There are also periodically

00:07:16.700 all-senator briefings.

00:07:18.180 That's what this was.

00:07:19.160 So every senator was invited.

00:07:20.760 If you are a U.S. senator,

00:07:22.240 you, this was at TSSCI,

00:07:25.740 so at a high level of clearance.

00:07:26.960 And all senators have that clearance

00:07:28.920 by virtue of being elected senators.

00:07:31.740 And virtually all the senators

00:07:33.460 were there.

00:07:34.060 I didn't notice anyone missing,

00:07:35.560 but it certainly was a full room.

00:07:36.780 And there was a lot of interest.

00:07:39.760 I stayed until the very end.

00:07:42.340 And I'm going to point out

00:07:43.740 something else that is striking

00:07:47.880 and yet not a lot of people

00:07:49.360 have noticed and focused on,

00:07:52.020 which is on February 4th,

00:07:54.060 the same day that the Biden administration

00:07:56.080 shot down the balloon.

00:07:58.220 The Biden administration

00:07:59.440 was getting a lot of criticism,

00:08:01.160 obviously,

00:08:01.620 for having allowed this balloon

00:08:04.120 to stay in U.S. airspace

00:08:06.860 and conduct surveillance

00:08:07.880 for over a week.

00:08:10.340 On the day,

00:08:11.540 on that day,

00:08:12.140 on February 4th,

00:08:13.060 the Biden administration

00:08:14.240 arranged a briefing

00:08:16.380 with the media

00:08:17.220 with a, quote,

00:08:19.320 senior defense official.

00:08:21.440 And one of the things

00:08:22.520 that I asked about

00:08:23.780 in the briefing today

00:08:27.920 was who that senior defense official was.

00:08:30.560 And I got an answer to that,

00:08:32.580 but I can't tell you

00:08:33.240 the answer to that.

00:08:35.000 But the transcript

00:08:36.640 of the briefing

00:08:37.460 from the unnamed

00:08:38.580 senior defense official

00:08:39.780 included the following paragraph

00:08:42.280 that that individual

00:08:43.400 told the reporters

00:08:44.420 on the day the balloon

00:08:45.340 was shut down.

00:08:46.160 Quote,

00:08:47.340 PRC government surveillance balloons

00:08:49.400 transited the continental

00:08:50.640 United States briefly

00:08:52.140 at least three times

00:08:54.720 during the prior administration

00:08:56.300 and once that we know of

00:08:58.800 at the beginning

00:08:59.280 of this administration.

00:09:00.560 But never for this

00:09:02.340 duration of time.

00:09:03.340 And so you'll recall

00:09:04.140 right when the balloon

00:09:04.840 was shot down,

00:09:06.060 this paragraph

00:09:07.200 suddenly became

00:09:08.420 a major talking point

00:09:10.920 that the defenders

00:09:12.820 of the Biden White House

00:09:13.960 began using saying,

00:09:15.320 well, three times

00:09:15.980 there were balloons

00:09:16.560 during the Trump administration.

00:09:17.580 And you'll recall

00:09:18.340 as it played out,

00:09:19.540 we then had a series

00:09:21.380 of senior officials

00:09:22.540 from the Trump administration

00:09:23.680 like the Secretary of State,

00:09:25.140 like the Director

00:09:25.680 of National Intelligence

00:09:26.840 publicly say,

00:09:28.980 I don't know

00:09:29.260 what these guys

00:09:29.820 are talking about.

00:09:31.380 That didn't happen.

00:09:32.380 We don't know

00:09:32.700 anything about it.

00:09:33.840 In other words,

00:09:34.220 they weren't briefed on it

00:09:35.240 and they said

00:09:35.800 they were held in the dark.

00:09:37.300 Well,

00:09:38.040 it turns out

00:09:40.040 that at the time

00:09:42.720 the Biden administration

00:09:44.120 was telling reporters

00:09:46.200 that this happened

00:09:47.760 three times

00:09:48.460 during the Trump administration,

00:09:49.760 the Biden administration

00:09:51.920 knew full well

00:09:53.540 that nobody

00:09:55.000 in the Trump administration

00:09:56.280 was aware of this.

00:09:58.340 They knew that.

00:09:59.760 And so they were

00:10:00.960 deliberately misleading

00:10:02.340 the reporters

00:10:03.080 by saying,

00:10:03.840 well, it happened

00:10:04.160 three times under Trump

00:10:05.660 and they were speaking

00:10:09.340 the truth technically,

00:10:10.960 but they were omitting

00:10:12.840 a major part

00:10:14.060 because the obvious inference

00:10:16.000 when you hear that is,

00:10:17.040 oh, and Trump

00:10:18.000 didn't do anything about it.

00:10:20.060 And they know full well

00:10:21.820 that Trump didn't know about it.

00:10:24.840 Secretary of State

00:10:25.480 didn't know about it.

00:10:26.160 Secretary of Defense

00:10:26.820 didn't know about it.

00:10:28.100 And so the Biden administration

00:10:30.000 was perfectly happy

00:10:31.700 to spin the reporters

00:10:33.500 and the reporters

00:10:34.240 were perfectly happy

00:10:35.380 to be spun.

00:10:37.400 And to mislead

00:10:37.880 the American public

00:10:38.920 on purpose 0.97

00:10:39.780 to cover their rear end.

00:10:41.260 It was political spin

00:10:43.140 and it was deliberate

00:10:44.320 on a matter of

00:10:46.280 really important

00:10:48.220 national security.

00:10:49.060 I want to ask you

00:10:50.060 about another public report

00:10:51.160 that's come out

00:10:51.760 that the Chinese spy balloon

00:10:52.880 passing over

00:10:53.700 sensitive sites,

00:10:54.620 quote,

00:10:55.280 could have collected

00:10:56.200 communications.

00:10:57.400 The State Department

00:10:58.060 has now revealed that.

00:10:59.200 Before I ask you

00:11:00.060 about that aspect of this,

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00:12:13.160 Senator,

00:12:13.620 this was,

00:12:15.080 for me,

00:12:15.640 I think honestly

00:12:16.480 shocking when this came out.

00:12:18.800 The State Department

00:12:19.460 has admitted

00:12:19.960 that the Chinese spy balloon

00:12:22.540 that floated over

00:12:23.180 the United States of America

00:12:23.960 for these eight days,

00:12:25.340 including floating

00:12:26.580 over vital

00:12:27.160 national security sites,

00:12:28.820 was equipped,

00:12:29.780 they now say,

00:12:30.340 with antennas

00:12:30.820 that likely could collect

00:12:32.000 our communications.

00:12:34.280 How concerned

00:12:35.160 should the American people

00:12:36.080 be about that aspect

00:12:37.260 of the spy balloon?

00:12:39.080 Well,

00:12:39.280 I think we should be

00:12:40.000 very concerned.

00:12:40.840 It was a balloon

00:12:42.160 that was launched

00:12:43.140 for the purpose

00:12:43.780 of espionage,

00:12:44.620 for the purpose

00:12:45.120 of presumably

00:12:46.360 taking photographs,

00:12:47.600 perhaps using infrared

00:12:48.760 or other technology,

00:12:50.400 and attempting

00:12:51.140 to intercept communications,

00:12:52.720 attempting to gather

00:12:55.000 information that can be used

00:12:57.260 to undermine

00:12:57.820 the national security

00:12:58.900 of the United States.

00:12:59.800 And if you look

00:13:00.300 at the flight path

00:13:01.060 of this balloon,

00:13:02.480 it was very deliberate

00:13:04.680 that it went

00:13:05.480 over sensitive sites.

00:13:06.900 It went over sites,

00:13:08.180 the military sites.

00:13:09.520 It went over sites

00:13:10.420 that are extremely sensitive

00:13:13.900 from a national security

00:13:15.080 perspective.

00:13:16.480 Sites, by the way,

00:13:17.300 that you and I,

00:13:18.420 if we were in a private plane,

00:13:19.660 are not allowed

00:13:20.180 to fly over,

00:13:21.040 and if we did,

00:13:21.620 we would probably

00:13:22.140 be shot down.

00:13:23.760 That's how secure

00:13:24.760 these sites are.

00:13:26.400 Well, I'm not sure

00:13:27.320 we'd be shot down,

00:13:28.240 but they are sites

00:13:29.760 that are highly secure.

00:13:31.240 And the Biden administration

00:13:34.900 made a decision

00:13:35.700 to allow this to happen.

00:13:37.020 They could have shot it down

00:13:38.180 in Alaska.

00:13:38.940 Mind you,

00:13:39.300 no one even bothered

00:13:39.880 to tell Joe Biden

00:13:41.420 about it when it was

00:13:42.120 over Alaska.

00:13:43.520 But they could have

00:13:44.780 shot it down there.

00:13:45.780 They could have shot it down

00:13:47.020 in the wilderness of Canada.

00:13:49.120 They could have shot it down

00:13:50.180 in Idaho or Montana.

00:13:52.360 And they didn't.

00:13:53.340 They allowed it

00:13:54.180 to spend a week

00:13:55.740 collecting intelligence.

00:13:57.840 That intelligence,

00:13:59.000 presumably,

00:13:59.580 was sent up

00:14:01.140 via satellite

00:14:01.860 back to Beijing

00:14:02.800 so that Beijing

00:14:03.700 has whatever information

00:14:05.760 they gathered and stole.

00:14:08.060 Presumably,

00:14:08.760 the Chinese Communist government

00:14:10.160 has that information now.

00:14:11.960 And it was only

00:14:12.740 after the mission

00:14:13.600 was complete,

00:14:14.860 after the espionage

00:14:16.140 was done,

00:14:17.520 that they shot it down

00:14:18.680 in the Atlantic Ocean.

00:14:20.860 I think that was

00:14:22.400 a reckless decision,

00:14:23.980 but I also think

00:14:24.800 it was a dangerous decision

00:14:26.060 because it projected weakness.

00:14:27.920 It projected weakness

00:14:29.200 to the Chinese

00:14:30.340 Communist government

00:14:31.180 and to every other

00:14:31.800 enemy of America

00:14:32.640 because it told them

00:14:34.700 that they could brazenly

00:14:36.540 enter American airspace, 0.51

00:14:38.880 conduct espionage

00:14:40.240 on sensitive military secrets,

00:14:41.900 and this president,

00:14:44.440 this commander-in-chief,

00:14:45.640 would not act

00:14:46.620 to prevent that.

00:14:48.040 Last question on this

00:14:49.160 I want to ask you,

00:14:49.860 and this is something

00:14:50.500 I just think that

00:14:51.220 we should debunk very quickly.

00:14:53.020 I've actually seen commentators

00:14:54.740 and people on social media

00:14:56.300 saying,

00:14:56.800 well,

00:14:57.500 you don't have to worry

00:14:58.340 about what information

00:14:59.220 China got 0.95

00:15:00.060 because we shot this thing down,

00:15:01.540 they didn't get their balloon back.

00:15:03.460 That, to me,

00:15:04.360 may be one of the biggest lies

00:15:05.640 that I've seen

00:15:06.280 that has kind of happened

00:15:07.300 over the last several days.

00:15:08.900 This information

00:15:10.140 that they were stealing

00:15:11.420 was going back up

00:15:12.520 to their satellites

00:15:13.300 in real time.

00:15:13.960 They didn't need

00:15:14.660 to get their balloon back

00:15:15.680 to basically get all the intel.

00:15:18.200 In all likelihood,

00:15:19.440 that's exactly how this operated

00:15:20.940 was that it was sending

00:15:22.380 the information

00:15:23.160 back to China 0.83

00:15:24.100 real time

00:15:25.840 so that it doesn't have

00:15:27.420 to go back to China

00:15:28.740 for them to get the data.

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00:16:01.520 Senator,

00:16:02.040 before we get to

00:16:02.660 some other big news,

00:16:03.600 things happening

00:16:04.260 on commerce and judiciary,

00:16:06.100 which you're a member of,

00:16:07.140 and I know you want

00:16:07.620 to give an important update

00:16:08.520 on what's happened

00:16:09.120 in D.C. this week

00:16:09.900 on that,

00:16:10.900 on those committees,

00:16:11.720 I want to talk

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00:17:28.920 Senator,

00:17:29.260 I want you to

00:17:29.760 give us some

00:17:30.180 updates on what

00:17:31.040 you're working

00:17:31.560 on right now

00:17:32.200 on these

00:17:32.600 important committees

00:17:33.360 because you've

00:17:33.880 had a lot of

00:17:34.540 meetings over

00:17:35.140 the last 24,

00:17:36.060 48 hours.

00:17:37.520 Well,

00:17:37.700 today was a

00:17:38.200 busy day in

00:17:38.820 addition to the

00:17:39.400 classified briefing

00:17:40.220 on the Chinese

00:17:41.260 spy balloon.

00:17:41.860 We also had

00:17:42.780 hearings in both

00:17:43.520 the Commerce

00:17:43.940 Committee and

00:17:45.300 the Judiciary

00:17:46.160 Committee.

00:17:46.760 The morning

00:17:47.300 started in

00:17:47.920 Judiciary with

00:17:49.800 the Senate

00:17:50.780 Democrats taking

00:17:51.940 up 29

00:17:53.280 judicial nominees

00:17:54.720 who had been

00:17:57.180 nominated last

00:17:58.100 year and had

00:17:58.760 not gotten

00:17:59.280 confirmed and

00:18:00.040 they were

00:18:00.300 moving them

00:18:01.500 forward out

00:18:02.020 of committee.

00:18:02.560 Now,

00:18:02.760 these included

00:18:04.240 many of the

00:18:04.900 most extreme

00:18:05.780 and radical

00:18:07.240 nominees.

00:18:08.160 These include

00:18:09.120 the judicial

00:18:09.700 nominee who

00:18:11.200 who had a

00:18:11.820 conference at

00:18:12.560 actually my

00:18:13.580 alma mater,

00:18:14.180 Princeton

00:18:14.420 University,

00:18:15.860 reportedly said

00:18:17.640 that police

00:18:18.380 kill unarmed 1.00

00:18:19.380 black men 1.00

00:18:20.120 every single 0.99

00:18:21.180 day and she

00:18:21.860 reportedly agreed

00:18:22.920 with that

00:18:23.500 statement.

00:18:24.240 When she was

00:18:24.740 questioned about

00:18:25.500 it at her

00:18:26.500 confirmation

00:18:26.860 hearing,

00:18:27.640 she said,

00:18:28.040 well,

00:18:28.340 I said that

00:18:29.660 as an

00:18:30.060 advocate.

00:18:31.640 Now,

00:18:31.980 mind you,

00:18:32.440 that statement

00:18:33.040 is wildly,

00:18:34.860 blatantly false.

00:18:35.700 It's not

00:18:36.060 remotely true

00:18:37.160 as a factual

00:18:38.380 matter and it's

00:18:39.560 an incredibly

00:18:40.120 harmful statement

00:18:41.060 because if

00:18:41.540 people believe

00:18:42.360 it,

00:18:42.640 it is a

00:18:43.100 lie that

00:18:43.540 has real

00:18:43.980 consequences

00:18:44.740 and that

00:18:45.180 endangers the

00:18:45.960 lives of

00:18:47.060 police officers.

00:18:48.640 And three

00:18:49.140 times she

00:18:49.800 said,

00:18:50.060 well,

00:18:50.360 it was as

00:18:50.780 an advocate

00:18:51.360 so,

00:18:51.860 you know,

00:18:52.120 apparently,

00:18:52.680 look,

00:18:52.960 I spent a

00:18:53.720 lot of years

00:18:54.040 practicing law

00:18:54.860 as an

00:18:55.160 advocate,

00:18:56.080 you're not

00:18:56.500 entitled to

00:18:57.060 lie either.

00:18:57.940 It's not

00:18:58.500 like you have

00:18:59.000 the ability

00:18:59.540 when you're

00:19:00.280 just being

00:19:00.760 an advocate

00:19:01.240 to lie.

00:19:02.420 She

00:19:02.660 subsequently

00:19:03.300 after a

00:19:03.940 confirmation

00:19:04.240 hearing tried

00:19:05.100 to say in

00:19:05.800 a letter,

00:19:06.280 oh,

00:19:06.520 no,

00:19:06.700 I don't think

00:19:07.140 I said this

00:19:07.680 after all.

00:19:08.280 But she

00:19:10.080 did it

00:19:10.360 after the

00:19:10.800 hearing when

00:19:11.220 there was

00:19:11.420 no opportunity

00:19:12.000 to ask her

00:19:12.580 questions.

00:19:13.100 She was

00:19:13.440 one of the

00:19:13.860 judges they

00:19:14.380 were moving

00:19:14.940 forward.

00:19:15.880 Another

00:19:16.260 judge,

00:19:16.780 another

00:19:16.960 district court

00:19:17.640 nominee is

00:19:18.300 a judge who

00:19:18.980 described

00:19:19.440 himself as

00:19:20.780 a wild-eyed

00:19:22.280 liberal and

00:19:23.780 described how

00:19:24.720 he is motivated

00:19:25.540 every morning

00:19:26.320 to get out of

00:19:27.620 bed by his

00:19:28.480 hatred for

00:19:29.400 conservatives.

00:19:30.960 And I

00:19:31.340 asked the

00:19:32.520 Democrats on

00:19:33.840 the committee,

00:19:34.260 I said,

00:19:34.580 look,

00:19:34.840 this is who's

00:19:36.240 been nominated

00:19:36.840 to be a

00:19:37.240 district judge

00:19:37.900 in New

00:19:38.280 York.

00:19:39.160 How would

00:19:39.580 you feel if

00:19:40.100 you were a

00:19:40.540 Republican,

00:19:41.000 you were a

00:19:41.400 conservative in

00:19:42.140 New York?

00:19:42.660 There are

00:19:43.000 some.

00:19:44.380 And you

00:19:44.860 found yourself

00:19:45.640 in front of

00:19:46.140 a federal

00:19:46.500 judge who

00:19:47.120 has said he

00:19:47.840 gets up

00:19:48.340 every morning

00:19:48.960 motivated by

00:19:49.840 his hatred

00:19:50.640 for you.

00:19:53.480 That's a

00:19:54.140 person obviously

00:19:55.880 unfit and

00:19:57.200 without a

00:19:57.680 judicial temperament

00:19:58.600 suitable to be

00:19:59.680 a judge.

00:20:00.960 And then I

00:20:01.700 also asked about

00:20:02.560 the district

00:20:02.960 court nominee

00:20:03.560 that we talked

00:20:04.440 about on a

00:20:05.740 previous podcast

00:20:06.520 who went

00:20:07.500 under

00:20:07.820 questioning

00:20:08.260 from John

00:20:08.820 Kennedy,

00:20:09.320 didn't know

00:20:09.820 what Article

00:20:10.240 5 of the

00:20:10.720 Constitution was,

00:20:12.180 didn't know

00:20:12.600 what Article

00:20:13.060 Which is not

00:20:14.140 a trick question.

00:20:15.340 If you missed

00:20:15.840 that in our

00:20:16.240 pod, go back

00:20:17.240 and listen to

00:20:18.500 that podcast

00:20:19.120 that we did

00:20:19.960 because you

00:20:21.180 explained how

00:20:21.880 basic that

00:20:23.520 question is to

00:20:25.360 any legal

00:20:26.040 scholar,

00:20:26.720 anybody that's

00:20:27.960 a lawyer,

00:20:28.880 especially if

00:20:30.720 you are looking

00:20:31.420 to serve at

00:20:32.620 this level,

00:20:33.360 you would be

00:20:33.960 prepared to know

00:20:34.720 about this.

00:20:35.760 Well, and the

00:20:36.340 follow-up John

00:20:37.100 Kennedy asked,

00:20:37.840 he asked about

00:20:38.680 what's in

00:20:39.500 Article 2 of

00:20:40.240 the Constitution

00:20:40.900 and she said

00:20:43.260 she didn't

00:20:43.560 know, she

00:20:43.920 couldn't

00:20:44.120 remember.

00:20:44.980 Now that is

00:20:46.960 not a gotcha

00:20:47.720 question, that

00:20:48.400 is not obscure,

00:20:49.920 that is a

00:20:50.660 question that

00:20:51.460 any first-year

00:20:52.580 law student

00:20:53.220 could answer

00:20:53.880 and if you

00:20:54.520 couldn't answer

00:20:55.400 it, you

00:20:56.400 would flunk

00:20:57.080 constitutional law.

00:20:58.480 It is very

00:20:59.260 simple, so the

00:21:00.100 first three

00:21:00.560 articles of the

00:21:01.160 Constitution,

00:21:01.840 Article 1

00:21:02.580 establishes the

00:21:03.880 Congress,

00:21:04.720 the legislative

00:21:05.760 branch of our

00:21:06.460 government,

00:21:07.600 Article 2

00:21:08.220 establishes the

00:21:09.120 President of the

00:21:09.660 United States

00:21:10.320 and the

00:21:10.680 executive branch

00:21:11.620 and Article 3

00:21:12.500 establishes the

00:21:13.820 judiciary.

00:21:14.860 This person is

00:21:15.900 nominated to be

00:21:16.780 what is called

00:21:17.420 an Article 3

00:21:18.460 judge and yet

00:21:19.940 apparently she

00:21:20.700 doesn't even know

00:21:21.280 what that is.

00:21:21.900 She didn't know

00:21:22.360 what Article 2

00:21:23.020 was and I

00:21:24.480 pointed out at

00:21:25.180 the hearing that

00:21:25.900 Dick Durbin,

00:21:26.840 the Democrat

00:21:27.300 chairman of the

00:21:27.900 committee,

00:21:28.860 said after that

00:21:29.940 hearing,

00:21:30.380 well, there are

00:21:32.260 probably a lot of

00:21:33.160 members of our

00:21:33.760 committee that

00:21:34.320 couldn't answer

00:21:34.820 those questions

00:21:35.460 either and so I

00:21:37.040 brought that up

00:21:38.560 and I said I

00:21:39.120 thought that was

00:21:39.600 really an

00:21:40.060 astonishing statement

00:21:41.400 and I said I'm

00:21:43.340 confident that

00:21:43.960 everyone on the

00:21:44.520 Republican side of

00:21:45.320 the aisle can

00:21:45.840 answer the

00:21:46.260 question what's

00:21:46.980 Article 2 but

00:21:48.340 I find it

00:21:50.340 stunning to the

00:21:51.120 Democrats here that

00:21:52.180 your chairman is

00:21:53.260 saying you have no

00:21:54.080 idea what Article 2

00:21:55.100 of the Constitution

00:21:55.580 is and I had

00:21:56.840 said I would do

00:21:57.440 this on the

00:21:57.900 podcast so I

00:21:58.680 followed through

00:21:59.220 and I said does

00:22:00.140 anyone here want to

00:22:01.140 admit right now you

00:22:02.100 don't know what

00:22:02.720 Article 2 is and

00:22:04.160 they all stared

00:22:05.700 away and stared at

00:22:06.560 their phones and

00:22:07.200 stared at their

00:22:07.660 shoes and did

00:22:08.580 everything to avoid

00:22:09.400 eye contact and 0.88

00:22:12.440 it's a ridiculous 0.90

00:22:13.380 point as I said 0.96

00:22:14.480 listen it's real

00:22:15.180 simple anyone who

00:22:16.560 doesn't know what

00:22:17.000 Article 2 of the

00:22:17.720 Constitution is has

00:22:18.740 no business serving

00:22:19.860 on the Senate

00:22:20.340 Judiciary Committee

00:22:21.260 and certainly has no

00:22:22.900 business serving as

00:22:24.340 a federal judge and

00:22:25.460 I made a plea to

00:22:27.620 my Democrat

00:22:28.180 colleagues I said

00:22:29.100 look what is wrong

00:22:30.040 with you people you

00:22:30.960 have rubber stamped

00:22:33.080 every single Biden

00:22:34.760 judicial nominee a

00:22:35.900 hundred percent of

00:22:36.640 them in the last two

00:22:37.460 years you have voted

00:22:38.300 for every single

00:22:39.880 nominee no matter how

00:22:41.720 bad no matter how

00:22:42.680 extreme and by the

00:22:43.860 way every other

00:22:44.540 Senate Democrat has

00:22:45.440 as well all of the

00:22:46.340 judicial nominees when

00:22:47.240 they went to the

00:22:47.760 floor 100% of the

00:22:49.660 Democrats have voted

00:22:50.520 for all of them and

00:22:52.160 and I put it out I

00:22:53.100 said look during the

00:22:53.860 Trump administration

00:22:54.720 Trump nominated some

00:22:57.600 fantastic judges we

00:22:58.820 confirmed some fantastic

00:23:00.000 judges but there were

00:23:01.460 several nominees that

00:23:02.580 were not fantastic

00:23:03.720 nominees that had

00:23:04.620 problems and as

00:23:06.180 Republican senators who

00:23:07.440 actually take seriously

00:23:09.040 the quality and caliber

00:23:11.400 and qualifications of the

00:23:12.740 judiciary we push back 0.58

00:23:14.840 and made clear to the

00:23:15.960 to the Trump White

00:23:16.800 House those nominees

00:23:18.780 would not get

00:23:19.640 confirmed and I

00:23:20.480 looked at my

00:23:21.060 colleagues and said

00:23:21.760 are none of you

00:23:23.200 willing to stand up

00:23:25.540 for anything will you

00:23:26.940 at least admit a judge

00:23:28.360 should know what

00:23:28.940 Article 2 of the

00:23:29.600 Constitution is will

00:23:30.840 you at least admit a

00:23:32.060 judge shouldn't have a 0.97

00:23:33.520 record of saying he is

00:23:34.620 motivated by hatred for

00:23:36.880 conservatives each and

00:23:37.940 every day not a single

00:23:40.140 Democrat said a word the

00:23:41.480 only substantive response

00:23:42.900 I got is I said look

00:23:45.340 your behavior suggests that

00:23:48.040 if Joe Biden nominated a

00:23:52.120 ham sandwich you would vote

00:23:54.800 to confirm the ham sandwich

00:23:56.720 as a judge and the only

00:23:58.540 substantive response I got

00:24:00.140 is is Cory Booker chimed in

00:24:01.800 afterwards and he said I

00:24:03.260 just want to clarify one

00:24:04.460 thing he said I'm a vegan so

00:24:06.200 I would not vote to confirm a

00:24:07.800 ham sandwich

00:24:08.300 which a was pretty funny

00:24:11.220 yeah I'll give humor credit

00:24:13.960 for that

00:24:14.440 and actually Cory Booker is a

00:24:16.220 pretty good guy he and I are

00:24:17.740 get along well and and are

00:24:19.480 often kidding each other back

00:24:20.740 and forth but it spoke volume

00:24:23.100 that neither Durban nor

00:24:24.280 anyone else engaged in any

00:24:25.700 of the substance and then

00:24:26.980 like the Politburo in the

00:24:29.240 Soviet Union they all voted

00:24:31.120 da and moved on the

00:24:33.720 nominees and they do not

00:24:35.500 care they'll fill the

00:24:37.440 judiciary with left-wing

00:24:39.160 zealots and they don't even

00:24:41.280 feel as far as I can tell a

00:24:43.340 twinge of remorse or guilt

00:24:45.540 what scares me more than a 1.00

00:24:47.300 liberal is an ignorant liberal 1.00

00:24:48.560 and if you have these types of 1.00

00:24:50.060 individuals on the you know on

00:24:52.000 our court system it terrifies 0.98

00:24:53.400 me what it means when you walk

00:24:55.440 into their courtroom knowing

00:24:57.380 that this is who they're

00:24:58.440 putting there and I think

00:24:59.220 every American should care

00:25:00.220 about this especially if you're

00:25:01.520 listening and you have a

00:25:02.920 senator that is a Democrat or

00:25:04.660 liberal you should be calling

00:25:05.900 them and telling them that this

00:25:07.740 is unacceptable I want to move

00:25:10.200 to something else and that

00:25:11.220 deals with the Twitter files and

00:25:12.520 before we get to that there's

00:25:13.820 also a new senator that's

00:25:14.940 actually got banned from Twitter

00:25:16.460 and now he's getting reinstated

00:25:18.900 we're going to tell that story

00:25:19.920 in a moment but first let me

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00:26:32.160 you look at the Twitter files that

00:26:34.780 has hit the house side this week and

00:26:37.640 I want to play just one of the

00:26:39.760 examples of all these former

00:26:42.380 executives have been fired by Elon

00:26:44.260 Musk center had to come before the

00:26:46.420 house before the house oversight

00:26:47.920 committee Jim Jordan talked about

00:26:50.260 when what made them decide to get

00:26:53.240 rid of the Hunter Biden story to get

00:26:56.800 rid of the New York Post article to

00:26:59.100 treat it even if you try to share it

00:27:01.640 in private messages like child

00:27:03.400 pornography sharing to make sure this

00:27:06.160 story got shut down and it wouldn't

00:27:07.860 impact or minimize the impact to the

00:27:10.540 presidential election and and this was

00:27:12.860 a very interesting viral moment from

00:27:15.360 Jim Jordan talking to all these fired

00:27:17.640 leaders some of them former FBI

00:27:19.920 officials who then went to work at

00:27:22.480 Twitter so the FBI didn't tell you

00:27:24.860 that that it was fake didn't tell you

00:27:26.700 that it was hacked and mr. Roth did

00:27:29.360 the did the story violate your policies

00:27:31.800 in my judgment at the time no it did not

00:27:34.440 yeah that's what you said said what I

00:27:36.120 would propose excuse me as you said it

00:27:37.780 isn't clearly a violation of our hack

00:27:39.280 materials policy nor is it clearly a

00:27:41.200 violation of anything else so I think

00:27:43.780 what a lot of people are wondering is

00:27:44.980 if it didn't violate your policies and

00:27:47.880 they didn't tell you it was fake didn't

00:27:49.180 tell you was hacked why'd you take it

00:27:51.060 down the company made a decision that

00:27:55.040 found that it did violate the policy it

00:27:57.460 wasn't my personal judgment at the time

00:27:59.840 that it did but the decision was

00:28:01.800 communicated to me by my direct

00:28:03.220 supervisor and ultimately I didn't

00:28:05.440 disagree with it enough to object you

00:28:08.080 know you know what you know what I

00:28:09.200 think happened mr. Roth I think I think

00:28:11.500 you guys got played I think you guys

00:28:14.620 wanted to wanted to take it deep down we

00:28:16.960 saw it but the chairman put up where you

00:28:18.580 said you know everyone in the white

00:28:19.820 house isn't as a fascist I think you

00:28:22.060 guys wanted to be taken down I think

00:28:24.980 you meet with these guys every week we

00:28:26.420 know that's been established in the

00:28:27.500 twitter files you had weekly meetings

00:28:28.720 with mr. Chan and the run-up to the

00:28:30.220 election they send you all kinds of

00:28:32.140 emails they send you documents on the

00:28:33.700 super-secret James Bond teleporter you

00:28:36.200 get information on that I think you

00:28:38.660 guys wanted to take it down I think

00:28:40.200 you guys got played by the FBI I think

00:28:43.220 that's a brilliant assessment of of this

00:28:46.340 it was either you got played by the FBI

00:28:48.240 or you knew you were getting played and

00:28:50.100 you went along with it because you

00:28:51.360 didn't want Donald Trump to have a

00:28:52.980 chance to become the president again

00:28:54.560 yeah I think that's right I the only

00:28:57.920 thing about they're getting played by

00:28:59.440 the FBI is they were so willing to get

00:29:02.120 played that I think they were eager to

00:29:04.000 jump in that bed bed along with them

00:29:05.740 that it was they hated Donald Trump

00:29:08.600 they wanted him to lose they wanted

00:29:10.480 Biden to win and they were going to use

00:29:12.300 the power they had to silence any story

00:29:15.580 that was politically problematic for Joe

00:29:17.780 Biden and it was naked politics you know

00:29:21.400 the fact that the FBI was being

00:29:23.600 political and and was urging them to do

00:29:26.880 it made it all the worse because they

00:29:28.480 were essentially conspiring with the FBI

00:29:31.680 and and we've talked a lot on this

00:29:34.320 podcast about the fact that Elon Musk has

00:29:36.560 gone in and bought Twitter and and fired

00:29:39.440 these these left-wing petty

00:29:41.880 authoritarians who believe they had

00:29:44.640 blanket authority to to influence and

00:29:47.940 steal elections to silence and censor

00:29:50.320 anyone they disagreed with to coordinate

00:29:52.340 and act as henchmen on behalf of the

00:29:55.040 federal government silencing their

00:29:57.680 political enemies Elon Musk coming in and

00:30:01.160 firing them was a big deal but I'll tell

00:30:03.960 you even with and Elon's fired I think

00:30:08.200 up to two-thirds of the employees at

00:30:10.400 Twitter and he is running Twitter day in

00:30:13.240 day out but even so there are fighting

00:30:16.220 him that they are still fighting him it

00:30:18.980 is it's reminiscent of the deep state in

00:30:22.200 government where during the Trump

00:30:23.860 administration there'd be good people in

00:30:25.780 a political position and the deep state

00:30:28.140 would fight them a rear-guard action well

00:30:31.100 this week one of the things that

00:30:32.960 happened is Twitter suspended a US

00:30:36.200 senator suspended Steve Daines Steve

00:30:38.100 Daines is senator for Montana a good

00:30:40.300 friend of mine Steve Daines had posted on

00:30:43.680 his profile picture a beautiful picture of

00:30:47.800 Steve and his wife Cindy and an antelope that

00:30:51.200 they had just shot on a hunting trip and

00:30:52.940 it's it's a gorgeous picture and he had it

00:30:54.560 on his profile picture and he woke up

00:30:57.880 Monday morning to find that he was

00:31:00.760 blocked on Twitter they had shut down his

00:31:04.020 senatorial account and the message they

00:31:06.580 had given was delete profile image that he

00:31:09.380 was not going to be allowed to use Twitter

00:31:10.820 until he deleted that image and it was

00:31:12.460 deleted because Twitter said you may not

00:31:16.260 include graphic violence or adult content in

00:31:20.260 your profile header image and graph and we

00:31:24.540 consider graphic violence to be any form of

00:31:27.000 gory media related to death serious injury

00:31:29.740 violence or surgical procedures so

00:31:33.080 apparently hunting qualified and and so

00:31:37.980 Steve Tuesday morning as I was flying to DC for

00:31:42.180 the State of the Union Steve texted me and and and

00:31:45.480 told me he had been banned from Twitter and so

00:31:48.720 I jumped on Twitter to speak up for my friend I

00:31:51.020 sent out a tweet I said ridiculous my friend

00:31:53.980 Steve Daines is in Twitter jail for posting

00:31:56.220 this pic with his wife Cindy if you don't like

00:31:59.360 hunting fine don't go but don't censor others

00:32:04.700 who disagree and I'm pretty sure this is a

00:32:08.820 formal job responsibility for a senator from

00:32:12.300 Montana yeah if you don't if you don't hunt

00:32:14.640 Montana it's pretty hard to get elected

00:32:16.200 statewide it is and and I'll tell you

00:32:19.540 actually I I did a follow-up which is I put a

00:32:21.920 comment on it I said Steve also told me that he

00:32:25.980 was aiming for the balloon but he had an

00:32:28.320 antelope instead well that took you a minute

00:32:33.920 Ben I like the don't go back in editing and take

00:32:37.700 that pause out that pause that there is a lengthy

00:32:40.860 pause there is Ben's processing what I will give you

00:32:44.280 well played when you make a joke that's a good

00:32:46.180 one I'll give you the golf clap for that one I'll

00:32:48.360 give you the golf clap there we go I'll take it

00:32:50.520 um but thankfully I began tweeting about it Mike

00:32:55.020 Lee began tweeting about it and interestingly

00:32:58.060 enough Elon Musk had to get personally involved he

00:33:02.940 reached out directly to Steve Daines the two of them

00:33:05.640 talked on the phone and Elon number one reinstated Steve

00:33:09.980 Daines on Twitter but he had to do it personally and

00:33:12.640 number two he changed the policy so it is no longer their

00:33:15.720 policy to ban you if you put up a picture uh of of of you

00:33:21.280 hunting and and it was uh it number one it was the right

00:33:25.820 thing to do I'm very glad Elon did it but it speaks volumes

00:33:28.940 that you think of the thousands of decisions he has to make

00:33:33.000 every day that he had to get involved at that level of

00:33:35.540 granularity to reverse the decision that was baked into the

00:33:39.920 Twitter operations it also tells you I think about the

00:33:42.460 mindset lastly of those working at Twitter who are just

00:33:47.640 obsessed with their power to silence and censor and to shadow

00:33:51.700 ban people that they just don't like their life and they're

00:33:55.820 willing to do it to United States Senator which means they're

00:33:58.360 obviously more than willing to do it to others and imagine if

00:34:01.860 you're not a U.S. Senator and they find you and we've seen

00:34:04.240 this through the Twitter files and I think this is the part that

00:34:07.080 that Elon Musk is up against it's almost like he has people

00:34:09.860 within Twitter that are willing to have the company destroyed

00:34:12.280 and be a part of destroying the company hoping that he he runs

00:34:15.660 it into the ground actively I would argue working against

00:34:18.940 him just so they can at least make sure that conservatives or

00:34:23.700 people that they disagree with how they live their lives that

00:34:26.660 they're not a vegan that they actually go out and hunt and

00:34:28.780 fish and do other things they're willing to to go all in

00:34:32.500 because they had to know there was going to be a story written 0.98

00:34:35.980 about this it I can't imagine they're dumb enough to think that 0.78

00:34:38.920 Elon Musk wasn't going to hear about it I just think there's a 0.98

00:34:42.800 culture of arrogance that they have the ability to silence look

00:34:47.060 these are the same people that banned Donald Trump if you think

00:34:50.540 okay former president of the United States doesn't matter I can

00:34:54.480 decide to silence them if they can ban the president they can ban

00:34:58.620 anybody and and and the level of arrogance if you disagree with what 1.00

00:35:04.240 what someone says look I think AOC says lots of things that are idiotic 1.00

00:35:07.880 I think Bernie Sanders says lots of things that are idiotic I 1.00

00:35:11.040 wouldn't ban them I wouldn't silence them heck I might even want them to 0.99

00:35:14.900 to get more people hearing what they say I think it actually

00:35:18.180 helps the cause of common sense when people hear

00:35:21.740 the ridiculous things they're saying but but there is a culture

00:35:25.700 and it's not just look what is so significant about what Elon is doing at

00:35:30.380 Twitter is Twitter wasn't acting alone Facebook's doing the same thing

00:35:34.100 Google's doing the same thing YouTube's doing the same thing

00:35:36.640 they're all engaged in it it's just Elon is airing the dirty laundry I'll tell

00:35:41.760 you I spent more than a half hour this week on the phone with Elon

00:35:44.920 talking about the challenges he's facing at Twitter

00:35:48.400 and I'm now the ranking member the senior Republican on the Senate Commerce

00:35:52.280 Committee and we are going to be focusing very directly and vigorously on

00:35:57.060 big tech censorship and I think what what Elon is doing

00:36:01.160 at Twitter is enormously enormously consequential

00:36:04.580 yeah not just for freedom of speech but also to see what happens in the

00:36:08.740 future with big tech senator uh it was it's always a pleasure to get to chat

00:36:12.640 especially on a busy week in Washington this is why I think so many people love

00:36:16.220 listening to verdict you get to see behind the scenes here

00:36:18.960 don't forget to uh make sure you hit that subscribe button

00:36:22.700 or auto download button wherever you're listening to the show

00:36:25.420 so you get the show three days a week we do this Monday Wednesday and Friday

00:36:29.200 we also do a video version so you can see that on YouTube

00:36:32.620 and on Facebook so make sure you follow the senator's page there on Facebook

00:36:36.740 and on YouTube the verdict channel there

00:36:38.600 and we will see you guys back here in a couple days

00:36:41.300 this is an iHeart podcast

00:36:43.180 guaranteed human

00:36:45.300 you

00:36:47.980 yeah

00:36:49.740 yeah

00:37:01.540 yeah

00:37:02.260 yeah

00:37:05.540 yeah

00:37:09.700 yeah

Verdict with Ted Cruz - February 10, 2023

More Biden Balloon Deceptions plus Twitter Bans a US Senator

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