Verdict with Ted Cruz - February 10, 2023


More Biden Balloon Deceptions plus Twitter Bans a US Senator


Episode Stats

Misogynist Sentences

4

Hate Speech Sentences

9


Summary

Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson discuss the Chinese spy balloon that crossed over the entire United States of America, and why Joe Biden was not informed of it until a week after it was shot down by the United States military. Ted and Ben discuss the details of the incident, and the administration's response to it.


Transcript

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
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.
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,
00:02:38.720 but not Alaska, which is asinine.
00:02:43.560 It, I practiced law for a lot of years.
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
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,
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
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
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.
00:15:30.480 Canadian women
00:15:31.300 are looking for more.
00:15:32.620 More out of themselves,
00:15:33.680 their businesses,
00:15:34.620 their elected leaders,
00:15:35.580 and the world around them.
00:15:36.780 And that's why we're thrilled
00:15:37.760 to introduce
00:15:38.420 the Honest Talk podcast.
00:15:40.480 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:15:41.640 And I'm Catherine Clark.
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00:15:46.680 Entrepreneurs,
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00:15:55.680 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast
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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
00:18:19.380 black men
00:18:20.120 every single
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
00:22:12.440 it's a ridiculous
00:22:13.380 point as I said
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
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
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
00:24:47.300 liberal is an ignorant liberal
00:24:48.560 and if you have these types of
00:24:50.060 individuals on the you know on
00:24:52.000 our court system it terrifies
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
00:34:35.980 about this it I can't imagine they're dumb enough to think that
00:34:38.920 Elon Musk wasn't going to hear about it I just think there's a
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
00:35:04.240 what someone says look I think AOC says lots of things that are idiotic
00:35:07.880 I think Bernie Sanders says lots of things that are idiotic I
00:35:11.040 wouldn't ban them I wouldn't silence them heck I might even want them to
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