Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 22, 2022


Predictions Come True


Episode Stats

Length

43 minutes

Words per Minute

175.96428

Word Count

7,605

Sentence Count

649

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

10


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.420 Guaranteed Human.
00:00:03.920 It is the official two-year anniversary
00:00:08.220 of Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:00:10.900 We've just gotten a major win in the Supreme Court.
00:00:15.260 We've gotten a major win in the United States Senate.
00:00:19.340 There's a new, very important First Amendment case
00:00:21.760 going to the Supreme Court
00:00:22.780 that Senator Ted Cruz is actually bringing himself.
00:00:26.300 And we are in the mood to celebrate.
00:00:28.960 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:00:37.020 This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz
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00:03:22.240 Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:03:24.520 I'm Michael Knowles.
00:03:25.820 Senator, nothing's ever perfect in politics.
00:03:29.640 There are some losses.
00:03:30.840 There are some dangers.
00:03:31.840 There are some threats.
00:03:33.500 This has been a good week.
00:03:34.800 It has been a damn good week.
00:03:37.140 The biggest win,
00:03:38.420 before we get into the case
00:03:39.760 that you are actually bringing
00:03:41.120 to the Supreme Court,
00:03:42.680 before we get into that,
00:03:43.800 before we get into the filibuster,
00:03:45.320 which lives, lives to see another day,
00:03:48.020 the OSHA mandate.
00:03:48.960 Yeah.
00:03:49.560 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
00:03:51.660 was demanding that 84 million Americans
00:03:53.760 take the Fauci-ouchie,
00:03:55.400 as some of us call it,
00:03:56.220 the COVID vaccine.
00:03:58.620 Employers were enforcing it.
00:04:00.620 Some people brought a lawsuit.
00:04:02.620 One of the groups was the Daily Wire.
00:04:04.200 We bring a lawsuit,
00:04:05.560 and the Supreme Court strikes,
00:04:07.560 effectively strikes down the mandate.
00:04:10.460 Yeah.
00:04:10.660 No, it was a huge victory for the rule of law.
00:04:12.920 It was a very important case.
00:04:14.600 When the OSHA mandate came out,
00:04:16.400 we talked about it a lot on this podcast.
00:04:18.800 Your employer, the Daily Wire,
00:04:20.280 filed a lawsuit.
00:04:21.040 It was a party in the suit.
00:04:22.340 So we're actually sitting here,
00:04:23.640 both of us,
00:04:24.840 are parties in Supreme Court cases
00:04:27.220 this past week.
00:04:29.320 The OSHA case was huge.
00:04:31.140 And when it came out,
00:04:32.480 we had a podcast at the time
00:04:33.800 where we walked through the legal standards
00:04:35.620 for OSHA promulgating a rule like that.
00:04:38.720 And you'll recall,
00:04:39.860 we said on the pod,
00:04:41.000 we said,
00:04:42.260 number one,
00:04:43.000 we said the Supreme Court's going to strike it down.
00:04:44.880 And in fact,
00:04:45.460 when you and I talked about it,
00:04:46.620 when the case was being argued,
00:04:49.200 I said,
00:04:49.580 I think the decision will be 6-3.
00:04:51.260 I think there will be six votes
00:04:52.420 to strike it down
00:04:53.400 as beyond OSHA's statutory authority,
00:04:56.280 beyond the authority of the federal government.
00:04:59.460 And we also talked about Ron Klain,
00:05:02.040 who was the White House,
00:05:03.200 is the White House chief of staff,
00:05:04.900 who stupidly sent a tweet
00:05:07.500 right when the OSHA mandate issued,
00:05:10.680 where he retweeted
00:05:11.740 that this was a workaround
00:05:13.120 to get around the law.
00:05:15.700 And you'll recall,
00:05:16.620 I talked about,
00:05:17.300 I tweeted at the time
00:05:18.320 and said,
00:05:18.660 this was really dumb.
00:05:20.200 And I promise you,
00:05:21.620 number one,
00:05:23.320 this edict is going to be challenged.
00:05:25.700 Number two,
00:05:26.240 I believe it's going to be struck down in court.
00:05:28.260 And number three,
00:05:29.460 this idiotic tweet from Ron Klain
00:05:31.660 is going to be exhibit A in the lawsuit.
00:05:34.960 And the Supreme Court's decision,
00:05:36.600 6-3 striking it down,
00:05:37.900 what did they cite among other things?
00:05:39.540 Ron Klain's tweet.
00:05:40.400 This seems to be a workaround
00:05:42.240 and that's not legit.
00:05:43.660 So I read the opinion of the court.
00:05:46.360 I read the concurring opinion
00:05:48.400 of the court's conservatives,
00:05:50.320 the three,
00:05:51.040 Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch.
00:05:52.860 And I read the liberal dissent.
00:05:57.640 This is obviously all great news,
00:05:59.340 but it was a little confusing.
00:06:00.580 I'm not a lawyer.
00:06:01.560 I have no,
00:06:02.040 so they were,
00:06:02.880 they stayed the mandate
00:06:05.400 and then they sent the mandate
00:06:06.760 back to the lower court.
00:06:07.980 But okay,
00:06:08.360 so what does that mean?
00:06:08.920 So what they did
00:06:09.680 is they upheld the injunction.
00:06:11.160 So the mandate is enjoined.
00:06:12.520 An injunction is an order from a court
00:06:14.340 either to do something
00:06:15.740 or not to do something.
00:06:16.900 So the injunction
00:06:17.800 means the mandate
00:06:18.960 has no legal force.
00:06:20.440 Okay.
00:06:20.580 But they remanded it
00:06:22.240 to the lower court
00:06:23.560 to have a trial,
00:06:24.760 to consider the claims
00:06:26.140 challenging the mandate.
00:06:28.000 But the reason why
00:06:29.440 this is really good,
00:06:32.380 one of the grounds
00:06:33.540 for upholding the injunction
00:06:34.800 is likelihood of success
00:06:36.760 on the merits.
00:06:37.540 So six justices have said
00:06:39.320 the plaintiffs
00:06:40.360 are likely to succeed.
00:06:41.840 They haven't conclusively said
00:06:44.160 their claims are valid,
00:06:45.080 but they've said
00:06:45.800 they're likely to succeed
00:06:47.020 on the merits.
00:06:47.660 that the OSHA mandate
00:06:51.000 for all intents and purposes
00:06:52.500 is dead.
00:06:55.480 Unfortunately,
00:06:56.040 there was a second decision
00:06:57.220 that came out the same day.
00:06:59.020 And that second decision
00:07:00.840 was 5-4
00:07:03.080 upholding a different vaccine mandate,
00:07:05.600 the vaccine mandate
00:07:06.580 that the Biden administration
00:07:08.440 put on healthcare workers.
00:07:09.860 And it put on healthcare workers
00:07:11.700 in facilities
00:07:12.500 that are receiving federal funds
00:07:14.160 either through Medicare
00:07:15.540 or Medicaid.
00:07:16.080 and that was 5-4.
00:07:19.260 It consisted of
00:07:20.860 the three liberals
00:07:21.700 plus Chief Justice Roberts
00:07:23.500 plus Brett Kavanaugh
00:07:25.520 were the five.
00:07:27.660 And, you know,
00:07:28.440 we talked about before
00:07:29.720 the Supreme Court's decision
00:07:31.100 coming out of New York
00:07:32.000 with healthcare workers
00:07:33.060 where they had refused
00:07:34.600 to stay the decision
00:07:36.100 out of New York.
00:07:37.220 I think that was a mistake.
00:07:38.680 I think this was a mistake.
00:07:40.600 But, look,
00:07:42.100 the three libs,
00:07:43.200 they like all these mandates.
00:07:44.180 It's apparently that Biden
00:07:45.700 can mandate us
00:07:46.600 to do whatever we want
00:07:47.820 to dance on one leg
00:07:49.300 in a pink tutu
00:07:50.280 while singing Yankee Doodle Dandy.
00:07:52.740 The libs more or less
00:07:53.900 say that in the dissent.
00:07:55.360 They say there's basically
00:07:56.380 no limit to what the government
00:07:57.880 can do in this regard.
00:07:59.980 Roberts and Kavanaugh
00:08:01.440 on healthcare workers,
00:08:03.800 they're pretty comfortable
00:08:04.600 with the federal government
00:08:05.760 or the state government.
00:08:06.740 The New York case
00:08:07.380 was a state government issue.
00:08:08.620 Here it's the federal government.
00:08:09.640 But they're pretty comfortable
00:08:10.600 with the federal government
00:08:11.600 forcing state workers,
00:08:13.860 state healthcare workers
00:08:14.800 or just healthcare workers
00:08:15.940 generally,
00:08:16.640 who are receiving
00:08:17.820 government money
00:08:18.640 to have to
00:08:19.600 have to get vaccinated.
00:08:23.000 I think that was
00:08:23.580 a serious mistake.
00:08:24.820 I think they're undervaluing
00:08:26.380 the liberty interest
00:08:27.920 of these
00:08:29.020 these healthcare workers.
00:08:30.580 Because I had this question
00:08:31.560 when I saw Kavanaugh
00:08:32.720 squish
00:08:33.560 and flip to the other side.
00:08:34.920 I thought, well,
00:08:36.040 do do healthcare workers
00:08:37.360 not have the same rights
00:08:38.360 as every other employee?
00:08:39.720 So you remember,
00:08:40.220 we talked about
00:08:40.920 that there are four
00:08:41.660 different mandates
00:08:42.340 that came out.
00:08:43.040 There's a mandate
00:08:43.600 for military servicemen
00:08:46.440 and women.
00:08:46.980 There's a mandate
00:08:47.440 for civilian employees.
00:08:48.660 There's a mandate
00:08:49.060 for federal contractors.
00:08:50.140 There's a mandate
00:08:50.700 for private employers
00:08:52.040 with 100 or more employees
00:08:53.160 under OSHA.
00:08:53.880 Yeah.
00:08:54.520 And I said,
00:08:55.280 they're all in
00:08:56.580 descending likelihood
00:08:59.140 of surviving.
00:09:00.920 Yeah.
00:09:01.400 So the OSHA order
00:09:03.160 was always the most
00:09:04.440 vulnerable legally
00:09:05.240 because the OSHA statute
00:09:06.780 doesn't allow this.
00:09:08.200 This is really
00:09:09.680 a far stretch
00:09:12.300 from what Congress
00:09:13.060 intended on in OSHA,
00:09:14.360 which is why Ron Klain
00:09:15.300 called it a workaround.
00:09:16.360 Right.
00:09:17.680 To be fair,
00:09:18.780 the healthcare workers,
00:09:19.960 there's a stronger
00:09:20.740 statutory argument there.
00:09:22.100 The statutory language
00:09:22.980 is different
00:09:23.500 and so there is
00:09:24.320 a stronger argument.
00:09:25.460 I still think
00:09:26.140 that mandate
00:09:26.980 should have been
00:09:27.440 struck down as well.
00:09:29.260 But there is
00:09:30.900 a meaningful difference
00:09:32.360 in terms of
00:09:33.440 with OSHA,
00:09:36.220 they had zero legs
00:09:37.100 to stand on
00:09:38.000 with the healthcare workers.
00:09:39.320 They didn't even have
00:09:39.860 a leg,
00:09:40.440 but maybe they had a toe.
00:09:42.760 Fair enough.
00:09:43.540 Fair enough.
00:09:43.960 And still,
00:09:44.400 still basically a win.
00:09:46.280 Even if it was unfortunate
00:09:48.460 that the court
00:09:49.300 wouldn't go all the way
00:09:50.560 on this second case,
00:09:52.160 still a major win.
00:09:53.320 84 million Americans
00:09:54.280 don't need to be vaccinated
00:09:55.540 against their will.
00:09:56.260 Well,
00:09:56.540 and I got to say,
00:09:57.260 I take particular pride
00:09:58.720 because not only
00:09:59.340 did we predict
00:10:00.820 at every stage
00:10:01.920 what would happen
00:10:02.720 in this case
00:10:03.380 on the podcast,
00:10:04.980 but the lawyer
00:10:05.840 who argued the case
00:10:06.860 was my former chief counsel.
00:10:09.220 So it's a fellow
00:10:09.800 named Scott Keller.
00:10:10.740 He's a great guy.
00:10:12.900 Scott was actually
00:10:14.500 a student of mine.
00:10:15.420 So I met Scott
00:10:16.340 when I was teaching
00:10:17.240 at University of Texas
00:10:18.000 Law School
00:10:18.480 and he was a law student there.
00:10:21.000 I taught a seminar
00:10:21.800 on U.S. Supreme Court litigation
00:10:23.560 and he took the class.
00:10:27.200 He was excellent in the class,
00:10:28.640 did extraordinary.
00:10:29.360 I gave him an A plus
00:10:30.200 and then I didn't give
00:10:31.340 very many A pluses.
00:10:33.180 He graduated number one
00:10:34.960 in his class
00:10:35.580 at University of Texas Law School.
00:10:37.120 He went and clerked
00:10:37.980 on the Court of Appeals.
00:10:39.060 He clerked for Justice Kennedy
00:10:41.160 on the Supreme Court
00:10:42.160 and I recommended him for that.
00:10:45.880 And then when I,
00:10:46.520 several years later,
00:10:47.480 when I was elected
00:10:48.360 to the Senate,
00:10:49.560 I hired Scott
00:10:50.460 as my first chief counsel.
00:10:51.780 So when I showed up
00:10:52.940 a decade ago
00:10:53.880 in the Senate,
00:10:55.480 Scott,
00:10:55.820 we were down in the basement.
00:10:57.000 I'd just gotten here.
00:10:57.740 When you first get here,
00:10:58.580 you don't even have
00:10:58.960 a real office.
00:10:59.700 You're sort of
00:11:00.060 in temporary space
00:11:01.040 and you're just
00:11:01.560 trying to figure out everything.
00:11:03.420 So Scott spent
00:11:04.300 a couple of years with me
00:11:05.880 as my chief counsel
00:11:07.760 and then actually
00:11:08.560 came and quit.
00:11:10.220 And here's why I quit.
00:11:12.140 Because he'd been appointed
00:11:13.440 to be the Solicitor General
00:11:15.500 of Texas.
00:11:16.360 Not a bad gig.
00:11:17.400 And it's my old job.
00:11:18.400 It's a job I loved.
00:11:19.840 I did five and a half years.
00:11:21.240 And when Scott
00:11:22.500 gave his notice,
00:11:23.160 I was really sad.
00:11:24.560 Like I didn't want
00:11:25.140 to lose him
00:11:25.600 because he's
00:11:25.880 a really talented lawyer.
00:11:27.480 But I couldn't complain
00:11:28.880 because SG of Texas
00:11:30.800 is an amazing job.
00:11:34.000 And you get to argue cases.
00:11:35.380 You get to argue cases.
00:11:36.780 So Scott has now
00:11:37.520 argued more cases
00:11:38.320 than I did.
00:11:38.800 I argued nine cases.
00:11:40.640 He,
00:11:41.100 when he argued
00:11:42.180 his 10th case,
00:11:43.040 I called him that morning
00:11:44.140 and said,
00:11:44.480 all right,
00:11:44.720 screw you.
00:11:45.740 I just had to say
00:11:46.780 that as a former boss,
00:11:47.700 I had to like
00:11:48.220 throw that marker down.
00:11:49.160 So now I have to ask you,
00:11:50.200 obviously you're not
00:11:50.760 going to be arguing a case
00:11:52.220 before the Supreme Court
00:11:53.180 right now,
00:11:53.760 but are you bringing
00:11:55.560 this case before
00:11:56.480 the Supreme Court
00:11:57.100 just to beat
00:11:58.300 your old general counsel?
00:12:00.000 Well, no,
00:12:00.860 but there was a separate case.
00:12:02.580 So we're sitting here,
00:12:03.500 we're recording this
00:12:04.180 on Wednesday.
00:12:05.100 This morning,
00:12:06.660 the Supreme Court
00:12:07.720 heard an oral argument.
00:12:08.800 The very first case
00:12:09.940 was Federal Election
00:12:11.180 Commission
00:12:11.700 versus Ted Cruz.
00:12:12.740 and I am the plaintiff.
00:12:15.460 I have sued
00:12:16.100 the Federal Election Commission
00:12:17.280 seeking to strike down
00:12:19.940 a provision
00:12:20.700 of McCain-Feingold,
00:12:21.800 the big campaign
00:12:22.460 finance legislation.
00:12:23.840 It's a terrible piece
00:12:24.580 of legislation.
00:12:26.360 It has all sorts
00:12:27.440 of problems,
00:12:28.300 but at the heart of it,
00:12:30.320 McCain-Feingold
00:12:31.140 was all about
00:12:32.040 incumbent politicians
00:12:33.180 wanting to make it harder
00:12:34.900 for anyone to run
00:12:35.780 against them
00:12:36.320 and challenge them.
00:12:37.140 It was about
00:12:37.640 the one thing
00:12:38.480 Republicans and Democrats
00:12:39.560 could agree on
00:12:40.280 is nobody should beat us
00:12:42.060 in an election.
00:12:42.740 So McCain-Feingold
00:12:43.640 is throwing barriers
00:12:45.020 in the way of challenge.
00:12:45.880 This doesn't make sense,
00:12:46.780 though,
00:12:46.860 because I was reading
00:12:47.700 a lot of left-wing
00:12:48.520 news sources today
00:12:49.420 that were all telling me
00:12:50.880 about the case,
00:12:51.660 and they say that Ted Cruz
00:12:52.940 is bringing a lawsuit
00:12:54.680 before the Supreme Court
00:12:55.660 to make it easier
00:12:57.160 to bribe and corrupt politicians
00:12:59.860 and to make this swamp land
00:13:02.360 even swampier.
00:13:03.900 Are you telling me
00:13:04.580 that the left-wing media
00:13:05.320 got it wrong?
00:13:05.840 You're right.
00:13:06.260 That's every headline
00:13:07.320 is Cruz wants more bribery.
00:13:09.960 And even for the media,
00:13:11.400 that's a little dishonest.
00:13:12.680 So there were two provisions
00:13:14.620 of McCain-Feingold
00:13:16.280 that were called
00:13:16.800 the Millionaire's Amendment.
00:13:18.480 So incumbent politicians
00:13:20.600 hate anyone
00:13:21.720 that can challenge them.
00:13:23.480 They particularly hate
00:13:24.620 people who have money.
00:13:25.600 So if you get
00:13:26.200 a really rich person
00:13:27.020 that runs against you,
00:13:28.000 that's really problematic
00:13:29.140 because then they can run ads
00:13:30.360 and communicate
00:13:30.840 and you've got a problem.
00:13:32.120 So the Millionaire's Amendment,
00:13:33.360 half of it said
00:13:34.360 that if someone self-finances
00:13:36.600 and puts a whole bunch
00:13:37.360 of money into his own campaign,
00:13:38.880 that the federal limits
00:13:41.440 for the other guy
00:13:42.360 are tripled.
00:13:43.720 So instead of $2,900 a person,
00:13:45.720 it's nearly $9,000 a person.
00:13:48.660 And that's entirely designed
00:13:50.720 to benefit incumbents
00:13:52.740 and to discourage rich people
00:13:54.500 from running against them.
00:13:55.860 Well, the Supreme Court
00:13:56.700 a few years ago
00:13:57.460 struck that half
00:13:58.420 of the Millionaire's Amendment down
00:13:59.500 and said,
00:13:59.840 look, if someone decides
00:14:00.800 to run for office,
00:14:01.560 if they want to invest
00:14:02.400 their own resources
00:14:03.200 and speak,
00:14:04.380 you have a right to speech
00:14:05.420 and that means
00:14:06.280 spending your own money
00:14:07.520 to speak,
00:14:08.140 if you want to put
00:14:09.340 a billboard on the freeway,
00:14:10.560 if you want to run
00:14:11.040 a radio ad or a TV ad,
00:14:12.400 all of that is political speech.
00:14:14.280 So that was half
00:14:15.120 of the Millionaire's Amendment
00:14:15.940 that was struck down
00:14:16.620 several years ago.
00:14:18.100 The other half
00:14:19.080 of the Millionaire's Amendment
00:14:19.880 is what this case
00:14:20.640 is all about.
00:14:21.900 And it's a provision
00:14:23.100 that limits the ability
00:14:24.580 of a candidate
00:14:25.240 who's running for office
00:14:26.380 to loan money
00:14:27.720 to his own campaign.
00:14:28.860 So the way it works,
00:14:29.680 let's say Michael Knowles
00:14:31.220 wakes up and says,
00:14:32.080 I'm going to run for Congress.
00:14:33.520 And you'd say,
00:14:34.420 get this man to a psychiatrist
00:14:35.800 who's lost his mind.
00:14:37.540 But you're incurable.
00:14:38.920 And you say,
00:14:39.640 I'm going to run,
00:14:40.560 I'm taking on AOC,
00:14:42.140 I'm moving to New York.
00:14:43.220 My old district.
00:14:44.160 We're going
00:14:44.800 and I'm going to win.
00:14:45.780 Now, if you're starting,
00:14:48.000 you know,
00:14:48.240 you may not have
00:14:49.620 a lot of supporters.
00:14:50.520 You're not an incumbent politician.
00:14:51.940 You don't have lobbyists
00:14:52.780 probably supporting you.
00:14:53.700 You don't have the infrastructure
00:14:54.940 that an incumbent has.
00:14:56.400 So what a lot of people do
00:14:58.180 if they launch a campaign
00:14:59.400 is they loan themselves
00:15:01.080 some money.
00:15:01.940 So they have some money,
00:15:03.020 some savings,
00:15:03.680 and they put some money
00:15:04.460 in to start the campaign.
00:15:06.400 What McCain-Feingold said
00:15:08.020 is if you loan your,
00:15:09.380 if you loan your own money
00:15:10.700 to your campaign,
00:15:11.980 after the election,
00:15:14.680 you can only pay yourself back
00:15:17.020 up to $250,000 of it.
00:15:19.400 Okay.
00:15:20.460 Anything above $250,000
00:15:22.540 with money that is raised
00:15:24.000 after the campaign,
00:15:25.140 you can't pay back
00:15:26.140 and you're just stuck.
00:15:28.340 And by the way,
00:15:29.220 when you talk,
00:15:30.160 especially about
00:15:30.680 competitive districts,
00:15:32.060 these campaigns
00:15:33.380 can cost millions
00:15:34.380 and millions of dollars.
00:15:35.700 So $250,000
00:15:37.100 is not as much
00:15:38.220 as it sounds like.
00:15:39.160 So, and what this
00:15:40.000 is designed to do
00:15:41.120 is it's designed
00:15:42.700 to disincentive
00:15:43.780 challengers.
00:15:44.820 So, look,
00:15:45.620 if you're a gazillionaire,
00:15:46.580 and by the way,
00:15:46.980 we're seeing more and more
00:15:47.760 billionaires running for office.
00:15:49.220 If you're a billionaire,
00:15:50.500 you don't care.
00:15:51.320 You can put $5, $10,
00:15:52.500 $20 million
00:15:53.000 into your campaign.
00:15:54.040 You don't matter.
00:15:54.440 You're so rich,
00:15:55.000 it doesn't make a difference.
00:15:55.660 You never need it back.
00:15:56.440 So, this is not
00:15:57.440 a disincentive
00:15:58.760 to the super rich.
00:15:59.860 Yeah.
00:16:00.660 And we're actually seeing
00:16:02.300 more and more billionaires
00:16:03.560 who are running for office
00:16:04.580 because they have
00:16:05.340 the massive money.
00:16:06.780 What this is an incentive to
00:16:08.340 is the small business owner.
00:16:09.980 What this is an incentive to
00:16:11.080 is the doctor.
00:16:11.960 This is the somewhat rich.
00:16:13.520 It's not the super rich,
00:16:14.380 it's the somewhat.
00:16:14.940 Who has enough money
00:16:16.080 that you could invest
00:16:17.100 a substantial amount of money.
00:16:18.560 You could invest
00:16:19.380 $500,000.
00:16:20.900 You can invest a million dollars.
00:16:22.120 You've saved.
00:16:22.920 You put your money
00:16:23.780 in the bank.
00:16:24.280 You've saved.
00:16:25.160 And you can invest the money
00:16:26.200 in a congressional race
00:16:27.180 if you could put
00:16:27.760 $500,000 or a million.
00:16:29.300 That gives you a real shot
00:16:30.780 at communicating.
00:16:32.320 This is designed
00:16:33.300 to punish that guy
00:16:34.280 and say,
00:16:34.680 well, you know what?
00:16:35.420 Let's say you worked hard.
00:16:37.640 You're a physician.
00:16:38.780 You've got a million dollars
00:16:39.620 in the bank.
00:16:40.280 You loan it to the campaign.
00:16:41.920 You spent every penny
00:16:43.240 of it on the campaign.
00:16:44.980 You can pay back $250,000
00:16:46.960 and $750,000 of it.
00:16:48.940 Tough luck, Michael.
00:16:49.860 You have given it
00:16:50.800 to the United States of America.
00:16:52.740 You don't get it back.
00:16:53.660 And so that's what
00:16:55.780 the existing law is.
00:16:57.140 And so what I did in 2018
00:16:58.480 is I loaned my campaign
00:17:01.660 $260,000.
00:17:03.740 Now, that's a very specific number,
00:17:05.640 Senator.
00:17:06.100 It is.
00:17:07.000 It's $10,000 more
00:17:08.300 than the limit.
00:17:09.640 So I loaned my campaign
00:17:11.020 $260,000 right before the election
00:17:13.160 and then 20 days after the election.
00:17:15.380 A little bit later than that,
00:17:16.720 I repaid myself $250,000,
00:17:19.060 which is what you're allowed to do.
00:17:20.080 So there's $10,000
00:17:21.180 that under the law,
00:17:23.160 it's illegal for me
00:17:23.940 to pay myself back.
00:17:25.580 And I did that
00:17:26.940 in order to file this lawsuit.
00:17:28.740 Now, as I was just reading it,
00:17:30.580 obviously you can tell it better
00:17:31.960 because you were there.
00:17:33.160 The lawyer for the government
00:17:35.200 is saying that
00:17:36.240 this case should be dismissed.
00:17:37.680 It should be thrown out
00:17:38.360 because you obviously
00:17:39.780 were doing something
00:17:41.100 that you knew was against the law.
00:17:42.280 You were just trying
00:17:42.720 to trigger this court case.
00:17:44.340 Yeah, that was an argument
00:17:45.360 that the Biden Justice Department made.
00:17:47.420 That's a really weak argument.
00:17:49.000 So if you look at,
00:17:50.160 there are lots of cases
00:17:51.280 that are test cases,
00:17:52.700 that if there's an illegal
00:17:53.800 or unconstitutional law,
00:17:55.380 you're allowed to challenge it
00:17:57.580 and you're allowed to violate that law
00:18:01.960 to challenge it.
00:18:02.940 You're allowed to create the facts.
00:18:05.320 And there are literally
00:18:06.820 hundreds of test cases
00:18:08.540 where people,
00:18:10.260 you know,
00:18:11.980 if the government makes it illegal
00:18:15.260 for Michael Knowles
00:18:17.680 to defend the right to life.
00:18:20.340 Yeah.
00:18:20.980 You know, the government said,
00:18:22.240 well, you chose to say it.
00:18:23.540 You chose to violate it.
00:18:24.900 You could have just obeyed.
00:18:26.260 Why didn't you?
00:18:26.880 Yeah.
00:18:27.160 So dismiss the case.
00:18:28.380 Right.
00:18:28.580 Or it's out of here.
00:18:29.160 And so that argument
00:18:30.080 is not going to go anywhere.
00:18:32.120 I'll say the argument,
00:18:33.180 I think, went well.
00:18:33.960 I hope so.
00:18:35.480 The lawyer who argued it
00:18:37.020 is a guy named Chuck Cooper,
00:18:38.360 who is a very close friend of mine.
00:18:40.720 He was my first boss
00:18:41.760 when I came out of my clerkship.
00:18:43.500 And so I clerked
00:18:46.020 for Chief Justice William Rehnquist
00:18:47.320 on the Supreme Court.
00:18:49.180 I came out of the clerkship in 1997
00:18:51.220 and I joined Chuck
00:18:52.620 at what was then
00:18:53.420 a tiny little law firm
00:18:54.740 that was called Cooper and Carvin.
00:18:56.780 And it was Chuck Coopers,
00:18:57.920 Mike Carvin.
00:18:59.140 Law firm had six lawyers in it.
00:19:00.920 It was all of nine months old.
00:19:02.800 And Chuck had been also a clerk for Rehnquist.
00:19:05.660 So he was a former Rehnquist clerk.
00:19:07.540 He's one of the top
00:19:08.540 Supreme Court litigators in the country.
00:19:09.940 And he was my first boss.
00:19:11.120 And so I went to work for him
00:19:13.160 to learn how to be a lawyer.
00:19:14.960 He really taught me
00:19:16.540 how to be a lawyer.
00:19:18.980 And so he's representing me
00:19:20.500 in this case.
00:19:21.000 And he's a dear, dear friend.
00:19:23.560 He did a terrific job.
00:19:25.440 And I will say, look,
00:19:26.700 it's never absolutely clear
00:19:30.980 how a case is going to come out.
00:19:32.220 I think on the merits,
00:19:33.960 there are clearly
00:19:34.760 a majority of justices
00:19:36.140 who agree that this provision
00:19:38.060 is unconstitutional.
00:19:39.600 Okay.
00:19:40.880 The Department of Justice
00:19:42.120 is trying to raise
00:19:43.080 lots of procedural issues
00:19:44.740 that basically are saying,
00:19:46.320 don't get to the merits.
00:19:47.560 Don't address
00:19:48.200 whether the law is constitutional.
00:19:50.420 And so they're throwing
00:19:51.540 a lot of muck in the air
00:19:52.680 trying to say,
00:19:53.460 avoid the actual question
00:19:54.820 of the lawsuit.
00:19:55.440 I hope the court doesn't do that.
00:19:56.660 I hope they actually
00:19:57.480 answer the question.
00:19:59.480 Because this provision
00:20:00.940 really is designed,
00:20:03.720 and by the way,
00:20:04.340 if you look at the proponents of it,
00:20:05.900 if you look at Harry Reid,
00:20:06.880 you look actually
00:20:07.360 Kay Bailey Hutchison,
00:20:08.380 my predecessor in the Senate,
00:20:09.760 they got up and said,
00:20:11.300 this is to make it harder
00:20:12.560 for people to challenge us.
00:20:13.960 This is all about
00:20:15.160 protecting incumbents
00:20:16.860 and protecting the super wealthy,
00:20:19.520 the billionaires,
00:20:20.460 and it's about hurting
00:20:22.220 the small business owner,
00:20:24.740 the doctor,
00:20:25.540 the entrepreneur,
00:20:26.400 the person who wants
00:20:27.240 to run for Congress
00:20:28.100 because they want to be
00:20:28.800 Mr. Smith going to Washington.
00:20:30.580 They want to challenge the swamp.
00:20:32.300 So what's the swamp want to do?
00:20:33.820 Make it a lot harder
00:20:34.720 to challenge the swamp.
00:20:35.580 Now, speaking of incumbent senators
00:20:37.380 who are desperately
00:20:38.320 trying to hold on to power,
00:20:40.240 there has been a major push
00:20:42.280 from the Biden administration
00:20:44.280 and the Democrat senators
00:20:45.520 and Chuck Schumer
00:20:46.180 to get rid of the filibuster.
00:20:49.280 Before they lose their elections,
00:20:50.820 which increasingly,
00:20:51.640 it looks like,
00:20:52.100 is going to happen in November,
00:20:54.080 they are trying to
00:20:55.360 get through any legislation,
00:20:57.140 and they can't do that right now
00:20:58.060 because they don't have enough votes
00:21:01.040 to get through the 60-vote threshold.
00:21:03.540 And I think,
00:21:04.740 you know it more closely than I do,
00:21:07.420 I think that the attempt
00:21:08.820 to kill the filibuster
00:21:09.760 is just as dead as the OSHA mandate.
00:21:12.280 Am I right?
00:21:14.020 Hopefully, yes,
00:21:14.840 and I think you are.
00:21:15.900 Okay.
00:21:16.180 So you and I were recording this
00:21:18.140 Wednesday late afternoon.
00:21:20.280 As soon as we finish recording this,
00:21:22.360 I'm going to get up,
00:21:23.180 literally in a half hour,
00:21:24.320 I'm going to be on the Senate floor,
00:21:25.760 and we're having
00:21:26.420 the filibuster fight tonight.
00:21:28.180 So I have not yet had that battle,
00:21:29.840 but in about half hour, we will.
00:21:32.360 What is going to happen
00:21:33.780 is that Chuck Schumer
00:21:35.960 is going to file cloture
00:21:37.860 on their federal election
00:21:40.200 takeover legislation.
00:21:42.300 Cloture takes 60 votes.
00:21:44.700 It's going to fail.
00:21:46.480 He will probably get all the Democrats.
00:21:48.200 It'll probably be 50-50,
00:21:49.580 but it will fail
00:21:51.140 because 50 is not 60.
00:21:54.120 They then, I think,
00:21:55.380 will yabber a while
00:21:56.340 because they want to make us
00:21:57.440 listen to them yabber.
00:21:58.380 And then what he's going to do
00:22:01.400 likely is file a motion
00:22:03.340 to reconsider,
00:22:05.760 and he will challenge,
00:22:08.080 he will inquire of the chair
00:22:09.780 whether it takes 50 or 60 votes
00:22:13.020 to proceed to cloture.
00:22:15.600 The chair will reject his claim.
00:22:17.820 We'll say it takes 60,
00:22:19.620 assuming the chair follows the law.
00:22:21.220 Right.
00:22:21.480 In which case,
00:22:24.860 Schumer will move to appeal.
00:22:27.440 He will appeal the ruling of the chair.
00:22:29.740 That's what's called the nuclear option.
00:22:31.480 So the rules of the Senate,
00:22:33.480 they're written down.
00:22:34.540 They're in a book.
00:22:34.980 We all have that book in our desks.
00:22:36.500 You have the rules of the Senate.
00:22:37.640 The rules of the Senate say
00:22:38.560 cloture takes 60 votes.
00:22:39.860 That's literally black and white
00:22:41.240 typed in the type of the rules.
00:22:42.860 Now, you can change the rules of the Senate.
00:22:44.760 Right.
00:22:44.980 To change the rules of the Senate
00:22:46.640 takes 67 senators.
00:22:48.340 So it's a higher threshold.
00:22:49.560 67 senators can agree
00:22:50.880 to change the rules of the Senate.
00:22:52.840 They don't have 67 senators.
00:22:55.220 There is one other way to do it,
00:22:56.780 and it's what's called the nuclear option.
00:22:58.980 So Schumer will appeal
00:23:00.440 the ruling of the chair.
00:23:02.760 Any ruling of the chair can be appealed.
00:23:05.780 To overturn the ruling of the chair
00:23:07.920 just takes 50 votes.
00:23:10.120 Takes a majority.
00:23:11.080 Doesn't take 60.
00:23:12.000 And then the Senate is weird.
00:23:13.180 If the ruling of the chair is overturned,
00:23:16.660 that becomes a precedent.
00:23:19.300 And they actually keep a book
00:23:20.200 of all the precedents of the Senate.
00:23:22.320 And that precedent has the same force
00:23:24.920 as the rules written on paper.
00:23:27.060 So in other words,
00:23:28.280 if Schumer succeeds,
00:23:31.240 he will break the rules of the Senate
00:23:33.000 in order to change the rules of the Senate.
00:23:35.780 So now you'll have these two rules
00:23:37.600 written down on the paper,
00:23:38.640 and the new one beats the old one.
00:23:40.280 Right.
00:23:40.580 And the new one is just a precedent.
00:23:41.880 It's just a majority of the Senate
00:23:44.080 voted that this is now the rules,
00:23:45.640 so the old ones written on the paper
00:23:47.060 don't matter anymore.
00:23:47.960 Right.
00:23:48.720 Now, the good news is,
00:23:50.120 I think the odds are extremely likely,
00:23:53.220 hopefully certain,
00:23:55.040 that Schumer's going to fail.
00:23:56.700 And the reason for that
00:24:00.000 is that there are two senators,
00:24:02.380 two Democrats,
00:24:02.920 who have been explicit saying
00:24:04.300 they're not going to participate
00:24:05.300 in nuking the filibuster.
00:24:07.820 Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema.
00:24:09.720 Kyrsten Sinema last week
00:24:10.780 gave a speech on the Senate floor.
00:24:12.180 I was sitting on the floor.
00:24:13.040 I heard her speech
00:24:13.740 where she drew a line and said,
00:24:16.320 I will not do this.
00:24:17.680 This will destroy the Senate.
00:24:18.960 It will destroy bipartisanship.
00:24:20.520 Mind you,
00:24:21.780 one of the illustrations
00:24:22.700 of just how nasty and partisan
00:24:26.140 ending the filibuster
00:24:27.180 would make the Senate,
00:24:28.620 that same week,
00:24:30.560 Joe Biden was down in Georgia
00:24:32.260 giving this racist,
00:24:36.760 nasty, divisive speech,
00:24:39.320 partisan speech.
00:24:40.300 He called half the country
00:24:41.840 Bull Connor racists.
00:24:44.000 He called every Republican in America
00:24:45.720 a Bull Connor racist.
00:24:47.140 He called Joe Manchin.
00:24:48.220 Literally, by the way.
00:24:48.760 He literally said,
00:24:49.480 you are like Bull Connor.
00:24:50.760 You are like George Wallace.
00:24:52.400 It was hateful.
00:24:53.960 Now, set aside the irony
00:24:55.100 that Bull Connor
00:24:55.800 and George Wallace
00:24:56.780 were Democrats.
00:24:58.280 Set aside the irony
00:24:59.300 that Joe Biden
00:25:00.180 literally gave a eulogy
00:25:01.840 at Robert Byrd's funeral
00:25:03.720 and an exalted Cyclops,
00:25:06.360 the Ku Klux Klan.
00:25:08.260 So if anyone has no standing
00:25:10.820 to be on his high horse
00:25:12.020 on racial grounds,
00:25:13.400 it's Joseph Biden.
00:25:16.340 What?
00:25:17.140 That kind of speech
00:25:18.620 is just,
00:25:21.700 not only do they not want
00:25:23.360 any Republicans,
00:25:24.640 Susan Collins is too conservative
00:25:26.120 for them,
00:25:26.520 Mitt Romney is too conservative
00:25:27.780 for them.
00:25:28.860 Now they don't even want Democrats.
00:25:30.880 Manchin and Sinema,
00:25:32.420 today you've got Bernie Sanders
00:25:34.240 talking about he's going to support
00:25:35.740 primary challengers
00:25:37.000 to Manchin and Sinema.
00:25:39.060 And Chuck Schumer said
00:25:39.960 he didn't know if he would support
00:25:41.200 his own caucus.
00:25:42.900 It is ugly.
00:25:47.080 Assuming Sinema and Manchin
00:25:48.640 don't blink,
00:25:49.340 and I don't think they will
00:25:50.500 at this point.
00:25:51.040 If it was just one of them,
00:25:52.240 the rest,
00:25:52.640 I would be more nervous.
00:25:53.780 Right.
00:25:54.260 With the two of them,
00:25:55.260 I'm hoping each bucks
00:25:56.540 the other up.
00:25:57.300 And just as a matter
00:25:58.180 of practical politics,
00:26:00.460 person-to-person politics,
00:26:01.500 the Democrats seem to be doing
00:26:03.020 everything they can
00:26:04.240 to irritate Manchin and Sinema,
00:26:07.420 chasing them into bathrooms
00:26:09.620 and filming them.
00:26:10.840 Well, I've got to say
00:26:11.460 with Manchin,
00:26:12.280 you know,
00:26:12.480 come on in,
00:26:12.940 the water's warm.
00:26:14.000 As I told Joe
00:26:15.140 several weeks ago,
00:26:16.440 you know,
00:26:16.680 one of the two parties
00:26:17.460 actually likes you.
00:26:18.580 Right, right.
00:26:20.640 Now you want to,
00:26:21.380 so, but,
00:26:23.180 the odds are very,
00:26:24.760 very high
00:26:25.280 that tonight
00:26:26.080 Schumer will fail.
00:26:28.380 To be honest,
00:26:28.960 this is performance theater
00:26:30.180 for Schumer's primary
00:26:31.700 in New York
00:26:32.360 that he doesn't want
00:26:33.240 AOC to primary him.
00:26:34.200 So he's trying to appease
00:26:35.760 the radical left
00:26:36.720 by failing tonight.
00:26:38.220 So he's setting it up
00:26:39.040 to fail tonight.
00:26:39.660 It'll be interesting
00:26:40.260 to see if Kamala Harris
00:26:41.420 is in the seat
00:26:42.120 as a presiding officer.
00:26:43.320 My bet is she will be
00:26:44.440 because, you know,
00:26:45.620 if you're going to have
00:26:46.100 a big failure,
00:26:46.680 you do need Kamala
00:26:47.540 to preside over it.
00:26:48.560 And that's literally-
00:26:49.680 It's just fitting.
00:26:51.420 It's the way they think.
00:26:53.000 Yeah.
00:26:53.140 It is all about
00:26:54.500 appease the crazy left.
00:26:57.540 This is going to fail tonight,
00:26:58.940 but you want to hear
00:26:59.640 something really ironic?
00:27:02.480 Okay,
00:27:02.880 so we were supposed
00:27:03.540 to be on recess this week.
00:27:05.980 Schumer is a terrible
00:27:06.940 majority leader.
00:27:07.640 He doesn't actually know
00:27:08.220 how to run the Senate,
00:27:09.020 and so he had to, like,
00:27:10.160 cancel the recess
00:27:10.760 and come back
00:27:11.420 to do this performance theater
00:27:13.060 and failed night.
00:27:14.780 I actually,
00:27:15.560 on my flight out here today,
00:27:17.180 Rand Paul was on the flight
00:27:18.780 because he was called back
00:27:19.760 and had to vote on this.
00:27:20.540 And we're all here.
00:27:21.360 Every Republican
00:27:21.920 has to be here.
00:27:24.400 You know,
00:27:24.960 if they could knock
00:27:25.940 one of us off,
00:27:26.600 they could win
00:27:27.020 this filibuster fight.
00:27:27.920 So we're like,
00:27:29.100 you know,
00:27:29.900 you know,
00:27:30.180 we've got tasters right now.
00:27:31.200 Put it over your shoulder.
00:27:32.220 Right.
00:27:34.980 It's,
00:27:35.540 for two weeks,
00:27:38.520 they've given speeches
00:27:40.460 about how the filibuster
00:27:43.120 is a Jim Crow relic
00:27:46.740 from racist times.
00:27:48.860 The filibuster is evil.
00:27:50.600 Do you know what
00:27:53.100 the very last thing
00:27:55.240 the Democrats did was
00:27:56.940 for today?
00:27:58.380 No,
00:28:00.320 no,
00:28:00.660 I have no idea,
00:28:02.260 Senator.
00:28:02.560 Let me,
00:28:03.060 the last thing
00:28:03.880 the Democrats did
00:28:04.840 last week
00:28:06.820 was filibuster
00:28:09.340 my bill
00:28:11.360 sanctioning Russia,
00:28:14.000 sanctioning Nord Stream 2.
00:28:15.380 Now,
00:28:15.480 we've talked a lot
00:28:16.100 about Nord Stream 2.
00:28:17.000 You know,
00:28:17.340 if they didn't have
00:28:18.480 double standards,
00:28:19.540 they would have
00:28:20.460 no standards at all.
00:28:23.300 Literally,
00:28:24.140 as they're giving speeches,
00:28:25.620 the filibuster is racist.
00:28:26.940 Let's filibuster this.
00:28:27.780 Like,
00:28:28.220 simultaneously.
00:28:30.840 And I gotta say,
00:28:31.920 it was amazing.
00:28:32.560 So this vote,
00:28:33.640 the vote we had last week
00:28:34.780 was a big,
00:28:35.600 big deal on Nord Stream 2.
00:28:36.900 So this is
00:28:37.520 about this pipeline,
00:28:39.500 and it's really about
00:28:40.220 the future of Ukraine
00:28:41.400 vis-a-vis Russia
00:28:42.480 and vis-a-vis the West.
00:28:43.480 Yeah,
00:28:43.680 so the history of it,
00:28:45.340 we've talked a lot
00:28:46.220 about Ukraine
00:28:46.960 on this show.
00:28:48.940 We started off
00:28:49.780 two years ago
00:28:50.780 with impeachment
00:28:52.460 and Ukraine
00:28:53.180 and Burisma,
00:28:53.920 and we talked about
00:28:54.460 how Ukraine
00:28:55.040 used to be part
00:28:55.680 of the Soviet Union.
00:28:56.460 And when the Soviet Union
00:28:58.200 collapsed,
00:28:58.740 Ukraine became
00:28:59.380 an independent nation.
00:29:01.120 Ukrainians don't like
00:29:02.020 the Russians.
00:29:02.600 The Russians want
00:29:03.300 to control and dominate
00:29:04.420 Ukraine
00:29:05.020 and many of their neighbors,
00:29:06.460 most of their neighbors.
00:29:07.980 And Putin,
00:29:09.240 look,
00:29:09.480 Putin is a KGB thug.
00:29:11.520 He has said
00:29:12.540 one of the most candid
00:29:13.500 things he's ever said
00:29:14.560 is he's said
00:29:16.000 that he thinks
00:29:16.480 the greatest
00:29:17.020 geopolitical disaster
00:29:18.360 of the 20th century
00:29:19.500 was the dissolution
00:29:21.000 of the Soviet Union.
00:29:21.840 And so Putin
00:29:23.600 longs
00:29:25.120 to reassemble
00:29:26.340 the Soviet Union
00:29:27.180 and have Russia.
00:29:28.400 He wants Soviet
00:29:29.440 greatness again.
00:29:30.820 And if you're
00:29:31.780 reassembling
00:29:32.320 the Soviet Union,
00:29:33.160 there's nothing
00:29:33.600 you want more
00:29:34.220 than Ukraine.
00:29:34.940 Ukraine is
00:29:35.520 the breadbasket.
00:29:37.940 Now,
00:29:39.140 Putin has invaded
00:29:40.180 Ukraine before.
00:29:41.200 He did it in 2014.
00:29:42.540 Remember Crimea?
00:29:43.400 That's part of Ukraine.
00:29:45.260 Putin marched in
00:29:46.120 and invaded it
00:29:46.760 and took it over.
00:29:47.620 And kept it.
00:29:48.360 And kept it.
00:29:48.940 But he stopped.
00:29:51.580 He didn't continue
00:29:52.820 invading Ukraine.
00:29:53.740 He stopped short.
00:29:55.140 Why did he stop short?
00:29:56.940 Well,
00:29:57.240 the reason is
00:29:58.240 that right now
00:30:00.440 Russia's major export
00:30:02.020 is natural gas and oil.
00:30:03.520 That's,
00:30:03.640 that's,
00:30:04.500 Putin is basically
00:30:05.360 a petro tyrant.
00:30:07.700 And to get
00:30:08.740 his natural gas
00:30:09.760 to Europe,
00:30:10.500 who's the major
00:30:11.120 consumer of it,
00:30:12.520 it goes through
00:30:13.220 pipelines that go
00:30:14.140 right through Ukraine.
00:30:15.380 So Putin's sitting there
00:30:16.680 going,
00:30:16.960 well,
00:30:17.020 if I march into Ukraine,
00:30:18.300 they could damage
00:30:20.700 or destroy those pipelines.
00:30:22.060 And if they damage
00:30:22.760 or destroy those pipelines,
00:30:24.440 suddenly Russia
00:30:25.500 can't get the gas
00:30:26.560 to Europe
00:30:27.080 and we're screwed.
00:30:28.760 So Putin was mad
00:30:29.880 because he's like,
00:30:30.600 I want to invade them,
00:30:32.040 but they've got
00:30:32.480 a stranglehold
00:30:33.300 on our ability
00:30:33.840 to get gas to Europe.
00:30:35.120 So suddenly,
00:30:36.440 I can't invade them.
00:30:38.500 So what did he do?
00:30:39.480 The next year,
00:30:41.240 Putin launched
00:30:41.940 a project
00:30:42.440 called Nord Stream 2.
00:30:43.720 And it was,
00:30:44.360 let's build
00:30:44.660 an undersea pipeline
00:30:45.760 that skips Ukraine
00:30:47.580 all together
00:30:48.140 goes under the ocean
00:30:49.120 and goes straight
00:30:49.760 from Russia to Germany.
00:30:51.340 And that pipeline,
00:30:52.600 once it's complete,
00:30:53.420 we don't have to worry
00:30:54.000 about Ukraine
00:30:54.580 and the energy infrastructure.
00:30:55.580 We can march in
00:30:56.220 and take it over
00:30:56.880 because we can get
00:30:57.720 our gas to Europe.
00:30:59.240 Well,
00:30:59.620 two years ago,
00:31:00.340 I introduced bipartisan
00:31:01.260 legislation to stop it.
00:31:04.040 Passed it through Congress,
00:31:05.320 Trump signed it into law,
00:31:06.300 and we stopped the pipeline.
00:31:07.220 We won.
00:31:08.220 The pipeline was dead,
00:31:09.840 buried,
00:31:10.400 stopped,
00:31:10.980 kaput
00:31:11.360 for over a year.
00:31:12.960 Then Joe Biden
00:31:14.600 came into office
00:31:15.380 and Biden surrendered.
00:31:18.760 He capitulated
00:31:19.580 to Putin.
00:31:21.080 Putin began
00:31:22.080 rebuilding the pipeline
00:31:23.280 literally on January 24th,
00:31:26.500 2021.
00:31:27.220 I'm glad he took
00:31:27.760 a nice long weekend,
00:31:28.920 you know,
00:31:29.120 a few days
00:31:29.820 and then starts up again.
00:31:30.940 Four days after
00:31:31.540 Biden's sworn in.
00:31:33.080 So the pipeline
00:31:34.280 right now
00:31:35.020 is completed,
00:31:37.300 so Putin has finished it
00:31:38.360 because Biden
00:31:39.000 formally waived
00:31:39.900 the sanctions.
00:31:40.400 But it's still awaiting
00:31:43.220 certification in Europe,
00:31:44.400 so they can't turn it on
00:31:45.460 until the regulatory agents
00:31:46.540 have certified it yet.
00:31:49.680 And so I introduced
00:31:51.040 legislation
00:31:51.620 to reimpose
00:31:52.480 the sanctions,
00:31:53.120 to overturn
00:31:53.860 Biden's surrender
00:31:55.420 to Putin.
00:31:57.420 Now,
00:31:58.360 twice I've introduced
00:31:59.300 legislation like this before,
00:32:01.280 and twice it's passed
00:32:02.800 essentially unanimously.
00:32:04.440 Every Democrat
00:32:05.520 has supported it twice.
00:32:08.120 We had a big battle
00:32:09.200 in December.
00:32:09.740 I was holding
00:32:10.900 dozens of State Department
00:32:12.880 nominees.
00:32:13.840 We're there till
00:32:14.640 one in the morning.
00:32:15.440 I'm negotiating
00:32:16.000 with Chuck Schumer.
00:32:16.760 I said,
00:32:17.060 all right,
00:32:17.220 I'm going to lift
00:32:17.820 32 holes,
00:32:19.760 let these nominees
00:32:20.460 go through
00:32:21.040 in exchange
00:32:22.640 for scheduling
00:32:23.320 the vote on Nord Stream 2
00:32:24.340 that we had
00:32:24.680 just last week.
00:32:26.120 Schumer gave in,
00:32:26.880 scheduled the vote.
00:32:27.440 They did not want that vote.
00:32:28.760 The Biden White House
00:32:29.780 was lobbying against it
00:32:30.920 like crazy.
00:32:31.740 Because even if
00:32:32.980 the Democrats
00:32:33.580 win the vote,
00:32:34.740 then they're all
00:32:35.460 on the record
00:32:36.000 of saying,
00:32:36.500 Ukraine,
00:32:37.140 see you later.
00:32:37.780 That's exactly right.
00:32:38.900 And they,
00:32:40.000 for two years,
00:32:41.860 had been squarely
00:32:44.620 against Nord Stream 2.
00:32:46.720 This is a vote
00:32:47.540 when Trump was president,
00:32:50.580 every Democrat
00:32:51.100 was for these sanctions.
00:32:52.460 The only thing,
00:32:53.020 there's two things
00:32:53.600 that are different.
00:32:54.640 Number one,
00:32:55.660 instead of a Republican
00:32:56.700 with an R behind his name,
00:32:58.100 a president
00:32:58.780 with an R behind his name,
00:33:00.100 there's a president
00:33:00.880 with a D behind his name.
00:33:01.940 Now that it's a Democrat,
00:33:03.840 suddenly the Democrats
00:33:04.660 support Russia.
00:33:05.460 And number two,
00:33:07.200 there are over
00:33:07.640 100,000 troops
00:33:08.660 on the border of Ukraine.
00:33:10.780 Any day now,
00:33:12.080 we could see
00:33:12.700 the Ukrainian invasion
00:33:13.920 by Russia.
00:33:16.140 And they have to do it
00:33:17.640 in about the next month
00:33:18.660 or so,
00:33:19.240 because as we get
00:33:20.600 into the spring,
00:33:21.520 the land starts to thaw
00:33:22.980 and the Russian tanks
00:33:24.260 get stuck in the mud.
00:33:25.380 So their window
00:33:26.400 to invade
00:33:27.220 is narrow.
00:33:28.480 But we voted on it.
00:33:31.960 It was amazing.
00:33:32.800 We ended up,
00:33:34.060 so I won the vote,
00:33:36.260 won a substantial
00:33:37.800 bipartisan majority
00:33:39.180 of the Senate.
00:33:39.920 The vote was 55
00:33:41.180 to 44.
00:33:43.520 So every Republican
00:33:45.320 voted yes
00:33:46.040 except Rand Paul,
00:33:46.940 and Rand Paul
00:33:47.380 pretty much opposes
00:33:48.180 all sanctions.
00:33:49.020 So I got all Republicans
00:33:50.260 but Rand.
00:33:51.720 And on the Democratic side,
00:33:54.260 six Democrats voted with me.
00:33:55.960 So it was 55 to 44.
00:33:59.600 It was a big
00:34:00.180 bipartisan majority.
00:34:01.180 We're not living
00:34:01.700 in a particularly
00:34:02.320 bipartisan era,
00:34:03.760 so that's impressive.
00:34:05.340 Now,
00:34:06.320 55
00:34:06.820 is not 60.
00:34:09.200 And so the Democrats
00:34:10.540 filibustered and said,
00:34:11.440 you don't have 60,
00:34:12.100 you don't get to pass it.
00:34:13.680 Now,
00:34:14.540 here's another
00:34:15.340 interesting thing.
00:34:17.460 There are a number
00:34:18.280 of Democrats
00:34:18.820 who are in vulnerable elections
00:34:20.280 who are on the ballot
00:34:21.800 in November.
00:34:23.420 Every single Democrat
00:34:25.000 in a vulnerable election
00:34:26.980 in November
00:34:27.560 voted with me.
00:34:30.200 So,
00:34:31.160 Mark Kelly in Arizona
00:34:32.340 voted for my sanctions
00:34:34.000 on Russia.
00:34:35.300 Catherine Cortez Masto
00:34:36.420 in Nevada
00:34:36.900 voted for my sanctions
00:34:38.240 in Nevada,
00:34:39.060 on Russia.
00:34:40.700 Maggie Hassan
00:34:41.700 in New Hampshire
00:34:42.780 voted for my sanctions
00:34:43.960 against Russia.
00:34:45.440 Even Raphael Warnock,
00:34:46.760 one of the most liberal
00:34:47.580 senators in the Senate,
00:34:49.780 voted for my sanctions
00:34:50.760 against Russia
00:34:51.800 because he didn't want
00:34:53.760 to tell the voters
00:34:54.540 of Georgia in November,
00:34:56.200 yeah,
00:34:56.400 I voted to support Putin
00:34:57.680 because I'm a Democrat.
00:34:58.920 Right.
00:35:01.380 We got six Democrats.
00:35:02.800 You know who we didn't get?
00:35:04.780 Manchin or Sinema.
00:35:06.040 Huh.
00:35:07.640 They're doing enough.
00:35:08.560 So,
00:35:09.300 what was amazing,
00:35:11.800 the day of the vote,
00:35:14.000 Biden came to the Capitol.
00:35:16.320 He had lunch
00:35:17.260 with all the Democratic senators
00:35:19.460 the day of the vote
00:35:20.480 and Joe Biden
00:35:22.100 was personally
00:35:23.280 lobbying
00:35:23.980 the Democratic senators
00:35:25.180 to vote against
00:35:26.320 Cruz's sanctions
00:35:27.200 on Russia.
00:35:27.760 Wow.
00:35:28.580 And so,
00:35:29.300 it's actually,
00:35:29.960 I mean,
00:35:30.120 you said it tongue-in-cheek,
00:35:31.180 but it's actually true.
00:35:31.940 I just think Manchin
00:35:32.700 and Sinema felt
00:35:33.320 they couldn't
00:35:34.480 stand up to the White House
00:35:36.060 and anything else.
00:35:36.640 They were getting so pounded
00:35:37.920 on everything else.
00:35:38.660 We've killed your
00:35:39.280 legislative agenda,
00:35:40.520 so we'll let you
00:35:41.780 And look,
00:35:42.480 I didn't like that
00:35:43.260 they voted no,
00:35:44.040 but I'll give them
00:35:45.280 a mulligan
00:35:45.800 because they are
00:35:47.200 saving the republic
00:35:48.060 on other sides.
00:35:49.040 Yeah.
00:35:49.660 But the Democrats
00:35:50.700 are literally,
00:35:52.340 literally,
00:35:53.180 this is not hyperbole,
00:35:54.420 they are literally
00:35:55.280 acquiescing
00:35:56.260 in Russia
00:35:58.060 wiping Ukraine
00:35:59.280 off the map.
00:35:59.800 So they're,
00:36:00.400 you might say
00:36:01.100 they are thumbing
00:36:02.020 their nose
00:36:02.580 at Ukraine,
00:36:04.620 which raises one,
00:36:05.720 I know we have
00:36:06.420 to let you get
00:36:06.980 to the Senate
00:36:07.460 to go vote,
00:36:08.360 but it does raise
00:36:09.140 one very important story
00:36:10.400 that involves
00:36:11.740 a victory and a loss.
00:36:13.800 You won a basketball game,
00:36:15.920 you lost the use
00:36:17.640 of your thumb.
00:36:19.920 True enough,
00:36:20.880 and by the way,
00:36:21.560 that's quite the segue.
00:36:23.700 Let me just say,
00:36:26.080 if the president of Yale
00:36:28.140 ever sees that segue,
00:36:30.240 they will revoke your degree.
00:36:31.500 They've been trying for years.
00:36:32.660 Well, that's true.
00:36:35.280 They would revoke your degree
00:36:36.440 for many other reasons
00:36:37.400 before then,
00:36:38.080 so that's probably
00:36:38.900 the least of your sins
00:36:40.500 on that front.
00:36:41.520 So yeah,
00:36:41.860 so I broke my thumb.
00:36:43.580 You don't have a cast on.
00:36:44.760 So I don't,
00:36:45.360 I've got a splint,
00:36:46.060 but you can take it off.
00:36:46.960 Okay.
00:36:47.320 So I was playing Friday,
00:36:50.300 I play basketball
00:36:51.240 about twice a week,
00:36:52.060 and so Friday,
00:36:54.140 because Schumer
00:36:54.980 doesn't know how
00:36:55.840 to run the Senate,
00:36:56.600 we were still around,
00:36:57.620 and so I was playing
00:36:58.220 Friday morning,
00:36:59.220 and I play,
00:37:01.180 a lot of times
00:37:01.740 other senators play,
00:37:02.960 but I play every week
00:37:04.620 with my staff.
00:37:05.360 We've got some good,
00:37:05.880 good ball players.
00:37:06.640 We've got a couple of guys
00:37:08.120 who played college basketball,
00:37:09.420 a couple of guys
00:37:09.860 who played college football,
00:37:11.140 so we're playing.
00:37:12.040 You actually have invited me
00:37:13.860 to this game.
00:37:14.740 I did make sure
00:37:15.800 I was busy that day
00:37:16.840 so that I did not
00:37:17.720 humiliate myself on the court.
00:37:19.180 So I have joked
00:37:20.500 that our game
00:37:21.620 is more violent
00:37:22.740 than skillful,
00:37:24.060 and it is.
00:37:24.940 I mean,
00:37:25.100 we play no blood,
00:37:25.980 no foul,
00:37:26.820 and there are regularly fouls,
00:37:28.280 so there is regularly blood,
00:37:29.900 and so in this instance,
00:37:32.100 I was going up
00:37:33.200 for a rebound,
00:37:34.260 and the culprit
00:37:35.360 is a guy
00:37:36.940 who was a law clerk
00:37:37.520 in our office.
00:37:38.520 You'll appreciate this
00:37:39.740 as a New Yorker.
00:37:40.460 His name is Tony.
00:37:41.820 He's from New York.
00:37:43.060 I imagine.
00:37:44.380 He is a great guy,
00:37:46.660 hardworking,
00:37:48.560 conservative law student,
00:37:50.440 but he's from Brooklyn,
00:37:52.680 and he played
00:37:54.180 street ball in Brooklyn,
00:37:55.980 and he,
00:37:56.320 Tony from Brooklyn,
00:37:57.260 in every respect,
00:37:59.380 so I went up
00:38:00.100 for a rebound,
00:38:00.960 and he came down
00:38:02.240 like a ton of bricks
00:38:04.060 on my thumb
00:38:05.560 and broke it
00:38:06.560 right across there,
00:38:07.600 so I had an x-ray today,
00:38:09.660 and they're like,
00:38:10.060 actually,
00:38:10.380 yesterday I had an x-ray,
00:38:11.280 they're like,
00:38:11.600 yep,
00:38:11.940 that's a fracture.
00:38:13.560 So you lost
00:38:15.460 a little bit
00:38:15.920 of the use of your thumb,
00:38:16.820 but you did win the game.
00:38:19.240 I did,
00:38:20.040 and we actually
00:38:20.820 finished the game,
00:38:22.560 terrifyingly enough,
00:38:25.040 with the broken thumb.
00:38:26.380 I tried to shoot,
00:38:27.820 and I couldn't,
00:38:28.280 I mean,
00:38:28.600 it really hurt to shoot.
00:38:30.100 This is not quite
00:38:31.000 at the level
00:38:31.480 of Teddy Roosevelt
00:38:32.340 getting shot
00:38:33.100 and finishing his speech,
00:38:34.440 but same principle.
00:38:35.560 But I will say this,
00:38:36.680 I did score a layup
00:38:37.700 with a broken thumb
00:38:38.400 because I could use
00:38:39.020 my four fingers,
00:38:39.780 I just stuck my thumb
00:38:40.580 off to the side
00:38:41.320 and did a little scoop layup,
00:38:42.840 so I even scored
00:38:44.760 a bucket
00:38:45.680 with a broken thumb.
00:38:46.360 It's a physical lesson,
00:38:47.420 it's a political lesson,
00:38:48.320 no pain,
00:38:49.280 no gain,
00:38:50.020 sometimes you have to make
00:38:50.720 some sacrifices
00:38:51.580 for the wins.
00:38:52.580 I hope you get a win
00:38:53.320 tonight.
00:38:54.760 Before we go,
00:38:56.220 you might remember
00:38:57.020 on the 100th episode
00:38:58.660 of Verdict
00:38:59.240 that we announced
00:39:01.280 a contest,
00:39:02.520 actually a series
00:39:03.420 of contests,
00:39:04.680 free merch
00:39:05.640 for people
00:39:06.300 who commented,
00:39:07.220 an opportunity maybe
00:39:08.220 to come out
00:39:08.860 and see some other
00:39:10.360 wonderful prizes as well.
00:39:12.120 Well, now,
00:39:12.500 because this is the
00:39:13.140 two-year anniversary
00:39:14.360 of Verdict with Ted Cruz,
00:39:16.180 we have the winners
00:39:17.880 because we all want
00:39:18.800 to celebrate.
00:39:19.240 Here to introduce
00:39:20.720 those winners,
00:39:22.120 our very own Liz Wheeler.
00:39:23.400 Thank you for having me.
00:39:24.320 I don't like to think
00:39:24.940 of this as giving away
00:39:25.700 free stuff, though.
00:39:26.320 This is earned merchandise.
00:39:28.060 Yes.
00:39:29.360 Our community here
00:39:30.480 earned this
00:39:31.720 by being part of what we do.
00:39:32.900 No handouts.
00:39:33.920 Oh, yeah,
00:39:34.280 we hit these benchmarks,
00:39:35.260 by the way,
00:39:36.000 most of them,
00:39:36.900 and we're going to do
00:39:37.400 the fun stuff anyway.
00:39:38.120 We hit these benchmarks,
00:39:38.940 which is awesome.
00:39:39.860 On YouTube,
00:39:40.560 we said 10 people
00:39:42.180 commenting on episode 100
00:39:43.300 would get a free box
00:39:44.220 of merch,
00:39:44.660 you know,
00:39:44.820 the sweet cactus hat,
00:39:46.240 the laptop stickers,
00:39:47.560 the t-shirts.
00:39:48.040 1,500 people commented.
00:39:49.760 Wow.
00:39:50.480 That's pretty good.
00:39:50.760 That's pretty good, right?
00:39:51.460 Yeah.
00:39:51.980 I think that's incredible.
00:39:52.880 So here are the winners.
00:39:53.940 Ken Melber Jr.,
00:39:55.020 you won.
00:39:56.180 Metaveria,
00:39:56.780 you won.
00:39:57.340 Stefan Diaz,
00:39:58.080 you won.
00:39:58.580 Shelley Carter,
00:39:59.260 you won.
00:39:59.660 Philip Paxton,
00:40:00.760 Driving Fritz,
00:40:01.860 I assume that's
00:40:02.320 a username, right?
00:40:03.480 Thomas Lusty,
00:40:04.480 Dr. Rigg,
00:40:05.280 Mark Erdman,
00:40:06.360 Safe Spot,
00:40:07.220 Andrew Clark,
00:40:08.360 Megadeth Till Death,
00:40:09.940 another username.
00:40:11.100 Still counts.
00:40:11.840 Todd Cole,
00:40:12.740 Mary Fleshman,
00:40:13.520 and Cosmic Carosella.
00:40:15.620 These are the winners.
00:40:16.160 By the way,
00:40:17.020 some parents actually
00:40:18.100 named their child
00:40:19.000 Little Megadeth.
00:40:20.220 Yeah.
00:40:20.800 He or she may be
00:40:21.540 very upset right now.
00:40:22.440 I think that's Slavic.
00:40:23.900 I don't know.
00:40:24.140 Thank you.
00:40:24.900 So we will reach out
00:40:25.920 to each and every one of you
00:40:27.000 to give you your merch here.
00:40:29.580 And I want to see pictures.
00:40:30.740 I want to see pictures
00:40:31.320 of everybody wearing this merch.
00:40:32.840 So that's on YouTube.
00:40:33.940 Then on Verdict Plus,
00:40:36.200 this is maybe
00:40:36.920 the most fun one.
00:40:37.760 We said that
00:40:38.700 a member of Verdict Plus,
00:40:40.140 the Verdict Plus community,
00:40:41.160 will win an all-access trip
00:40:43.040 to come and see us
00:40:43.860 on the road
00:40:44.420 on college campuses.
00:40:45.540 Well, we have a winner here.
00:40:46.600 This is an Italian name.
00:40:47.720 Michael, you can tell me
00:40:48.220 if I'm butchering this.
00:40:49.460 Puzoli.
00:40:50.460 Let me see.
00:40:53.060 I would say,
00:40:54.540 your pronunciation was beautiful.
00:40:56.220 He's going to tell me
00:40:56.700 I'm wrong.
00:40:56.960 I would say
00:40:57.680 you need a little more,
00:40:59.000 you know,
00:40:59.280 you get the face down.
00:41:01.320 Puzoli.
00:41:02.040 Puzoli?
00:41:02.620 Puzoli.
00:41:03.040 Signor Puzoli.
00:41:04.680 Well, Mr. Puzoli,
00:41:06.320 you have won a trip
00:41:07.340 to see Verdict live.
00:41:08.720 That's pretty awesome.
00:41:09.320 We will reach out to you.
00:41:10.060 And then,
00:41:10.800 this is my favorite one,
00:41:11.900 and I am going to bias this poll.
00:41:13.540 We are going to post this
00:41:15.100 on the Verdict Plus community.
00:41:17.000 That's verdictwithtedcruz.com
00:41:18.560 slash plus
00:41:19.320 because everyone needs
00:41:20.420 to vote in this.
00:41:21.620 For this upcoming year,
00:41:23.720 there's going to be
00:41:24.500 a community-based competition
00:41:27.680 or shenanigans,
00:41:28.960 if you will.
00:41:29.480 And this is what
00:41:29.900 you're going to vote on.
00:41:30.660 I'm not taking part in this.
00:41:31.620 I'm just going to enjoy it.
00:41:32.540 You guys will have to do this.
00:41:33.960 Should, for an episode of Verdict,
00:41:35.320 the senator wear a Braves jersey?
00:41:37.440 It's option number one.
00:41:38.320 Option number two,
00:41:38.860 should there be
00:41:39.180 an arm wrestling match
00:41:40.180 between Michael and the senator?
00:41:42.760 I think we all know
00:41:43.240 how that would end.
00:41:45.160 Should the real truth cactus
00:41:46.800 be a special guest on the show?
00:41:48.640 I think that's a good option.
00:41:49.860 Or should there be
00:41:50.440 a throwdown episode
00:41:51.440 trash-talking
00:41:52.300 Yale versus Princeton?
00:41:54.240 That could go on for hours.
00:41:55.880 That could go on for hours.
00:41:57.040 So this poll will be posted
00:41:58.100 on, again,
00:41:58.820 verdictwithtedcruz.com
00:41:59.900 slash plus.
00:42:01.200 Can I tell you
00:42:01.820 which one I want to see?
00:42:02.920 Which one?
00:42:03.320 Well, I'm going to vote
00:42:03.960 for the arm wrestling.
00:42:04.680 You're going to vote
00:42:05.160 for the arm wrestling.
00:42:05.580 And who do you think
00:42:06.200 is going to win?
00:42:06.580 Michael, don't ask questions
00:42:08.660 you don't want to know
00:42:09.180 the answer to.
00:42:09.680 I'm really polite.
00:42:10.540 Thank you.
00:42:10.820 You can vote in it.
00:42:11.960 Now look,
00:42:12.580 Michael may now be engaged
00:42:13.640 now that I have a broken thumb.
00:42:15.100 He may suddenly feel
00:42:17.220 he's seized an advantage.
00:42:19.680 Providence has smiled upon me.
00:42:21.920 Thank you very much.
00:42:22.920 Well, congratulations
00:42:23.440 to all of the winners.
00:42:24.800 Thank you to everyone
00:42:25.540 who has tuned in
00:42:26.220 for two years.
00:42:27.900 Two years of verdict.
00:42:30.100 It's wonderful.
00:42:30.660 We look forward
00:42:31.180 to a whole lot more episodes
00:42:32.600 with you.
00:42:33.600 And we look forward
00:42:34.340 to arm wrestling.
00:42:35.880 I'm Michael Knowles.
00:42:37.160 This is Verdict
00:42:37.740 with Ted Cruz.
00:42:46.860 This episode of Verdict
00:42:48.420 with Ted Cruz
00:42:49.260 is being brought to you
00:42:50.360 by Jobs, Freedom
00:42:51.380 and Security Pack,
00:42:52.540 a political action committee
00:42:54.100 dedicated to supporting
00:42:55.280 conservative causes,
00:42:56.700 organizations,
00:42:57.660 and candidates
00:42:58.240 across the country.
00:42:59.640 In 2022,
00:43:00.840 Jobs, Freedom
00:43:01.460 and Security Pack
00:43:02.460 plans to donate
00:43:03.320 to conservative candidates
00:43:04.640 running for Congress
00:43:05.680 and help the Republican Party
00:43:07.340 across the nation.
00:43:09.880 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:43:12.140 Guaranteed Human.