Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Trump Prosecutor Faces Political Bias Claims plus Whistleblower Reveals Pressure to Lie About Trump-Russia Ties

Transcript

Trump Prosecutor Faces Political Bias Claims plus Whistleblower Reveals Pressure to Lie About Trump-Russia Ties · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: All Right, we got some big news to start off with,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: and that is this. The US Office of Special Counsel
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: investigating the ex Trump prosecutor Jack Smith is now happening,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: is what we're being told. The US Office of Special
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Council has open an investigation officially into the former Special
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Council Jack Smith, who may have quote unlawfully targeted President
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump. I want you to listen to how part
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: of the news is broken at Fox News Channel. Take
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: a listen.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: All right, moving on to this now, former Trump prosecutor
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Jack Smith is now under investigation for potentially violating the
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Hatch Act, which restricts government employees from engaging in political activities.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Chelley Panter joins US Now with the details. Hey Channeling, Hey,
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: good morning guys. So the Office of Special Council confirming
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: is open that investigation against former Special Council Jack Smith.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: This after archew Senator Tom Cotton sent this letter saying, quote,
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: I write requesting the Office of Special Counsel to investigate
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: whether Jack Smith, special Council for Attorney General Merrick Garland,
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: unlawfully took political actions to influence the twenty twenty four
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: election to harm then candidate President Donald Trump. So while
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: the specific scope of this investigation is not clear, it
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: is expected the probe we'll look into whether Smith violated
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: the Hatch Act during his criminal investigation into President Trump's
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: handling of classified documents and alleged efforts to subvert the
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: twenty twenty election. Trump cleted not guilty in both of
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: those cases that were ultimately dismissed following the twenty twenty
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: four election. Earlier this week, Senator Cotton pointed to how
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: he believed Smith used his DOJ roll to quote help
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: Kamala and hurt Trump, claiming Special counsel Smith rushed the
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: trial for President Trump to begin just two weeks before
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: the Iowa caucuses, that Smith tried to go right to
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: the Supreme Court to get a quick ruling before the election,
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: and that Smith filed a massive brief that included secret
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: grand jury testimony just within sixty days of the election,
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: which could also violate a separate Justice Department rule that
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: goes beyond the Hatch Act. So it's all important to
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: note that this is an investigation, but it's not a
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: criminal investigation. That the office there does have authority though
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: to impose things like fines and other sanctions if they
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: do ultimately find that he violated the Hatch Act.
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: Guys, thank you challenging.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: So let's go into even more of what this means.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: The OSC has Smith under a microscope, and this I've
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: been told by many on Capitol Hill is the beginning
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: of what could be other possible issues for him. I
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: want to be clear about that he's under the microscope
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: regarding the possibility that not only won, he violated the
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Hatch Act, which says, again government workers are not allowed
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: to take part in certain political activities. All right, now,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: it received confirmation the pro Fox did there from the
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: office and that Smith is not being quote criminally investigated. Now,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: let's be clear. I want you to understand this could
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: be the beginning of opening up who knows what you
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: can read between the lines there. The OSC is a
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: government watchdog that operates independently. Number one is a federal
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: investigative and prosecutal office. In July, Tom Cotton asked its
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: members to investigate whether Jack Smith, who again was a
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: special counsel for the former Attorney General Merrick Garland, if
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: he engaged in unlawful political activities to quote influence. All right,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: think about the timeline here the twenty twenty four presidential
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: election and targeted Trump in doing so to influence the
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four election. Now, President Trump, of course said,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: you know this about Joe Biden and Jack Smith and
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: every Democrat quote who weaponized law against him. President Trump's
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: astounding victory doesn't excuse Smith of responsibility, the Senator said,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: for his unlawful election interference. I therefore asked the Office
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: of the Special Counsel to investigate whether Jack Smith or
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: quote any members of his team unlawfully acted for political purposes.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: So Number one, is it gonna be difficult for the
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: media to cover this. Yes, And that's why we're covering
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: it right now, because you need to know what's happening.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Democrats are gonna dismiss this. They're gonna say this is
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: not a big deal. They're gonna say this is nothing,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: that this is just a political hit job on Jack Smith,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: who quote did his job. Now, Jack Smith oversaw a pair, okay,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: not one, but two of the criminal investigations into Donald
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Trump while the former president Joe Biden was still in office.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: All Right, the outlet of the New York Times, or excuse me,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: the New York Post reporting this on Friday. They said.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: One of the investigations, as you may recall, was quote
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: into trump handling of classified documents. Then the other was
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: as to whether his actions on January sixth, twenty twenty one,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: were an attempt to overturn the twenty twenty election. Both cases,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: as you know, have been dismissed. Now. An email that
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: has come forward reviewed by the New York Posts also
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: states that the Hatch Act Unit, which enforces a law
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: restricting government and poyees from engaging in political activities, has
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: begun reviewing the former Special Council for the United States
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Department of Justice. Now the email was written by senior
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: counsel at the OSC. The article states, now let's go
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: back to Smith for a second. Smith, you may have forgotten,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: resigned from the US Department of Justice after he failed
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: to bring the case against Trump to trial because well,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: he knew it was going to get dismissed. He knew
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: it was crap and they lost, and so he wanted out.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: The article also says Smith's resignation comes as his office
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: has engaged quote in last minute legal wranglings to release
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: its work against Trump before President Joe Biden left office.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: If you go back and look at the record, then
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: he resigned on a Saturday, just nine days before Trump's inauguration,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: after which Smith would have been fired. We're all sure
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: of that now. The following month, Trump suspended the security
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: clearances of law of law firm members who helped Jack Smith,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: and that was something that people are like, Okay, pay
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: attention now. The memo, by the way, addressed to all
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: relevant agencies and departments, halted any security clearances of Covington
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: and Berling. That's a law firm. It's members, partners, and
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: employees who helped Jack Smith during his time in the
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: role of Special Council quote penning a review and determination
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: of their roles and responsibilities if any, and the weapons
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: of the judicial process per that memo. So let me
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: be clear. The takeaway from this this could be the
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: beginning of something very, very big, and it's going to
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: start with the man who went after and weaponized our
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: government against Donald Trump, Jack Smith. So get ready, we're
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: going to keep covering this. It's very big. I have
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: another big story that you probably haven't heard about, and
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: it's one that you should have heard about immediately. If
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: you have news sites on your phone. That give you
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: big news alerts. This should have been one. If you
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: turned on any of the shows, especially on cable news,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: you should have heard what I'm about to tell you.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: A whistleblower has now come forward revealing how they were
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: threatened that if they didn't go along with the the
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Obama directed Russia hoax, that there would an essence be
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: held a pay. A whistleblower is now sharing how quote
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: they we don't know how many, that is, were threatened
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: by a supervisor to go along with the Obama directed
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Russia quote Intelligent Assessment hoax despite knowing it was not
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: credible and it was not quote accurate. That is what
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: the US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabberd has revealed.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Gabbard shared the newly released first hand account from the
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: whistleblower who refused to play along with a hoax, detailing
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: what happened in the crafting of the January twenty seventeen
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Intelligence Community Assessment the ICA, their year's long effort to
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: expose the manufacturing of intelligence carried out at the highest
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: levels of government, and how they were quote rep repeatedly ignored.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: Tulsi Gabbard putting it out this way, saying quote whistleblower
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: revealing how they were threatened by a supervisor to go
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: along with the Obama the Obama directed Russia hoaks intelligence assessment,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: even though they knew it was not credible or accurate.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: The whistleblower refused. Yesterday we released the whistleblower's first hand
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: account of what happened the crafting of the January twenty
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: seventeen Ica, their year long efforts to expose the egregious
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: manipulation and manufacturing of intelligence carried out at the highest
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: levels of government and the IC detailed in our previous release,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: and how they were repeatedly ignored. Thank you. Tulsi Gabbard
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: goes on to write to this courageous whistleblower and others
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: who are coming forward now putting their own well being
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: on the line to defend our democratic republic, ensure the
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: American people know the truth and hold those responsible accountable. Now,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: I want to read for you this that comes from
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Russia hoax.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: Whistleblower threatened multiple attempts to report wrongdoing, wor ignored for
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: six years. A senior intelligence officials battled political and bureaucratic
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: resistance and efforts to expose the manipulated intelligence behind the
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Russia collusion hoax. The Director of National Intelligence released new
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: documents which provide a first hand account of the intelligence
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: community and the whistleblower's relentless effort to expose the manipulation
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: manufacturing of the intelligence. This release provides the whistle blowers
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: first hand accounts of the work carried out in the
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: months leading up to the November twenty sixteen election, the
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: concerns they raised about the use of quote discredited information,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: as then d and I Clapper and the Central Intelligence
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: Agency CA director Brennan worked to craft the January twenty
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: seventeen Intelligence Community Assessment the ICA at President Barack Obama's request,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: and how a direct supervisor attempted to pressure the whistleblower
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: to endorse the January seventeen ICA's key findings about the
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Russian government's alleged support for then candidate Donald Trump. Thank
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: you to the brave intelligence community whistleblower who courageously came
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: forward to expose the truth about one of the biggest
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: and most impactful scandals in our nation's history, Gabbert says.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: The whistleblower, as I mentioned earlier put their own well
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: being on the line. Now Here are the highlights that
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: they put out in the press release of the whistleblower's
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: first hand account. Statements from the whistleblower's supervisor pressuring the
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: whistleblower to accept the contrived January seventeen ICA findings despite
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: express concerns about the discredited information being used, and to
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: support those findings, an action that the whistleblower supervisor said
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: would be necessary for the whistle or to receive a promotion.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: So this is what we're hearing is you want to
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: move up in the intelligence community, you have to help
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: us lie to the American people to say that Donald
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Trump is compromised by Russia. And if you do it,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: you'll receive a promotion. If you don't, there will be
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: hell to pay. The whistleblower's refusal to accept and concur
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: with the January seventeen I see a finding stated quote,
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: I could not concur in good conscience based on information
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: available that Russia preferred, then can it Trump? In twenty sixteen,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: the whistleblower's concerns about the flawed intelligence practices, namely selectively
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: using open source references to Russian media as quote evidence
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: for the Russian government support of Trump, while ignoring foreign
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: media from other nations, including to allies that denigrated Trump
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: and actually supported Hillary Clinton. The whistleblowers repeated attempts to
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: report concerns about the false information that was deliberately used
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: in January twenty seventeen ICA to multiple government officials, including
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: the ICA Inspector General. The whistleblowers records also show how
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: the former D and I director James Clapper, another senior
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Obama administration officials, privately denounced the Steel dossier, so in private,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: they were saying, it's crap. They knew it was crap
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: because created by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democrat National
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Convention Committee. They knew they paid for it. They knew
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: it was user generated. The FBI had already classified as
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: user generated and even offered a million dollars of anything
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: in the dossier could be confirmed. And guess what, Michael
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: still never got the check because it couldn't do it,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: they went on to say, despite simultaneously ensuring that the
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: January twenty seventeen ICA report include the information that the
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: officials had already privately denounced. So they said, hey, we
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: know this is crap. But we wanted in there. We
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: know it's a lie, but we wanted in there because
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: we want to hurt Donald Trump, who's now the president
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: of United States of America. The whistleblower previously reported these
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: concerns in more than a dozen government officials, including the IC,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: the IG Special Council, Durham, a US Senator, and other
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: official whistlebler channels over the last six years. D and
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I's Gabbert's whistleblwer protections enabled her to investigate and confirm
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: the allegations revealing the truth about the Obama led creation
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: of the manufactured Intelligence Assessment, which knowingly used false and
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: discredited information to sell a lot to the American people.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: This document would be used as the foundation for multiple
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: investigations and legal actions against President Trump and other senior officials.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: The icy whistleblowers have historically faced deliberate hurdles to reporting
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: and exposing wrongdoing. Political pressure, threats of or actual acts
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: of retaliation, bureaucratic obstacles, and the unnecessary intentional overclassification of
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: intelligence have too often hindered public disclosure, accountability, and reform
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: in her first hand office, the release says the d
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: and I Gabbard made clear that every individual in the
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: intelligence community understand their rights as potential whistleblowers, which includes
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: having legal having excuse me, access to legal protected channels
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: to report wrongdoing. To support this goal, d and I
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Gabbard established a direct line for ICY staff to report claims. Additionally,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: in line with President Trump's commitment to maximize transparency, DN
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: I Gabbard has foster a supportive environment for whistleblowers by
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: promising to protect their information and encouraging all IC officials,
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: regardless of affiliation, to come forward and join efforts to
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: restore trust and accountability. Now you can read the whistleblowers
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: full accounting. I will put it up on x you
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: can follow me there Ben ferguson podcasts, and you can
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: have the entire thing there. But what you need to
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: understand from this is what Tulsi Gabbert is clearly saying,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: is that she's now looking into, investigating and understanding just
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: how corrupt the deep state was. Now the supervisor, we're
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: also being told not only pressure the whistleblower to accept
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: the lie in January twenty seventeen, icy's finding, but also
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: admitted that there was discredit information used to support the
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: findings and said concurring with the false information would be
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: necessary to receive a promotion. The document continued, We then
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: find out the whistleblower refused accept the finding, sitting I
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: could not concur in good conscience based on the information
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: available that Russia preferred, then can it Donald Trump? In sixteen,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: the whistleblower also cited the selective use of open source
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: references to Russian media's evidence for the Russian government support
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: for Trump as part of the faut intelligence practices. So
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: you combined everything that I just put in there, and
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: now you understand just how corrupt all of this was.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: You had these repeated attempts that were made by the
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: whistleblower to report the false information that was used, okay,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: and they did it over and over and over again.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: They used it to go after Donald Trump. They used
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: it to impeach Donald Trump. So the fake intelligence assessment
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: was deliberately used to try to overthrow the will of
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: the election of Donald Trump, the will of the people.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Never forget that. In a major move to protect all Americans,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: the White House were now being told as preparing a
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: new executive order that would find banks, small, medium, and
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: the largest for dropping customers for political reasons. The Wall
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Street Journal is reporting on it now. The order directs
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: bank regulators to investigate whether any financial institutions might have
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, antitrust laws, or consumer
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: financial protection laws, the Journal reported, citing a draft text
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: of the order. The order, which could be signed as
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: early as this week, provides for monetary penalties, consent decrees,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: or other disciplinary measures against violators. The order also directs
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: regulators to strike policies they have that might have contributed
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: to banks dropping certain customers, and requires the Small Business
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Association to review the practices of banks that guarantee the
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: agency's loans. Now, this is a major move for protecting
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: specifically conservatives that have been debanked by large banks and
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: small banks alike. There are many in the Second Amendment
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: community that have also been debanked as well. There are
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Christian organizations that have been debanked, missionary organizations that have
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: been debanked, and Conservative organizations that have been debanked, especially
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: during the Biden years. Now the President saying you can't
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: do that. It's un American and we're not going to
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: allow it to stand. Now. Reuters is also reporting at
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: this hour that the White House is apparently working on
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: this at a rapid pa because they believe it is
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: time to hold banks accountable that targeted people specifically for
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: their political beliefs. Now, after speaking with people at the
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: White House late this afternoon, here's what I can also
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: tell you. The White House, I've been told, is in
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: fact preparing an executive order that would empower the regulators
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: to penalize banks for quote, terminating customer relationships based on
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: political beliefs. These penalties could include hefty fines, I'm being told,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: and also disciplinary actions. Now, financial regulators would be instructed
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: to investigate potential breaches not only the Equal Credit Opportunity
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Act I mentioned earlier and antitrust laws, but also consumer
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: protection regulations by banks accused of politically motivated actions against
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: those who had bank accounts at their bank. The draft
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: order also calls on policymakers to revoke existing internal bank
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: policies that actually may have led to politically motivated account closures,
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: and directs the Small Business Administration to review loan back
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: practices that could involve similar issues as well. Now, although
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: no banks are mentioned by name, the order appears tied
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: to public criticism of major institutions such as JP, Morgan
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Chase and Bank of America accused of severing ties with
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: conservative clients, a charge that of course they strongly deny,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: and The Wall Street Journal has reported on this extensively recently. Now,
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: according to others, the order could be signed, like I
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: said this week, potentially spelling major trouble for big banks. Now,
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: this move reflects Donald Trump's ongoing concern, especially from conservative circles,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: about political bias or debanking in financial services. It forms
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: part of a broader regulatory agenda to ensure economic institutions
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: remain neutral and customers aren't penalized for political beliefs. At
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: the end of the day, the president of the United
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: States of America wants to make sure you're not targeted
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: because you voted for him, and in the future, to
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: make sure that no matter who you vote for, you're
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: not targeted by a bank. Now, the order has not
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: been officially issued yet, and there's a very good chance
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: there will be changes that are made in the coming
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: days and hours. Banks and regulators also are remaining relatively quiet,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: and the White House is saying they're willing to talk,
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: but there's many that are scared what may be coming
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: down the pipeline, and the big question is this, which
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: agencies are actually going to lead enforcement oversight I'm being
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: told is likely going to be by federal banking regulators,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: the Department of Justice, and the SBA. Implementation details are
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: going to work through the White House in the hours
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: and days ahead. At the end of the day. What
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: does this mean, Well, it means that Donald Trump's looking
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: out for conservatives that have been targeted solely because of
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: our political beliefs, and that's exactly why so many Americans
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: voted for him. Now. Donald Trump has also talked a
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: lot recently about many concertis being debanked. At the World
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Economic Forum and Davos back in January, Trump addressed the
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: CEOs of the largest US banks and made it clear
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: he called out Bank of America CEO Brian Mornahan and
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: indirectly JP Morgan's Jamie Diamond saying, quote, many consertives complain
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: that the banks are not allowing them to do business.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: They've done three two one. You've done a fantastic job.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: But I hope you start opening your banks to conservatives
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: because what you're doing is wrong. Rest concerns that conservatives
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: are being excluded from bank services implying it may be
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: politically motivated or regulator driven under the Biden administration, saying quote,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: I don't know if regulators mandated that because of Biden. Now.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Trump's remarks revived a larger conservative narrative around the banking
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: the claim that banks are systematically cutting off accounts that
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: are tied to conservative values or industries like firearms, fossil fuels,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: and also crypto. His criticism prompted regulatory and legislative attention
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: as well, including a Senate Banking Committee hearing back in
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: February and scrutiny from state attorney generals. On top of that,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: conservative states and political actors also pressured banks like Bank
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: of America JP, Morgan City Group, and Goldman Sachs to
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: clarify their policies. Now. Despite these claims, banks have repeatedly
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: denied i'd alleging any political bias. They assert account closures
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: are quote tied to compliance with anti money laundering rules,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: risk policies, and regulatory mandates, not ideology. Now. The reason
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: why the President used a high profile venue at the
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: World Economic Forum was to amplify conservative concerns about access
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: to financial services. The remarks underpin regulatory movement that we're
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: now witnessing in real time. And the White House Executive
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: Order on Political based account Closures is another example of that. Look,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: the President of the United States of America set it
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: clear when he was running, my job is to protect
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: all Americans. And also, this is one of the reasons
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: why he's advocating so much for crypto. As Donald Trump
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: signed that crypto bill into law, here's part of what changed.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Would that take a listen.
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: A fed share far earlier than anyone expects, so too late,
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: it's voice can be totally nullified.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: And Trump today at the White House, he was having
• 26:07
  Speaker 4: such a great time. He's ignoring. You know, some of
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: the other controversies out there are the other noise on that.
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: But he signs this major crypto bill into law. A
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: lot of people thought it never could happen. He got
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: the Republicans on board. This will make us, he says,
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: competitive with China.
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: Check it out.
• 26:25
  Speaker 6: This afternoon, we take a giant step to cement the
• 26:28
  Speaker 6: American dominance of global finance and crypto technology. And we
• 26:33
  Speaker 6: want to have it not China, and China wasn't actually
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: have They were watching this day. They like it, and
• 26:39
  Speaker 6: we we've got this, We've got ai, We've got a
• 26:43
  Speaker 6: lot of great ones happening.
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: James, what do you think turned Trump on the crypto issue?
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: Well, I think President Trump recognizes that the rising economy
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: of crypto does lift all boats. When Americans have access
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: to other banks at a time when folks have been
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: rightly concerned about being they have access to stable coins.
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: That means that it's impossible for them to be thrown
• 27:05
  Speaker 5: off for the wrong tweet about vaccine mandates, for standing
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: up for the President's unbelievable economic agenda. And so the
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: President recognizes that to compete with China, it isn't simply
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: about giving Secretary Headseth all the resources he needs at
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: the Defense Department. It also means working to enable ourselves
• 27:20
  Speaker 5: to be economic powerhouses. Yes, and the real economy, Laura,
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: but also in this new alternative age of artificial intelligence
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: and of crypto.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: He's exactly right. This is why Donald Trump is pushing
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: so hard for other avenues, so that Americans cannot have
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: to worry that banks have all the power over them
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: and their money. Don't forget Share this podcast with your
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: family and friends, share it on social media, please, and
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: I'll see you back here tomorrow