Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Trump’s Iran Speech w Sen Ted Cruz plus DOJ Shake‑Up: Pam Bondi Out

Transcript

Trump’s Iran Speech w Sen Ted Cruz plus DOJ Shake‑Up: Pam Bondi Out · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We've got a lot to talk about today on the show,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: and with the firing of Pambonni, that is something obviously
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: everyone is asking about. Senator Cruz and I decided to
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: sit down and talk not only about Pambonni, it's a
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: dear friend of his and someone that I know as
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: well and we've had on my show, but also then
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the President and what he is saying is coming next.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: This is also extremely important with a RAN. We decided
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: to break all of that down for you on this
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: good Friday, so take a listen. So Senator President Trump
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: came out. He addressed the nation about thirty one days
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: after he kind of told us what was going to
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: go on when we were going into Iran and what
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: the goals and objectives were. He was giving an update
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: to the American people. I really genuinely love this level
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: of transparency and also explaining where we are, what is
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: still left. And I think it landed pretty well, especially
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: with people that voted for the President.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's right. The President said exactly what
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: we're doing and what's coming next. Here, give a listen.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Thanks to the progress we've made, I can say tonight
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: that we are on track to complete all of America's
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: military objectives. Shortly, very shortly, We're going to hit them
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: going to bring them back to the Stone ages where
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: they belong.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Center. For anybody that wants transparency, you don't get any
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: more transparent than this president. He's like, yes, we have
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: the upper hand to the level where he can literally
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: just say, Toran, this is what we're going to do
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: to you. If you don't agree to this, if you
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: don't open the strain of their hormonage, well guess what.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: We're going to bomb the living snot out of you.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: And we're not bluffing. I love the fact that this
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: president is just being like this transparent, not just with us,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: but like with the rest of the world as well.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Look, that's important for our enemies to hear. It's important
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: for our friends to hear. Imagine for a second, you
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: are the current Iatola. The previous Iyatola has gone to
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: meet his maker. You're the new Iahtola, and you're thinking, Okay,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: we've made it through four weeks of this. This is
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: about to be over. The Americans are about to stop.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: And then you turn on the TV. You turn on
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: the internet and you see him say, we're going to
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: bomb you back to the Stone Age. Look, that's not
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: encouraging for the people who chant death to America. That
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: is that that is extremely dismaying. They're holding on by
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: their fingernails. And he's being clear that they're going to
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: hit very, very hard. Now he's also being clear this
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: is going to last a couple of weeks. It's not
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: going to last months more. It's not going to last
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: a year or longer. He's going to pound the hell
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: at him for the next couple of weeks. And you know,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: for the handful of online critics. And I do want
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: to say the press loves to say there's a civil
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: war among Republicans on President Trump attacking Iran. That is
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: objectively false. If you look at the polling, the support
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: is between eighty five percent and ninety percent of Republicans
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: support what the president is doing. That's not a civil war.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: They're just a handful of really loud voices, self proclaim
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: influencers and podcasters. By the way, can you stand a
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: podcast podcaster? What an annoying class of human being?
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: The podcasters, Yeah, they quoted a lot when you need them, right,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: like that. Well, there's a lot of Republican podcasters that
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: I describe as useful idiots for the left whenever they
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: need one. It's like they raise their hand like, oh,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: I'll do that for you, Like I'll say that for
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: you as long as you get my name out there.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: It's truly incredible.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, these self proclaimed podcasters are fond of saying, oh,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: President Trump has changed his view. He's changed his view
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: because he's a puppet that others are pulling his strings. Well, look,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: the President was Claire also in his national address, this
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: has been his view for a long long time. Here,
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: give a listen.
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: From the very first day I announced my campaign for
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: president in twenty fifteen, I have vowed that I would
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. This fanacular
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: regime has been chanting death to America, death to Israel
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: for forty seven years. Their proxies were behind the murder
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: of two hundred and forty one Americans and the Marine
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: barracks bombing in Beirut, the slaughter of hundreds of our
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: service members with roadside bombs. They were involved in the
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: attack on the USS coal and they're carried out the
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: countless other heinous acts including the blood just horrible, bloody
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: atrocities of October seventh in Israel, something that most people
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: have never seen anything like it. This murderer's regime also
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: recently killed forty five thousand of their own people who
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: were protesting in Iran. Forty five thousand dead. For these
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: terrorists to have nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: The most violent and thuggish regime on earth would be
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: free to carry out their campaigns of terror, coercion, conquest,
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: and mass murder from behind a nuclear shield. I will
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: never let that happen, and neither should any of our
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: past presidents.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: You know, the only difference between Donald Trump and the
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: past presidence he just mentioned there is every other president
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: has said that you can't allow I Ran to get
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: a nuclear weapon and that they are a threat to
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: this country directly. The only difference is Donald Trump actually
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: did what he said he was going to do, and
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: he was going to stop them. The other ones did not.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: They tried appeasement, they tried just kind of looking the
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: other way. None of it works since nineteen seventy nine,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: So now he's doing it. That's literally the only difference here.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Well, Listen, President Trump has been absolutely clear, as he
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: pointed out, going back to when he launched his first
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: presidential campaign in twenty fifteen. Twenty fifteen was eleven years ago.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: So the naysayers online who claim there's some like magical
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: realization Donald Trump has had, have not listened to him
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: year after year after year for more than a decade.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: When he said Iran will not get nuclear weapons, he
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: and he's acting, he's carrying out on that. Right now.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: I want to play Devil's advocate with you, because there's
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: a lot of people and some of those on the
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: right that have said this like, we didn't need to
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: go now. This was just Donald Trump wanting to get
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: into some sort of war and this was bad timing
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: by him. So let me ask you. For people that
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: are saying why now, explain why now made sense?
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Well, there were two factors that were really critical. Number One,
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: as President Trump mentioned just a minute ago, and as
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: he said for eleven years, we cannot allow Iran to
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: get nuclear weapons. That when the Ayatola chanted death to America,
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: we have every reason to believe him. The Iranian regime
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: has killed nearly a thousand Americans. They have been the
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: number one state funder of terrorism worldwide. If they had
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: a nuclear weapon, the odds are unacceptably high they would
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: use it. Now. A month ago, they were not on
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. Last year, during the
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: Twelve Day War, President Trump ordered our B two bombers
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: to fly halfway around the world, and we dropped bunker
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: busters on their nuclear weapons research facilities, particularly four daw
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: which four DOW is a secret research bunker. It was
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: built under a mountain and it was built to withstand
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: bombing attacks because Israel did not have bombs big enough
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: to take out four daugh. No other country on Earth
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: had bombs big enough to do that except for the
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: United States, were the only ones that had the bunker
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: busters big enough to take it out. The ordinance we
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: dropped on their nuclear research facilities last year where the
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: equivalent of one third of a nuclear weapon. We're talking big,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: big bombs, and we took out their nuclear weapons facilities.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: So a month ago they were not on the verge
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: of acquiring nuclear weapons facilities or nuclear weapons. Rather, why
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: did President Trump act? Because Iran was building missiles, short
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: range and medium range ballistic missiles at an incredibly rapid clip,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: over one hundred missiles a month they were building. They
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: were all building.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Put that respective, I think people need to understand building
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: one hundred a month, that is like warp speed in
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: the ballistic missile world. People need to understand that, like,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: if you're building that many, it's for a reason you're
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: going toward. It's not even a defensive that's like an
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: offensive posture. And everybody in the world basically agreed with that.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Well, we also know now that they had missiles that
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: were sufficient that they could go all the way from
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Iran to Diego Garcia, because during this war they fired
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: a missile at Dieo Garcia, which is a British American
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: military base in the Chagos Islands in the middle of
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: the Indian Oceans. That's a couple thousand miles away. That
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: is the same distance from Iran that Paris and London are,
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: which meant they had missiles far enough to get to
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: the capital cities in Europe. They were building over one
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: hundred missiles a month. They were also building vast numbers
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: of drones, and their plan was to have so many
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: missiles and so many drones that it would become prohibitively
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: costly to go in and take out their next nuclear
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: weapons research facility. They wandered enough missiles and drones that
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: if we came in and took out Phase two of
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: the nuclear weapons research facility, they could inflict massive casualties
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: on their neighbors. And look what they did when this
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: conflict started. They fired missiles at everybody, not just at Israel,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: at every one of their neighbors. And so the Trump
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: administration made the determination they needed to act now before
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: they had so many missiles and so many drones that
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: there would be a massive loss of life if we
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: acted subsequently to take out nuclear weapons research facilities. That's
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: number one. Number two, the Iranian regime is weaker right
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: now than it has been at any time during our lifetime.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: As you know, I spent the entire day the day
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: before this conflict began with President Trump. He and I
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: were together at Air Force One. We flew from DC
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: to Texas together, and then he asked me to join
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: him in the beast, in the presidential limo. It was
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: just the two of us, one on one. The entire
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: time we were talking about what should he do in
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Iran and what I was arguing to him, I support
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: this attack, and I urge this attack vigorously, and I said, listen,
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: the regime has never been more vulnerable. It is teetering,
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: and there is very little, if anything, that you could
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: do that would more greatly enhance American national security than
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: to see this radical Islamist regime collapse, to remove from
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: power an Ayatola, who chanced death to America, who has
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: been murdering Americans for years, and who wants to kill
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: as many Americans as he can.
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: All right, let me go back to another big question,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: and I would say a fallacy that's been out there
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: that a lot of people have been talking about, and
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: that is, well, it wasn't America's role to do this.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: If the neighbors were afraid, then they should have been
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: the ones. We already went after their nuclear facilities. That's
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: where America should have stopped. And if others in Europe
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: were concerned about me hit by these missiles that could
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: reach them capital cities, then that's on them to do it,
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: not America. Why did we have to do this, that's
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: the isolation's viewpoint I've heard.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Look, we weren't doing it for Iran's neighbors. We weren't
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: doing it for Saudi Arabia or UAE or Cutter. We
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: weren't doing it for Europe, and we weren't doing it
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: for Israel. I know all of the jew haters online
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: like to say, it's for Israel, it's for Israel, It's
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: for Israel. The Iyatola chanted death to America. He also
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: chanted death to Israel. But there's a reason the Ayatola
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: called Israel the little Satan and America the Great Satan.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: I believe if the Ayatola had a nuclear weapon, he
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: might have detonated it in Tel Aviv and killed vast
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: numbers of Israelis. But I actually think it is more
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: likely if he could, he would detonate a nuclear weapon
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: in New York City or Los Angeles and kill as
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: many Americans as possible. That is, look when he calls
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: us the great Satan, and understand this is not hypothetical.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: And I want to underscore my view. I am, as
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: a general matter, very reluctant to use military force. I
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: think the Iraq War was a mistake. I have been
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: vocal for a long time that the Iraq War was
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: a mistake. Why do I think it was a mistake
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: because Saddam Hussein was not waging war against the United States.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: He was not killing vast numbers of Americans. He was
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: not pledging to kill vast numbers of Americans. The Ayatola
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: was over ninety percent of the funding for hamas Hesbial
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: and the Huthis had come from Iran. They were murdering
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Americans year after year after year. They were trying to
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: murder President Trump. And that is why the President acted.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: And look at all we've accomplished. Give a listen to
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: the President on everything we've accomplished so far.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: Tonight, Iran's navy is gone, their air force is in ruins.
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: Their leaders, most of them terrorist regime they led, are
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: now dead. Their command and control of the Islamic Revolutionary
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: Guard cos OR is being decimated as we speak. Their
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: Very few of them left. Never in the history of
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: warfare has an enemy suffered such clear and devastating, large
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: scale losses in a matter of weeks.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: President Trump being very clear there, I want to move
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: on to one of the big headlines. It's never fun
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: when someone loses their job, and the administration, the headline
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: from the New York Posts, Pambondi speaks out for the
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: first time after Trump fired her as the Attorney General.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: I want to get your take on this. You know
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: her well, I know her, We've had her on this
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: show before. Look in cabinets, there's always people that come
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: and go. That's just part of Washington and politics. It
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: is what it is. There's a lot of people on
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: the left that are just thrilled about this that they're
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: there's a turmoil and you know everything. I don't. I
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: think it's that way at all. I think this is
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: the President just saying, Okay, I want to do something
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: a little bit different, and he's going to move on
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: pretty darn quick.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, listen, Pam Bondy is a good friend of mine.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: I think she took on what may be the single
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: hardest job in the entire administration, the Department of Justice.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: There is a deep state at DOJ and at the
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: FBI who fought her from day one, who have been
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: waging war trying to prevent her efforts to bring back integrity,
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: to take the politicization out of the Department of Justice.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: And it's been an uphill battle. It's been a difficult battle.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Pam was someone who she was a guest on Verdict,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: literally when she was just a couple of weeks into
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: the job at a very beginning, brand new ag She
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: came on Verdict and was a guest and talked to
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: us about everything she was trying to accomplish. You know,
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: she put out a tweet saying farewell. Here's what Pam
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: had to say. Over the next month, I will be
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: working tirelessly to transition the office of Attorney General to
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: the amazing Todd Blanche before moving to an important private
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: sector role I am thrilled about and where I will
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: continue fighting for President Trump in this administration. Leading President
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Trump's historic and highly successful efforts to make America safer
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: and more secure has been the honor of a lifetime
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: and easily the most consequential first year of the Department
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: of Justice in American history. Since February twenty twenty five,
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: we have secured the lowest murder rate in one hundred
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: and twenty five years, secured first ever terrorism convictions against
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: members of Antifa, shattered domestic and transnational gangs across the country,
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: taken custody of more than ninety key cartel figures, and
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: won twenty four favorable rulings at the Supreme Court. I
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: remain internally grateful for the trust that President Trump placed
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: in me to make America safe again. And listen, I
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: think Pam served honorably. It is the President's prerogative to
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: choose if he wants a new leadership of the Department
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: of Justice, and he's made that choice. But I think
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Pam served honorably in a very difficult job. And I
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: think her results, particularly in terms of crime, in terms
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: of going after murderers and rapists and gang bangers and
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: illegal aliens, and the resulting twenty percent drop in the
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: murder rate is staggering and unprecedented, and it is something she
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: should be very proud of. I'm certain that she is,
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: because between that and the rate of drug overdose deaths
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: dropping twenty percent nationally, there are literally thousands of Americans
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: right now who are alive today because of the policy
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: she and President Trump and a Republican Congress put in place,
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: securing the border and removing dangerous criminals. That's something to
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: be really proud of.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: It is and you look at my hometown for examp,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: where I was born in Memphis, Tennesseee PAM was there
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: multiple times. Crime there is down forty percent year over year.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: The President just went to Memphis, gosh, less than a
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: week ago and talked about the success there of what
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: he did there in Washington, d C. PAM was a
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: large part of that as well. And as you mentioned,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: like that's part of a legacy. Look, you and I
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: have known people that have come and gone in cabinets before,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: some of them actually ags. I've known a couple that
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: have lost their job after a while. It is, it's
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: one of the hardest jobs to do. My former mentor
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: in DC was John Ashcroft, and he always didn't get
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: along with the president. Units It's America. George Bush forty three,
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: and afterwards Alberto Gonzalez came in. I mean, you know,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: it is part of what happens. I also think, though,
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: based on the names we're hearing right now, somebody's going
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: to get this job and they're going to do probably
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: one hell of a job for the president. And I
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: do think even now, you know even more to find
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: what the President's gonna want out of you on the
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: second go round on this one, that also can be
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: good for that individual coming in.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, at least right now what's been announced is
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: that Todd Blanche, who's the Deputy Attorney General, is going
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: to be the acting Attorney General. I don't know how
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: long that's going to last. It wouldn't surprise me if
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: President Trump gives him a little bit of time to
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: see what kind of job he does, he may end
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: up leaving Todd Blanche in that role. That would not
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: shock me. Todd is a serious lawyer, has been doing
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: a good job as Deputy Attorney General. He has been
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: focused on a lot of the law enforcement mission, in
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: particular locking up criminals, and so I could see him
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: being given a shot at the top job. There's been
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: other chatter that Lee's Elden leez Elden has also been
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: a guest on this podcast. He's the administrator of the EPA.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: That I didn't realize he's a lawyer. I had multiple
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: people texting me, They're like, how is the guy in
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: the EPA. I'm like, well, he's a lawyer, And they
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: had no idea he was a lawyer. I mean he's
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: His name has been circulating like inside of Washington and
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: outside of Washington as well.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: Well. Listen Lee has done a very effective job at EPA.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: And by the way, it is hard to do the
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: job ahead of the EPA if you're not a lawyer,
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: because it's dense and complicated laws and regulations and understanding it.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: And Lee's been really effective in the regulatory reform agenda
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: and in pulling back the job killing regulations that did
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: so much damage under the Biden administration. And I suspect
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: that's one reason I haven't had this conversation with President Trump,
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: But I suspect that's one reason why he's considering Lee
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: is because he's been very, very effective in a complicated,
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: difficult cabinet position. Now DOJ is qualitatively different. And listen,
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: I'll say as for me, you know, in the first
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Trump administration, I talked to the President quite seriously about
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: possibly being a g and in Trump won. I went
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: in and spent about four and a half hours in
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: Trump Tower the week after the election in November twenty sixteen,
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: and I had a conversation with him on a number
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: of fronts, and I made what I would say would
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: be a half hearted play for ag what I told
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: him at the time, as I said, listen, I recognize
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: back then that I was pretty late on the train,
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: and I said there are others like Jeff Sessions or
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Juliani or Christy. If they want to be ag, you
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: probably should should give it to them. But if you,
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: if you wanted to talk to me about this, I'd
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: be willing to have that conversation. We did talk about it.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: We had a good conversation. The President made the decision
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: to go with Jeff Sessions. Jeff was a good friend
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: of mine, was a colleague in the Senate. I was
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: happy for him, and I will tell you, in the
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: eleven years since that conversation, I have been grateful every
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: day since then that I did not go down that path,
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: because let's be clear, if I had become.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Ag, you're gonna ask that question. I was going to
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: ask the question like, did you ever look back and
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: you're like, that was the best conversation ever to be
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: late on the train?
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes, yes, yes, And look, I made a half
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: hearted play on purpose. I know how to make a
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: full throat at play, but I thought I perceived the
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: downsides of the job, and I liked what I was
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: doing then, so I was like, but to be honest,
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: the reason I made the half hearted play is is
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: just for love of the game. I mean frankly, the
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: job of Attorney General. I would really enjoy that job.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: It didn't make any sense, it wasn't consistent with what
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: I wanted to do, but it just would be fun
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: in hindsight. So I will tell you. Nine months into it,
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: there was a story in the New York Times. This
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: is would have been I think August of twenty seventeen.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Oh, I remember, I remember, well, where you're going with this?
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: Keep going?
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: And the story said Trump is thinking about firing Jeff's
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: Sessions and he's talking to Cruise about replacing him, and look,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Sessions has been a friend of mine forever. So I
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: called Jeff. And by the way, Jeff knew that I
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: talked to him about it. He was in Trump Tower
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: the day I was there talking to about it. We
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: were very open and transparent with each other. And I
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: called Jeff the day that story came out and I said, hey, Jeff,
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: I just wanted you to hear from me. This is
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: BS like I have not I said, you knew I
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: had a conversation with the President back November of last year.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: I said, since then, I've not had another conversation about
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: AG And I just told Jeff, I want you to
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: hear from me. I don't want the job and I
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: wouldn't take it if offered, So this is not coming
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: from me. And listen, Jeff had a rough time in
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: that position. Bill Barr, who succeeded him, started out really well,
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: but at the end he had a rough time in
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: that position. That has been a job. Pam Bondy did
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: a lot of good, but getting fired in front of
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: the world is not fun. It's not fun. I put
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: out a statement saying saying how much I support and
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: like her, and I sent her a text just saying hey,
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: I'm praying for you and thinking for thinking of you,
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: and thank you for being a patriot and answer in
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: the call. But all of which is to say, I
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: am immensely glad that I stayed in the Senate. I've
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: been Donald Trump's single strongest ally in the Senate for
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: more than a decade. But I very much like the
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: arrangement of working hand in hand with the President from
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: the Senate rather than DJ. Whoever gets the nod, whether
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: it's Todd Blanche or Lee Zelden or whoever, I will
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: work with them to help them get confirmed. I will
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: work hand in hand with them, just like I did
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: with Pam Bondy and Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions. Because
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: the mission of DJ is massively important and President Trump
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: deserves a strong, effective, incredibly principled Attorney General.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Mark Wayne got confirmed. It was actually pretty easy. Do
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: you expect the same thing for whoever the President picks
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: real quick in this position as well, even with a
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: slim majority.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Probably, although like Mark Wayne, I think it'll be largely
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: a party line vote. Mark Wayne got only two Democrats
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: who voted for him. I think no matter who who
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: the President appoints, the Democrats will will will party line
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: vote against him, with a possible exception of one or two.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: But if it's anything like if it's any reasonable appointment appointment,
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: I think you'll see the Republic line up and give
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: the President at least fifty one votes.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: All right, center. There was something very interesting that happened
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: this week. No one was really covering it. The New
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: York Times, however, did report on this that that radical
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: leftist organization Act Blue may have misled Congress on and
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: I'm quoting here, vetting foreign donations. Its lawyers said, so,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: just to be clear, another example of Democrats taking foreign interference.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Something I thought they were totally against in our elections,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: in our laws, but yeah, not on this one. Apparently
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: foreign dollars coming in and they may not have vetted
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: the money at all.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: So in a shocking development, rain fell upwards, fish began flying, ye,
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: birds began swimming. Yes, And the New York Times actually
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: reported news.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: Do we do a golf cap for that? Like Little Masters?
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: It is shocking story. And this is actually a bombshell
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: story that that could potentially have very real consequences. It's
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: in the New York Times. The headline is Act Blue
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: may have misled Congress on vetting foreign donations. Its lawyers warned.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: So understand the source of this is Covington and Berling,
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: which is a blue chip law firm in d C.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: That that that we were. Joe Biden's former White House
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: counsel was the lawyer for Act Blue and Act Blue
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: is is a powerhouse. It is raised billions and billions
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: of dollars for Democrats.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: Say that again not millions, billion, billions raids, just for Democrats.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: That they flood money. And they have all of these
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: donors who their credit card information is set in. They're
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: on auto contribute month after month after month, and it
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: just floods cash.
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Here's what The New York Times reported. The Democratic fundraising
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: group is facing investigations from the Justice Department and Congressional
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Republicans ahead of midterm elections. In early twenty twenty five,
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: a law firm working for ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising behemoth,
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: delivered the organization a startling warning. The firm concluded that
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: Actblue's chief executive had given a potentially misleading response to
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: Congressional Republican investigators in a twenty twenty three letter explaining
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: how the organization vetted donations to ensure that they were
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: not illegally coming from foreign citizens. Quote. This presents a
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: substantial risk for Act Blue, the law firm Comington and
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: Berling wrote in one of the two memos. One memo
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: raised the specter of criminal investigation of prosecutors believed that
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Act Blue had tried to conceal facts about its efforts
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: to prevent foreign contributions. The memos instigated a meltdown at
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: the highest levels of Act Blue, one of the Democratic
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Party's most vital financial organs. A series of top officials
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: resigned in quick succession. Act Blue is now all but
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: declaring war on its past lawyers, an extraordinary turn of
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: event at a moment when President Trump has already ordered
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: a Justice Department investigation into the organization. Democrats are nervous
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: that any additional upheaval at act blue could destabilize the
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: critical fundraising apparatus ahead of the midterm elections. All levels
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: of Democratic candidates, from incumbent presidents to school board aspirants,
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: use act blue to raise campaign money from online donors.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: The platform has processed get this number, nearly nineteen billion
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: with a b billion dollars in contributions since its founding
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: in two thousand and four, building a donor database with
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: millions of credit card numbers that is unmatched in American politics.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: Nearly twenty three thousand candidates and groups use the site.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: In twenty twenty one year, nearly twenty three thousand candidates
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: and groups and raised almost one point eight billion dollars
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: from fifty two million contributions, some of which recur every month.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: And what is striking is the Covington memos said, and
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: here's the really killer sentence quote. It can be alleged
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: that Act blue accepted and or facilitated the acceptance of
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: foreign national contributions into American elections. In addition, because Act
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: Blue staff was aware that its system was not as
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: robust as necessary, it could be alleged that these violations
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: were knowing and willful, a standard that both increases the
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: penalties the FEC might seek and gives the Justice Department
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: jurisdiction for a potential criminal investigation. This is a big,
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: big deal.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, when you say big deal, and I'm a pessimist now,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: like a lot of people, and every time we see
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: something like this happen, then it's like, all right, well,
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: is there gonna be people that go to jail and
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: be arrested? And then it seems like nothing ever happens.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: So when you say this is a big big deal,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: are you saying that there could actually genuinely be people
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: that get in trouble for this or is it just
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: gonna be like someone will fine and we move on,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: or even nothing at all.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: Look, there could be people criminally prosecuted, there could be
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: people going to jail, but that's not really the biggest consequence.
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: The biggest consequence is if there's a criminal investigation.
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: And this is.
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: Covington and Berling, a big Democrat law firm that was
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: the lawyer for Act Blue, telling them, holy crap, you
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: guys have screwed up, and you've got real exposure. And
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: then this is the New York Times, the official mouthpiece
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: for the Democrats, reporting on it. The biggest political consequence
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: would be if a criminal investigation shuts down Act Blue
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: between now and the election, because Act Blue, if nothing
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: else happens, Act Blue will raise billions of dollars for
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: Democrats between now and November. And by the way, Act
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: Blues defense, one of their defense is, well, well, we
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: we we. Less than one percent of contributions in twenty
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: twenty four were from foreign countries. Well, less than one
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: percent out of nineteen billion dollars is a crap ton
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: of money, and it is illegal, and that dynamic. And
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: I'll give you some other other stats. So here here's
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: something Greg Price tweeted. With all the headwinds facing the GOP,
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: national Democrat groups have a serious fundraising problem going into
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: the midterm. The DNC currently has more debt than cash
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: on hand, while the RNC has over one hundred million
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: dollars on hand. The slf CLF and rcc an NRSC,
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: which are all the different committees on the Republican side,
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: all have more cash than their Democrat counterparts. And now
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: this with Act Blue, the Democrat crown jewel of their fundraising,
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: the big, big political consequence if Act Blue has committed
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: criminal conduct laundering foreign money into American elections, and if
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: they actively covered it up, which is what Covington and
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: Berling suggest there's evidence of, that could be more than
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: sufficient for the Department of Justice to shut Act Blue down.
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: And if that money spigot is cut off from Democrat
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: candidates in November, that has massive, massive consequences.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: For the area, and it shuts off the foreign money. Right,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: that's also the big part of this. And so even
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: if if they try to morph into a new group, right,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: people leave.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: And by the way, look, the foreign money is not
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: just some hypothetical specter. If you're the act if you're
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: the Chinese, if you're the Russian, if you're the Iranians,
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: if you're the Venezuelans, if you're the Cubans, it is
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: objectively in your interest to have Democrats win in November.
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: Donald Trump has made your life a living hell. And
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: so you want Congress to declare war on President Trump.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: You want a Democrat House and Senate that impeaches the president.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: That investigates the president, that prevents the president from doing
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: what he's done to the enemies of America.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Make sure you share this podcast please wherever you can
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: on social media so others will hear it. Hit that
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: subscriber auto download button, and I'll see you back here
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: tomorrow