1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,360 Speaker 1: The Department of Justice is suing the state of Georgia 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: over its voting rights law. There is a new voting 3 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: rights law up for discussion named after the late Congressman 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: John Lewis. There's a major court case that the Supreme 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: Court refused to hear on whether or not there's a 6 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: constitutional right for men to use the women's bathroom. But 7 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: there is one legal issue on the mind of America 8 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: before any of the others. That, of course, would be 9 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 1: when will we hashtag free Britney Spears. This is a 10 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: Verdict with Ted Cruz. Welcome back to Verdict. I'm Michael Knowles. Oops, 11 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: I did it again. I did not lead with the 12 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: most important story and one that I really want to 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: get into. Senator, so good to be with you to 14 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: touch on all the important legal issues of the day. Well, 15 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: if there's anything this podcast is known for, it is 16 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: focusing on the issue shoes that will determine the fate 17 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: of the Republic. And so I'm glad we can continue 18 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: in that tradition today. In that case, Senator, hit me 19 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: baby one more time. I want to know what the 20 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: real details are of this case. I actually I'm only 21 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: being half facetious here. Because we've seen this pop up 22 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: in the culture. Every now and again, you'll see the 23 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: hashtag free Brittany movement. She's under a conservatorship. You know, 24 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: a lot of us grew up with her as a 25 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: very important figure, especially the young men out there. She 26 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,119 Speaker 1: occupied a lot of space in our minds, and she's 27 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: been under this conservatorship for some time, so she doesn't 28 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: appear to have any real legal rights. I read somewhere 29 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: that she has a birth control device that her doctors 30 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: will not remove, and that her family will not allow 31 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: her to remove. I mean, this seems like in some 32 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: cases the stuff you hear about in communist China, and 33 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: yet that's permitted to go on here. So do you 34 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: know anything about this or you know conservatorships more generally 35 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: and how people can be deprived of their civil rights. 36 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: So I will say this, this may be an illustration 37 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: of something of a generational divide. Where whereas you grew 38 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,680 Speaker 1: up with Britney spears on your wall, I was more 39 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:12,839 Speaker 1: of a fair faucet guy. But but you know, they're 40 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: the decades have a way of passing on. So I 41 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: will readily confess I am no expert in in Britney 42 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: Spears music that was not particularly my cup of tea. 43 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: But I got to say on the question of the 44 00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: conservative ship, I am squarely and unequivocally in the camp 45 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: of free Brittany. I think this is frigging ridiculous. What 46 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: is happening to Britney Spears and a needstand? Can you 47 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: tell me any? I don't even really understand the idea 48 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: of the conservatorship. More broadly, I understand, if it's someone 49 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: has personal troubles, then someone else can be designated to 50 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: make legal decisions for them. But how broad is it? 51 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: Because just knowing what I read in the newspapers, it 52 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: seems deeply Unamerican, it seems deeply wrong. What is what 53 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,519 Speaker 1: is happening? So it is it is incredibly broad. And 54 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: look that there are various steps in the law that 55 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: that an individual can forfeit their their freedom, their liberty. 56 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: If you're seriously mentally ill, you can be involuntarily committed. 57 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: But for you to be involuntarily committed, you've got to 58 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 1: be typically a danger to yourself or a danger to others, 59 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: and that's got to be demonstrated. It varies state by state, 60 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,679 Speaker 1: but usually with a pretty high evidentury standard. For your 61 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: freedom to be taken away from you and you to 62 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: be incapacitated. A conservatorship is similar to that the demonstration 63 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: under California law. For a conservatorship to be entered into 64 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: for someone else to have the ability to make life 65 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: decisions for you, either about you, your person, your health 66 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: like what you can do with your life, or your finances. 67 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: The threshold is quite high, and they're typically used for 68 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: people who are very, very elderly, for people's whose faculty 69 00:03:57,400 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: have lost them. If you have, say Alzheimer's, and you're 70 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: no longer able to care for yourself, then there's a 71 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: role for a conservatorship if you have someone whose mental 72 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: capacity is not there. What is bizarre about what happened 73 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: to Britney Spears is she's a thirty nine year old woman. 74 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: She's a mother of two. She h you know. Has 75 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: she had issues in life? Sure? Has she had issues 76 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,119 Speaker 1: with mental illness? Perhaps? I don't know. I'm not her doctor. 77 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: I haven't seen that demonstrated. Has she had issues with 78 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: substance abuse? So we know she's been to rehab. But 79 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: but I gotta say, if if you're gonna lock up 80 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: everyone in Hollywood who has had substance abuse issues. You're 81 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: gonna have a long, long line. And and and in fact, 82 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: Sunset Boulevard might be empty. H that's the real estate 83 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: prices would blumme, it would be great. So so the 84 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: threshold it is bizarre. And and this conservatorship. It happened 85 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight. It happened while she was 86 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: in the midst of and coming out of a nasty 87 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: custody dispute with her ex husband over her kids. Look, 88 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: custody disputes get ugly, and she had had an incident. 89 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 1: You know, she went and took a took an umbrella 90 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: to a paparazzi. Now listen, you know, I don't know 91 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: any of us that would react well to people hounding 92 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: you every moment you go outside, when you go to 93 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: the seven to eleven, when you go to the grocery store, 94 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: when you do anything, people taking pictures, constantly being in 95 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: your face. You know, I'm reminded of the scene in 96 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: The Untouchables to use a movie example, where where al Capone, 97 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: played beautifully by de Niro, gets mad at a photographer 98 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: and grabs the cameron and and breaks it like that. 99 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: That reaction, while perhaps not the best reaction is an 100 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: incredibly human and understandable reaction, and the idea that and 101 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: so all right, she shaved her head. Okay, last I checked, 102 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: shaving your head is not a capital offense. She had 103 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: pretty hair, But who the hell's business is if she 104 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 1: wants to shave her head or not. The threshold for 105 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: taking away someone's liberty and capacity to make decisions properly 106 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 1: under the law is very high, and it should be high. 107 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: And at this point we're looking at what thirteen years 108 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 1: of a grown woman having every decision made by her father. Now, 109 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: it might even be a different story if her father 110 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,600 Speaker 1: had been a carrying, nurturing figure throughout her life, had 111 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: helped her through a career, was someone who had demonstrated 112 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: enormous love for As best I can tell from her history, 113 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: her father was out of her life for much of 114 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: the period of her life, had his own drinking problems, 115 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: his own issues as she was rising up as a 116 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: pop star, and then when she got super rich, just 117 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 1: kind of parachuted in there and said, hey, I like 118 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 1: me some hundreds of millions of dollars. Well, I get 119 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: that he might, but that seems absurd. And then let 120 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: me put really the finishing touch on it. If for 121 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: the last twelve thirteen years she had been severely mentally ill, 122 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: if she was sitting in the corner, you know, playing 123 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: with blocks and counting on her toes, Okay, maybe you 124 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: could say, all right, this is someone not able to function. 125 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: There is an important place in the law for protecting 126 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: someone who's not able to function. But during the last 127 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: thirteen years, she's done hundreds of shows, She's made hundreds 128 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: of millions of dollars. She's able to stand up on 129 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: stage and sing and perform and dance over and over 130 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: and over again. Look, I gotta admit you and I 131 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: couldn't do that to save our lives. Well, maybe you could, 132 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: but I couldn't do that the same by life, and 133 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: everything I have seen about this case, it seems like 134 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: an enormous abuse of the judicial process, going right down 135 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: to when the conservatorship was first put in place. She 136 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: tried to hire a lawyer to fight it, and the 137 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: California District judge threw her lawyer out, says, no, she's 138 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: not capable of hiring a lawyer. I've got a medical 139 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: report that proves it, and I'm not going to show 140 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: it to you. So I've got a secret report. By 141 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: the way, I have a secret report right here on 142 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: Michael Knowles. It says that you're not capable of handling yourself, 143 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: and so, by the way, you're vast one hundred dollars fortune. 144 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: I'm taking you over right now. Like Senator, no one 145 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: would dispute that every I think in that particular case 146 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,719 Speaker 1: it's public knowledge. Different for Brittany, But what an assinine 147 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: situation for a judge to throw out a lawyer that 148 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,679 Speaker 1: she tried to retain and a point instead another lawyer. 149 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: The entire process throughout it seems design to just trample 150 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: on her rights. And I don't have any any dog 151 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: in the fight of saying that she's the wisest and 152 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: most capable person on earth. I don't know. I don't 153 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: know her, but there are no outside in Disha of 154 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: the level of lack of competence that should be required 155 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: to justify a conservatorship for one week, much less for 156 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: thirteen years. And I think part of the reason why 157 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: people care about this story is not just because Britney 158 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,679 Speaker 1: Spears actually wasn't a very important pop culture figure for 159 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: a lot of people, But I think it's also because 160 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: all around our country. We're seeing people's civil rights being 161 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 1: taken away, We're seeing abuses of the judicial process. It 162 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: seems that this is sort of one particular sensational story 163 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: that is a representative of corrosion around the justice system. 164 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but there there 165 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,679 Speaker 1: are other examples of these major abuses. Now I think 166 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:03,840 Speaker 1: that's right, and there are a couple of other points. One, 167 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: in ordinary circumstances, she's not someone who would be considered powerless. 168 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: This is someone who has made hundreds of millions of dollars, 169 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: has vast resources, which may explain why vultures are circling 170 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: around and want access to her money. Two that the 171 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 1: entire affair there seems enormous misogyny connected with this. It's 172 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: difficult to imagine a similar situation with a man. I mean, 173 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: I mean, you want to talk about people who are 174 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: irresponsible with their money. You don't have to stretch to 175 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: find some pro athletes who hemorrhage cash like crazy and 176 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: spend money on everybody on earth. You don't have to 177 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: stretch to find rock stars and people who look all 178 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,440 Speaker 1: of us have watched the sort of you know, late 179 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: night eon television series of they started off young and bright, 180 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: and then to the descent to drugs and alcohol, and 181 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,560 Speaker 1: it always ends and then and then sometimes there's a 182 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: redemption and then they cleaned up and are living their life. 183 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: In this instance, it seems that Britney Spears encountered the 184 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,680 Speaker 1: kind of challenges with fame and success that many, if 185 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:20,680 Speaker 1: not most people who have experienced that encounter. But for her, 186 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: that was used as an excuse to strip away or liberty. 187 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: And you mentioned one of the more stunning allegations. She 188 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 1: gave a recent interview where she said that they put 189 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: an IUD, a birth control device in her involuntarily because 190 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: they didn't want her to have kids. I mean, good God, 191 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 1: that that sort of forced prevention of childbirth, forced sterilization. 192 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: It has an ugly, ugly legacy. It goes on in 193 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: China communists China all the time. But we have an 194 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: ugly legacy in the United States of people with mental 195 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: reach ardation being forced to be sterilized. And that is grotesque. 196 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: And the idea that that that the court would step 197 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: in and say she doesn't have a right to make 198 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: a decision to have a child, that that is stunning. 199 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: I'm not I don't know that that fact is confirmed, 200 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: but it's an allegation she's made, and the judicial system 201 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:29,240 Speaker 1: ought to be protecting her rights, not treating her like 202 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: a child because she's not a child. That was the 203 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,319 Speaker 1: fact that really pushed me over the edge. It's just 204 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: intrinsically evil. It is just the kind of thing that 205 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: you read about in communist China. This, for all intents 206 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:48,679 Speaker 1: and purposes, forced sterilization. It's it's just, you know, if 207 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:52,319 Speaker 1: the allegation is true, it is just such a stunning overreach. 208 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 1: And so I agree. I am entirely with you on 209 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,080 Speaker 1: the hashtag free Brittany train. I was wondering if we 210 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,200 Speaker 1: could also if you can enlighten me on some of 211 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: these broader overreaches, because I just from the legal I 212 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: have my own political views, of my own philosophical views, 213 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: but from the legal perspective, it would be good to 214 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: get an expert here. What is going on between the 215 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: DOJ and Georgia. Georgia passed a voting rights law. We've 216 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: now heard that Merrick Garland, the AG is going to 217 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: sue Georgia. The people of Georgia don't have the right 218 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,680 Speaker 1: to pass their own election laws. Apparently not look If 219 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 1: you look at the Department of Justice under Joe Biden, 220 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 1: Merrick Garland had been a judge for a couple of decades. 221 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: It actually earned a reputation of being relatively fired and partial. 222 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: So when he was first nominated, I was cautiously optimistic 223 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: that this was not a wild eyed partisan. That optimism 224 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: was substantially shaken during his confirmation hearing, where where Merrick 225 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:54,320 Speaker 1: Garland refused to answer just about any question. Look, no 226 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: matter what you asked, he wouldn't make even the barest commitments. 227 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,839 Speaker 1: He just basically dodged everything, and that was disconcerting. I 228 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: voted against Garland's confirmation, But then it got much worse 229 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: because I saw Biden's subsequent nominations, and in particular two 230 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: in particular Benita Gupta, who's the number three lawyer at 231 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,839 Speaker 1: the Department of Justice now, and Kristin Clark, who is 232 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: the head lawyer at the Civil Rights Division. The two 233 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: of them are both radicals, and and in fact I've 234 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: dubbed them the radical twins. They're both they're two of 235 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: the leading proponents of abolishing the police in this country. 236 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: And by the way, we're not talking about a long 237 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: time ago. We're talking about last year, both of them 238 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: either gave testimony or in writing advocated for defunding or 239 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: abolishing the police. These are now two I'm just asking 240 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: a very practical level senator, how is it that two 241 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: of the top cops in the country would end up 242 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: be advocating for abolishing the Doesn't that seem a little 243 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: self undermining? It should, because Biden has handed control of 244 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: the agenda over to the radicals. And by the way, 245 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: at their testimony for both their confirmations, they said, well, 246 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,080 Speaker 1: okay ay, they denied that they'd written it. Even when 247 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: you read them the words back at them, I mean, 248 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: and it was almost like a you know, obi wan kenobi, 249 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 1: these aren't the droid you're looking for. There's like, nope, 250 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: I didn't say that, and you'd read the words Nope, 251 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: that's not what that says. And then more importantly, they 252 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: just say, I do not advocate abolishing the police. Today, 253 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: by the way, the politicized fact checkers, so today the 254 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: Washington Post fact check a sort of joking tweet I 255 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 1: made about Joe Biden's anti crime agenda. I laid out 256 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: five points, one of which was abolished the police, and 257 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: they came out four pinocchios. Why because they say, well, 258 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: no, no no, no, Joe Biden himself has not advocated abolishing 259 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: the police. Well, you know what, when you nominate not one, 260 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: but two senior officials at your Department of Justice who 261 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: were among the leading advocates for abolishing the police in 262 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: the country, you don't get to pretend you're on the 263 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: other side. So one of them, Kristin Clark, is leading 264 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: the Civil Rights Division, and she has been a radical 265 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: partisan her entire life. By the way, in law school 266 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: she put on a conference celebrating cop killers as heroes. 267 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 1: This is the kind of radical that she is, that 268 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: that that that people who murder police officers are heroes 269 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: to be lionized. So what did the depointment. I seem 270 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: to recall that that Kristen Clark also wrote. I believe 271 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: it was in the Harvard Crimson. It may have been 272 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: in some other publication at Harvard. She wrote a peace 273 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: about the biological racial superiority of black people over whites, 274 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: and I didn't believe it when I saw the allegations, 275 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: so I actually had to go look it up in 276 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: the newspaper, and there it is with her her name 277 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: in the byline. She did now she claims that was satirical. 278 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: Whether it was or not, I don't know, but that's 279 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: her explanation today. Regardless both she had been made a 280 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: goop to have had an entire career decades of being 281 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: hard partisan radicals. So what happens George je passes a 282 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: voter integrity law. Democrats and the press demonize that voter 283 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: integrity law. And now we see the Department of Justice 284 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: is the enforcement arm for the radical left. Because the 285 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: Department of Justice sued Georgia under what's called Section two 286 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: of the Voting Rights Act. And here's what the Department 287 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: of Justice is arguing that it violates the Voting Rights 288 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 1: Act for Georgia to do things like, for example, not 289 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,199 Speaker 1: send absentee ballots to people who didn't request them. I 290 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: gotta tell you, there are a whole bunch of states 291 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 1: all across the country, including Texas, that don't send absentee 292 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:42,199 Speaker 1: ballots to people who don't request them. Now in twenty 293 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: yet Biden jets way. In twenty twenty with COVID, a 294 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 1: lot of states, including Georgia, relaxed or failed to enforce 295 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: their voting laws to make voting to lessen the protections 296 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: against voter fraud and it was just a fi because 297 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: of the pandemic. Set aside for a second, which of 298 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: those justifications were in worn't right? Look, providing absentee ballots 299 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: to people who requests them is the way an awful 300 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: lot of states across the country do it, and have 301 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,400 Speaker 1: done it for a long long time. The idea that 302 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,439 Speaker 1: that violates the federal voting rights law is absurd. Another 303 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: element of George's bill is a requirement of voter ID. 304 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: Eighty percent of Americans support voter ID, over sixty percent 305 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,719 Speaker 1: of Democrats support voter ID, over sixty percent of African 306 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: Americans support voter ID. The Department of Justice is suing, 307 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:40,040 Speaker 1: saying the fact that Georgia passed a law with ID 308 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: requirements violates the federal civil rights laws. That this is, 309 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:47,640 Speaker 1: I believe, an abuse of the justice system, and it 310 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: really is the fruits of what happens when you put 311 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: partisan radicals in senior positions of the Department of Justice. 312 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: They turn around and use the Department of Justice as 313 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: a partisan But I could I push back on their 314 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: behalf because what they're going to say is they're going 315 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 1: to say, look, when you have widespread mail ends more 316 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: people vote right, We had something like seven zillion people 317 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: vote in the last election. When you don't have voter ID, 318 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: you're going to get more people to vote. Some of 319 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:17,400 Speaker 1: those people might be dead, and some of those people 320 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: might be foreign nationals. But as we actually talked about 321 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: on this show, in the federal attempted takeover of many 322 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 1: of these elections, there was actually a provision to give 323 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: legal immunity to foreign nationals who would vote in the elections. 324 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 1: But I guess that's a point for another episode. My 325 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:37,399 Speaker 1: point is, if these Democrat policies expand the number of 326 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: people who vote, and if the Georgia law will, whether 327 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:45,199 Speaker 1: for right or wrong, make it more difficult to vote, 328 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:46,879 Speaker 1: whether it's because you have to show an ID, and 329 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: it could be a perfectly legitimate policy, but still will 330 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,159 Speaker 1: make it more difficult to vote, then do they have 331 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: an argument that, by the Voting Rights Act and by 332 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: these other provisions of the law, we need to expand 333 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: the vote. No, that they don't. Nothing in the Voting 334 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: Rights Act requires you to allow people to vote for 335 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:10,399 Speaker 1: whom it is illegal for them to vote. The Voting 336 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,640 Speaker 1: Rights Act does not require you to turn the other 337 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: way to voter fraud. For you to allow people to 338 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 1: vote illegally, and the argument that it does is pretty crazy. 339 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: You know, there's right now litigation at the Supreme Court 340 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: concerning laws restricting ballot harvesting. Ballot harvesting is the practice 341 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: where you send a paid political operative to collect collect 342 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: the ballots of other people, of other voters, and it 343 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,199 Speaker 1: is it is an instance that is particularly ripe for 344 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: voter fraud. That case, as we sit here to today, 345 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 1: has not been decided by the Supreme Court, is expected 346 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: to come out any day now. I led an amicus 347 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:56,360 Speaker 1: brief of a number of Senators in that case, arguing 348 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 1: that protecting the integrity of elections is entirely consistent with 349 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: the Voting Rights Acted. In fact, it furthers the Voting 350 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: Rights Act. You know, Spring Court has said for a 351 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:13,439 Speaker 1: long time that when you allow voter fraud, it steals 352 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 1: the right to vote from legal voters. Number of years ago, 353 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:21,160 Speaker 1: when I was Slicer General of Texas, Indiana passed one 354 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: of the first photo ID laws for voting, and Indiana 355 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:28,359 Speaker 1: was promptly sued. A bunch of Democratic plaintiffs came in 356 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:32,239 Speaker 1: and they sued, and they argued that this discriminated against minorities. Now, 357 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: by the way, the argument that minorities can't figure out 358 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: how to get an ID is asinine. The last time 359 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 1: I checked, African Americans are perfectly capable of getting IDs. Hispanics. Look, 360 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 1: I'm Hispanic. You know what. I got a driver's license 361 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: in my pocket. You know I'm not under a conservatorship 362 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,920 Speaker 1: in California. I am actually capable of going to the 363 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,160 Speaker 1: DMV and sitting there for nineteen hours in an endless line. 364 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: And the sort of paternalistic, condescending argument that minorities can't 365 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:10,120 Speaker 1: get IDs is absurd. And by the way, you need 366 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,880 Speaker 1: a photo ID to get on an airplane, to drive 367 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:19,160 Speaker 1: a car, to get a beer, to go into an 368 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,400 Speaker 1: R rated movie if you look like you're under seventeen. 369 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 1: There's a reason why over sixty percent of African Americans 370 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:29,399 Speaker 1: support voter ID laws, because they recognize that getting an 371 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: ID is not a difficult thing, and protecting the integrity 372 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: of elections is well. I led a coalition of states 373 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,399 Speaker 1: in front of the US Supreme Court in that Indiana 374 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,159 Speaker 1: photo ID law, and we ended up winning sixty three. Actually, 375 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:48,360 Speaker 1: the decision was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, one 376 00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: of the most prominent liberals on the Court who explained 377 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: that protecting the integrity of elections actually protects the right 378 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: to vote, and looking the other way on voter fraud 379 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: undermines the right to vote. That sadly, the Department of 380 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: Justice under Joe Biden has turned that upside down. Well, 381 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: I will not like a white liberal presumed to tell 382 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,440 Speaker 1: my Hispanic senator friend that he can't go get an ID. 383 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: I think you've you've disavowed people of that crazy notion Muscarras, Yes, Benata, Okay, Well, 384 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: I mean you get the blade and that's about I 385 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,119 Speaker 1: think we go, we get to the BiblioTech. That's about it. 386 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: But we have established in English and perhaps in Spanish 387 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:39,880 Speaker 1: as well, that the Voting Rights Act does not currently 388 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,160 Speaker 1: prohibit these sorts of things. But right now on Capitol Hill, 389 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: many people that you go to work with every day 390 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,720 Speaker 1: are discussing an expansion of the Voting Rights Act. So 391 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: under this proposed expansion, what does that mean for voter 392 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: fraud and election integrity measures? Yeah, Well, as you know, 393 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: last week the Senate took up S one, which many 394 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: of us are calling the Corrupt Politicians Act. And we've 395 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: talked about all the different ways. The Corrupt Politicians Act 396 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: was going to federalize elections, strike down protections against a 397 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:15,120 Speaker 1: voter fraud, strike down voter id laws, mandate ballot harvesting, 398 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:20,440 Speaker 1: register millions of illegal aliens, allow criminals and felons to vote, 399 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: provide welfare for politicians, and billions of dollars in federal 400 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 1: funding for politicians. Turned the Federal Election Commission into a 401 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 1: partisan enforcement arm. All of that's in the Corrupt Politicians Act. 402 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:34,959 Speaker 1: We voted on it last week. It was a fifty 403 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: fifty vote, so it failed because under the filibuster, it 404 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,440 Speaker 1: takes sixty votes to move to legislation, and at least 405 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: right now, only forty eight Democrats would end the filibuster. 406 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 1: There two who would not, Joe Mansion, Democrat of West 407 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: Virginia and Kirsten Cinema, Democrat of Arizona. We've covered all 408 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 1: of that before. So the next iteration on this front 409 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:01,120 Speaker 1: that Democrats are expected to push is a different change 410 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: to the voting laws. And it's a law called the 411 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 1: John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and it's named after legendary 412 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: civil rights pioneer John Lewis, who was a member of Congress. 413 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:16,479 Speaker 1: Let me say a couple of things on that. Number One, 414 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 1: let me just talk about John Lewis for a minute. 415 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:19,920 Speaker 1: I actually I knew John Lewis. I got to know him. 416 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: I didn't know him well, but I got to spend 417 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: significant time with him back in December twenty thirteen, because 418 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 1: we went together to Nelson Mandela's funeral, and it was 419 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: it was my first year in the Senate and Mandela 420 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: passed away, and every member of Congress was invited. If 421 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:39,399 Speaker 1: you want to go to the funeral, you can. And 422 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: I remember I was in Texas. I was in Austin 423 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,400 Speaker 1: meeting with my team at the time we got the invitation. 424 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: I'm like, are you freaking kidding me? Of course I'm 425 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: gonna go. Like to go to Mandela's funeral. What an 426 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: incredible honor and privilege. And so I went. And here's 427 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,240 Speaker 1: the astonishing thing, Michael, out of one hundred senators, do 428 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,360 Speaker 1: you know how many senators went to Mandela's funeral, I can't. 429 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:05,440 Speaker 1: I couldn't even guess one. No, really, no other senator went. 430 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: I was I was astonished. I didn't know how ninety 431 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: nine senators could say no to that. Um. There were 432 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,240 Speaker 1: a number of House members who went. It was essentially 433 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:18,399 Speaker 1: me and about half of the Congressional Black Caucus, so 434 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: they were almost all Democrats. And so I flew over 435 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 1: with John Lewis, I flew over with Maxine Waters, who 436 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:27,960 Speaker 1: you know, my mom said, if you don't have anything 437 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,639 Speaker 1: nice to say, don't say anything. So I've said everything 438 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 1: I'm going to say about Maxine, right, But John Lewis, 439 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,959 Speaker 1: I mean talk about someone who was who was legendary. 440 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 1: And I spent much of that trip, you know, long 441 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: trip to South Africa, we went to the funeral together, 442 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 1: long trip home. I spent a lot of it just 443 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:50,639 Speaker 1: just listening to him and saying, you know, can you 444 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,679 Speaker 1: tell me stories about being on the Edmund Pettis Bridge 445 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: in Selma, about standing up for civil rights as a 446 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:01,879 Speaker 1: young man, about stand with doctor Martin Luther King on 447 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,119 Speaker 1: the on the steps of the Lincoln Memorials as he 448 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:07,440 Speaker 1: gave the the I Have a Dream speech. I mean, 449 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:11,680 Speaker 1: you know, as a young young teenager, John Lewis was 450 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: was a leading figure in the civil rights movement, and 451 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: he was he was charming, he was he was courageous 452 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,120 Speaker 1: um and his leadership in the civil rights movement made 453 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: a big difference and he's passed, and so Democrats doing 454 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: what they do are taking his name and trying to 455 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:38,159 Speaker 1: use it to pass a bill that would be a 456 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: terrible bill. Yeah, yeah, I was wondering if they have 457 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: a bill to erect a statue of John Lewis, sign 458 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,160 Speaker 1: me up. If they have a bill to tell John 459 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: Lewis's life story, sign me up. If they have a 460 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:57,240 Speaker 1: bill to vindicate the legacy of John Lewis by defending 461 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: people's civil rights, sign me up. But what this bill 462 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 1: does is it reinstates Section five of the Voting Rights 463 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,480 Speaker 1: Act and extends it to everyone. All right, what does 464 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: that mean? That's lawyer gobbledegook. There are two main sections 465 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: of the Voting Rights Act that have had significant teeth 466 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: over the years. Section two of the Voting Rights Act, 467 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: which prohibits deluding the votes, reducing the right to vote 468 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:32,679 Speaker 1: of minorities. That's the provision under which the Department of 469 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:36,399 Speaker 1: Justice is suing Georgia. Section two still applies. Where it 470 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: typically applies is where you have, say, a redistricting effort 471 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: that is designed to dilute the votes of minority So, 472 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 1: for example, white Democrats for decades had a path to 473 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 1: elect more white Democrats, and we actually had back in 474 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: the early two thousands, I was the lead lawyer for 475 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: Texas on redistrict and argued the Texas Redistrict in case 476 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: in front of the US Supreme Court. Won that case 477 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,600 Speaker 1: five four, and in that case we went through the 478 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:13,959 Speaker 1: history of white Democrats in Texas. What they discovered is 479 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: that if you design a district that has just enough 480 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: African American voters and just enough Hispanic voters, that neither 481 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: one can win a primary. In Democratic primaries, they found 482 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 1: traditionally the African American voters and the Hispanic voters would 483 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: vote differently than each other. That you made sure you 484 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: didn't put from their perspective, too many African Americans are 485 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: too many Hispanics. What would happened is if you had, 486 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 1: say an African American Democrat against a white Democrat, the 487 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: Hispanics and white Democrats would vote for the white Democrat. Likewise, 488 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 1: if you had a Hispanic Democrat versus a white Democrat, 489 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: the white Democrats and the Black Democrats would vote for 490 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 1: the white Democrat over the Hispanic Democrat. And Southern Democrats 491 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:03,800 Speaker 1: had this down to a science in terms of how 492 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: to have just enough minorities to be sure to win 493 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,680 Speaker 1: the general because they would all come together and vote 494 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 1: for the Democrat the general, but not too many that 495 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 1: you could actually have an Hispanic or African American win 496 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: a Democratic primary. Was all about stopping minorities from winning 497 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 1: Democratic primaries, and that was the cynical strategy Democrats pursued 498 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 1: in Texas and in states across the South. In Texas 499 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: in the two thousand and three redistricting, essentially, when the 500 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,720 Speaker 1: Republicans took control of the legislature, Essentially what they did 501 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 1: is they created a new African American Democrat district, They 502 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:44,920 Speaker 1: created a new Hispanic Democrat district, and they obliterated all 503 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,479 Speaker 1: the white Democrats who had jerrymandered their seats so they 504 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: could stay in power. And Democrats were furious about it. 505 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:57,160 Speaker 1: They didn't want new Hispanic Democrats and new African American 506 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: Democrats elected, and so we had testimony at the trial 507 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 1: about how this had been the long strategy of white 508 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 1: Democrats to disenfranchise minorities. Anyway, all of that is analyzed 509 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: under Section two of the Voting Rights Act, and so 510 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: part of the reason why we one virtually every claim 511 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 1: in the Texas redistricting case because we laid out that 512 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: the effect of this redistricting actually increased minority representation, and 513 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: so that the results satisfied the legal test that Section 514 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 1: two of the Voting Rights Act. So what section five? 515 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 1: Section five is a provision the Voting Rights Act had 516 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:43,360 Speaker 1: that for certain jurisdictions that were almost exclusively jurisdictions in 517 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: the South where there had been a history of significant 518 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: prior discrimination, that those jurisdictions required what's called preclearance. What 519 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,440 Speaker 1: that means is if the legislature changed any voting law, 520 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:04,280 Speaker 1: made any change in voting laws at all, that change 521 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:08,080 Speaker 1: had to be submitted to the Department of Justice for 522 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: preclearance by the Department of Justice. And so what you 523 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 1: would have was unelected bureaucrats, career lawyers who work of 524 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:19,640 Speaker 1: the Civil Rights Division, who were almost one hundred percent 525 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: hard left liberal Democrats. Yeah, they were required to determine 526 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: whether a change in voting rights law could go into effect. 527 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 1: And it was only a limited number of jurisdictions that 528 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:38,080 Speaker 1: were subject to preclearance. And essentially in the South, Texas 529 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: was a preclearance jurisdiction not based on actually discrimination concerning 530 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: African Americans, but based on a determination of discrimination concerning 531 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,400 Speaker 1: Mexican Americans is what made the state of Texas subject 532 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,880 Speaker 1: to it. But you know the entire Northeast where there's 533 00:32:54,760 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 1: rampant history of discrimination, sadly as there is across a 534 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: planet Earth, that bigotry is something we've wrestled with as 535 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:09,880 Speaker 1: long as man has been on the planet. Much of 536 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: the country was exempt from this. Well. A few years 537 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:16,680 Speaker 1: ago the Supreme Court struck down Section five of the 538 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:20,840 Speaker 1: Voting Rights Act, struck down preclearance. The Supreme Court thirty 539 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 1: forty years ago, it upheld it and said, look, this 540 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: really stretches our constitutional system to have an unelected federal 541 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 1: bureaucrat having veto power over laws passed by elected state legislatures. 542 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: But the Supreme Court concluded that the history of the 543 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:44,960 Speaker 1: Civil War and segregation was so profound and pervasive that 544 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:52,120 Speaker 1: it justified a massive departure from the ordinary constitutional structures. Now, 545 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 1: whether or not that decision is right or wrong, that 546 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,800 Speaker 1: decision was made forty plus years ago. Supreme Court a 547 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:03,360 Speaker 1: few years ago said, however, the formula to determine which 548 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 1: jurisdictions are subject to Section five was fifty years old. 549 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,439 Speaker 1: The Supreme Courts said, look, this formula is out of date. 550 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,319 Speaker 1: The entire country has changed. Most of the people who 551 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,480 Speaker 1: were alive at the time of this formula are dead. 552 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:18,759 Speaker 1: Now there's a whole new population. People who moved in 553 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:24,279 Speaker 1: move out. And for this kind of extraordinary remedy, you've 554 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 1: got to have a current evidentiary basis of a pattern 555 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:35,600 Speaker 1: of pervasive discrimination that justifies such a remarkable step. Democrats 556 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,200 Speaker 1: in the media screamed and hollered and said, oh, the 557 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:40,839 Speaker 1: Supreme Court has struck down the Voting Rights Act, which 558 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:42,800 Speaker 1: is not true. It was one provision of the Voting 559 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,239 Speaker 1: Rights Act, which was a fairly extraordinary provision. So what 560 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: does the John Lewis Bill do? Reinstates Section five preclearance, 561 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,360 Speaker 1: but instead of defining a formula based on a history 562 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: of discrimination, it subjects the entire country to it. So 563 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:01,480 Speaker 1: it says, every change in voting rights laws anywhere in 564 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:06,480 Speaker 1: the country, ye cannot go into effect until the Department 565 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: of Justice authorizes it. Now, what I'd like to what 566 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,200 Speaker 1: I'd like to know about this is, you know, look 567 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: look at me. I don't have a law school education. 568 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: So it seemed pretty simple. If they struck it down before, 569 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 1: if they struck down the more modest version of this, 570 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:23,560 Speaker 1: and now there's an even more ambitious version of this. 571 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 1: Surely the court would strike it down. Now, the Court 572 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:30,719 Speaker 1: has given us a lot of disappointing decisions. Actually, just 573 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:35,399 Speaker 1: in recent days, they've now discovered some right of men 574 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:39,799 Speaker 1: to use the women's bathroom, and multiple ostensibly original ast 575 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,959 Speaker 1: judges voted for that as well. So it would seem 576 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,680 Speaker 1: very obvious that the Court should should strike this down. 577 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:48,239 Speaker 1: That would just seem logical. And the court isn't has 578 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 1: given us a lot of terrible decisions. So something tells 579 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:53,760 Speaker 1: me that that is not necessarily what's going to happen. 580 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:56,759 Speaker 1: So it's not at all clear the court would strike it. Dad, 581 00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:00,359 Speaker 1: I agree that it should. More fundamentally, we talk about 582 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:03,359 Speaker 1: Christin Clark a minute ago. Kristin Clark is the head 583 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,640 Speaker 1: of the Civil Rights Division. So what Democrats are proposing 584 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 1: is that Kristin Clark, this hard leftist radical who about 585 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:17,360 Speaker 1: advocated abolishing the police, who organized a conference celebrating and 586 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,759 Speaker 1: lionizing cop killers, that she should be in charge of 587 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 1: deciding what voting rights laws are allowed and what voting 588 00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:27,560 Speaker 1: rights laws are not, and she should have veto power 589 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,560 Speaker 1: over every state legislature in the country if she disagrees 590 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:34,920 Speaker 1: with what they're doing. The reason the Democrats want this 591 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:37,719 Speaker 1: is they know the civil rights Division even under a 592 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:42,560 Speaker 1: Republican president, the career lawyers are a hard leftist activist. 593 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,440 Speaker 1: Here's the consequence if this so called John Lewis Bill 594 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 1: were to pass, no state in the country could ever 595 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:52,319 Speaker 1: again pass a voter id law because the Department of 596 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:55,480 Speaker 1: Justice career bureaucrats would strike it down. No state in 597 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:58,600 Speaker 1: the country could pass a prohibition on ballot harvesting lawyers 598 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:01,720 Speaker 1: that Department of Justice would strike it down. No state 599 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:07,440 Speaker 1: could pass any provisions designed to prevent dead people from voting, 600 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,280 Speaker 1: to prevent any legal aliens from voting, to prevent felons 601 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:14,239 Speaker 1: and criminals from voting, because the hard political activists of 602 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:17,960 Speaker 1: the Department of Justice would veto the decision of democratically 603 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:22,480 Speaker 1: elected legislatures. And what this all comes down to, Democrats 604 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:27,080 Speaker 1: today don't believe in democracy, just like the corrupt politicians act. 605 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:31,800 Speaker 1: They want to rig the system so that they win. Heads, 606 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: they win, tails, you lose, and it's all about disempowering 607 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,840 Speaker 1: the voters. Ironically enough, in the name of voting rights, 608 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:43,840 Speaker 1: right right. It's an interesting point that we seem to 609 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,360 Speaker 1: be okay right now on the Grupt Politicians Act that 610 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:48,080 Speaker 1: seems to be on the back burner for the moment. 611 00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:51,839 Speaker 1: So now the Democrats are trying to achieve perhaps an 612 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:55,480 Speaker 1: even more ambitious paragraph from another angle. All of this 613 00:37:55,560 --> 00:38:00,120 Speaker 1: is enough to depress one unless you knew that we're 614 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:01,799 Speaker 1: going to be taking Verdict on the road. We are 615 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:05,560 Speaker 1: partnering with the Young America's Foundation. We're going to multiple 616 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:08,480 Speaker 1: school I think we're going to six schools and universities 617 00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:12,840 Speaker 1: with YAF. You can go to YAF dot org slash 618 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:17,480 Speaker 1: Verdict right now to request that we come to your school. 619 00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:21,680 Speaker 1: The deadline is August eighteenth, Senator. Should we go to 620 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:25,760 Speaker 1: the really nice, wonderful conservative schools with the Young America's 621 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,920 Speaker 1: Foundation or should we go to the crazy leftist, insane 622 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: schools that are going to run us out of town 623 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:32,279 Speaker 1: on the rail. Well it sames to me that should 624 00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:34,680 Speaker 1: be up to the listeners of Verdict to decide. And 625 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,200 Speaker 1: so so you tell us if you're a student right now, 626 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:41,360 Speaker 1: you might be at one of the few havens of sanity, 627 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:44,320 Speaker 1: and you say, hey, come come cheer us on and 628 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:48,239 Speaker 1: and and reach out to us. On the other hand, 629 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:52,680 Speaker 1: you might be behind enemy lines, surrounded by Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, 630 00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:57,120 Speaker 1: and and and and looking for a Berlin airlift. You know, 631 00:38:57,640 --> 00:38:59,279 Speaker 1: my guess is we're We're open to do it a 632 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:03,279 Speaker 1: little of both. But it's really the incredible listeners a 633 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 1: Verdict who are going to make that decision. We want 634 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:09,080 Speaker 1: to free Brittany, we want to free the students on campus. 635 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:11,320 Speaker 1: We want to free all of us here in this country. 636 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:13,440 Speaker 1: So make sure you get those names in yaft dot 637 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:17,520 Speaker 1: org slash Verdict. August eighteenth is the deadline, but we'll 638 00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:20,920 Speaker 1: be speaking much more before until then. In the meantime, 639 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:31,399 Speaker 1: I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz. This 640 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,279 Speaker 1: episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is being brought to 641 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,760 Speaker 1: you by Jobs, Freedom and Security Pack, a political action 642 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:42,800 Speaker 1: committee dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organizations, and candidates across 643 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:46,240 Speaker 1: the country. In twenty twenty two, Jobs Freedom and Security 644 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,800 Speaker 1: Pack plans to donate to conservative candidates running for Congress 645 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,600 Speaker 1: and help the Republican Party across the nation.