1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:01,440 Speaker 1: Welcome. 2 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 2: It is Verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. 3 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 2: It's so nice to have you with us. And this 4 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 2: episode will also be on YouTube, so if you've not 5 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,119 Speaker 2: watched us on YouTube, you can do that because many 6 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 2: more of these episodes are getting on at YouTube. Just 7 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 2: want to let you know about that. From the very beginning, 8 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 2: we got a pack show for you today. Three major 9 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 2: issues are going to be talking about, including Center Cruz. 10 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 2: You're now really diving into Joe Biden breaking the pardon 11 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 2: rules with auto pin use. This coming after a bombshell report, 12 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 2: and there is going to be some accountability. 13 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 3: Well, more and more evidence is coming out that Joe 14 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 3: Biden was completely disengaged from the pardon and commutation process. 15 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 3: And under the Constitution, a Pardner commutation only has legal 16 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 3: force if the President makes the decision himself, if a 17 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 3: staffer makes it, if somebody else in the White House 18 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 3: makes it, it has no legal force. It is null 19 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 3: and void. There have been multiple reports about just how 20 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 3: disengaged Joe Biden was in this process, and this week 21 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 3: I wrote a letter to Pambondi, the Attorney General, calling 22 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 3: on the Department of Justice to systematically examined the evidence 23 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,679 Speaker 3: case by case of what the direct involvement of the 24 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 3: president was in those pardons and commutations, and calling on 25 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 3: the Trump DOJ to challenge any pardons and commutations that 26 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 3: were not specifically approved by the President. We'll break that down. 27 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 3: We're also going to talk about legislation I introduced this 28 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 3: week to protect Christians in Nigeria. Nigeria has seen a 29 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 3: persecution of Christians that has been staggering. Just this week, 30 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 3: over sixty people were murdered by Jihadis, by radical Islamists 31 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 3: in northeastern Nigeria. They executed soldiers, they went house to house. 32 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 3: This pattern of targeting Christians, targeting Catholic priests, targeting individual men, women, 33 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 3: and children is horrific and my legislation would put real 34 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 3: consequences on the government of Nigeria and those who are 35 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 3: facilitating this persecution, put real consequences on them to change that. 36 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 2: All right, I want to take a moment to talk 37 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 2: about personal safety. You guys know I'm pro Second Amendment. 38 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 2: You know that I've actually used my firearm to save 39 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 2: my life when I was a target of a gang initiation. 40 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 2: But for many people that are listening or family members 41 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 2: you may not feel comfortable caring if firearm, you still 42 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 2: need to be able to protect yourselves and in times 43 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 2: of danger, you're gonna want to have something, and that's 44 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 2: where the Burno Launcher comes in. 45 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 1: I have given these to countless family members. 46 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 2: It is a handheld pistol that fires both kinetic rounds 47 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 2: and chemical irritants to separate you from an attacker. 48 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: And I'm here today with Josh Gerard from Burna. 49 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 2: Josh, many of us just saw that video footage of 50 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 2: the recent mob attack of a man and a woman 51 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,359 Speaker 2: in downtown Cincinnati. Josh, many of us saw the video 52 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 2: footage of the recent mob attack of a man and 53 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 2: a woman in downtown Cincinnati, and it was shocking. 54 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: Can you share a little more about what happened? 55 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,519 Speaker 2: And could a less lethal weapon like the burn A 56 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 2: Launcher you use in a situation like this to defend yourself. 57 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 4: Absolutely, Like you said, we all saw the videos and unfortunately, 58 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 4: after a jazz festival, a man was attacked by a 59 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 4: mob of individuals that just continued going and continued going, 60 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 4: and unfortunately he was unable to defend himself despite other 61 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 4: people trying to help. This is one of those instances 62 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 4: where clearly these people are looking for an easy target. 63 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 4: The trick here is to make yourself a hard target, 64 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 4: have a way to defend yourself to facilitate that escape. 65 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 4: And that's really where burna comes in. You know, depending 66 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 4: on the legality, you may or may not be able 67 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:33,839 Speaker 4: to carry a gun in this case, so you need 68 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 4: to have a tool to make sure you can defend 69 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 4: yourself as legal in all fifty states, and make sure 70 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 4: you can make it home safe. 71 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 2: And why wouldn't the victim in this case just want 72 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 2: to pull a gun on these suspects. 73 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: It's an important question. 74 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 4: You know, it absolutely is, and there's a couple reasons. 75 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 4: One is the legality. Depending on where you are, you 76 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 4: may not even be able to carry a gun, or 77 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 4: maybe coming from a private event where gun may not 78 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 4: be illegal as well. And then two, in order to 79 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 4: pull a gun, you need to understand that there has 80 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 4: to be a reasonable expectation that there's going to be 81 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 4: death or serious buddle injury costs. Do you pull that 82 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 4: gun too early and you're likely the one to be 83 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 4: going to jail. So in this case, a less lethal 84 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 4: tool is perfect. It can be pulled early, it can 85 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 4: be used early to prevent further harm because it's such 86 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:18,479 Speaker 4: a reduced amount of force. 87 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 2: Look, if you want to carry one, I do. I 88 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 2: love having this as an option. You can get more 89 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 2: information for you or your family members on how they 90 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,160 Speaker 2: can protect themselves with Burner launcher. Go to burna by 91 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 2: RNA dot com. That's burner by RNA dot com Again, 92 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 2: burna by RNA dot com. All right, So, Sata, I 93 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 2: really hope that everybody will take this episode and share 94 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 2: it on social media, especially after what we're about to 95 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 2: tell you, and it's new information dealing with the auto 96 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 2: pen the the commutations and pardons that were given out 97 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 2: at the very end, they were handing them out like candy. 98 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:58,600 Speaker 2: I still think it's got to be a chance of 99 00:04:58,640 --> 00:04:59,840 Speaker 2: it's the highest bidders. 100 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:00,799 Speaker 1: You need one. 101 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 2: Sure, Joe Biden didn't even know about it, and the 102 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 2: Senate Republicans are now really getting into this and realizing 103 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:12,280 Speaker 2: that there is so much. I would say a fair 104 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 2: way of putting it is probably abuse by people that 105 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 2: weren't the President of the United States of America. 106 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: You're now looking at this even more. Tell us what 107 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: you now know. 108 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 3: Well, the numbers are staggering, and I want to read 109 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 3: to you from the letter that I sent Attorney General 110 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 3: Bondi this week. It begins, Dear Attorney General Bondi. On 111 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 3: December twelfth, twenty twenty four, the Biden administration commuted the 112 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 3: sentences of roughly fifteen hundred inmates and pardoned thirty nine others, 113 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 3: And on January seventeenth, twenty twenty five, the administration issued 114 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 3: two thousand, four hundred and ninety additional commutations, more in 115 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 3: a single day than any president had ever granted over 116 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 3: an entire presidency. 117 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the wow moment. By the way, the wow 118 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: moment is there four. 119 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 3: And ninety commutations, more in a single day than any 120 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 3: president had ever granted over an entire presidency. These clemencies 121 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 3: were issued based on broad criteria rather than case by 122 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 3: case evaluations, and at least some of them were signed 123 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 3: using an autopen of then President Biden's signature. I write 124 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 3: to support your ongoing investigations related to these actions and 125 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 3: to emphasize my commitment to providing whatever resources you require 126 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 3: to continue and deepen them. And the letter goes on 127 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 3: to say, the fundamental question regarding the use of presidential 128 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 3: pardon authority Article two, Section two is whether there is 129 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 3: an unbroken line from the president to a pardon being granted. 130 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 3: Everyone involved in the process, government officials purporting to issue 131 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 3: a pardon, the person to whom it is being granted, 132 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 3: judicial and law enforcement officials, and most of all, the 133 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 3: American people should have absolute confidence a pardon was granted 134 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 3: at the president's explicit direction. And look, it's long been 135 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:03,719 Speaker 3: the Department of Justice's position that you don't need the 136 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 3: president to actually physically sign a pardon. Yeah, but it 137 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 3: has to be the president who makes the decision. It 138 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 3: cannot be anyone else who makes the decision. 139 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 2: Let's just break that down even more so people understand 140 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 2: how simplistic this is, and it's easy to check this box. 141 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 2: What you're saying is somebody communicates, I'll go back to 142 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 2: our day's in the administration President Bush forty one forty three, right, 143 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 2: they say, yes, I'm going to give that pardon to 144 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 2: John Doe or Jane Doe, and then it can be 145 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 2: used with the auto pen because it's coming from the president. 146 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 2: What we're now witnessing is it's virtually impossible for this. 147 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 2: Many conversations have been had in the final moments of 148 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 2: Joe Biden's presidency, especially with a cognitive decline which we 149 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 2: now all know about, and for him to have this 150 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 2: many conversations about this many people. That's where you're just 151 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:00,679 Speaker 2: saying red flags all over the place. 152 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: Is that a fair way of putting it. 153 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 3: Well, it's worse than that. In the first year of 154 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 3: the Biden presidency, he signed virtually everything, and as the 155 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 3: years went on, he signed less and less and less, 156 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 3: and so at the end they were auto penning virtually everything, 157 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 3: and that was contrary to the advice they got from 158 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 3: the White House Council. And what I lay out is 159 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 3: their public reports that they call into question whether Joe 160 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 3: Biden had any awareness about any of this, and in particular, 161 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 3: the letter says Biden officials also say that past presidents 162 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 3: have validly used autopens, even for actions requiring a presidential signature, 163 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 3: such as bill signings. The Department of Justice has long 164 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 3: maintained that the Constitution does not require a pardon to 165 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 3: be signed. In nineteen twenty nine, the US Solicitor General 166 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 3: issued a memo saying that quote, neither the Constitution nor 167 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 3: any statute prescribes the method by which executive clemency shall 168 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 3: be exercised. They need not have the president's autographed, so 169 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 3: that was DOJ in nineteen twenty nine. However, even and 170 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 3: especially in those cases, there must be an absolute assurance 171 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 3: that everyone involved knows there's an unbroken line from the 172 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 3: president to the pardon. The nineteen twenty nine OSG memo 173 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 3: itself states that when a pardon is signed with a 174 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 3: president's quote facsimile signature, it should quote be certified by 175 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 3: an official having charge of the records as having been 176 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:27,439 Speaker 3: issued by the president or by his direction. These are 177 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 3: core constitutional requirements, and leaked emails further show that the 178 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 3: Biden White House implemented a process that separated the president 179 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 3: from officials responsible for signing pardons on his behalf. They 180 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 3: could not note know if they were doing so with 181 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 3: the president's direction, either on a case by case basis 182 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 3: or by following criteria. As a result, emails show officials 183 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 3: across the administration struggled to verify that the president quote 184 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 3: signed off on the specific documents, that the people receiving 185 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 3: commutations quote are who the President signed off on, quote, 186 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 3: that the documents accurately reflect his decision, or that the 187 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 3: president quote agreed to the commutations. The number of commutations 188 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 3: and the date, and these are emails within the Biden 189 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,640 Speaker 3: White House. In one email, a Biden official stated that 190 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 3: the president quote doesn't review the warrants, asking how to 191 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 3: quote handle questions about whether he approved them, and here's 192 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 3: what the New York Times reported in July quote. They 193 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 3: also show that the use of the autopen was managed 194 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 3: by mister Biden's White House staff Secretary mis Feldman. She 195 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 3: wanted to receive written accounts confirming mister Biden's oral instructions 196 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 3: in the meetings before having it used to produce the 197 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 3: warrants recording the clemency actions. The email show the aids 198 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 3: referred to those written accounts of the meetings at which 199 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:02,079 Speaker 3: mister Biden delivered oral decisions as blurbsquote unquote. The accounts 200 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 3: were drafted by aids to the senior advisors who had 201 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 3: participated in the key meetings, like mister Biden's chief of 202 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:15,079 Speaker 3: staff Jeffrey Sience and mister Cisco. The assistants who drafted 203 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 3: the blurbs were not themselves in the room with mister Biden, 204 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,560 Speaker 3: so staffers who weren't in the room with the president 205 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 3: wrote written directions directing that commutations or pardon be granted, 206 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 3: and The New York Times continued to say, this is 207 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 3: a quote. Mister Biden did not individually approve each name 208 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 3: for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people. 209 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:46,600 Speaker 3: He and aids confirmed, Rather, after an extensive discussion of 210 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,559 Speaker 3: different possible criteria, he signed off on the standards he 211 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,599 Speaker 3: wanted to use to determine which convicts would qualify for 212 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 3: reduction and sentence. Even after mister Biden made that decision, 213 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 3: one former aid said, the Bureau of Prisons kept providing 214 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 3: additional information about specific inmates, resulting in small changes to 215 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 3: the list. Rather than asking mister Biden to keep signing 216 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 3: revised versions, his staff waited and then ran the final 217 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 3: version through the autopen, which they saw as a routine procedure. 218 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:22,680 Speaker 3: The aide said, and here's what my letter says to 219 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 3: the Attorney general. These and other reports suggest that Biden 220 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 3: Harris officials took advantage of the decline in the president's 221 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 3: mental acuity, coupled with the chaos of the presidential transition 222 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 3: to implement sweeping, fringe progressive policies on crime and law enforcement, 223 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 3: and to usurp authorities solely reserved for the president. In 224 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 3: which he is forbidden from delegating. Such an act would 225 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 3: constitute a direct and unprecedented assault on our constitutional order. 226 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 3: And so I'm calling for the Department of Justice. Look 227 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 3: these records. DOJ and the White House have these records. 228 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 3: They've got a complete record of everything that happened. And 229 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:02,680 Speaker 3: so what I'm asking the Attorney General to do is 230 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:06,440 Speaker 3: systematically evaluate all of them and for any pardon, any 231 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,199 Speaker 3: commutation that there is not clear evidence that Joseph Robinette 232 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 3: Biden Junior personally signed off on that, DOJ declare them 233 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 3: null and void and pursue legal avenues to have them 234 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 3: declared null and void and to challenge them in court. 235 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 2: All right, let me ask you, and I got two 236 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 2: different aspects of this. I want to ask you about one. 237 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:29,079 Speaker 2: If you are a staffer at the White House and 238 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 2: you're fielding phone calls from friends, colleagues, people that know 239 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 2: how to get in touch with you, and you're handing 240 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 2: out these commutations or pardons like candy, is that illegal 241 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,199 Speaker 2: if you're doing it without the presence knowledge, Okay, so 242 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,080 Speaker 2: for sure that's illegal. Then the second question is, as 243 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 2: you're asking. 244 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 3: To be, it's not actually a pardon. I mean, Ben, 245 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:56,280 Speaker 3: you could decide today that you want to pardon someone. 246 00:13:56,360 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 3: You could declare, I, Ben Ferguson hereby pardon Charles Manson. 247 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,839 Speaker 3: Now Charles Manson would not be pardoned. That's very nice 248 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 3: that you like psychotic mass murderer. Sorry, Ben, but it 249 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:10,599 Speaker 3: has no legal. 250 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: For us examples. I appreciate that. 251 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 3: But you know, there is only one human being on 252 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 3: planet Earth that can pardon anyone from a federal crime, 253 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 3: and that is the sitting president of the United States. 254 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 3: A former president can't do it. It is only the 255 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 3: current president today. That is Donald Trump. A year ago, 256 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 3: it was Joseph Biden. 257 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 2: So if did I break a law working at the 258 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 2: White House in that scenario, and will there be accountability 259 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 2: or did I just get away with it by literally 260 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 2: having Joe Biden's pen and saying he didn't know about this, 261 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 2: but I'm because I'm in the White House and I've 262 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,760 Speaker 2: got access, I'm making it happen. Is there any crime 263 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 2: that's been committed by the person giving out the part 264 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 2: if it was not authorized by Joe Biden. 265 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 3: You know, it's not clear that there is a violation 266 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 3: of federal law. It's not clear that that's a criminal act. 267 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 3: If you declare, I ben Ferguson here by pardon Bob. Yeah, 268 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 3: it wouldn't even committed a crime. 269 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 2: If I'm impersonating the president of the United States of America, 270 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 2: how is that not breaking some law. 271 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 3: Look, you might make an argument that that it is 272 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:19,239 Speaker 3: misuse of government resources or essentially counterfeiting or creating fraudulent documents. 273 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 3: I think it would be difficult to get any criminal 274 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:26,120 Speaker 3: conviction on that. It's not likely to get a criminal conviction. 275 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 3: You'd have to prove mensraa. You'd have to prove a 276 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 3: guilty state of mind. I think that would be difficult. 277 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 3: I think the natural answer to it too. 278 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: Here about Bob. 279 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 2: All Right, if Bob hooks me up with a job 280 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 2: when I leave the White House, and sorry, I'm cynical, 281 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 2: but I am very cynical. 282 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 3: Look, then if there was a quid pro quo, that's 283 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 3: bribery and that you can be prosecuted for if you 284 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 3: can prove there's a quid pro quo. 285 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 2: Sorry, I'm cynical, Center, I'm cynical as can be. And 286 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 2: if you're giving out this many pardons, somebody had to 287 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 2: get a kickback here for this to make sense. 288 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: I don't think there's a bunch of do. 289 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 2: Gooder maybe not randomly handing out pardons at a record 290 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 2: rate that is unprecedented, as you described it earlier, for nothing. 291 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 3: I don't know but that, but but but I will 292 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 3: say so many of these people getting pardons were not 293 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 3: Mark Rich, the financier that Bill Clinton gave a pardon 294 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 3: to that that by all accounts, appears to be in 295 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 3: an exchange for millions of dollars of contributions from his wife. 296 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 3: I mean, I mean that that is corruption on its face. 297 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 3: By the way, Eric Holder was the one who brokeered 298 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 3: that whole deal. That that's one scenario. Most of these 299 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 3: pardons at the end, so you had different categories. So 300 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 3: Joe Biden, of all the final pardons, you know, he 301 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 3: signed only one. Do you know who's pardon he signed. 302 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 2: I know this because you know I'm a student political. 303 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 2: It wasn't Bob, It wasn't I know who it was. 304 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 2: It was not Bob. It was a guy by the 305 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 2: name of Hunter Biden, the. 306 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 3: Only one that Biden signed. So he auto penned Mark Milly, 307 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 3: he auto penned Liz Cheney, Anthony Fauci, or I say 308 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 3: he autopen White House staff Auto Pa, somebody, did you know. 309 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: I don't know of. 310 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 3: Specific evidence that the pardons at the end were in 311 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:14,919 Speaker 3: exchange for a quid pro quo. They weren't like big 312 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:20,120 Speaker 3: Democrat moneymen. They were more number one people like Fauci 313 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 3: or Millie or or people like like the January sixth Commission, 314 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 3: Adam Schiff, Adam Kinsinger, and so I don't think I 315 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 3: had no evidence or indication that any of those were 316 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 3: quid pro qu I think those are more political and ideological. 317 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 3: And then a bunch of these were fringe progressive, like 318 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:45,919 Speaker 3: just letting people out of jail, and so they were people. 319 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 3: They were crack dealers and crack users in jail. So 320 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 3: we have no indication that it was to benefit Democrat 321 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,199 Speaker 3: money bags as compared to just left wing ideology that 322 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 3: said let's let criminals go. 323 00:17:58,720 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: I think it was. 324 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 3: More the ideology of a twenty four year old leftist 325 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,439 Speaker 3: in the White House that he said the. 326 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: Power because he had a pen of a guy that 327 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 1: didn't know who he was. 328 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,679 Speaker 3: It's look. Look, Donald Trump has put up next to 329 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,479 Speaker 3: the pictures of presidents of the United States in between 330 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 3: forty five, which would be Donald J. Trump and forty seven, 331 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 3: which would be Donald J. 332 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: Trump. 333 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 3: He as forty six and he is a picture of 334 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 3: the autopen which which is I got to say, world 335 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 3: class trolling. But in many ways that auto pen you know, 336 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 3: instead of hail to the Chief, it was hailed to 337 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 3: the bick. 338 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: All right. 339 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,400 Speaker 2: So here's my final question on this. How long does 340 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 2: this how far does this go? Does this go to courts? 341 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:40,439 Speaker 2: Does this go to hearings? Does this go to the 342 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 2: Supreme Court? Are there lawsuits that are gonna have to 343 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 2: take place if they go after and figure this out? 344 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 2: And is that what would happen? Because the people that 345 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 2: got the pardons would immediately go to a court and say, no, no, no, 346 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 2: mine is legit. Right, I got an autopin sign, but 347 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 2: it's legit. They're gonna fight, They're not. I'm assuming I'm 348 00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:59,479 Speaker 2: just gonna like go turn themselves back into prison. 349 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,159 Speaker 3: Yeah. So look what I'm advocating, and the reason I 350 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:05,359 Speaker 3: wrote this is a lengthy letter to the Attorney General 351 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 3: is I'm advocating the DOJ and the White House Council 352 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:11,199 Speaker 3: analyze all of the records and determine those pardons or 353 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,679 Speaker 3: commutations that there is the clearest evidence that Joe Biden 354 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 3: had no awareness of it. You know, I might start 355 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 3: with one of the names that, like the Bureau Prison 356 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:22,399 Speaker 3: added at the very end, that wasn't even on the 357 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:26,879 Speaker 3: initial list. Ye, because because that you could make a 358 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 3: pretty powerful case, Okay, like Biden had no awareness of 359 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,640 Speaker 3: this person at all. Yeah, And then and then then 360 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:38,520 Speaker 3: this is where you would want DOJ to to formulate 361 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,439 Speaker 3: a legal strategy for how to challenge their validity. I 362 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 3: might start by putting out a list. It is the 363 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 3: position of the Department of Justice that the following commutations 364 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 3: and or pardons are null and void because they were 365 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 3: not authorized by the President of the United States. Now, commutation, 366 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 3: they're shortening the sentences of criminals in jail. The next 367 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,440 Speaker 3: step might be to to to send the US Marshals 368 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 3: to go arrest someone who had been commuted and released 369 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 3: from jail and to remand him again to the Bureau 370 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:14,280 Speaker 3: of Prisons to serve the rest of his sentence. Now, 371 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 3: almost immediately that defendant would would file a legal claim 372 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:22,719 Speaker 3: challenging that, and would probably file a rid of habeas 373 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:26,760 Speaker 3: corpus habeas corpuses Latin for produce the body, and would 374 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:31,200 Speaker 3: challenge that he cannot be incarcerated on that crime because 375 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:34,159 Speaker 3: his sentence was commuted by the President of the United States. 376 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 3: That's probably the legal legal forum in which it would 377 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 3: be adjudicated would be the Department of Justice re arresting 378 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 3: someone and the defendant then making the argument I'm protected 379 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 3: by a presidential commutation, and then DJ would litigate that 380 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 3: matter in court. So I would start with picking the 381 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,880 Speaker 3: best test cases and go there, and I very much 382 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 3: hope the Department of Justice does that. It's the right 383 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 3: thing to do. 384 00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 2: All right, I want to take a moment and I 385 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 2: want to talk to you real quick about what you 386 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 2: can do to help the people in Israel. It was 387 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 2: nearly two years ago that the terrorists murdered more than 388 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 2: twelve hundred innocent Israelis and they took two hundred and 389 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 2: fifty hostages. Today it seems as if the cries of 390 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 2: the dead and dying have been drowned out by the 391 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 2: shouts of anti Semitism and just pure hatred, not just 392 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 2: in America but around the world. And the most brutal 393 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 2: attack on Jewish people happened. It happened since the Holocaust, 394 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,159 Speaker 2: and now it's like they're trying to act like it 395 00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 2: never happened. Now, this is where it is important for 396 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 2: us to stand with the people in Israel. It's a 397 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 2: movement of love and support for the people of Israel, 398 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:43,840 Speaker 2: and this is where I want you to get involved. 399 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:48,119 Speaker 2: It is called Flags of Fellowship. It's being organized by 400 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:52,880 Speaker 2: the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. On October fifth, 401 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 2: you can stand with Israel and the victims proudly. Just 402 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:02,679 Speaker 2: a few weeks away, millions across America will prayerfully plant 403 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,360 Speaker 2: an Israeli flag in honor and solidarity with the victims 404 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 2: of October the seventh, twenty twenty three, and stand with 405 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 2: their grieving families. You can be a part of this 406 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 2: movement as well, and that's what I love about what 407 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:21,439 Speaker 2: IFCJ does. They're making sure that the world knows there 408 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,439 Speaker 2: are lots of people of faith in this country and 409 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 2: friends and advocates for Israel. 410 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: They're going to stand with them. 411 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 2: You can get more information about how you can join 412 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:35,440 Speaker 2: the Flags of Fellowship movement, including your church. There are 413 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 2: going to be countless churches around the country they're going 414 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 2: to plant flags as well. So all you have to 415 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 2: do to get involved with Flags of Fellowship movement is 416 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:50,199 Speaker 2: go to IFCJ dot org. That's IFCJ dot org stand 417 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 2: with Israel on October the fifth. 418 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:52,800 Speaker 1: It's just a few weeks away. 419 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 2: And if your church you think would want to be involved, 420 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:57,680 Speaker 2: you can also find out more about how to get 421 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 2: your church to be involved on a special Sunday at 422 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 2: IFCJ dot org. 423 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: That's if CJ dot org. 424 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 2: All right, Sanata, I want to talk about We're talking 425 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 2: about standing up for people of faith and this is 426 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 2: a story that has certainly been unreported or underreported at best, 427 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 2: and it deals with what is happening with the persecution 428 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 2: of Christians in Nigeria. We also just had this attack, 429 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 2: as you mentioned at the beginning of the show, where 430 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 2: sixty plus were murdered. 431 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,160 Speaker 1: Talk a little bit about this and what you're doing 432 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: to stand up. 433 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 3: Well in Nigeria. The persecution of Christians has been nothing 434 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 3: short of horrific, and I've spent my tenure in the 435 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 3: Senate advocating for those who are being persecuted for their faith, 436 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:50,919 Speaker 3: advocating for Christians who are facing imprisonment and torture and murder. 437 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:57,640 Speaker 3: The sheer scope of it in Nigeria's staggering bocal Haram, 438 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 3: the Radical Islamist group and Nigeria. Since their two thousand 439 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 3: and nine insurgency, Boko Haram has killed over fifty thousand 440 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 3: Christians in Nigeria. Over fifty thousand, and that's according to 441 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:15,119 Speaker 3: a twenty twenty three report from the International Society for 442 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 3: Civil Liberties in the Rule of Law, which is a 443 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:24,080 Speaker 3: Nigerian human rights watchdog. Over eighteen thousand Christian church churches 444 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 3: and over two thousand Christian schools have been attacked during 445 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,320 Speaker 3: the same time period, and to put that in comparison, 446 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 3: the watchdog also concluded that thirty four thousand moderate Muslims 447 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,359 Speaker 3: died from Jahadist attacks. So the Jahadas they target, they 448 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 3: target Muslims who don't embrace Jahad, but they especially in Nigeria, 449 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 3: target target Christians. Between twenty fifteen and twenty twenty five, 450 00:24:54,560 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 3: an estimated one hundred and forty five priests were kidnapped 451 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 3: in Nigeria. Multiple priest kidnappings have happened this year, including 452 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 3: one that Bokoharam carried out. In June, the terror group 453 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 3: abducted father Alfonsis Alfina, held him in captivity for weeks 454 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,680 Speaker 3: before releasing him and thank god he was unharmed. Afina 455 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:28,879 Speaker 3: spent over fifty days in captivity, and he had previously 456 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,399 Speaker 3: spent six years in ministry in the United States. And 457 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 3: violence against Christians in Nigeria has been a horrific problem. 458 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 3: In June, just a couple of months ago, Jahadis killed 459 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 3: over two hundred Nigerian Christian villagers in a farming community 460 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 3: that is ninety seven percent Catholic. This is a massive problem, 461 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 3: and it's a problem that occurs with the complicity of 462 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,919 Speaker 3: many officials, of judges, of ministers, of officials in the 463 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 3: Nigerian government. So what I did this week is I 464 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 3: filed legislation that's called the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act 465 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,680 Speaker 3: of twenty twenty five and it does several things. Number One, 466 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 3: it requires the Secretary of State to classify Nigeria as 467 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,920 Speaker 3: a country of Particular Concern and that would add Nigeria 468 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:26,920 Speaker 3: to a list of countries where religious freedom is severely limited. 469 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 3: The State Department's list right now includes Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, 470 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 3: North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and other nations outside the Western world. 471 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:44,680 Speaker 3: And severe violations of religious freedom include torture, detention without charges, 472 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 3: force disappearance, and other flagrant denials of basic rights. Additionally, 473 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 3: my legislation would ensure the State Department keeps the Islamist 474 00:26:54,680 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 3: terrorist groups Boko Haram and also isis West Africa designated 475 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 3: as Entities of Particular Concern, a classification for non state 476 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:10,920 Speaker 3: actors responsible for egregious violations of religious liberty. Boko Haram's 477 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 3: stronghold is in northeast Nigeria and it has an acted 478 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 3: presence in several countries bordering Nigeria. In addition, my bill 479 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 3: sanctions Nigerian government officials who facilitate persecution against Christians and 480 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,600 Speaker 3: other religious minorities, and if the bill were enacted, the 481 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 3: State Department would have ninety days to submit a report 482 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:38,399 Speaker 3: on the Nigerian officials responsible for pushing blasphemy laws and 483 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:42,240 Speaker 3: for justifying violence from Islamist groups. This is a very 484 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 3: important role for the United States to defend religious liberty, 485 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 3: to defend persecuted Christians, and it's been a passion of 486 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,120 Speaker 3: mine since getting elected to the Senate thirteen years ago. 487 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 1: You know, this is something that really does concern me. 488 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:56,720 Speaker 1: It worries me. 489 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,479 Speaker 2: And we're seeing and witnessing now so much not just 490 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 2: anti Semitism, but just anti faith, anti Christian and it's 491 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 2: happening not just around the world but also. 492 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:09,440 Speaker 1: Well Monday's pod. 493 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 3: Monday's Pod focused on how the Biden Department of Justice 494 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 3: actively discriminated against Christians and systematically targeted Christians. Now, thank god, 495 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,199 Speaker 3: they weren't doing things on the level of Bohahram, They 496 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 3: weren't weren't kidnapping and murdering them. But there was religious discrimination. 497 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:30,159 Speaker 3: And part of religious discrimination is the Biden administration effectively 498 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 3: turned a blind eye to the persecution of Christians abroad. 499 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 3: So it wasn't committed committing these atrocities, but it also 500 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,720 Speaker 3: was not acting nearly as vigorously as it should be 501 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 3: to defend religious liberty abroad. 502 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:45,000 Speaker 1: Yeah. Great point there. 503 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 2: We're going to in this moving forward, hopefully we'll set 504 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 2: a standard that America is not going to just stand 505 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 2: by and allow this to happen. 506 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 3: Right, Well, well, yes, and and and Ben. I'll give 507 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,800 Speaker 3: it an example, an example during the Obama administration. Uh, 508 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 3: there was a young woman in named Miriam Ibrahim, and 509 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 3: Miriam Ibrahim was sentenced to receive one hundred lashes and 510 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,560 Speaker 3: then to hang by the neck until dead. Wow, and 511 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 3: her crime was being a Christian. That's it for the 512 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 3: crime of being a Christian. She was sentenced to that. 513 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 3: She was in a prison cell. She had a toddler 514 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,800 Speaker 3: named Martin, who was eighteen months old, and she was pregnant. 515 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 3: She was pregnant. She gave birth to a little girl 516 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 3: named Maya. Maya was born in that prison cell. Well, 517 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,880 Speaker 3: Miriam Ibrahim had her legs in leg irons. She was 518 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 3: in the mud, giving birth in leg irons. Now, during 519 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 3: the Obama administration, I repeatedly spoke out for Mariam Ibraham. 520 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 3: I went to the Senate floor, I spoke about Miriam Ibrahim. 521 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 3: I called for Sudan to release Miriam Ibrahim from this persecution. 522 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 3: Others spoke out, Other foreign governments spoke out. The Pope 523 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 3: spoke out out in defense of Mariam Ibrahim. You know 524 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 3: who wouldn't speak out in defense of her is that 525 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:10,040 Speaker 3: Barack Obama. The entire course of his presidency, he would 526 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 3: not say her name. Samantha Power, who was Obama's ambassador 527 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 3: to the United Nations. I have a pretty good relationship 528 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 3: with Samantha and on Mary Abraham. Samantha Power was actually 529 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 3: quite good. She spoke out urging Sudan to let Mary 530 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 3: Ibrahim go. I practically begged Samantha Power, why won't Obama 531 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 3: say her name? Look, we can disagree on political and 532 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 3: partisan issues, but she's in prison and sentenced to die 533 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,720 Speaker 3: for being a Christian. The entire course of his presidency, 534 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:47,440 Speaker 3: I could not get Obama to say her name even once. Ultimately, though, 535 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 3: the international pressure became so acute that the government of 536 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 3: Sudan gave in. 537 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:54,240 Speaker 1: She was married. 538 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 3: Miriam is married to a man from New Hampshire, and 539 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 3: so Sudan released her and she came the United States 540 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 3: to be with her husband. I met Mary Ibraheim at 541 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:09,200 Speaker 3: a gathering and she was speaking about her experience and 542 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 3: speaking out for religious liberty. And I gotta say, Miriam 543 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 3: is a tiny woman. She's maybe, I don't know, five 544 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 3: foot one. I would be surprised if she weighs even 545 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,440 Speaker 3: one hundred pounds. She's a very, very small woman. And 546 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 3: she was soft spoken, and I asked her, Look, you 547 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,160 Speaker 3: and I are both Christians. Are faith matters to us? 548 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 1: Sure? 549 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 3: But you know what, I've never been tested. I've never 550 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,120 Speaker 3: been in prisons for my faith. I've never been. 551 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: Told I'm going to die. 552 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 3: We will murder you unless you renounce your faith. I 553 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 3: hope and pray and believe I would do the right 554 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,479 Speaker 3: thing and say absolutely not. But I've never been tested 555 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 3: with that. And so when I met her, I asked her, 556 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 3: I said, look, when you're in that prison cell, when 557 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 3: they are threatening to torture you and murder you, when 558 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 3: you're looking at your babies, you're top son and your 559 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 3: newborn daughter, and you know that they're about to execute you, 560 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 3: how did you not lose hope? How did you not 561 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,800 Speaker 3: give in to despair and ben? She looked at me, 562 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:17,880 Speaker 3: very very calmly, and she just said Jesus. 563 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:17,880 Speaker 4: Was with me. 564 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:18,960 Speaker 1: Wow. 565 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 3: And it was powerful. And I'm hopeful that my voice 566 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 3: then played a part in ratcheting up the pressure to 567 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 3: get her released from prison. And so my hope in Nigeria, 568 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 3: I'm going to press to get this legislation passed. I 569 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:42,160 Speaker 3: want to see the Trump administration designate Nigeria and use pressure, 570 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 3: and in particular, there is power to pressuring the Nigerian 571 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:49,360 Speaker 3: government officials, because you know what ministers of foreign governments, 572 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,680 Speaker 3: they like to get visas and take their wives to 573 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 3: New York to go shopping. And if you sanction the 574 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:00,680 Speaker 3: individual government officials who are complicit, who are for facilitating 575 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 3: it who are enforcing and prosecuting so called blasphemy laws 576 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 3: that can have a real and powerful effect. And so 577 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 3: my hope is this legislation is shining a light will 578 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 3: protect the Christians who are in Nigeria and will stop 579 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:19,000 Speaker 3: the wide scale and murder of the Christians that has 580 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:20,480 Speaker 3: been going on in Nigeria. 581 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, aimen to that. We're gonna keep you update on 582 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:24,040 Speaker 1: this subject. Don't forget. 583 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,360 Speaker 2: We do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so that 584 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 2: subscribe or auto download button wherever you get Vertical Tech Cruise. 585 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 1: And this episode is also on YouTube as well 586 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,160 Speaker 2: So you can subscribe there and watch this episode on 587 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 2: YouTube and the Senate and I will see you back 588 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 2: here on Friday morning.