Speaker 1: Welcome in this Verdict with Ted Cruz, the Weekend Review.
Speaker 1: Ben Ferguson with you, and we had some very big
Speaker 1: stories that you may have missed that we talked about
Speaker 1: this week. First up, usaid the abuse that has been
Speaker 1: found out of our government tax dollars going to corrupt organizations,
Speaker 1: even to terrorists, is now all being exposed because.
Speaker 2: Of Elon musk In Doge.
Speaker 1: So what do we found out. We'll give you the
Speaker 1: list in just a moment. Also, what are the needs
Speaker 1: of Israel? Well, Benjamin nette Yahu set down with Senator
Speaker 1: Ted Cruz for about two hours talking about exactly what's
Speaker 1: happening in Israel and what they need from us. We'll
Speaker 1: break all that down for you as well. And finally,
Speaker 1: it's going to be a new day at the FBI
Speaker 1: if caspitel can get the votes needed this week. So
Speaker 1: what did he have to say to Senator Cruz.
Speaker 2: We have that for you.
Speaker 1: It is the Weekend Review and it starts right now.
Speaker 1: People that in this show and conservatives out there said okay,
Speaker 1: let's let everybody know where your tax hours is going.
Speaker 1: After Elon must and Doge yet again blowing the whistle,
Speaker 1: they're gonna I mean, they got to be exhausted because
Speaker 1: they're finding so much waste, fraud and abuse in our government.
Speaker 2: And a perfect.
Speaker 1: Example of this is US A I D and some
Speaker 1: of the abuse that they found walk us through it.
Speaker 3: Well, I gotta say Elon Musk is doing a fantastic job.
Speaker 3: He is working around the clock at at DOGE and
Speaker 3: and really focused on on reining in government spending and
Speaker 3: reining in the absolute abuse, the abuse that you would
Speaker 3: never see in a private company, but but yet in
Speaker 3: in government is is commonplace. And it is a result
Speaker 3: of politicians funding their their their own political hobbyhorse, their
Speaker 3: own political pet project. And and so I got to say,
Speaker 3: what one of the areas that that that Doge in
Speaker 3: the new White House has done is freeze funding at
Speaker 3: US A I D and. And Democrats in the media
Speaker 3: have been losing their minds over this, have been lighting
Speaker 3: their hair on fire. In fact, a bunch of Democrats
Speaker 3: went to the USAID offices to storm the offices this week,
Speaker 3: which was really pretty ridiculous. But but they're really they're
Speaker 3: very very upset about it.
Speaker 1: They're not set by the way about the abuse of
Speaker 1: the money and the fraud. Then there they're just upset
Speaker 1: that they've lost their power.
Speaker 3: Right, Well, they're upset that the abuse is stopping. But
Speaker 3: you know, when reporters have asked me about it, I've said, listen, uh.
Speaker 3: The president got a mandate from the American people, and
Speaker 3: part of the mandate is to stop the out of
Speaker 3: control spending in debt, and the USAID engages in all
Speaker 3: sorts of abuse. Let me give you some of the examples.
Speaker 3: USI ai D spent one point five million dollars for
Speaker 3: advancing DEI in Serbia's workplaces. They spent two million dollars
Speaker 3: for sex changes in Guatemala. They spent six million dollars
Speaker 3: for tourism in Egypt. They paid for quote hundreds of
Speaker 3: thousands of meals that went to al Qaeda affiliated fighters
Speaker 3: in Syria. They gave funding for the production of opium,
Speaker 3: the primary ingredient in heroin in Afghanistan, which benefited the Taliban. Yeah,
Speaker 3: they spent one million dollars to help disabled people in
Speaker 3: Tajikistan become quote climate leaders. They spent one million dollars
Speaker 3: for Hamas linked charity. And they spent fifteen million dollars
Speaker 3: for contraceptives and condoms in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. This is
Speaker 3: all nonsense. This is a waste, and there's a reason
Speaker 3: Elon Musk is going after it. There's a reason President
Speaker 3: Trump is going after it. And there's a reason Democrats
Speaker 3: in the press are horrified that this gravy train is stopping.
Speaker 1: It is a gravy train, and it's a very, very
Speaker 1: big one that's costing taxpayers massive amounts of money. Elon
Speaker 1: Musk said early on that he thought there was probably
Speaker 1: like ten percent waste in our government. He's now changing
Speaker 1: those numbers. I want to get your reaction. He's saying
Speaker 1: it could be well above twenty percent.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's massive waste, and it is by design. Understand,
Speaker 3: it's not just that they picked things out of a hat.
Speaker 3: These are all ideological. This is the agenda of the
Speaker 3: radical left. They're funding the agenda of the radical left.
Speaker 3: But it shouldn't be the taxpayers paying for this nonsense.
Speaker 3: And let me give you an example of one of
Speaker 3: the ones that I found frankly funniest AOC Alexandria Kja
Speaker 3: Cortez went off on Elon Musk this week, and listen
Speaker 3: to what she says. Her argument is that Elon Musk
Speaker 3: is a dummy, give a listen.
Speaker 4: This dude is probably one of the most unintelligent billionaires
Speaker 4: have ever met or seen are witnessed, which you know,
Speaker 4: you can probably even glean that from watching these people
Speaker 4: on TV. Anyways, all of that is to say is
Speaker 4: that they don't do their homework. Clearly like they're putting
Speaker 4: nineteen year olds in at the Treasury. This dude is
Speaker 4: not smart. And the danger in not in the lack
Speaker 4: of intelligence and the lack of expertise that Elon has.
Speaker 4: I mean, this guy is one of the most morally
Speaker 4: vacant but also just least knowledgeable about these systems that
Speaker 4: we really know of. But the point is is that
Speaker 4: what that means is that they're going to hit a button. Inevitably,
Speaker 4: they are going to hit a button and things can
Speaker 4: go sid.
Speaker 1: I mean this, this is one of those moments where
Speaker 1: you actually get to watch that, you know what, the
Speaker 1: sausage being made in her brain. She's making it up
Speaker 1: and pausing as she goes to try to figure out
Speaker 1: a way to hit a guy that's having massive success
Speaker 1: at saving taxpayers dollars.
Speaker 3: Look, I gotta say I laughed out loud when I
Speaker 3: listened to that and watch that it should be a
Speaker 3: Saturday Night Live skit. Of course, Saturdayight Live wouldn't actually
Speaker 3: make fun of liberals, so they wouldn't show it. But listen,
Speaker 3: you can criticize Elon Musk on all sorts of fronts,
Speaker 3: but the one front you can't criticize him on is
Speaker 3: being a dummy. I've spent a ton of time with Elon. Listen,
Speaker 3: I've been blessed, Ben. I have known a lot of
Speaker 3: brilliant people. I've known antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas and
Speaker 3: Chief Justice William Renquist. I have known brilliant, brilliant scientists
Speaker 3: and world leaders, and I believe Elon Musk, this is,
Speaker 3: without exaggeration, is is the most brilliant man I've ever met.
Speaker 3: And I've spent a lot of time with Elon. If
Speaker 3: you think about the distribution of intelligence, you assume roughly
Speaker 3: eight billion people on planet Earth. Intelligence is distributed along
Speaker 3: a bell curve. Someone is at the bleeding edge of
Speaker 3: that bell curve, and I think Elon Musk is that person.
Speaker 3: And I mean I've sat with him for two three,
Speaker 3: three and a half hours talking with him, and it's
Speaker 3: fascinating watching his brain work because the guy it's not
Speaker 3: even that he thinks outside the box. He doesn't know
Speaker 3: there is a box. And so, listening to AOC say
Speaker 3: he's unintelligent, I got to say, it reminded me of
Speaker 3: a scene from from my favorite movie, This One. And
Speaker 3: so give a listen to what AOC was saying. And
Speaker 3: she was really she was channeling the Sini. Give a
Speaker 3: listen good, that's smart. Let me put it this way.
Speaker 5: Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?
Speaker 3: Yes, morons, So that's AOC. Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, elon musk morons. AOC.
Speaker 3: She knows what's right.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 1: If you want to hear the rest of this conversation,
Speaker 1: you can go back and listen to the full podcast
Speaker 1: from earlier this week.
Speaker 2: Now onto story number two, let's talk about.
Speaker 1: The humanitarian side of this and the real need needs
Speaker 1: of the people in Israel. What did BB say from
Speaker 1: that standpoint? Because there is obviously a great humanitarian need
Speaker 1: we're talking about all this money with dods that we're
Speaker 1: finding that we're giving to all these people, many of
Speaker 1: them that are just waste and fraud and abuse and
Speaker 1: absurd things like transndered plays in certain countries. When you know,
Speaker 1: as an American, I don't mind helping our allies in
Speaker 1: times of need.
Speaker 2: Israel is a great example of this.
Speaker 1: There is so much money, though that's being used in
Speaker 1: such fraudulent ways that I do think there's a hesitancy
Speaker 1: now to just say, Okay, what do you need because
Speaker 1: it seems like everyone was taking from us and abusing it.
Speaker 1: I think Israel is very different, and that's why I
Speaker 1: want to bring this up.
Speaker 2: But what are the needs?
Speaker 3: So let me say, do you know what the amount
Speaker 3: of economic aid and assistance is that we give to Israel?
Speaker 3: How much? Zero dollars and zero cents. We do not
Speaker 3: provide economic aid to Israel. Israel's not asking us for
Speaker 3: money to feed its citizens. Israel's not asking for money
Speaker 3: to provide housing or cloth it citizens. Israel's not asking
Speaker 3: for money for relief. The only assistance the United States
Speaker 3: provides to Israel is military aid. Each year, we provide
Speaker 3: roughly three billion dollars in military assistance. But that's we
Speaker 3: do no economic assistance. We're not paying welfare. We are
Speaker 3: providing military assistance. And do you know why we do that?
Speaker 3: Why this is something critically important to understand. We provide
Speaker 3: military assistance to Israel because it is good for America Israel.
Speaker 3: Think about this for a second. Everyone who hates Israel
Speaker 3: hates America bingo. And by the way, those who hate
Speaker 3: Jews hate Christians, and everyone who Israel is fighting against
Speaker 3: they're doing so to protect Israel.
Speaker 1: Of course, Well there's a reason why it's almost simultaneous.
Speaker 1: You hear death to Israel chance and death America chance.
Speaker 1: A lot of times they are intertwined.
Speaker 3: The Ayahtola refers to Israel as the little Satan and
Speaker 3: America as the great Satan. And so listen. One of
Speaker 3: the things I said to Bibie, and I've said this
Speaker 3: to him many times, I said, thank you, thank you
Speaker 3: for killing terrorists, for taking out Hamas, for taking out Hezbela.
Speaker 3: These are lunatics that want to murder Israelis, and they
Speaker 3: want to murder Americans, and they have Look. October seventh
Speaker 3: was a horrific terrorist attack against Israel, but it was
Speaker 3: also a horrific terrorist attack against America. Many Americans were killed,
Speaker 3: many Americans were taken hostage. And so we provide military
Speaker 3: aid to Israel because it keeps America safer, and it
Speaker 3: also is incredibly frugal, as a monetary matter because the
Speaker 3: benefits we get from Israeli intelligence. The Masad is one
Speaker 3: of the most effective and potent intelligence networks in the world.
Speaker 3: And the Massad has incredible intelligence on hesblood Hamas, on Iran,
Speaker 3: on al Kaeda and Isis and all enemies of Israel,
Speaker 3: but also enemies of American Historically, they have shared that
Speaker 3: intelligence with us. If we tried to recreate the benefits
Speaker 3: we get from Israeli intelligence in their military, it wouldn't
Speaker 3: cost US three billion dollars a year. It would cost
Speaker 3: us tens of billions of dollars a year. And so
Speaker 3: we make that investment because it keeps America safe, and
Speaker 3: they spend that investment to be very clear on taking
Speaker 3: out the people who want to kill Americans.
Speaker 1: When you look at the money and you look at
Speaker 1: what's happening, and you look at the meeting today that
Speaker 1: you had and the needs that are there, I think
Speaker 1: there's a couple of just overall themes. One, Israel now
Speaker 1: knows that America does in fact have their back. Two,
Speaker 1: they can start sharing intelligence and talk about honest plans
Speaker 1: to protect Israel in America because they can trust this administration.
Speaker 1: And that seems to be maybe the most valuable part
Speaker 1: of this three We both have a true, genuine agreement
Speaker 1: in our foreign policy that we must stop Iran from
Speaker 1: gaining that nuclear weapon.
Speaker 2: And that also means now you've.
Speaker 1: Got to figure out how you're going to stop it
Speaker 1: from happening, and that could be using military prowess to
Speaker 1: do it, Which brings me my fine question to you.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump's a guy that has been very proud about saying,
Speaker 1: I haven't started any wars, I get us out of wars,
Speaker 1: and I try to end them. Would you look at
Speaker 1: this as a war or more of a just a
Speaker 1: straight up attack on a nuclear weapons site.
Speaker 2: How should Americans look at this?
Speaker 3: Well, listen, it's important to understand President Trump is right,
Speaker 3: he has not started any wars. We did not have it.
Speaker 3: In fact, he ended wars. He inherited the war with
Speaker 3: ISIS from Barack Obama. ISIS had a caliphate, had territory
Speaker 3: about the size of the state of Indiana, and Trump
Speaker 3: within months defeated ISIS altogether and ended that war. Because
Speaker 3: they were defeated and conquered the caliphate. There are some
Speaker 3: who try to say that America First foreign policy is isolationist,
Speaker 3: is just withdrawing from the world and not engaging with
Speaker 3: our enemies. That has not been the foreign policy of
Speaker 3: Donald Trump. It's worth remembering that when President Trump in
Speaker 3: his first term, he gave the order to take out
Speaker 3: General Solimani, the the Iranian leader responsible for the murder
Speaker 3: of over six hundred American servicemen and women, the Iranian
Speaker 3: leader who had played a critical part in planning planning
Speaker 3: terrorist attacks against the United States and against Israel for years.
Speaker 3: And Solomoni, along with Nozrala, we're probably the two most
Speaker 3: important terrorist leaders on the face of the planet. And
Speaker 3: President Trump ordered General Solimani taken out, and Prime Minister
Speaker 3: net and Yahoo ordered Nosralla taken out, and now neither
Speaker 3: one of them are able to threaten America or Israel.
Speaker 1: It's incredible. I'm glad that you guys got to have
Speaker 1: this meeting. I also just am really thankful as you
Speaker 1: described it, that now I think Israel can trust that
Speaker 1: they have a partner in the US and they're not
Speaker 1: trying to They're not having to hide from the United
Speaker 1: States what the are trying to accomplish.
Speaker 2: And we have the same goals.
Speaker 3: Yes, and and by the way, another aspect of it.
Speaker 3: So look the efforts to attack Israel, you saw them
Speaker 3: directly through terrorism through October seventh. You saw them through
Speaker 3: Hamas and hezbla Uh and and to be clear, the
Speaker 3: Biden administration was responsible for a very substantial part of
Speaker 3: the funding for that October seventh attack. But but you
Speaker 3: also saw it through law fair through using international institutions
Speaker 3: to go after Israel. And one of the most profound
Speaker 3: examples of the that is the International Criminal Court, which
Speaker 3: which has has indicted Bibi Uh for committing war crimes
Speaker 3: and and and that decision is grotesquely false. It was
Speaker 3: an anti Semitic attack on Israel. But but it is
Speaker 3: also a profound threat to America. Israel is not a
Speaker 3: party UH to the International Criminal Court, neither is American
Speaker 3: and the International Criminal Court there's a real risk of
Speaker 3: it being used to go after American officials and American soldiers.
Speaker 3: The same enemies of Israel want to use the ICC
Speaker 3: to accuse American soldiers of committing war crimes when we
Speaker 3: stand up to terrorists. And so you know, just just
Speaker 3: a few days ago in Congress, we voted on legislation
Speaker 3: to sanction the International Critical Criminal Court. And I'll tell
Speaker 3: you it was really sad. Every Democrat in the Senate
Speaker 3: except one except John Fetterman voted no. They all voted
Speaker 3: against Israel. Amazing And to be clear.
Speaker 2: Is there going to be hell to pay politically you
Speaker 2: think for this?
Speaker 1: I mean, the Democratic Party has become really a lot
Speaker 1: of their leaders are just strit up anti Semitic.
Speaker 2: Is there going to be hell to pay for that
Speaker 2: at some point?
Speaker 3: Well, there hasn't been so far, and the Democrats feel
Speaker 3: that there are no consequences. Chuck Schumer was among the
Speaker 3: leaders who who met with net and Yahoo and was
Speaker 3: trying to give excuses for why he and all the
Speaker 3: other Democrats voted against sanctioning the ICC. Today, President Trump
Speaker 3: issued sanctions as president, and they were very strong sanctions.
Speaker 3: That's one thing Bib was very happy about is he
Speaker 3: now had a president that would stand up to the
Speaker 3: International Criminal Court for going after him. Look, Bib is
Speaker 3: not able to travel to much of Europe because they're
Speaker 3: European nations who have threatened they will arrest bebe if
Speaker 3: he steps foot on their soil. That is a profound
Speaker 3: attack on the government of Israel. Think about it that
Speaker 3: there are many European countries that he simply won't go to. Now,
Speaker 3: let me ask a simple question to anyone listening. Trump
Speaker 3: sanctioned the ICC today, Why didn't Joe Biden the ICC
Speaker 3: did this under Biden's presidency. And the answer is, I
Speaker 3: think the Biden administration wanted the ICC to go after
Speaker 3: Benjamin Netton Yahoo. And I think we're going to see
Speaker 3: facts come to light in the weeks and months ahead
Speaker 3: that show some real complicity of the Biden administration for
Speaker 3: the law fare attacking Israel, and that really underscores the
Speaker 3: difference one election can make. And thank god, we have
Speaker 3: a president now who will stand up for America and
Speaker 3: who will stand up and stand alongside Israel as before.
Speaker 1: If you want to hear the rest of this conversation
Speaker 1: on this topic, you can go back and dow the
Speaker 1: podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.
Speaker 1: I want to get back to the big story number
Speaker 1: three of the week you may have missed. I want
Speaker 1: to move on to another big issue, and that is
Speaker 1: confirmation hearings. Cash Betels was at the end of last
Speaker 1: week as well, and we are now seeing a lot
Speaker 1: of people that are getting their audios.
Speaker 2: See you later.
Speaker 1: Thanks for serving you're out of a job in the
Speaker 1: deep state. This is another reason why we need to
Speaker 1: get cash hotel in there quickly.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about where that is.
Speaker 1: And also you had a very interesting back and forth
Speaker 1: with him over some of the things that the left
Speaker 1: is trying to attack him on.
Speaker 3: Well, the hearing, the Democrats went after cash Patel furiously.
Speaker 3: As I said on Hannity last week, the hearing reminded
Speaker 3: me of Shakespeare's Macbeth. It was a tale told by
Speaker 3: an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.
Speaker 3: The Democrats did not get any traction. They were foaming
Speaker 3: at the mouth. They were coming after him ferociously. And
Speaker 3: yet I don't think they moved a single vote. I
Speaker 3: think cash Patel will get confirmed. Now every Democrat on
Speaker 3: the committee's going to vote no, and my guess is
Speaker 3: every Democrat in the Senate is going to vote no
Speaker 3: on him. But I think we will get We might
Speaker 3: get to fifty three, but we will at a minimum
Speaker 3: get to fifty with jd Vance breaking the tie. And
Speaker 3: I don't think the hearing moved a single vote. When
Speaker 3: my questioning occurred, you know, the week before I had
Speaker 3: spent a couple of hours helped being moot cash Bettel,
Speaker 3: helping get him ready. I actually got to play Sheldon
Speaker 3: white House, who's a very liberal senator, in the moot,
Speaker 3: and I got to say it was fun just raving
Speaker 3: at him, screaming at him. I tried to insult him.
Speaker 3: I was a total jerk in the moot, which which
Speaker 3: if you're doing to moot, well.
Speaker 1: You explained for people that don't know how this works.
Speaker 1: You get people, and I've gotten to do this a
Speaker 1: couple of times. It's really fun. You get somebody ready
Speaker 1: for a confirmation hearing and many people like you just described,
Speaker 1: you play the other side. You try to get them
Speaker 1: ready for what they're going to face. And the setting
Speaker 1: that you do it in. Was this more relaxed or
Speaker 1: was it more formal?
Speaker 3: I don't know. It was done exactly like a hearing.
Speaker 3: He was sitting at a table, we were around him,
Speaker 3: like firing questions at him. And sometimes you do it
Speaker 3: this way, sometimes you don't. But in this instance, they
Speaker 3: gave me the role of Sheldon white House, who's one
Speaker 3: of the most partisan Democrats on the committee. I've served
Speaker 3: with Sheldon thirteen years. I know him well, and so
Speaker 3: you know, I mean, I was screaming at him and
Speaker 3: I and my questions were wildly unfair, but you got
Speaker 3: to get ready for wildly unfair questions. I was not
Speaker 3: trying to be nice to him in the mood because
Speaker 3: that if you're doing that, you're not doing your job
Speaker 3: in a mood, and I got to say he did.
Speaker 3: So it was interesting in the mood A couple of
Speaker 3: times like Cash would try to pop back and we
Speaker 3: would stop and say, look, it's not your job to
Speaker 3: punch the Democrats of the face in this hearing. My advice,
Speaker 3: by the way, to every hearing nominee is be boring
Speaker 3: right now today you've got the votes to be confirmed.
Speaker 3: From the Democrats perspective. The only way they can change
Speaker 3: that is get you to say something in the hearing
Speaker 3: where you step on a landmine and blow yourself up.
Speaker 3: If you don't do that, you will be confirmed and
Speaker 3: you will go do the job the president has asked
Speaker 3: you to do. And so a good role of a
Speaker 3: hearing you know someone you know very well is John
Speaker 3: asked Croft.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So when I was a young baby lawyer, I was
Speaker 3: part of the team that that that helped prepare John
Speaker 3: Ashcroft for his confirmation hearing to be Attorney General. And
Speaker 3: I was, you know, thirty years old, a baby lawyer,
Speaker 3: but i'd been on the Bush campaign and Ashcroft gets nominated.
Speaker 3: Bag So I remember we're prepping him and and just
Speaker 3: like with Cash Pttel, we were asking horrible questions. We
Speaker 3: were asking uh, I mean, we were just just and
Speaker 3: in the prep session Ashcroft would get pissed and he
Speaker 3: yelled at us and and and and we'd say, we'd say, Senator,
Speaker 3: you're exactly right that that that question was terrible. It
Speaker 3: was it was unfair, it was dishonest, it was abusive. Senator,
Speaker 3: can we remind you you have the votes right now?
Speaker 3: Like they want you to get pissed? And so I
Speaker 3: was glad he yelled at me, and he yelled at
Speaker 3: the other people in the mood because that it got
Speaker 3: it off his chest. And I still remember. You go
Speaker 3: back and watch Ashcroft's confirmation hearing, and then there was
Speaker 3: one exchange and I'm paraphrasing, and it was twenty four
Speaker 3: years ago, but he had given a speech about the
Speaker 3: Second Amendment, and he had talked about the Second Amendment
Speaker 3: that the Framers had intended a second Amendment as a
Speaker 3: check on tyranny from the government, and Ted Kennedy, who
Speaker 3: was questioning him, goes, tyranny from our government, the American government.
Speaker 3: You know what that is? Treason? Man, I say, you're
Speaker 3: a trader, and he like screams at the top of
Speaker 3: his lungs calling Ashcroft a trader. And at the actual hearing, Ashcroft,
Speaker 3: I don't think his heart beat exceeded sixty five beats
Speaker 3: a minute, and he very calmly said, Senator, if I'm
Speaker 3: confirmed as Attorney General, I will follow the law and
Speaker 3: I will enforce the law. And he got confirmed. So
Speaker 3: Cash Bettel likewise, he got some of his yelling out
Speaker 3: at the motors. Actually, no, not much. He did a
Speaker 3: good job of not losing his cool in the moot
Speaker 3: and then in the hearing. I think he did an
Speaker 3: excellent job. When it came to my turn, they had
Speaker 3: been beating him up a lot on January sixth, and
Speaker 3: so I wanted to give him a chance to get
Speaker 3: out some basic facts. So give a listen to my
Speaker 3: cross examination of Cash Patel this past week on his
Speaker 3: confirmation hearing for Director of the FBI. You will be
Speaker 3: and have been accused of just about everything they can.
Speaker 3: But I want to focus on what several Democrats have
Speaker 3: done recently, which is trying to blame you for the
Speaker 3: violence that occurred on January sixth, which, even in the
Speaker 3: annals of ridiculous attacks, this one really takes the cake.
Speaker 3: So let's just focus on some facts. Let me ask
Speaker 3: you a question. What role did you occupy in the
Speaker 3: days immediately before January sixth?
Speaker 5: Chief of staff of the Department of Defense?
Speaker 3: You were the chief of Staff at the Department of Defense, yes, sir,
Speaker 3: So to be clear, you were not rioting at the Capitol, No, sir.
Speaker 3: Where were you physically on January.
Speaker 5: Sixth in the office of the Secretary of Defense in
Speaker 5: the Pentagon?
Speaker 3: And what were you doing on that day?
Speaker 5: On that day specifically responding to preparing to mobilize and
Speaker 5: deploy the National Guard once we got the lawful request
Speaker 5: from the local governing authority, which was the Mayor of
Speaker 5: DC and the Speaker of the House.
Speaker 3: Now, how many days in advance were you working to
Speaker 3: prepare the Department of Defense to help secure the Capitol
Speaker 3: on January sixth?
Speaker 5: Days in advanced Senator, we were in the Oval office
Speaker 5: on an unrelated national security matter with the President of
Speaker 5: the United States. The Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of
Speaker 5: the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and myself and the President
Speaker 5: authorized up to twenty thousand plus National guardsmen and women
Speaker 5: to secure any security measures necessarily related to the capital.
Speaker 5: So we were moving to the fullest extent of the
Speaker 5: law before the requisite request came from a local governing
Speaker 5: authority days ahead of time.
Speaker 3: And while you were chief of staff at DoD, how
Speaker 3: many times did DoD approach Capitol police and ask if
Speaker 3: they needed National Guard assistants?
Speaker 5: I believe those letters are well documented. Numerous instances, and
Speaker 5: numerous of those instances were those requests were shut down?
Speaker 3: Now, my correct at the capital sergeant at arms said
Speaker 3: assistance was unnecessary.
Speaker 5: That's correct, Senator.
Speaker 3: Who did the sergeant at arms.
Speaker 5: Report to the Speaker of the House.
Speaker 3: That would have been Nancy Pelosi at the time. Is
Speaker 3: that correct, yes, Senator? And would that also be Chuck
Speaker 3: Schumer than the Senate majority leader.
Speaker 5: The sergeant at arms, Yes, Senator reports.
Speaker 3: Up there did Mayor Bowser, the Democrat elected mayor in
Speaker 3: d C, either request or allow National Guard assistants?
Speaker 5: She put in writing on the days leading up to
Speaker 5: January sixth, a declination for National Guard additional support and
Speaker 5: that letter is available publicly.
Speaker 3: To the world. So and just to speak England for
Speaker 3: folks at home, a declination meant she said no, don't
Speaker 3: send national Guard? Is that right? Yes, sir? Let me
Speaker 3: ask you a simple question, because from the questioning from
Speaker 3: a Democrat colleagues they might think otherwise. Do you condemn
Speaker 3: violence against law enforcement? All of it? And by the way,
Speaker 3: is that true whether the violence is right wing or
Speaker 3: left wing or anywhere else?
Speaker 5: There is no discriminating between types of violence against law enforce?
Speaker 3: And do you believe those who assault and commit violence
Speaker 3: against law enforcement should be prosecuted and should be sent
Speaker 3: to jail.
Speaker 5: Especially those that kill them?
Speaker 3: Me ask you how many years have you worked in
Speaker 3: public service?
Speaker 5: About sixteen, senator, And.
Speaker 3: How many years have you worked in particular in law
Speaker 3: enforcement and prosecution and national security over decade? Senator? You know,
Speaker 3: I have to say it is ludicrous but sadly predictable
Speaker 3: that Democrats are endeavoring to tarnish you, to paint a
Speaker 3: false caricature based on innuendo and smoke. And so you're
Speaker 3: working to protect the Capitol on January sixth, and yet
Speaker 3: they're trying to blame you for the violence that occurred.
Speaker 3: Let me ask you to this, just as a straightforward matter,
Speaker 3: what is the job of the FBI and what will
Speaker 3: the FBI's role be if and when you are confirmed
Speaker 3: as its director.
Speaker 5: The simple motto on the website of the FBI's homepage
Speaker 5: is to protect American citizens and uphold the Constitution. If
Speaker 5: I am confirmed as the next director of the FBI,
Speaker 5: that's what we're going to do and redirect resources and
Speaker 5: making sure that occurs every single day.
Speaker 3: Thank you for your willingness to do so, and this
Speaker 3: committee we'll hold you to account on restoring integrity at
Speaker 3: the FBI, and I thank you, and also for your
Speaker 3: commitment to transparency. I think that is incredibly important to
Speaker 3: bringing back integrity and I'm grateful for it.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't it be nice if the media would fact check
Speaker 1: the Democrats on the committee that we're trashing him, trying
Speaker 1: to connect him to January sixth, like he was an
Speaker 1: insurrectionist in their words, and just tell the story of
Speaker 1: what he was actually doing.
Speaker 2: I'm so thankful that you asked those questions.
Speaker 3: Yeah, don't hold your breath on that. The media has
Speaker 3: their story to tell and they're not going to get
Speaker 3: let facts get in the way.
Speaker 2: So last question on this.
Speaker 1: This is a really important position being in charge of
Speaker 1: the FBI. When are you guys going to actually get
Speaker 1: to vote on this?
Speaker 3: So we will vote on Cash Betel in a week,
Speaker 3: so this week there'll be a markup. But the way
Speaker 3: the Senate Judiciary Committee works is the minority has a
Speaker 3: right on any vote to hold it over for a
Speaker 3: week and delay it for a week. So they will
Speaker 3: do that this week, and so they'll delay that now.
Speaker 3: Pam Bondi will be confirmed on the floor of the
Speaker 3: Senate this week, so by the end of this week
Speaker 3: she'll be Attorney General. Next week will vote on Cash
Speaker 3: Betel and Judiciary Committee and then I'll go to the
Speaker 3: Senate floor after that.
Speaker 1: As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with sentater
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