Podcast Summary

Show: Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw
Episode: SITREP 17: Kyiv Strikes Back, Pardon the Autopen, & Operation Liquid Death
Date: June 6, 2025
Host: Dan Crenshaw

Overview

This SITREP episode delivers a fast-paced, in-depth update on significant national and international events, analyzed by Congressman Dan Crenshaw. The episode covers Ukraine’s new military tactics against Russia, high-profile Supreme Court decisions, a DOJ investigation into Biden’s last-minute pardons, Mexican cartel oil smuggling, President Trump’s new travel ban, and a series of headline- and media-critique “quick hits.” Crenshaw breaks down each topic, providing context, insights, and editorial commentary.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb and Escalating Drone Warfare

• [01:12] Crenshaw details the second round of Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul, noting Russia’s repeated “non-starter” demands (withdrawal from occupied regions, halting mobilizations, ceasing Western arms shipments, snap elections, neutrality, and abandoning NATO ambitions).
• [03:45] Ukraine launched “Operation Spiderweb,” a large-scale, long-range drone offensive targeting Russian military bases—including those “above the Arctic Circle and in the Russian far east, almost 4,500 miles away.”
• [04:23] Ukrainian forces “smuggled the drones into Russia using trucks carrying containers disguised as prefabricated homes,” using these to cripple 41 of 100 nuclear-capable Russian bombers.
• [05:14] Russia retaliated the same evening with “472 drones in the biggest drone attack of the war,” causing civilian casualties and infrastructure damage.
• Implications: Crenshaw emphasizes,

  “Ukraine’s ingenious use of low-cost drones has vast implications not only for this war, but for modern warfare as we know it... the country has become a proving ground for merging tactics and tech—lessons that we cannot afford to ignore.” (05:40)

2. Supreme Court: Weapons Ban Decisions

• [07:25] The Supreme Court declined to hear legal challenges to Maryland’s assault weapons ban (2013) and Rhode Island’s high-capacity magazine ban (2022), leaving the state restrictions in place.
• Dissenting Justices (Thomas, Gorsuch, Alito) expressed intent for future AR-15-related cases to be heard.
• Crenshaw’s perspective:

  “The term ‘assault weapon’ is political and designed to exploit public confusion while the weapons themselves are common and fully protected by the Second Amendment. I agree with that.” (08:10)

3. DOJ Investigation: Biden’s Autopen Pardons

• [09:42] In Biden’s last moments as president, he pardoned high-profile individuals (Hunter Biden, General Milley, Dr. Fauci, January 6th Committee members, and others) and commuted ~2,500 nonviolent drug offenders.
• The pardons were “issued using an autopen.”

  “An autopen is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a device that mechanically replicates a signature and can learn your handwriting.” (10:38)

• Trump’s DOJ, led by Ed Martin, is now investigating these pardons, focusing on Biden’s fitness and if others exploited him by using the autopen. There is currently no law prohibiting its use for pardons.
• Biden responded,

  “I made the decision about the pardons, executive orders, legislation and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.” (12:04)

4. Operation Liquid Death: Cartel Oil Smuggling

• [12:53] Crenshaw reveals a Utah father and son were indicted for smuggling $300 million in stolen Mexican crude oil, supporting the Jalisco New Generation cartel.
• Operation Liquid Death led to asset seizures—oil tankers, vehicles, bank accounts, real estate.
• Insight: Oil smuggling is now as profitable for cartels as drug trafficking, facilitated by tapping pipelines/refineries, U.S. front companies, and financial networks.

  “...the cartel’s oil operation would collapse without US-based buyers... highlighting the central role of American enablers and the fragility of the cartel’s revenue stream.” (14:38)

• Pop-culture aside: Crenshaw references the TV show “Landman,” saying its depiction, while exaggerated, is “not totally crazy.” (15:40)

5. Trump’s Expanded Travel Ban

• [16:07] President Trump announced a travel suspension for citizens from 12 countries seen as supporting terrorism or lacking border control systems.
• Additional seven countries face new visa restrictions.
• Crenshaw critiques “left-wing media” for calling the move xenophobic, suggesting:

  “It’s just a very rational restructuring of a system that was often abused and under enforced.” (17:55)

6. Quick Headlines & Media Critique

• [19:18] FBI & CBP discovered two Chinese nationals smuggling a dangerous agroterrorism agent into the U.S.—one was a University of Michigan researcher.
• Supreme Court unanimously barred the Mexican government from suing gun manufacturers for cartel violence; “manufacturers are not liable for misuse of their products.” (20:22)
• Boulder, Colorado: Illegal immigrant attacked a charity event with Molotov cocktails, injuring 15; judge blocked deportation of suspect’s family.
• [21:40] Weekly “Media Bias Highlight”: Washington Post blamed Israeli troops for deaths at a Gaza aid distribution point, sourcing Hamas’s health ministry. The story “quietly changed” after new facts emerged, with no editorial correction.
• In closing, Crenshaw plugs a Breitbart op-ed (co-written with Chloe Cole) supporting his amendment to ban taxpayer-funded gender transition procedures.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Ukraine’s ingenious use of low-cost drones has vast implications not only for this war, but for modern warfare as we know it… lessons we cannot afford to ignore.”
  — Dan Crenshaw, 05:40

• “The term ‘assault weapon’ is political and designed to exploit public confusion while the weapons themselves are common and fully protected by the Second Amendment. I agree with that.”
  — Dan Crenshaw, 08:10

• “An autopen is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a device that mechanically replicates a signature and can learn your handwriting.”
  — Dan Crenshaw, 10:38

• “Any suggestion that I didn’t [make the decision] is ridiculous and false.”
  — Joe Biden (written statement), 12:04

• “The cartel’s oil operation would collapse without US-based buyers… highlighting the central role of American enablers and the fragility of the cartel’s revenue stream.”
  — Dan Crenshaw, 14:38

• “It’s just a very rational restructuring of a system that was often abused and under enforced.”
  — Dan Crenshaw (re: travel ban), 17:55

Notable Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:12 | Ukraine-Russia Istanbul peace talks, Russian demands | | 03:45 | Operation Spiderweb: Ukraine’s drone offensive | | 05:14 | Russia’s retaliatory drone barrage | | 07:25 | Supreme Court, Maryland/Rhode Island weapons bans | | 09:42 | DOJ investigates Biden’s autopen pardons | | 12:53 | Operation Liquid Death: Cartel oil smuggling bust | | 16:07 | Trump’s new travel ban—affected countries | | 19:18 | FBI/CBP: Biological agent smuggled by Chinese nationals | | 20:22 | SCOTUS: Mexican lawsuit against U.S. gun manufacturers | | 21:40 | Media bias highlight: Washington Post Gaza coverage |

Final Thoughts

Dan Crenshaw delivers concise, pointed commentary on current events, emphasizing the strategic importance of Ukraine’s expanding drone warfare, scrutinizing executive branch powers, and highlighting how U.S.-based networks play into international crime. He closes by challenging media narratives and sharing further resources for listeners to explore.