#140 Eli Crane & Tim Burchett - Two Things All Americans Want: Accountability and Transparency

Summary

Shawn Ryan Show Episode #140: Eli Crane & Tim Burchett - Two Things All Americans Want: Accountability and Transparency

Release Date: October 21, 2024

In Episode #140 of the "Shawn Ryan Show," host Shawn Ryan engages in a profound discussion with returning guests Eli Crane and Tim Burchett. The conversation delves deep into the pressing issues of accountability and transparency within the U.S. government, particularly focusing on recent assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump and the broader implications of government corruption in Congress. This detailed summary captures the essence of their candid dialogue, highlighting key points, notable quotes, and the overarching themes explored throughout the episode.

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1. Recent Assassination Attempts on Donald Trump

Overview: The episode opens with Tim Burchett addressing recent assassination attempts on Donald Trump, referencing historical incidents and the latest attempt that occurred just a day prior to the recording.

Key Points:

• Assessment of Secret Service Accountability: Eli Crane questions the effectiveness of the Secret Service, especially in light of the failed assassination attempts. He emphasizes the need for accountability within the agency.

• Political Influence on Investigations: Both guests express skepticism about whether any misconduct within the Secret Service will be addressed unless Trump is reinstated as president.

Notable Quotes:

• Eli Crane [02:22]: "I don't have any faith whatsoever that with the people that we have in Congress now that anybody will be held accountable."
• Tim Burchett [05:02]: "This isn't about uncovering anything or getting to the root issue. This is about jerking people off and making people happy."

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2. Government and Congressional Corruption

Overview: The conversation shifts to the pervasive corruption within Congress, highlighting how political motivations skew committee selections and legislative actions.

Key Points:

• Committee Selection Bias: Eli Crane criticizes the selection process for congressional committees, stating that leadership often prioritizes political allegiance and fundraising prowess over expertise.

• Impact of Lobbyists and Influence Peddling: Both guests discuss how lobbyists from both major parties manipulate legislative processes to benefit specific agendas, hindering genuine policy-making.

Notable Quotes:

• Eli Crane [04:01]: "Leadership always makes the determination."
• Sean Ryan [12:12]: "The machine doesn't want Trump if he gets in there and he does what he says he's gonna do."

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3. Security Failures and Recommendations

Overview: A critical examination of the Secret Service's preparedness and response to assassination threats is presented, with suggestions for improving security protocols.

Key Points:

• Lack of Modern Security Measures: The guests highlight shortcomings such as the absence of drones, insufficient training, and outdated equipment used by the Secret Service.

• Proactive Measures Suggested: Eli Crane proposes integrating private security teams and advanced technologies like thermal imaging to bolster protection.

Notable Quotes:

• Eli Crane [09:16]: "The Secret Service seems to be completely allergic to innovating and adapting to modern warfare."
• Sean Ryan [26:21]: "These Secret Service agents up on that detail that couldn't holster a weapon after like three attempts... That was just shocking."

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4. Legislative Inaction and Procedural Delays

Overview: The guests express frustration over the slow legislative processes in Congress, especially concerning high-priority issues like security and foreign policy.

Key Points:

• Delayed Hearings and Reports: Despite the urgency of the assassination attempts, hearings are postponed, and reports are languishing without meaningful action.

• Impact of Continuing Resolutions: The prevalence of omnibus bills and continuing resolutions dilutes the focus on crucial matters, leading to ineffective governance.

Notable Quotes:

• Sean Ryan [12:35]: "The committees are just in total shutdown and it's, you know, and that's the way Washington works."
• Eli Crane [22:05]: "They know there's a lot of these illegal aliens voting... that's what we're gonna see."

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5. Funding of Wars and Departmental Issues

Overview: Tim Burchett raises alarm over the substantial financial allocations to ongoing wars, questioning the transparency and accountability of such expenditures.

Key Points:

• Misallocation of Funds: Burchett criticizes the allocation of between $40 to $87 million weekly to warzones, highlighting the lack of oversight and resultant funding of terrorism.

• Legislative Efforts to Reclaim Funds: The discussion touches on efforts to redirect or reclaim misallocated funds, though facing significant resistance within the Senate.

Notable Quotes:

• Tim Burchett [65:41]: "We're funding the same people that we were fighting the Taliban upwards. 40 million to $87 million a week."
• Sean Ryan [68:34]: "Taxpayers' dollars passed the house and it's sitting there. Schumer won't even address it."

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6. Corruption within Congress

Overview: A deep dive into the corrupt practices within Congress, including insider trading, lobbying influence, and the ethical dilemmas faced by honest representatives.

Key Points:

• Whistleblower Challenges: Eli Crane and Tim Burchett discuss the dangers whistleblowers face within the government, emphasizing the need for secure channels to report corruption.

• Insider Trading and Ethical Violations: The guests highlight instances of insider trading among legislators and the pervasive ethical breaches that undermine public trust.

Notable Quotes:

• Sean Ryan [90:31]: "Every bit of it, very bit, very concerned. I think everything I do and say is at some point tracked."
• Eli Crane [95:03]: "You can get bribery and all that other stuff and how people are compromised."

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7. Voter Turnout and Electoral Integrity

Overview: The low voter turnout and concerns over electoral integrity, including the potential influence of illegal voting, are examined as significant threats to democracy.

Key Points:

• Dwindling Voter Participation: The guests express concern over historically low voter turnout rates, attributing it to voter apathy and systemic disenfranchisement.

• Illegal Voting Concerns: Eli Crane emphasizes the potential impact of illegal voting on election outcomes, particularly in swing states, and the need for legislative action to address it.

Notable Quotes:

• Eli Crane [86:30]: "President Trump has never been up in the polls. He's up in the polls now, but in the past, he hasn't been."
• Tim Burchett [82:05]: "Only 15% of the people vote. Most people are too lazy."

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8. Potential for Civil Conflict and National Division

Overview: The discussion turns to the possibility of escalating national division leading to civil disobedience or even civil war, driven by political polarization and systemic failures.

Key Points:

• Emerging Regional Split: The guests foresee a future where states become more ideologically homogeneous, leading to increased migration and regional conflicts.

• Role of Identity in Politics: Both Eli Crane and Sean Ryan stress the importance of personal identity and integrity in resisting political corruption and fostering unity.

Notable Quotes:

• Eli Crane [117:37]: "I think it's possible. I think at the very least, I think we're headed towards civil disobedience."
• Sean Ryan [117:37]: "America is on the menu because the fat cats are getting fatter. All they're concerned about is keeping empower and keeping that cash machine rolling."

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9. Strategies for Combatting Corruption and Ensuring Accountability

Overview: In the concluding segments, the guests propose actionable strategies to combat governmental corruption and enhance accountability and transparency.

Key Points:

• Public Engagement and Voter Mobilization: Emphasizing the importance of increasing voter participation through grassroots efforts and directly engaging with constituents.

• Legislative Reforms: Introduction of bills aimed at reducing corruption, such as the SAVE Act and the Vienna Protocol, to restrict foreign influence and enhance bipartisan cooperation.

Notable Quotes:

• Eli Crane [43:36]: "Whoever was denying, whoever made the decision... needs to be held accountable."
• Sean Ryan [95:30]: "We need a balanced budget, zero debt, single spending bills."

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Conclusion

Episode #140 of the "Shawn Ryan Show" provides an unfiltered look into the critical issues of accountability and transparency affecting the United States. Through the insightful perspectives of Eli Crane and Tim Burchett, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the systemic challenges within the Secret Service, Congress, and broader governmental institutions. The guests passionately advocate for increased vigilance, legislative action, and public engagement to restore integrity and protect democratic values. This episode serves as a clarion call for Americans to demand meaningful reform and uphold the principles of accountability that are essential for the nation's future.

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Disclaimer: This summary is based on the provided transcript and aims to encapsulate the primary discussions and viewpoints expressed by the participants. For a complete understanding, listening to the full podcast episode is recommended.

Transcript

[Sean Ryan]

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[Tim Burchett]

Tim Burchett, Eli Crane. No strangers to the show. Welcome back.

[Sean Ryan]

Thank you.

[Tim Burchett]

We got a ton to cover. I'm not going to do the typical introduction we've had because you guys have already been on multiple times, but I want to talk to you about Trump assassination. Want to talk to you about. Tim. You've done a ton of work with the Afghanistan stuff. Want to talk about that. And then I think all three of us want to talk about some of the government corruption in both parties that's going on inside of Congress, and then we'll see what we get into after that. I know you guys both have time constraints, but I just want to say love you guys. Super happy to have you back here in the studio to have this conversation and lots of important stuff happening in the country right now. And so let's just get to the bottom of some of it. But. But to kick it off, Eli, I know you've done a lot of work investigating what went on with the first assassination attempt on Trump's life. And just yesterday, we had another attempt. And actually, before we dive into that, you guys both know we got a Patreon. It's what enables me to be here, what you guys, enables you guys to be here. They're our top supporters, and so I give them the opportunity to ask a question each interview. This question is from John Phillips, since we're on the topic, will anyone at Secret Service be held accountable for the major snafu in Trump's attempted assassination? Plural?

[Eli Crane]

I think it's. I think it's too early to tell yet. I think it's gonna largely be based on whether or not Trump becomes president or not. I don't have any faith whatsoever that with the people that we have in Congress now that anybody will be held accountable. I've just, you know, I'm only a freshman, but I've seen the game enough to kind of see how it. See how it plays out. I think if President Trump gets back into office, I do think that there's a really good chance that there will be accountability. But everything is so political up there, as you know. I mean, one of the. And just on that topic, I volunteered to be on the assassination task force. You know, I sent Speaker Johnson a text saying, hey, I was a, you know, NSW sniper. I think I could bring value to this investigation, and I wasn't put on it. Now I get it.

[Unknown]

You were not put on it.

[Eli Crane]

I was not put on.

[Tim Burchett]

Why were you not. Who made that call? Well, why would you not have a former Navy SEAL sniper who's better than probably any of the Secret Service snipers out there, why would they not have somebody with that relevant of experience on the topic inside Congress on the committee?

[Eli Crane]

So to be as transparent as I can be, to my knowledge, there's three snipers in Congress. Myself, Morgan Luttrell and Corey Mills. Not one of us was put on that task force. So, you know, you start asking questions right there and then what?

[Tim Burchett]

Who makes the determination?

[Eli Crane]

Leadership always makes the determination.

[Tim Burchett]

Who's the leadership?

[Eli Crane]

Mike Johnson is the speaker of the House right now.

[Tim Burchett]

So Mike Johnson doesn't want the three most relevant individuals in Congress to be on that committee.

[Eli Crane]

So what I was told is that it, you know, he had to please the entirety of the conference. Right. Because it was such a big deal and so many people other than myself volunteered to be on it. You know, he had to make this group over here happy, this group over here happy, this group over here happy. So there's a part of me, because I work up there that understands. Understands that. But it. Because the selection of that committee was political. Once you start going down that rabbit hole, you start asking yourself, okay, so are the witnesses that we call, is that going to be political, too? Are the findings and what we release to the American people, is that going to be political, too? And my answer to that is most likely yes. And that's why.

[Tim Burchett]

So this isn't about. This isn't about. Sorry to cut you off, man. I'm just. I'm pissed. So this isn't about uncovering anything or getting to the root issue. This is about jerking people off and making people happy.

[Sean Ryan]

That's Washington.

[Eli Crane]

Yeah, I would say that they still want to do the investigation. And there are a lot of people, whether they were snipers or not, who want to get to the bottom of it. My point is they didn't pick the best people for the job, and they know it. And that's what bothers me, because it doesn't stop there, Sean.

[Tim Burchett]

Who did they put on the.

[Eli Crane]

Every committee that you look at up in Capitol Hill? It's not, you know, who's the best for the job, it's, you know, who has influence, who has money who can fundraise, who's been here longest. And so you see a lot of the same stuff in other committees as well. And often the higher you go, the more you're willing to, you know, play the game and be a yes man. And that's why often I think, you know, people like myself are given the Heisman and told, hey, no thanks, man, we're good.

[Tim Burchett]

Who's on the committee? Who did they put on there?

[Eli Crane]

So you guys actually have a representative, pretty good representative here in Tennessee who's on the committee. Mark Green is on the committee, chairs, Homeland Security. Yep. Clay Higgins is on the committee, who I think is probably, in my opinion, you know, the best guy on the committee. Just because Clay. Clay is willing to. You know, Clay's tough, and he was in law enforcement and he was also in military, and he's already gone and done his own independent investigation. He's already released that to the public. So I'm glad that Clay got put on there. And I don't know all the other names. Tim, do you know other names I recall?

[Tim Burchett]

Are they utilizing you and the two other congressman's expertise?

[Eli Crane]

No, not. Not at this point, but I don't think they've even. I don't even think they've had a hearing yet. So we did. We did our own parallel. We called it a roundtable up in Washington, D.C. a couple weeks ago with Erik Prince, Dan Bongino, and then one of the counter snipers who was there. Because I don't know about you, Sean, but I don't have a lot of faith in the federal government to get to the bottom of this. And even if they did get to the bottom of it, I don't have a lot of faith that they would, you know, you know, even reveal it to the American people. Just like we still don't have the Kennedy files. Right. And so that's why some of us were like, okay, well, we might not be on the task force, we might not have subpoena power, but let's do everything that we can within our contacts, you know, and our intelligence, you know, to get to, you know, to get as many answers as we can for the American people.

[Tim Burchett]

Did you get any answers?

[Eli Crane]

Well, we've gotten some answers. One of the, you know, one of. I've actually been to Butler twice now. One of the things that I did a video about, you probably saw it was one of the first things that Director Cheetah was saying, was that we didn't put counter snipers up on that roof because it was too Steep. So myself and other members from the Homeland Security Committee went and got up on that roof and I showed out. We were walking around on it. Right after me, a 70 year old man named Carlos Jimenez, who's a representative from Florida, got up on it, walked right up it, no problem at all. You could see the water tower right over my shoulder that nobody got up on top of. That would have been a sniper's paradise or a counter sniper's paradise, and nobody got up on that. One of the things that I broke on with Dan Bongino on his podcast was that these pipe bombs that we were told Thomas Crooks had were built in ammo cans. But some of the other things that we've learned is that, and I know you've talked about it as well with Erik Prince, but the Secret Service is completely incapable of, you know, stopping a 20 year old kid with no military experience from getting 150 yards from the President. What would that look like with, you know, a trained, you know, team like, you know, whether it's the Houthis, you.

[Sean Ryan]

Know, we had Iranian intelligence, the Iranians.

[Eli Crane]

Were, whatever it is we had.

[Tim Burchett]

Hold on, we had.

[Sean Ryan]

Did we have intelligence that said that the, was it the Iranians that were. That had put a head out on Trump just prior to that?

[Eli Crane]

There is, yeah, there is intelligence that that's a very big threat as well. But some of the other things that we've learned, Sean, that's alarming is that the Secret Service seems to be completely allergic to innovating and adapting to modern warfare. Right. Dan Bongino was talking about how when he was there, it took decades for them to even put slings on their primary weapons. Right? Yeah, like their primaries, their M fours or whatever, whatever they were carrying. And anybody who's done, whether you're a police officer or you been in special operations or you're, you know, a Marine, you know that how important slings are. Because if you, if you're shooting your primary and you go dry or you have a jam and then you need to transition to your secondary, what are you going to do with your primary? Are you going to throw it on the ground? Or what if you have to climb a ladder, right? What if you have to do some prisoner handling, what if you have to process some evidence, you can't just be throwing your weapon on the ground. And so he was saying, I mean, the Secret Service was so backwards that it took decades for them to even get slings. He also said that they didn't want to transition to a higher caliber Weapon, like an, an AR style platform that shot something that maybe some of the threats were carrying. Right. And so you couple that with, oh, they didn't have a drone up on site. Right. They even turned down a drone from some of the local authorities. And you just got to wonder, like, why aren't they forward thinking at all? You know, because our enemies most certainly are. And he also, you know, one of the other things that we've learned is that the Secret Service is absolutely not in a better place with the new director. People are just like in every other government institution. They're failing up. Director Rowe probably had a lot more say over what security and what personnel and what assets were on site at Butler on that day than even Director Cheadle did. And so there's been a lot that we've uncovered and we found, but definitely there's still a lot more to uncover. And for those of us on the outskirts, it's going to be difficult because we don't have subpoena power.

[Sean Ryan]

And let's be honest, the answer to your question is no. And the other question you ask is, why is Eli not on there? He ruffles feathers, he votes his conscience. You know, we, he and I both voted against McCarthy and, you know, deposing him. And that's, that's what I think is at the bottom of it. That's the base of it. You've got a little leadership cabal that calls the shots on everything. And how has there not even been.

[Tim Burchett]

A hearing on it?

[Sean Ryan]

I don't know that. Have they had a committee? They put a committee together. They went. Did they go to Butler? Maybe they did go to Butler. Yeah. I mean, it's Washington. You know, they're gonna, it's just gonna churn it out and then six months later they're gonna issue a report and somebody's gonna get a nasty letter in their file and it's just, it's complete Washington to a degree.

[Tim Burchett]

And this isn't about daylight savings time. They tried to assassinate a former sitting president who's running again.

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah.

[Tim Burchett]

So how does this just go? Well, guys, we don't have time. We don't have enough sessions.

[Sean Ryan]

You gotta realize the machine doesn't, they don't want Trump if he gets in there and he does what he says he's gonna do and starts eliminating two thirds of the bureaucracy. The machine, the corrupt machine that, you know, they always come in and fire the top people or replace the new people, old people. But it's that second, third, fourth tier that are in there. For life that are just that infiltrated our government, that we've allowed to be there. Department of Education, billions of dollars stays in Washington. It seems to me it'd be easier just dismantle the whole department, send that money to the states and let them decide and let the locals have a say. So. But no, you've got, I mean, how many, honestly, how many bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. have taught a kid how to, how to read in Claiborne County, Tennessee? No, zero. But that, but that's. That's part of the machine. That's part of the structure. And that's why every 100 days we had another trillion dollars for the debt. And neither party has a plan to pay it off, and neither party wants to pay it off because all they're doing is buying boats.

[Tim Burchett]

So I got a. Maybe you can help me and the audience understand who makes the determination of when these hearings happen. Who.

[Sean Ryan]

Ultimately, it's the speaker who makes it and you the speaker. And they'll appoint a chairman, and the chairman will bring in the legal folks. And then that's part of the problem, because part of the problem is the staff machine that's there. You've got great staffers that work, but some of those folks have been there years and years and years and years, and they don't get in any rush. They decide literally what. I mean, I've had chairman say. I've heard chairman say before, I can't get that bill to the floor because, you know, my staffers don't really like that bill. Like what? What are you talking about? You know, I've, I had a bill that dealt with, well, for instance, the, the Chinese, you know, these. Ancestry.com you know, you take a swab, you send it off. Well, they're buying it, creating a genome that the Chinese are buying it legally from these companies and they're selling it to them and they create a genome for. Say they'd like to come to. Imagine the Chinese creating a disease that could, you know, disable the entire world, but say they wanted to just take out females of childbearing ages in United States of America. Well, they could create a genome to do that. And apparently that's what they're attempting to do. I can't even get the Chinese. I can't even get the. I couldn't even get a hearing on the bill because the committee's just in total shutdown and it's, you know, and that's the way Washington works, though. They want to have hearings, they want to issue press releases, but the bottom line in Washington D.C. is get your ass reelected. It's not fixing the problem. They go home to their MAGA dinners or their left does their Truman dinners and they throw out the red maid. How bad the Republicans are, how bad the Democrats, how bad Speaker Pelosi is, how bad Johnson is. They get reelected and they all come, 98, 99% of them get reelected and hell, they'll be right back doing the same stuff. And that's part of the problem.

[Unknown]

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[Tim Burchett]

So if it's a ritual for you too, I get it.

[Unknown]

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[Tim Burchett]

What are the hearings? Because I had a meeting with McCall's people too. Apparently they can't get Massoud in because there's no time. There's no time. To me, that's so what is more.

[Sean Ryan]

You'Re rocking the boat, Sean. You're rocking the boat.

[Tim Burchett]

My question is they did agree to a 30 minute Zoom call. Yay. I don't know what the that does, but why? What are the other hearings? And maybe there is stuff that's way more important than the fact that every committee. US government's sending the Taliban millions of dollars, 40 to 87 million every week. I mean, we're literally. Do you know what the government would have done if I would have done a five dollar donation to the Taliban ten years ago? Captain Stass, they just admitted $239 million went to him. And it's a lot more than that.

[Sean Ryan]

A lot more than that.

[Tim Burchett]

So what are some of the upcoming hearings in Congress that are more important than the Trump assassination attempts and the fact that US Government's funding terrorism?

[Sean Ryan]

Absolutely none. None. But that's, that doesn't feed the K Street lobbyists and that in turn.

[Tim Burchett]

Seriously though, what are some of the subjects coming up on the plate?

[Sean Ryan]

I couldn't tell you. I couldn't even tell you. Could you? I mean, every week there's a hearing on something, you know, you'll bring in, I call them transportation. We'll bring in the railroad people if there's a railroad derailing, you know, it's not sexy, but it's the. And people get. Understand, don't understand in government that, you know, these committees of jurisdiction deal with those issues. And I do videos as soon as I walk out of the committee and I tell. Because people don't realize that all that other stuff's going on. All they see is what's going C Span, what's going on in the floor, which is bogus. That's already been decided back in the back rooms. There's never really too many surprises on votes. And it's just the committees of jurisdiction we'll have you know, we. When I asked the question on the Afghanistan issue of the Marine sniper, I said, do you have the suicide bomber in your sights that killed the 13Americans? Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss. I live on the Ryan Canals Highway. Every day I drive out. There's his name. And yes, in fact, he had the guy two times in his sights. And we found that out. But what did we do with it? Nothing, because we don't have the guts to go after anybody. We can't anyway.

[Tim Burchett]

So it's nothing of any substance. You're talking to the railroad people.

[Sean Ryan]

Well, we developed legislation because of that, allegedly. You know, it goes along that. And then, of course, you've got. They bring in the lobbyists from on both sides, the Democrats, they're in the majority minority, so they get two. And then we get the Republicans, bring in three witnesses on our side. You know, they like have a pro union and then a pro business side. And. And you. And nothing ever gets done, though. If you pass legislation, it goes to the Senate and Schumer won't bring it up or vice versa.

[Eli Crane]

And some of these hearings have been planned months in advance. But to your point, I don't know that any of them are as important as what you're talking about.

[Sean Ryan]

None are as important.

[Tim Burchett]

I mean, you'd think they would cancel, I don't know, the railroad meeting and bring in the fact that they're trying to kill a presidential candidate, former president.

[Sean Ryan]

Well, you can do them. You can still have them going on or.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, they're still too. Yeah, they're going to assign staff to it.

[Sean Ryan]

They're going to assign staff to it and probably hiring a lawyer.

[Eli Crane]

And they did. They did have. I think they did have what choline. Was it Judiciary or Oversight?

[Sean Ryan]

No, we. We have an oversight.

[Eli Crane]

Right.

[Sean Ryan]

That's where I told her she was a DEI nightmare. And then that was. And she quit the day after that.

[Eli Crane]

So they hit that. They've already hit that one. But as far as this new task force goes, I'm hoping they're just doing, you know, trying to do as thorough of an investigation as possible. And honestly, Sean, like, even though I didn't get put on the task force, whatever, you know, I'm rooting for. I'm rooting for him. Because at the end of the day, it's not about me. It's not about Corey Mills. It's not about. It's not about any one of us. It's about, okay, how do we make sure that this never happens again, regardless of what the candidate is. Right. But what happened yesterday.

[Tim Burchett]

But they didn't do that because it just happened again.

[Eli Crane]

It happened yesterday. We found out once again that, you know, the Secret Service, because President Trump isn't the current president, they're not giving him, you know, the detail that he needs. Right. So they're, they're defaulting to historical norms instead of actually looking at the threat presence to this guy, because he's clearly the most targeted politician, you know, possibly, maybe besides Netanyahu in the, in the world right now. And so it's like, if I was the Secret Director of Secret Service, I wouldn't be going off of, you know, historical norms or what we did yesterday. I'd be going off of, hey, who's. Which one of these guys that I'm assigned to protect has the most threats? That's, who's going to get the, you know, the majority of my assets and the majority of my attention. And I'm going to try and do as good of a job as I can across the board, but that's clearly not happening.

[Sean Ryan]

And politics plays into it. Yeah. Because Robert Kennedy Jr. I mean, his dad was assassinated, John. I mean, there's no other family that's fallen to more assassin's bullets than the Kennedys, obviously. I mean, historically in this country, I'm sure there's somewhere. But he was denied Secret Service by the President United States. And they made up all this bs. But Obama was given, when he was running, was given Secret Service protection early. And that was, and it's, it's at the discretion of the President of the United States. And so you've got to wonder, and where Trump got shot, you know, there was the talk of Homeland Security was there instead of Secret Service, you saw people that were too short and then they couldn't put their guns in their holsters and they were hiding behind the pile, not on the ground. Yeah.

[Eli Crane]

Shot. As somebody who's trained, what'd you think when you saw one of the Secret Service agents up on, you know, on that detail that couldn't holster a weapon after like three attempts?

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, I mean, I mean, I don't.

[Eli Crane]

Honestly, I don't care. I don't care what the sex is, man. I really don't. But at the same time, like, does that look like somebody who's well trained to you? No.

[Sean Ryan]

And let me ask you guys this. You got these guys up there that were obviously too short. I mean, you wouldn't have somebody in that iconic picture that should have never even been able to have happened because only where it was because there was an agent or whoever it was, was head and shoulders short. I mean, they got a specific job. I mean, it's literally to take a bullet for Trump or whoever they're guarding. And they clearly failed at that. And then that frontal view was just awful. I mean, that was just. To me, I was shocked that they allowed that. And then, if you ever. If you can listen to the audio, he says, we're going to move on my count. 3, 2, 1. And they just stayed there. You know, the thing would be to get him off if there'd have been a second shooter. I mean, all you do is just start shooting into that pile. From what I've been told, that the job is to get his ass off the stage and get him out of there, get him in a secure environment.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah. I don't know. You know, I don't know what they're putting out at Secret Service, but it's against. Pretty much from everything I saw, it's completely against everything I've ever learned in the SEAL teams or the agency's protective unit. So, you know, maybe they're. I.

[Eli Crane]

And I know. I knew. I know they played by different roles because I've talked to other Secret Service agents because of the political ramifications of it. Like, I've been told that, you know, these advances can come back with the recommendation that, hey, let's not hold this rally here. But even then, it's up to the campaign. So, you know, if a campaign decides, hey, we're going to hold a rally here, regardless, you know, of what your recommendation was, you know, they're going to hold the rally there. And so that was one of my issues when I went to Butler and, you know, I was looking at how many threats there were on that site, how many rooftops, how many windows, how many trees. Right. There were a lot of trees that somebody could have easily gotten up into and made like a. Like a hide site, deer stand, you know, and there were way too many threats for the amount of security they had to cover down on. And so that's another thing that we got get smarter on, man.

[Tim Burchett]

It seemed like a really basic target to me, looking at it from the. I mean, you were there, if you would.

[Eli Crane]

Yeah.

[Tim Burchett]

But I mean, comparative to, like. I mean, I remember being in the SEAL teams in 2004, there was a big NATO convention in Istanbul, and we did a ton of sniper overwatch at that NATO convention. And every. I mean, that was a nightmare.

[Eli Crane]

Right?

[Tim Burchett]

I mean, you're looking at 15, 20 story buildings with windows on every floor, completely surrounding the venue. And thousands of people.

[Eli Crane]

Way too many. Way too many avenues to cover with the guns that you have in the highway.

[Tim Burchett]

And we felt like we had it covered. And so you take this, which appeared like it was in a rural setting, mostly farmland. I mean, a thermal imager could have covered those trees, like, you know what I mean?

[Eli Crane]

Right.

[Tim Burchett]

And within five seconds.

[Eli Crane]

Yeah.

[Tim Burchett]

And I mean, stuff just doesn't get dropped. It just. It was impossible. It seemed impossible for no drones. That's what I think.

[Sean Ryan]

Golf course shooting. Shouldn't there been a drone? Anytime he's out in the open, I would think there'd be a drone. And I went to a football game in Knoxville this past. I've been. Every week I've gone to a football game, they've had multiple drones. I mean, it's just like they could. You can see the part in my hair from up there. I mean, you know, and again, we said that we needed drones the first time, and then the second time, there's still no freaking drones out on the golf course.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah.

[Eli Crane]

Well, the other thing, too, Sean, is that when you. My perspective and what I. What I know now, and obviously this is a fresh story, because it just happened yesterday, but when I look at the pictures of his hindsight, you know, if that's what it. That or his final firing position, as we would call it, you know, one of the things I noticed based on this story that I'm hearing, is that he was spotted because he put the barrel of his gun through the fence right behind me. You have a picture of a legit, you know, sniper team on a rooftop, and it looks like somebody blew a loophole or a hole in the wall, which, you know, most snipers want to use. They want to be as far back from, you know, the actual hole they're going to be shooting at. And so I was looking at it, and, like, the Secret Service, in my opinion, got lucky again, because this guy wasn't trained. And I could tell by if he was trained, he would have had a pair of $20 bolt cutters with him. He would have cut out his. His loophole or his line of sight through that fence, and then he would have pushed back into the shady leaves so that he couldn't have, you know, been seen. Right. The other thing that I noticed was he had two ballistic plates up on the fence. What is. What does that create? Well, it's definitely not. It's.

[Sean Ryan]

It. It.

[Eli Crane]

It stands out. And one of the first things they teach you in sniper school is there are no straight lines in nature, right? And so you got if, if a Secret Service agent is just scanning a fence line and he sees a bunch of, you know, leaves and then boom, he sees two like dark, you know, plate looking things that have straight lines, it's going to catch his eye. And so it just showed me once again how lucky we were that right now that are being, you know, that are coming after the president or being sent after the President, don't have a lot of training.

[Tim Burchett]

That's my next question. After everything that you've dug into, both of you guys, what was this? Is it Lone wolf's coming after him or is this orchestrated from the left?

[Eli Crane]

Yeah, I honestly don't know yet. And one of the things that I still want information on that I think is going to definitely help answer that question is these bank accounts and whether or not he did indeed have offshore bank accounts with a lot of money in them. Because based on pattern of life and the type of job that he had and the family that he came from, I think he was just working at a little, little store. If he had, if he did have overseas bank accounts with a good amount of cash in them, that's going to be a massive red flag, you know, that he was working with somebody. And so we don't know yet. But again, without subpoena power, it's tough to get the witnesses, you know, in there that, you know, can answer questions.

[Sean Ryan]

There's a thing called MKUltra. They used to, they used to say that's, you know, it's bogus, but it's, it's a reality. It's been documented. I think there's been lawsuits because of it. You know, they use psychotropic drugs and influence people and brainwash them. And I think it ended in the 60s, maybe 63 or something. It was CIA operation and they took people and just turned them into machines basically apparently, or tried to. And of course they said it didn't exist and then they got popped and then they had their force that, to make that it did exist. And to me that begs the question, is something like that still going on? Because I don't trust them to tell me the truth. So many billions float, you know, the Pentagon right now can't count for a half a billion dollars in assets. I mean, what is that, a battleship? You know, so we're, we're awash with something with money to do something with and there's some people in this world, in this government that are, that are pure evil.

[Eli Crane]

But, and on top of that, though, Sean, I do want to say, to answer your question, I do think that there is, you know, at the very least, I do think there was a desire to weaponize the mainstream media outlets to radicalize American citizens against the President. I mean, come on, man, you can only call somebody Hitler a threat to democracy, or he's like a modern day Hitler so many times before somebody feels the moral obligation to do something about it.

[Sean Ryan]

You have a magazine cover of a national publication that has a picture of Trump with a Hitler mustache.

[Eli Crane]

Right?

[Sean Ryan]

It's just, it just, and this goes back to my point about MK Ultra. It. Maybe they're not, maybe they're not bringing in somebody off the street and doing this too, but they know if they put enough of this thought process out there, there's enough kids or misfits or something that are going to do something. And this guy, though, he's, he's a North Carolinian Lanian, lived in Hawaii, but comes down to Florida, sits on a golf course and he's going to take out Trump. How does that happen? How does this guy do this? This guy's got all kinds of these international connections. He's been busted before for federal firearms violations. And then they don't even charge him with attempted murder. They charge him with possession of a, of a firearm, of a felon, and then I think altering the serial numbers on the gun. And so this is, this is what they've just charged him with, apparently so. And the reports that I got, they have him, charged him with murder, attempted murder. So, you know, again, they haven't even.

[Tim Burchett]

Charged him with attempted murder.

[Sean Ryan]

The last report I saw, that could change and I don't know, jurisdictional, maybe they can get more of a charge out of a altered firearm. Federal violation, I don't know. And two, I've always said this, Americans want their pizzas in 30 minutes and that's about our dadgum attention span. And they won't even talk about the first assassination, Tim. People are allowed to joke about how it was fake and, you know, he didn't hit his ear and how does ear heal so fast and all this other stuff, you know, and they're allowed to talk about that and joke about it now openly. And so this one, you know, my local newspaper in Knoxville wasn't even, apparently wasn't even in it wasn't even on the front page of it this morning. So. Which I don't take, by the way. I don't take that paper, but they, you know, they just want it gone. And move on.

[Eli Crane]

Hey, I do want to say something about yesterday, though, in the store, the story that's been put out there, because I know a lot of. And I'm sure you're probably in the same boat. Probably you too, Tim. A lot of my best friends are in law enforcement. Right. And I just. If the story that I heard yesterday was correct, that, you know, a Secret Service agent spotted this guy with, you know, sticking his weapon through the fence, and then he. He was proactive and actually engaged this guy. I want to give that guy kudos and props, 100%, you know, because anybody who's ever had to, like, it's even. Even overseas, you know, I know of instances where guys were shot at and they'd never shot at anybody before. And so there was a pregnant pause and it took them a second to actually do what they were trained to do because, you know, they knew, you know, it was so new to them. And so it's. It would be much different if you have to do that on US Soil than like, Fallujah or, you know, Mosul. Mosul or whatever it is. And so I know that a lot of people, you know, look at us going after the headshed of the Secret Service and because that institution clearly needs a massive overhaul. And I just want to say that I know there's a lot of awesome men and women, not only in the Secret Service, but in many of our other institutions, who are sick and tired of seeing these institutions become political, become biased and not focused on what they're actually supposed to do. And so I want to make sure that that's said and clear that we do appreciate you guys, those of you out there that are still trying to do a very difficult job. And, you know, you can help us. You guys can help us, you know, transform these organizations by whistleblowing to us. And I know it's not comfortable, and I know that you're risking a lot then when you do it. And I think you should be selective about who you talk. Who you talk to. But I just want to make sure that that's said. Because here's a question for you then. Yeah.

[Tim Burchett]

Because a lot of people probably don't know where to go to blow the whistle. So if they do have information, Secret Service, FBI, CIA, whoever, where do they go to blow the whistle? Where do they go to get your attention?

[Eli Crane]

Yeah, they can.

[Tim Burchett]

So that they know they will be heard and somebody has their back.

[Eli Crane]

Yeah, they can call my office. We also posted a tip line on when we did that hearing up in D.C. i don't remember the name of it off the top of my head, but if they call my office, somebody on my staff will take down their information. And if they don't have the number to my office, there's an app called Bill Blaster, and you can get every single senators, every single member of Congress's information and call them directly in their office.

[Tim Burchett]

That's called Bill Blaster.

[Eli Crane]

Bill Blaster. And it's a great. You don't have to just use it. Please don't just use it for that. Like, if you see a piece of legislation coming up that you're fired up about or you want us to vote a certain way on, please engage your member of Congress. Because you'd be surprised, Sean, that actually does work. It doesn't work if five or 10 people do it, but if a couple thousand people do it, and we walk into our office from going from one committee hearing to the other and like, hey, we're getting blown up right now about this CR with the SAVE act or this FISA bill or whatever it is. And then it's like, okay, well, what are people saying? What are you hearing? You know, there are members of Congress that listen to that. And for the ones that don't, you can apply enough pressure to where they'll think twice about, you know, selling you out if you get loud enough.

[Sean Ryan]

And I would caution, though, on the whistleblower, just reiterate what Eli said. Be careful who you talk to. And I would be careful about leaving messages. And I would face to face it if you get the opportunity. Yeah, I would think I'd just be cautious. Since I've been in Washington, I've. I remember, I always give the example. My wife and I were a buddy of mine's in the trinket business, you know, whatever, I don't know what you call it. Swag. And we were talking about these little solo red Solo cups, had some made out of aluminum. And I just thought that's the coolest thing in both of us. Within 30 minutes, what we have on our phone ads for red Solo cups. And that's not so much when you call in your congressman's office, but I just think there's ears and eyes everywhere up there. I just don't think. I don't think we are scratching the surface.

[Unknown]

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[Tim Burchett]

What kind of accountability would you see? Would you like to see for the attempts and who would be held accountable?

[Eli Crane]

Yeah, I'd like to see, I would like to see every, everybody in the chain of command that's got caught covering up anything to be fired. I'd like to see, you know, those that made decisions based on where to put the counter snipers. I'd like to see them be, you know, held accountable. And that has very, you know, accountability, whether you're in the military, law enforcement. That can be a myriad of different things depending on the severity of it. You know, I'd also like to see, you know, like, whoever made who, I think, you know, those who made decisions based on one of the decisions that was or pieces of guidance put out was, hey, we're not going to send counter snipers anywhere unless they can, they can drive there, right? Decisions like that, Whoever made the decision, whoever made, what does that even mean.

[Tim Burchett]

We'Re not going to send counter snipers?

[Eli Crane]

Sounds like a budgetary decision. Like we're not going to pay for our counter snipers, you know, and all their gear to get on a plane and fly somewhere, right? If they can drive somewhere to a location, then we'll send a counter sniper team, right? Whoever was denying, whoever made the decision to deny President Trump and his team the extra assets that they were asking for needs to be held accountable. I think if you started holding those at the top accountable, I think it would send a trickle down warning and effect to the rest of the service that, hey, the, you know, the games that have been going on here, the politic, you know, the political games that have been going on here for the last couple decades, they're done, they're over. You know, our mission is to protect these executives, these individuals. That's what our primary responsibility is going to be. And if you don't do it, you're gone. You're gone. Period, point blank. And so, but what keeps happening, the same thing that keeps happening in every other major institution within the federal government. People just keep failing up.

[Sean Ryan]

I just add one thing very specific though, is if it was a leak of how this latest sniper knew to be where he was.

[Eli Crane]

Oh, for sure. That guy's, whoever leaked that needs to go to prison.

[Sean Ryan]

I mean, and that's, they'll be covering their ass. I mean, it's just, that's why I say you just never, you'll, you'll never know. We will never know. And the only person knew on the first shooting, you know, I got his head split open, rightfully so, but still.

[Tim Burchett]

What do you think he needs to watch out for moving forward?

[Eli Crane]

Well, I think he, I think he needs to be very careful about where he holds, holds his rallies. I think that's, that's a big thing. Obviously, you know, risk mitigation needs to be a factor. And just I've gone to rallies in Arizona, you know, out in rural country where it wasn't at an arena or a sports complex. Whereas I'm driving up to it, I'm looking at, you know, rock piles here, this little hill over there. And you know, the deal when you're trained in this stuff, you know, you always think, you know, you always think, and this might sound alarming to people, but you always think, if I was going to do this job, how would I do it right? And you start thinking that way. And I think that's why the guidance that Erik Prince put out on your podcast, why you need to send some shooters in on the advanced teams and not necessarily law enforcement guys who tend to be rear, rearward looking is so important because if you start sending hitters in there and shooters, that's how we think. How would I do this job? Where would I be? And then you work backwards from there to start putting deterrents in place to where those spots, you know, those strategies that I would use aren't going to work because of the deterrence that I put in place.

[Sean Ryan]

Now let me ask you two something. You know, my dad in the Pacific, Marine Corps combat. Nothing like you guys, of course, but it was his war, World War II, against the Japanese. And he used to tell me, and the media has been critical of me about saying this, but he told me this. He said, look, buddy, he said, if somebody's willing to lose their life to take you out, there's not a whole heck of a lot you can do. I mean, you got to stop them out there. And if you get a suicide situation or somebody's not a, you know, how. How would you protect him in a. In an open situation? I mean, you've got the bomb dogs, you've got this. But, you know, they took. They took down the World Trade center, basically with a couple, allegedly. With a couple of box cutters that somebody had snuck in the plane. I mean, how do you do. You know, I would just think you'd have to isolate the president so far back and have so many bodies between him that knew, you know, a new mindset that Eli's been talking about. How do you stop that?

[Eli Crane]

The other thing I'd do is I would bring in some private guys just so I had, you know, just so I was covering my bases. And I had guys that were more loyal to me than they were to an organization that might or might not be, you know, corrupted. A second set of eyes to fact check and look at. Just, you know, look at everything that they're doing. And with a. With a mandate to report back to me if they see anything that's shady, any practices that, you know, are obsolete or, you know, not productive. And, you know, that's. That's what I'd do if I were him. I'd start bringing in some private guys to augment what's already being. Going down, not only for the extra presence and deterrence, but also so they could report to me.

[Sean Ryan]

That's it.

[Tim Burchett]

You know, I mean, how do you do. How do you defend against that? This is how you defend against it. I mean, you have to have a lot of observers, but there's always signs that you're looking for when it comes to suicide bombers. So profuse sweating. Are they dressed different than everybody else because they're hiding a vest, Right? Are they acting nervous? Are they acting anxious? I mean, all these type of things are things that you would look for as an observer to see who's out there. Are they interacting with other people?

[Sean Ryan]

It's not somebody that currently thinks the way we think, though. I mean, you got somebody thinks like y'all do.

[Eli Crane]

And on that note, Sean, if. If if he were to do that and bring in, you know, private guys to augment and let's just say the Secret Service, you know, still hasn't gotten with it and they don't want to fly a drone. Well, that's fine. We're going to fly. We're going to fly a drone. Or you don't. You guys aren't using thermals. Well, we're going to use thermals or you guys aren't taking the radio? You know, we're going to take the radio and that. Just, just a bunch of things like that. You know, whether it's a four man team, you know, whatever it is, I mean, it can't, it can't hurt.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah. And then, and then the other thing is, you know, allowing bags, purses, things like that. And that way if they do have some type of a vest or suicide bomb, then it has to be on their person and.

[Sean Ryan]

Right.

[Tim Burchett]

And you know what I mean? So that's how you would do it. It's fairly, fairly simple, to be honest with you.

[Sean Ryan]

Well, they actually spotted the guy in Afghanistan twice, so. And they weren't allowed to take him out. Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Burchett]

You know, I mean, I don't think anybody has. I guess I can't say anybody, but seems like confidence in the federal government is just diminishing at very rapid pace. I saw Desantis is starting his own investigation. Good.

[Sean Ryan]

I just wonder how far he's going to get with that because of the egos of these federal governments allowing him to move forward, you know, having access to that.

[Tim Burchett]

So they could shut him down.

[Sean Ryan]

I think so. I think they'll just shut him down because of. I mean, you used to see that a lot within the agencies. CIA, FBI, Secret Service, they would. There was always feuds between them, you know, that wouldn't allow. And you saw under Obama's administration, some guy literally scaled the fence of the White House and they caught him inside the freaking White House. And there was some sort of breach in security, obviously, but there was some miscommunication there. And I don't know if that was an instance for that. I mean, you had an instance at Oak Ridge National Laboratory where a group of nuns climbed over the fence and were painting a wall inside of a secure nuclear facility type situation. Nobody ever explained that somebody went to jail for it. But, you know, there's just. I just don't think there's a seamless. It's not seamless between the agencies.

[Eli Crane]

Well, it's not seamless, but I think the good thing about it is when I saw that headline. I was glad to hear it, because I think often, which happened even that DeSantis is gonna.

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Eli Crane]

Independent investigation. I think oftentimes, if an agency like the FBI knows that, you know, Ron DeSantis is gonna fire up a separate parallel investigation, even the pressure of that and the pride of, hey, if these guys find something and, you know, expose it to the American people that you guys didn't or you wouldn't, I think that creates pressure right there because it'll make. It'll. It'll make. Put egg on their face and make them look bad, and that's something they definitely don't want. So that's why. That's why I like that. One of the reasons I like that they're doing that.

[Tim Burchett]

I mean, sitting in Congress, do you guys see the opposition, or whatever you want to call it, the left, the Democrat side? Is anybody concerned about this at all?

[Eli Crane]

I think that there is a little bit of concern, and I don't think it's. I think definitely a part of them wants it to be memory hold because of the fact that they called Trump Hitler and they called Trump a threat to democracy so much. And so they know there's a possibility that they own a little bit of that, but they're also. Also elected officials. And so they, you know, some of them see the correlation. Well, if this could happen to the former president, it could happen to me, too. And so I do see a little bit of concern there as well, because there are radical, wacky people on both sides of the aisle. Right. They get death threats, just like we get death threats. And so I do believe that there is some concern there, but I also believe that a lot of them would like to see this memory hold because of. I mean, after it happened and Trump survived and had his historic fight, fight, fight, you know, moment. I think that really opened a lot of people's eyes because, like, let's not forget, I mean, they tried to impeach this guy, they tried to bankrupt this guy, then they were trying to throw him in jail for 750 years. What's the progression there? We all knew what it.

[Tim Burchett]

I mean, they silenced a sitting president.

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah.

[Eli Crane]

Two guys, you know, and I used to. I told people out on the campaign trail, and people around me, don't be surprised if they take a shot at this guy. I know Steve Bannon publicly said they were going to try and kill him. I know Dan Bongino said they better.

[Sean Ryan]

They're going to go after him again.

[Eli Crane]

They're going to go after. And he said it before they went after him the first time. And he said in our hearing, he said, if you think this is the last time this is going to happen, you're crazy. Right. And so I think people realized that was the, the progression and the track that we were on. Right. And so I think that the media and the Democrats know that they have ownership in that just because of how radical they got with the messaging they were putting out.

[Tim Burchett]

I mean, if it was alone, if it was just a lone wolf, both times, you know, just the fact that the first guy was 20 years old, I mean, we've seen eight, nine years a year before he got elected. It kind of started. Right. Nine years of having that pushed down your throat. So that guy was what, 11 years old. Since he was 11 years old, that's all he's heard from the media. And so I grew up listening to that.

[Sean Ryan]

It was always a lone wolf. Until we find out later that it wasn't always. Every one of them, every one of our national. James Earl Ray, I mean, here's a guy that didn't have a pot to pee in, ended up catching. He drove his brand new. They found his brand new Mustang at the airport, I think. And then they caught him in London, England, making a crazy shot off of a commode in a bathtub through sideways. And you got Saran. What is it? What was the guy called? Bobby Kennedy? Saran. Saran. Whatever his name is. You know, he was a lone nut and then Oswald. Lone nut and then. But you always. There's always the peripheral that you find out about him later. And that's. That's exactly what we're finding out. That's what. Nobody trusts the government. Kennedy killed 60. I just turned 60 two weeks ago and he got shot before my birthday. And they're still hiding it. They still won't release the stuff.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, yeah. What do you guys think about the fact that RFK will have pretty much sounds like free rein to investigate all of the former assassinations and attempts? What do you think is going to come out of that?

[Eli Crane]

I don't know, but I love it. I love the fact that they're bringing. That Trump is willing to bring in people even that he ran against, who have the courage to speak out against, you know, the power elites in this country. Bring them on the team and, you know, whether it's Elon Musk, rfk and, you know, let them go to work. Cause obviously we have a ton of unpacking, we have a ton of house cleaning to do. And you're gonna need people with that level of courage and strength.

[Tim Burchett]

I mean, shit's gonna come out. If Trump gets in there, an RFK gets access to this, there's going to be some shit that comes out. What does that look like? What does it look like?

[Sean Ryan]

I think it.

[Tim Burchett]

If the American people find out that the government is the one who orchestrated all these assassinations and assassination attempts, what does that look like in daily life?

[Eli Crane]

I honestly don't know. But I do know this, if we're going to turn this country around, and I think that's, that's what we all want, it's got to happen. We can't keep having a government that's supposed to represent the people, working against the people, and trying to take out and silence political opposition and the people themselves. And so it's got to happen. So it could get really, really ugly. Obviously, at the bare minimum, you're going to see trust that already is really not there plummet even more. But it could get worse than that.

[Tim Burchett]

What do you think, Tim?

[Sean Ryan]

I welcome it. I think you're gonna have to tear it down to build it back up because these agencies have a history of this and they have a track record. I mean, we talk about the UFO stuff all day long, but these assassinations are just, you know, the way they put them together. And the gun that shot, allegedly shot John F. Kennedy was a man Laker Italian carbine. It was written up as a gun that never won a war. He could gone into a western auto and bought something much more precise. Every one of these is just too much. And I think, I think it needs to happen. We need a cleaning and it should have happened years ago. And I think it's also going to put people, more people's trust in Trump because on both sides, people don't trust the government for good reason. I think that could be a unifying factor.

[Tim Burchett]

Well, I think so too. I mean, who doesn't want to know what happened to jfk? But where I'm going is if the government is involved, let's say Everybody thinks it's CIA, right? Let's say that the CIA is 100% behind any one of those or all of them. What's the next step?

[Sean Ryan]

Well, the people that did it are dead, but the channels are still there. The thought process is still there. That allows that to occur. It allows them to step outside the constant and murder somebody. And so I think that that needs to occur before we have a cleansing.

[Tim Burchett]

Does the organization get dismantled?

[Sean Ryan]

I think it could. It's going to re. Emerge as something else. I mean, if it has a vital need, then, yeah, it should reemerge, but if it doesn't, then it should be, it should be taken down. We didn't have an epa, and I think Nixon brought the EPA in, Mariner Protection Agency. So it's a Reagan. One of the Republicans did. I'm sorry, I'm losing my chain of thought, but yeah, I think it should.

[Eli Crane]

It'll be tough, Sean. I mean, it's like a lot of these things, a lot of it's going to depend to me on the people of this country and whether or not they pay attention and they engage on it. Right. Like we were talking at breakfast about just the primary votes that we just had. Right? Only a little over 30% of people turned out to vote in our primary election. I was talking to my friend Corey Mills. He's also been investigating this assassination attempt with myself and others. And he said in his district it was 19% of people. And so we love. And I'm as guilty as anybody at pointing the finger at politicians, but a lot of it is going to have to do with what they want and what, how they rise to the occasion. Because if you keep seeing numbers like that, nothing's going to change. And so a lot of it, like, you can fire, they can fire me and Tim every two years if they think we're doing a horrible job, every two years you can get rid of me. Right? But because people don't pay attention because they're complacent and because we've had it so good here for so long, you know, there's people in this country are pretty complacent. They're pretty checked out and they don't really pay attention. And so I think that's what it's really going to hinge on is how fired up they get. You know, if in a hypothetical that this stuff comes out, you know, I think it's going to hinge on them if they pay attention, if they coalesce together and if they demand change. Because if we see the same, if we see the same, you know, pathetic turnout that we see all the time, and just a bunch of people that want to talk about it but not be about it, nothing's going to change.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, I'm with him. I mean.

[Eli Crane]

Like, there's millions of, there's millions of Christians that won't vote right now.

[Sean Ryan]

They won't vote.

[Eli Crane]

There's, there's hundreds of thousands of outdoorsmen that won't vote. There's, there's Demographics that would usually, you know, identify with, in the, in the two party system, you know, with, with the Republican side of things that just don't participate and they don't vote and they have their own reasons for it, you know. But to my point, you know, we can sit here and, you know, and let's do it. I'm all about it. Let's do it. Let's blame politicians, but who keeps sending those politicians to Washington?

[Tim Burchett]

I'm with you. There's the old saying, Congress has a 10% approval rating and a 90% reelection rate. And that is lazy fucking citizens that can't get off their ass.

[Eli Crane]

It was just like when you tried, when you were doing that, when you were doing that survey, you got frustrated, didn't you?

[Tim Burchett]

I did. And then we got, I think we're getting close to 350,000 signatures now.

[Eli Crane]

Thankfully you stayed after it. Go ahead, Tim.

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah, I was gonna say when we, my campaign manager, Thomas McAfee and I, we go out and knock on doors and we use a registered voters list and you go buy a house that's got the don't tread on me, I'm proud American or a Trump flag. I say, pull up that. Why aren't we stopping there? And he'll pull up the list, he'll double check it and triple check it. Ain't nobody there registered to vote, you know, and you'll see these guys riding down the interstate with an American flag on, which I think is kind of disrespectful, on the back of their pickup truck, flapping around all tattered, and you'll say, hey, where do you vote? I don't know. Hell, they don't even vote. And that's, you know, that's the mentality and the left understands that. And they've got these college campuses feeding into this and, you know, they've got this life, this life supply of lifetime supply of voters. They just regenerate them every year. And we are very short sighted on the conservative side, very short sighted. And we're gonna, as my dad would say, I'm afraid we're gonna get what we deserve.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, I think talk is cheap, man. Talk is cheap and there's a lot of talk, but let's move into, let's move into Afghanistan and the, you know, I'm starting to feel like I'm beating a dead horse here. But I mean, it's important to me. I mean, we fought these people for over 20 years. I don't know how many lives were lost. I don't know how much money was spent, how much equipment we, I mean, and now we're funding the same people that we were fighting the Taliban upwards. 40 million to $87 million a week. IG came out and said we accidentally gave 239 million to the Taliban. We already know it's much more than that. Tim, you wrote up a bill. What was that initial bill?

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[Tim Burchett]

Thank you for listening to the Sean Ryan Show. If you haven't already, please take a minute, head over to itunes and leave the Sean Ryan Show a review. We read every review that comes through and we really appreciate the support. Thank you. Let's get back to the show. Have you struggled to find tees that.

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[Sean Ryan]

You just basically cut off funding to the Taliban. Taxpayers dollars passed the house and it's sitting there. Schumer won't even address it. And I've talked to multiple senators. They're going to try to attach it to this bill. Attach it now that should be. Americans should just come unglued. You think that'd be a number one story with the legacy media? You know, they just say, hey, these guys, what are they thinking? The Democrats in the House, they didn't want to touch it. I mean, it went again, it went, as I like to say, went like Grant through Richmond. You know, they. It was unanimous, no discussion.

[Tim Burchett]

How can, how can they not be concerned that we. I mean, I've said this multiple times. I'll say it again. 911 was a $500,000 budget. Now they have 239 million at the, @ the minimum to make a move. We already know that the passport office is creating legitimate passports for terrorist after terrorist after terrorists, flying them down into South America, Central America, and to funnel them up through here. We've already caught what. I don't know how many. I know they caught at least eight. Eight terrorists. Right.

[Sean Ryan]

It's more than that.

[Tim Burchett]

That the FBI's.

[Sean Ryan]

They turned them loose into the. They've turned. I think that many. They've turned loose and they don't know where they are.

[Tim Burchett]

They have no idea what's coming.

[Sean Ryan]

No idea.

[Tim Burchett]

And so how is anybody right or left, okay with this? Because it is both parties.

[Sean Ryan]

Both parties. Both parties are crooked in this deal. It's again, to the legacy media addresses it. And when I was in the state House, state legislature in Nashville, I voted against the Oilers coming up here. I think There was probably three people in the House, in the Senate, 100. See 99, 99 House members. And I think two of us, three of us might have voted against it. I had three phone calls from home against it. That was a groundswell of support, you know, and that's why I voted against it. And people just, they were to light up their senators and say, hey, why are we funding the Taliban? Where is that bill? Where's Burchett's bill? That's, you know, what, what Eli said. You get a couple thousand People call you at lunchtime, man, and you get nervous. And that's what they need. They need to get nervous. This is just the tip of the iceberg. And if it hadn't been for you and Legend and some others, Scott Mann and Sarah Adams. Yeah. They hadn't gotten involved with it, would have not gotten anywhere. Because, you know, it's funny, we had that bill filed, and I get a call from leadership say, hey, man, what's going on with this bill? I said, I don't know. I'm waiting on y'all to do something with it. Said, what's up? It's going to be up next week. Get ready. I told my people and I was like, listen, I got it. I remember I got the text and I thought, well, hell, finally something's moving.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah. So only Schumer can do something about this at the Senate.

[Sean Ryan]

In the Senate, that's where it's got to go. Another senator needs to address it and put it on one of their bills. But.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, well, I spoke with Senator Hagerty.

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah, he called me. He called me, actually from Japan one day and said he was going to get working on it. But we got to get, you know, we got to get the pressure. I mean, he's got to. That bill has to move in the Senate, and the only person that can allow it to move is Schumer.

[Tim Burchett]

You wrote another bill up? Did you write another one up?

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah.

[Tim Burchett]

What's the next one?

[Sean Ryan]

The Vienna Protocol or whatever it. Where we, what we do, we in government, we duplicate so many. So many things. And, and what this is, is we're going to identify these other countries that have, that consider the Taliban and those groups, terrorist organizations, and we get together and we unify on the fight. Because what's happening now, you know, everybody hits one little area, this area, and we don't do anything with it. And this just forces our hand and exposes what we've been doing in the past. And that's where a lot of the discomfort is. But I don't care. We screwed up. We paying these murderers, literally, American tax dollars. And this formulates that, and it keeps us from doing that in the future. And it also is kind of a buddy check with the other countries that they, you know, we sort of like what NATO was originally intended to do, and it. And it. And it forms that basis for that. It's a lot of bureaucracy. I usually don't like bills like that. But this makes a lot of sense that we start talking to our. Our friends about our enemies, and it Cuts the middleman out, and it saves us a lot of money in the long run because we're not duplicating the process somewhere else, that we're not just wasting funds or assets.

[Tim Burchett]

When is that going up?

[Sean Ryan]

Well, it's. I filed it, I think, two weeks ago. So we're just waiting again, you know, these committee chairmen. It's like moving a freaking glacier. Who.

[Eli Crane]

What.

[Tim Burchett]

What committee's.

[Sean Ryan]

Let's see. Where would that go? I just. We put it in the hopper. I haven't even heard back yet. I'll have to let you know. I would suspect it would. It would have to be Foreign Affairs.

[Tim Burchett]

I mean, like, what do you think in there when. When you found this out? Fought in those wars?

[Eli Crane]

Yeah. I mean, I hate. I hate to sound obtuse, but I feel like I've kind of been desensitized to it a little bit. Like I'm not. Almost nothing surprises me anymore, you know, so, you know, it's when you just get outraged, you know, hour after hour, day after day, you kind of get desensitized to it. And so it's. For me, it's just kind of like, not surprised. Let's try and stop it. And, Tim, put me on your bill, you know, but I. There is a level of decency, you know, desensitivity that takes place when you're up in that place long enough and you try and fight to, you know, not become that way, to where you're so institutionalized that you, you know, quit caring. But, you know, it's definitely. It's definitely a reality. And I try not to get super emotional and just, all right, what's the problem? What's the mission? Who's got the bill? Let's go. Let's get on it. Let's start. Let's start applying pressure so that we can get this one fixed. Because it does. It feels like we're playing Whack a mole up there. We're always 10 steps behind, and, you.

[Sean Ryan]

Know, and we pass some good stuff, and it just dies in the Senate, and I'm sure vice versa. But Eli will tell you every day you're on the House floor, and somebody says. And they always have their little rectangular cards. I might have one right here. Yeah. And they'll come up and say, my bill is, you know, the. Be kind of Mother's Bill or something, and sounds like a good bill. Would you sign on and say, sure. And then you don't ever. It never goes anywhere. It just sits in these freaking committees. It's Very frustrating because the money changers are in the temple, brother. They are in the temple and they pull the strings and that's the bottom line. And until we get people that back to Eli's point, until these voters start recognizing that your congresspeople are feeding you a load of bull when they come home, follow up with them. Find out why they voted for that 2,000 page bill called the transportation bill that only that 85% of it had nothing to do with transportation. Say what in it, in that bill, what is it that I'm mortgaging my grandchildren's future financial wellbeing. That's worth it in that bill. And if they can't give you an answer, vote them out. I don't care what party they're in.

[Tim Burchett]

How do these bills, how do you educate your constituents on the latest bill agenda?

[Sean Ryan]

I do my videos. They're, you know, my redneck ass. I get out there and I'm holding the camera and I'm telling. I tell what it is and what.

[Tim Burchett]

That's how it's done.

[Sean Ryan]

That's how I do it. And I'm seeing a lot of people do it now. That's well produced. But I just still dis me, you know, because I'm too tight to hire anybody. Obviously.

[Tim Burchett]

There's no, there's no official presentation.

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah, well, there is. But again, like the SAVE act, and Eli and I have talked about how frustrating this is. You know, the SAVE act prevents foreigners from voting in our elections. We already passed that in July. And now they're tacking it onto another bill, a spending bill, you know, forcing Eli and I to vote for terrible funding issues that are Pelosi Schumer funding levels so they can pass this thing again. So we're going to send it over to the Senate and force them to not do anything to shut the government down. And it just doesn't work because we're not putting out a message, unified message. We ought to hold a press conference every day. Every dadgum day. We ought to pass a bill dealing with the border, maybe the same bill every day, and force the Democrats. But we don't. It's about getting reelected, Sean. It's not about what's doing best for the country. And both parties are guilty of it. And that's in lies a lot of the corruption that's within our government.

[Tim Burchett]

Well, let's move into.

[Eli Crane]

I'm sorry, I was just going to say one of the ways that we do it with our voters, educating them on bills policy. We do town halls, tele town Halls, social media. I know Tim does all this stuff, too. We also do a newsletter, you know, once a week, we put out everything that, you know, we're either voting for, voting against any bills that we have coming up. But, you know, it is important, you know, to make sure that you're staying in communication. Sometimes if I'm torn on a bill because it's got some good stuff in it, but some bad stuff in it, sometimes I'll send out a poll to my district, like, hey, how do you guys want me to vote on this?

[Tim Burchett]

That's amazing that you do that. I want to move into government corruption. But real quick, what are some of the most concerning things that, that you guys are seeing up there at the House? What's your primary concerns right now?

[Sean Ryan]

Go ahead.

[Eli Crane]

I'll take this one first. If I was to look at all the issues that we're facing, the number one priority, I think, for us right now is getting President Trump back in office. I think that alone alleviates, and it won't happen overnight. It'll take time, but that alleviates and starts to turn back a lot of these horrible policies that are destroying the country. So that's number one. The number one thing I think that is going to stop that is illegals voting in our elections. Right. Because if you look at Arizona alone in the last election, it was about 10,000 votes, a difference between Trump and Biden. If you look at nationally in the five swing states, I think it was a little over 40,000 votes. There was the difference in that election, Sean. They've let in over 10 million people, and they are trying to register as many of them as they can. And they're also using all the agencies, like even the sba. We've done a hearing on that. I just saw a hearing, a clip of Harriet Hageman and her committee. You know, they're using all of these agencies, through executive order, to get out into communities, largely, that vote Democrat, and using these agencies to register. They'll hold an event, like a small business event, and at that event, then they'll, you know, start registering people to vote. And so my biggest concern is what, you know, that they're going to have a lot of these illegal aliens voting. That's. That's my biggest concern right now, because I think that's the number one thing. President Trump has never been up in the polls. He's up in the polls now, but in the past, he hasn't been up in the polls. So he's up in the polls. Their candidate sucks. You know, she just does. She's a Marxist. She's more left than Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. The reason that her campaign has showed that her from press is because they know the moment she opens her mouth and starts talking, this whole false identity that they've tried to create of her being a moderate problem solver goes away. And I will give her props for the debate the other night because she outperformed what any of us thought she was capable of. But that being said, that's my biggest concern is illegals voting in this next election.

[Tim Burchett]

Well, I got a question for you. I just interviewed this guy, Eric Bethel, he was at World Bank. He was our representative at World bank. And we were talking at dinner and he was talking about the swing states and how these aren't correct numbers, but it's somewhere along these lines. Like Pennsylvania, for example, the RNC has like three offices in Pennsylvania, but the DNC has like 40 offices. How do you. How do you. I mean, we're not even. Take it. Take the illegal situation out. It's like. It's like the RNC isn't even attempting to win the swing states. Yeah, they're not deploying anybody in there. They're not expending any resources.

[Sean Ryan]

I'm gonna get myself in trouble for this. But I tell people, if you wanna give money to somebody, give it to the individual candidates. You decide. Yeah. You look at somebody, you say, man, that guy's. Get on the Internet and say, that guy's struggling out in Arizona or wherever. But he or she is a great candidate and looks like they're close. I'm gonna support that person. Because what we had in the past with our leadership is that's no longer there. But they were given money to go after Democrats and as it turned out, several good Republicans, Anna Polina Luna is one of them, they used that money. Greg Stube, when he first ran, they claimed they weren't in those races. They're not supposed to get in the middle of primaries. And they went after Thomas Massie, you know, because I was in conference, and Cheney. Liz, Cheney said, Thomas is a special case. And that's why he's in my phone now. Thomas, special case. Massey, you know, and the rules don't apply to them. And they've. And what they did was they went after conservative candidates who did. Our leadership did. And they had $17 million. Sorry, I'm pointing. But they had $17 million. And that was the money that was used against Eli in his primary, the money they used against Matt Gaetz. They might as well Just throw that money down a. Well, the money they used against Nancy Mace. Nancy Mace, yeah. And they.

[Eli Crane]

Bob Good.

[Sean Ryan]

Bob good. They beat Bob Good. And they had a couple of people that I know of and one, they flew up to D.C. to run against me and they, the polling data didn't show that they were. Would fare very well against me.

[Eli Crane]

Yeah. And I was telling you, Sean, when we were driving here, that's why a lot of Republicans. It's one of the many reasons a lot of Republicans won't do the right thing. Represent their voters and not the Republican Party. Right. Because they don't want to get on the wrong side of that machine. Because that machine has a lot of money. And they'll put a hit on you just like they did on me and Tim. And they weren't. Tim's so popular in his district. They weren't even able to recruit anybody run against Tim. The same things happened, same thing happened with Andy Biggs in Arizona. They weren't able to find anybody to primary Andy Biggs because he's beat everybody that's run against him. And nobody was like, I don't want to go tango with that. But for a young freshman like me, they finally found somebody they're vulnerable that was willing to jump in there. And thankfully my voters had my back because I have their back up there.

[Sean Ryan]

Absolutely.

[Eli Crane]

But a lot of, a lot of politicians don't want to get on the wrong side of that machine and they want to stay there for a long time, you know, and everything that goes with it. And that's why you rarely see people go up there and kick the hornet's nest.

[Sean Ryan]

The old timers will tell you to compromise. That's what we need. That's over $35 trillion in that every hundred days we add another trillion. Neither party wants to won't address it. And because of the compromise. The Democrats will never talk compromise when they're in the majority, but they sure are. Now.

[Tim Burchett]

What do you find the most concerning thing to be right now?

[Sean Ryan]

Obviously, on the short term, it's this election which would have long term effects on the future of our country. But the spending, we just keep, we're addicted to it. We cannot address it.

[Eli Crane]

Both parties.

[Sean Ryan]

Both parties. Both parties. The Democrats will thank you for saying that. Democrats will use it for woke stuff. We'll use it for missile defense plans or something. And that's why they pass these big humongous budgets. 3,000 pages read down to page 26. Well, my wife or girlfriend or both is employed by this group that takes care of them. And here's my bridge. I need I stop reading. There's, you know, 2,085 more pages of spending. And as long as they get their stuff, they're there. But if they don't and that's why. And that's why we need single spending in Tennessee state we're filming in right now, our legislature. We have a balanced budget, zero debt, single spending bills. If the caption has about dog catchers, there's not going to be a dad gum pay raise in there for state legislators. It has to be about dog catchers all the way through. And that is why they don't want that in Washington. They don't want to pass a budget because if they did, every one of those jugheads up there would have to come down on the House floor and explain why their bill. I can explain the funding in my bill, why we don't need to be funding the Taliban and why it's. And I always want a clean bill. I don't want to attach anything else to it. I don't want any more garbage voted up or down. And eventually we're either going to go that route or we're going to become a third world country.

[Eli Crane]

It's another one of their tricks, Sean. It's another one of the establishment's tricks because we continually fund the government with CRS or continuing resolutions or omnibus bills that are like Tim said, thousands of pages. They got you between a rock and a hard place as a representative because if you vote no on it because you don't want to fund, you know, whatever agenda it is or some woke and weaponized.

[Sean Ryan]

Well, you can take that out. The first bill I had up there, first budget. Sorry, I'm going back to you. The first budget I had three different studies on lobsters and it was in three different ranking member or chairman or leadership people district Republican and Democrat. And it just continued. It was the same thing, but it was funding in there. And some of this funding we've come to find out the programs don't even exist anymore. You know, where the hell does this money go? What so yeah, well you have, you have arms situations that way where they don't you. But they're still, they're funding this. They're building. You'll build a military device that's outdated or antiquated, but they're still going to. And they're all they do is what they call it mothballing it and it's just gonna sit out in the desert somewhere. And you see this time and time again in Government. And yet it just keeps happening. It just keeps happening. And then when you say something like this, when this comes out, you know, I'll get the, hey, big boy, you better be careful talk on the House floor. It's the same old crap every time.

[Tim Burchett]

Damn.

[Sean Ryan]

But there's enough of it. There's a few of us that sit back there on Sinner's Row and right back in the back there, about 25 or 30 of us are just tired of it, and we called it out. And I think people are paying attention, but just how long will they pay attention when it starts affecting their sweetheart deal or their family's little junkets or businesses?

[Tim Burchett]

Let's move into the corruption inside Congress. You'd mentioned something about the whistleblowers and how they need to be careful with communications and who they communicate with and, and the calls. And so I'm interested to hear how concerned are you guys with your communications to each other, your colleagues, me, anything.

[Sean Ryan]

Every bit of it, Very bit, very concerned. I think everything I do and say is at some point tracked. At least the cell phones or, you know, they gave us. They gave me a cell phone when I first got to Congress. I said, I don't want it.

[Eli Crane]

They gave.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, they gave you a cell phone.

[Sean Ryan]

They gave us all a cell phone. They gave everybody a cell phone, and I got my own. I still, you know, I'm sure they can. If they want it, they can get it. I'm pretty small potatoes. I'm the 435th most powerful member of Congress. But the real corruption in Congress is in the structure. And Eli alluded to it very eloquently earlier about, you know, the funding, how you, you have to raise money. You raise money for your conference. You're issued a bill. When you get there, everybody is, the Democrats and the Republicans. Everybody talks about it and, you know, they'll tell you, we're going to see how you do in your committee selections. If you want to move up how you do, you know, on your, on your bills and how you're doing and how you do across the street. And what that means is you're not supposed to be technically supposed to make fundraising calls from the office. You have to go across the street, the Capitol Hill Club or someplace else, and how much money you raise for the conference. Literally, we've had committee chairman that have written a personal check and been made chairman of committees. Personal check. So, you know, I've said this many times that if, if the NFL was Congress, Peyton Manning would still be waiting to get in wow. Because you. It's not about putting the best player in. Because if it was, you wouldn't. I always remember this. Steve Cohen crossed the aisle. Don't agree on anything, but he's my friend. He called my mama when my dad died. We were in the state legislature. I remember one time, we were looking at each other, and this old chairman came up the aisle, and he's no longer there, so he came up the aisle and they called for the vote. And he turned to the little girl that was beside him and said, how am I voting on this? And she says, you're for this, Mr. Chairman. He goes, oh, okay. Puts his card in, hits the green button. I remember looked at Cohen and we just shook her head because that structure is in place. You gotta understand, when you're a chairman, I mean, you'll have how many 25 or 30 people, maybe, that work under you. And then all those people's jobs require. And they're out whining and dining. They're not supposed to be, but surely they are wining and dining. And they go on the junkets and they go on the trips, just like you are as the chairman. And, you know, it's just constant. And they raise the money, and they have to get in that spot. They have to raise the money, and so they keep them in that spot because they. Because you're a chairman, and you're the one who ultimately decides if your bill's gonna have a rough go in your committee or not. And so, I mean, it's just a completely corrupted system because of that. Cause I don't. I'm not a billionaire. Eli's not a billionaire, and we don't represent a lot of billionaires, or millionaires, for that matter. And it's just tough on people like us because I can't raise the money that some of these guys can. Not that I'm. I told my wife the other day, if they begged me to be a chairman of a committee, I don't think I would do it just because of all the nonsense that's involved, all the stuff you're expected to do and the money.

[Tim Burchett]

What if you had a billionaire to write that check for you?

[Sean Ryan]

That's what happens. That's how they own you.

[Eli Crane]

Well, I think he's saying if you had a billionaire that shared your worldview and wanted you to fight. Is that what you're saying?

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah.

[Sean Ryan]

Are you willing? Are you that billionaire?

[Tim Burchett]

I wish I was, Tim. I wish I was.

[Eli Crane]

Yeah.

[Sean Ryan]

You got a song? Yeah. I agree with you that. Yeah. If you had one that shared your values. But that gets squishy, man. You know, you start, you get that.

[Tim Burchett]

What does that check look like? I'm just curious. What does the check look like to.

[Sean Ryan]

Get, I think, my dues this year. 250. 250,000. I'm a low man. I mean. Cause I'm in a. Not in a wealthy.

[Tim Burchett]

A check for $250,000 gets you in charge of a committee?

[Sean Ryan]

No, no, that just gets my base dues. That puts me in good standing and that I can continue in the committees I'm in. Probably a committee's probably 5 million, maybe something. 3 or 4 million. I don't know. Some of them raise a ton of money, man. They come in there and they announce.

[Tim Burchett]

Three to four million dollars buys you.

[Sean Ryan]

I'm not making you uncomfortable?

[Eli Crane]

No, no, no. I talked to one of our friends, and he. He told me that when he first got to Congress, he was told that he needed, like, you know, to stroke like a. I think, like, $150,000 check if he wanted to be on a certain committee. And so he had to call some of his donors, you know, to. To fork up so that he could be on that committee. But to Tim's point, it's. It's a big part of the corruption in the structure, and you can get.

[Sean Ryan]

To the bribery and all that other stuff and how people are compromised. And I've. I've talked about that till I'm blue in the face, but it's. And that's a reality, too. People have family members that work for.

[Tim Burchett]

I mean, I'm just thinking, as concerned as people seem to be.

[Sean Ryan]

And none of this is illegal, though. That's the problem.

[Tim Burchett]

Well, what I'm saying is. Yeah, you're right.

[Sean Ryan]

It's not illegal, but it's immoral.

[Tim Burchett]

So how do we get you guys, a couple of billionaires, to fund you to be in charge of a committee? I'm not even fucking around here. I'm being serious.

[Eli Crane]

Yeah. I don't know. Maybe some of them watch srs. I don't know.

[Tim Burchett]

Well, maybe that's why we're having this discussion.

[Eli Crane]

Even then, you would probably still need leadership to sign off on it, wouldn't you?

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, and since we've, you know. So I don't think that's voted against McCarthy, of course. And that upset a lot of the structure because a lot of people had a lot of money invested in that.

[Eli Crane]

Structure, because that had never happened before, Sean. Never, not in the history of our country had that ever Happened.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah.

[Eli Crane]

So there's still a lot of butthurt about it, you know what I mean?

[Sean Ryan]

Because they'd invested a lot in that structure, and they could make the call and say, hey, I need some help with this. Can you pick up the phone and move this along?

[Tim Burchett]

What committee would you want to be on?

[Eli Crane]

It goes back to what I was telling you. It's why I believe you need people that don't want to be up there to go. And I think it's even healthy for me, personally. I have this. I visualize the swamp finally getting me. At some point, I believe they're gonna get me. They're gonna get rid of me. And that's okay, right? Because it's just like, I'm not there to be a career politician. I'm there to try and change the system. And in knowing that, I know that it's gonna fit, you know, I'm gonna face opposition, and I'll have a lot of people that don't like me. But what I'm. One thing I hope that, you know the example set is going to cause is I hope other people that are better, smarter, more talented than I am see that you can come into Congress immediately and you don't have to fall in line and do what you're told. You can actually represent the people that sent you there and try and change the system.

[Tim Burchett]

Move on here real quick. I want to. We were talking about the communications, and we've had offline conversations with both of you guys about phones. So these are the ones Prince developed. Prince Unplugged Phone. So those you can have all your social media apps on. There's actually a quick menu on there. You can turn on a vpn. You can make it so that those applications on social media, Any of. Any applications you can. All it is, is you flip a switch and they can't access any of the rest of your phone and suck that data out. There's a kill switch that actually puts something in between the battery and the phone so that, you know that's. You probably know this. Maybe you do, too. I mean, even when you turn your phone off, they could still listen, but if you separate the battery, then they cannot. And so there's a kill switch on those. Those things are the shit, man. So you can just take it to your provider and get a SIM card put in there.

[Sean Ryan]

I have to make sure it fits the thing. We'll probably.

[Tim Burchett]

I mean, I'll be listening.

[Sean Ryan]

I have to write you a check.

[Eli Crane]

But we'll probably have to write you a Check.

[Sean Ryan]

Just for the record, we'll have to write you a check on these. We're not probably over the limit. I'll have to find out if you'll find out what they're worth, and then we'll write you a check for the defense.

[Eli Crane]

Another rule.

[Sean Ryan]

I would love to catch him and I in there.

[Eli Crane]

It's so crazy how many. How many rules we have, but yet how corrupt those are.

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah, well, I mean, it's like when I.

[Tim Burchett]

Are you fucking with me right now? No, you can't take.

[Eli Crane]

You can't take a gift over 25 bucks. Isn't it? 25.

[Sean Ryan]

I don't know. I just don't take anything. That's my rule.

[Tim Burchett]

They're definitely worth more than 25 bucks.

[Sean Ryan]

I'll get. We'll find out. I would love to have something like this, because this is. This is something I would really love to have.

[Eli Crane]

Yeah, Eric was just up in. He was just up in D.C. this week doing a foreign policy discussion with Mike Lee. It's pretty cool. I only got to sit in for, like, 30 minutes of it, but I guess. Smart.

[Tim Burchett]

Yes. Yes, he is. Back to corruption. What else is going on up there? Why is everybody so concerned about reelection? Why are the. Why are all these congressmen senators?

[Sean Ryan]

Why are they terrified the Navy train stops and they're terrified of people like you? Because you've hit some crazy nerve across this country. I'm at my Mexican restaurant, some kids. The Mexon Mexican restaurant attached to an Exxon is really not a Mexican. They went up on their prices. Margaritas are like six bucks. Now. I'm not a drinker, but apparently that's not a very hefty price. But anyway, everybody's talking about you, and people like you are a threat to them. I really feel like that because they hope you're a flicker in the pan. And I don't think they understand the whole podcast situation. And I was at the ball game yesterday, and one of my biggest supporters, grandson, he's like, sean, run really like that in real life. And I said, that's the way he is. And I was at a ballgame, and some young guy said something. So I think you've really struck a nerve in this country.

[Eli Crane]

Got an answer for that? I think one of the reasons so many people are so worried about reelection is because this has become their identity. I think it's the same reason a lot of guys struggle when they get out of Special Forces or the SEAL teams or the NFL, because it's become their identity. It's who they believe they are. And I think anytime you put your identity in something that can be taken from you, you're in trouble. And that's why, for me, man, I always try and come back to what is my identity, man. And I'm an image bearer of God, man. You know, I'm a son of God, I'm a husband, I'm a father, and that's what I try and put my identity in. I'm an American, I love my country. You know, those are things that, you know, those are things that are more foundational. Even some of those things can be taken from you. But anytime you put your identity in something that can be taken from you, you're in trouble. And I think a lot of these people, they've never done anything really cool in their life or anything that they're super proud of. Some of them have. But, you know, I think some of them get caught up in the, oh, I'm a congressman or, oh, I'm a senator. And, you know, they don't want to lose it. They don't want to go back to just being a, you know, regular old.

[Sean Ryan]

Civilian and they'll compromise everything they got.

[Eli Crane]

And I think that's what our founders wanted. I think our founders wanted us to go, you know, into public service and then, you know, go back home and go back to whatever you were doing beforehand and not become a career politician.

[Sean Ryan]

You know, what the worst.

[Tim Burchett]

You know, Tim, you brought a great point up when you invited me. Thank you, by the way, to the State of the Union. You had mentioned, at some point, you had mentioned, you know, none of these congressmen go back to their districts. They all hang out here like it's a fucking club. And they're not worried about what their. What their voters want. They just want to be in the social club. And that really resonated with me, and I started paying attention.

[Sean Ryan]

And Eli's 100%. Once again, it is the identity. When I was in the state legislature, I remember, guys would. Would leave, and then within six months, they'd be back up there. People become sergeant at arms because they just couldn't leave that. And I remember one time, a buddy of mine called, he called, I got a lobbyist, I knew his name was David McMahan. And he said, david, I lost. And he said, what? He said, I lost. And he goes, who is this? He told him who he was and he says, I've never heard of you. And he was joking. But the reality is. And David was friends with this guy until he died. But the reality Is that you don't, you know, you gotta realize that this is. Everybody's likes you up there. Hopefully they like you for the person you are. But you have to sometime realize that it's what you can do for them and then when you can't do that for them. And I, And I always talk about how when I go back home after the election, I said, you know, I'll probably be mowing a lot of these people's yards. You know, that's how I'll know them. And that'll be the relationship, because I won't be their congressman. And you. I think too many of them don't realize that. And that's why you see them, you know, slip into depression, alcoholism and everything else after military, you know, or NFL or what have you, professional sports or the spotlight that we're in. Because nobody. Unless you're a consultant or something, you know, and that's. That's part of the crooked nature of it. But. Yeah.

[Tim Burchett]

Well, you had mentioned the gravy train stops, but I just gave you a cell phone and you told me you're not allowed to take a gift over $25. So what gravy train?

[Sean Ryan]

I think going to the front of the line, being invited to the concert, sitting in the nice box.

[Eli Crane]

Well, there was just a.

[Tim Burchett]

How about the insider trading?

[Eli Crane]

Yeah, for sure.

[Tim Burchett]

How much is that going on?

[Sean Ryan]

That's a lot. Prevalent. There's a website, Whales or something. I forget what it's called. You can find it. Get your kids to show you how to find it on the Internet. Google it. But it lists. It lists all the legislators, you know, and their trades and everything. Heck, Pelosi. Everybody rails on her. And she's not even. She's about halfway up.

[Tim Burchett]

Who's the number one?

[Sean Ryan]

Forget his name. He's a Democrat. He had a 300% return. He left, though. I think he left early, actually, shortly after that report came out. But still, I think he'd already had plans. And it's equally divided pretty much between Republicans and Democrats. You know, I want to point the finger. I wished I could, but.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah.

[Sean Ryan]

And legitimately, some of them have a relationship with their broker where they say, I don't want to know what you're doing and all that, but it's got to enter into it.

[Eli Crane]

And then there was just a senator that got like busted for having that jacket given to him with gold bars.

[Sean Ryan]

Gold bars in pockets.

[Eli Crane]

That's extreme. But even stuff like that happens.

[Sean Ryan]

I mean, it is an extreme. You don't know till somebody gets Caught. And then they write the tell all books and you hear about stuff. Before I got to the legislature, you know, they would have a. Everybody in Tennessee would. There was a liquor store across the street, Caddy Corner. And you'd go by and you'd hand them your slip of paper and get your take home for the week, you know, and you could go on trips and it was unlimited. And then they figured out a way to do, I don't know, $50 per person. So I was in high demand because they figured out an average. And since I didn't drink, you know, I'd get like a hamburger and a sweet tea or something. Now maybe around six or seven bucks. So bring the average down. So I got invited to every dinner, you know, in the legislature. But, you know, the people that write the laws are the ones that are going to be breaking the laws because they've already figured out a way to get around it. That's why they're paid the big money. And we, you know, there's a, the lifetime retirement after one after you get elected. That's just not accurate. It's, it's, it's not anywhere near that. And it's not a lifetime health insurance after one year kind of thing. It's, there's, I mean, how are they.

[Tim Burchett]

Getting these guys even, like, even a lot of the veterans that I had so much confidence in getting into Congress, Obviously not you, but I mean, they just crumble.

[Sean Ryan]

Because here's how it is. You. And I'll tell you how it was when I first got elected. State House. The best thing that ever happened to me growing up was we never had money, but we were around people with money. So it wasn't, you know, I was a teetotaler, I didn't drink. When they started busting people for DUIs at UT College campus, I was always asked I was driving somebody's 260Z or their BMW or their Porsche because I get to smoke him out in market and get chili dogs after midnight because they were hammered drunk and they knew I'd be sober and I'd eat for free. So fast forward, I'm in the state legislature, I get elected and all of a sudden the ladies are laughing at my jokes and complimenting me on the way I'm dressing. People are telling me how, that's a great story, man. Thank you. And inviting me to dinner, introducing me to people, I'm told, you know, all these great things and you just start believing it. And, you know, I've been doing this most of my Adult life. And I mean, I just laugh at it because I see it, because I've seen people commit suicide, ruin marriages, never talk to their kids again. I go back to the suicide that's happened more than once of people that I've served with because they got caught up in it and they were getting it popped and they couldn't take the heat, so they took their own lives. And it just. You get elected. I was, I remember I was. I was first elected and I was sitting on the House floor and these guys were walking in and they're coming into their committee with their entourage. And you think once you're elected, you're going to be asked to negotiate a trade deal with North Korea or something by the president. And that's just not the reality. But you get this enforcement reinforcement from the lobbyists and the public and everything, and you start believing your own press releases. And I'm sorry, I've talked too long. Go.

[Eli Crane]

No, I think we might have discussed this before, but I think the biggest thing with military guys, from my perspective, is we have courage. A lot of us know how to think outside the box, I think, which most of us know how to play on a team. And I think all those things are great skills that could be transitioned well into public service. And Congress, I think a lot of us get caught up is that we're so used to being a part of a chain of command that when we go up to Washington and we see a new chain of command because like, they have, you know, speaker, you know, leader, whip on down, they see a new chain of command that they've got to fall into and take orders. And they also start to game plan. Well, if I want to, you know, become a subcommittee chairman or then a chairman or then get into leadership, how do I do that? Right, so that I can affect the change that I want to see happen here. And, you know, I understand that mindset, but the way I always looked at it was that my chain of, first of all, that Washington, D.C. is completely busted and broken. And so therefore, the chain of command is not doing a good job. And secondly, my chain of command is really the 750,000, 800,000 people back home that sent me there. That's my chain of command. And so I'm going to work for them. I'm going to try and bust this up as much as I can. And I just, I don't think that, you know, everybody comes in with that mentality. And I also don't believe that many people. And maybe I'm wrong Sean. But I don't think that everybody comes in with the mentality that a lot of people come in with the mentality of incrementalism. Right. Well, you know. You know, and back to Tim's point on compromise, if we can get one little good thing here, you know, yeah, I might have to vote for a lot of crap over here, but I'm willing to do it if we get, you know, a little win over here. And I've looked at it as in, we're in big trouble, we need to make big moves. And that doesn't go over well in.

[Sean Ryan]

D.C. not one bit.

[Tim Burchett]

You know, one thing I've noticed just from talking to you guys and some of the other congressmen and senators and being around a little bit, and I fucking hate politics, by the way, but you always hear that it's one of the most elite social clubs on the planet. And the observation that I have is that these people get in, they get elected into these social clubs, and then kind of what you were saying, they buy into their own bullshit. They start thinking they're too important for everybody else except the. In this case, the Congressional Social Club. And even when they know shit is wrong, they refuse to call it out because they don't want to be. They don't want to be ostracized from the elite social club that they've just been elected into. Am I on the right track here?

[Eli Crane]

You are. And then there's a step above it. So they don't want to be ostracized from the elite social club, but if they want to be promoted within that elite social club, because I know members that are angling for bigger spots right now, and they got to be very careful politically on not to piss off the wrong person that could cast a vote or even have a backdoor conversation that would keep them from that position. And they're all working angles.

[Sean Ryan]

There's a committee that feeds this to the speaker, if that makes sense. And that's sort of the hierarchy. I forget the name of them, but it's why I call it Selection Committee.

[Eli Crane]

Or even if you wanted an appointment that had, you know, took Senate confirmation. Right. A lot of these people are thinking about that. Like, if I want that spot where I need to get confirmed by the Senate, I can't vote against that senator's bill because, you know, that's the one boat that I need to get over the hump like. And that's politics.

[Sean Ryan]

And if somebody dies or somebody gets indicted, man, the ink's not even dry on it. And they're already figuring out a way to get to that position. Seeing it moves them up. I can be. I can move up from nothing to be the third assistant to whatever. I forget, you know, they've got all kinds of names, but it's. To me, it's a bunch of bs.

[Eli Crane]

And that's not unique to the government. I mean, there people in corporate America, people in the military, people in church, I think they can afford. That's our nature to be selfish and to be self serving. Right. But I think it's definitely, you know, elevated and escalated there just because of the power and the prestige of, you know, working, you know, in, in the federal government at the, at those levels.

[Sean Ryan]

More people have played professional baseball in this country than have been elected to Congress. That tells you how elite or whatever you want to call it.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, yeah. Is there anything else we're missing? I'm sure, I mean, we could probably talk about this all day long, probably for a week.

[Sean Ryan]

I just remember I was at a YouTube football game and this chairman ended up. He ended up getting indicted. I remember he pulled up and I think he parked kind of illegal and he got out of his car and was strutting through the crowd and get his tickets to the ball game or whatever. My buddy said, who's that? I said, well, he's a pretty big deal in Nashville. And he said, tell him he ain't in Nashville anymore. He's in Knoxville. He ain't nobody here. And I think sometimes we forget that. I see these guys come out of their district and, you know, I don't know anybody, nobody knows me in Eli's district. And I think sometimes we forget that we're supposed to be back home representing that group.

[Eli Crane]

I do want to bring something back up about when we were talking about biggest threats and I said getting Trump in and then illegals voting. I don't know if I brought up the fact when we voted on the SAVE act, which would keep illegals from voting, and I think this is so important. I think it was only five Democrats voted to support it. Only five Democrats voted to stop illegals from voting in our election. And I think that's so telling and so important because I know you have people on all sides of the spectrum that watch the show. Explain that one to me. Right, explain that one to me. You guys have created and orchestrated a system that has allowed over 10 million people within four years to come into the country. And now your party is fighting to allow them to vote. And you call us a threat to democracy and you have the audacity to talk about foreign intervention in elections. Think about that.

[Tim Burchett]

Do you know who the five were by chance?

[Eli Crane]

I don't.

[Sean Ryan]

It's public record.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, I'd love to know that. We'll find it. I'll put it out on screen, give them a little kudos. But.

[Sean Ryan]

Wow.

[Tim Burchett]

You know, I know the super touchy subject, obviously, but people talk about it all the time. Civil war. Do you guys think we're headed to a civil war?

[Eli Crane]

I think it's possible. I think at the very least, I think we're headed towards civil disobedience. I think that will come first. And I do think we're headed down a track towards totalitarian rule. I said that the other day. I was talking about the Kamala Waltz ticket. When he talks about, says publicly, one man's socialism is another man's neighborliness. And then she regularly talks about equal outcomes. That's the dialect. That's the code. That's the dialect of the socialist, the totalitarian 100%. I think I was sharing with you that some reporter asked me because I was talking about that at an event with Governor Greg Abbott. We were stumping for Trump a couple weeks ago in Arizona, and she said, what are you talking about this ticket being totalitarian? And I just looked at her and I said, well, what? Governments censor their own people. That was it. But it's like it's not even. It's not. They're not even really trying to hide it anymore.

[Sean Ryan]

No.

[Eli Crane]

You know, of all the things that Trump was fact checked on the other night in the debate, notice how he wasn't fact check when he talked about Kamala's dad being a Marxist professor.

[Sean Ryan]

They got through that quick.

[Eli Crane]

Yep. She didn't. And she didn't. She didn't. She rebutted many things, but she didn't rebut that. And, you know, it's just. It's just telling to me because, you know, the strategy of Marxism is divide and conquer. Right. Back in. Back in the day, it was divide us all up economically, the haves and the have nots. Now they've employed, and I think even more effective tactic here in the west, and that's divide us all up by race, ethnicity, gender. And Dr. Vodi Bauckham would call that cultural Marxism. And I think it's been very effective here. But instead of trying to unite us around the values that have made this country so great and have created so much opportunity and prosperity for us all, they try and divide us up on all these. All these different Metrics and barometers, you know, and it just makes us. Makes it easier for them to conquer us and then to present themselves as the savior, as the solution. And it blows me away that some people can still be gaslit into thinking that the federal government would ever be the solution for anything.

[Sean Ryan]

I think the Civil War question is, I think it'd be more of a regional thing. I always remembered when Trump was giving a speech at the White House and riots were. You remember where Rand Paul got attacked? Him and his wife did. And then I was. I guess we were maybe a hundred yards behind that. And so we went back the other way. And I remember the police were. I remember Andy Barr from Kentucky. His wife had died, and he had his two precious little girls there in these pretty little matching dresses, and people were just saying filthy stuff. And I'd had enough. And I told those. I asked that one little girl, I said, you want me to carry you? And he said, no. And I just held her little hand and I told her, I said, those people probably just needed Jesus, honey. I said, we pray for them. And it seemed to give her a little comfort. But anyway, we had the girls. Mark Green was with me on one side. And I remembered the police. This town was like, boarded up. And I'm not a big city guy, but the blocks on every corner, that's where the cops were. And they weren't allowed to go within the city, within the block. They were told where to be. And I just thought, this is what Civil War looks like. I mean, this is. And I think it'll be a regional type situation where people will move out of. The people who can, will get out, and they'll come to places like Tennessee refugees, so to speak. And then they will end up. When they leave their states, though, they will turn them over to the Cabal or whatever, the corrupt far left machine. And that's what. And I think you'll see two Americas emerge, more so than we have now. And also. But, you know, I'm at these gun shows, I hear these guys talking tough, you know, And I said this at breakfast to y'all that they're gonna, you know, if a tank rolls down the street, they're gonna. Hands will go up. You guys would know how to handle that. But people like me will not know how to handle that. I just can't see that being happening. I see somebody shoots a couple shots and they get them fired back, and they're throwing the white. The white flag up. So I just. I don't. I don't Know how you would, how what that would look like.

[Tim Burchett]

I think about it all the time and I mean I don't think it looks like how traditional civil wars look. I mean, I mean look we saw, we saw a 17 year old kid and an entire city of riots with what, three bullets done immediately stopped. I don't think that's what it looks like. I think it's like what you're talking about and I think it's already starting. I mean you see there's a massive migration happening in the US right now. You see red states going farther red, you see blue states going farther blue. I think that some of that, I mean like let's, for example, and I'm not asking what your guys stance is on it or anything but abortion, for example. Like my personally I think it's a little, a little out there to be hunting women down that have had an abortion and throwing them in prison. But I don't think that's actually going to happen. I think that that is a deterrent from getting lefties to move into the state. I think that some of these other things that are far left are deterrents for people on the right to move into the state. And I think it's dividing right now. On top of that you see these governors starting to align. I mean that event that we went to in Nashville, what a couple weeks ago, maybe a month or two ago. Yeah, it was what the governor of Louisiana and governor of Tennessee talking about how they are aligning on all these issues and sending in the National Guard to help on the Texan border.

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah.

[Tim Burchett]

I mean this is kind of how it starts. It's kind of how it's. It's not kind of how it starts.

[Sean Ryan]

Yeah. 15% of the population voting to. So you know, the war. Who's going to notice? Almost kind of thing.

[Tim Burchett]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean is there talk about this up in Congress?

[Eli Crane]

Not really. I don't hear a lot of talk about it. Maybe, maybe a joke here or there. But I do think there's a level of detachment up there clearly. And just not representatives picking up on the frustration of the American people and the frustration of the continuance of the status quo.

[Tim Burchett]

Do you think? I mean what would it look like? You guys seem like pretty forward thinkers.

[Sean Ryan]

Well, of course.

[Tim Burchett]

What does it look like?

[Sean Ryan]

We lose our firearms.

[Eli Crane]

We fooled him. He thinks that we're forward thinkers.

[Sean Ryan]

I know our evil plot is.

[Eli Crane]

Good job.

[Sean Ryan]

Thanks. I worry about makes a lot of people uneasy, but Kamala Harris has said that she'd like to get the guns. What does that look like? How do you get the guns? Do you feel like. I think that's the start of it. You got a Second Amendment. And then without a Second Amendment, it was clearly put in there for a reason. Clearly people abuse it. There's no question there. But it's.

[Tim Burchett]

Do you feel like state government's becoming more important than federal?

[Sean Ryan]

I think it originally was designed. That was. Except for national defense, that was it.

[Eli Crane]

I think that's important. And unfortunately, not a lot of people pay attention on the federal level or the state level. But I think you're seeing now, especially post Covid, how important it is to have a strong state government. And so many people benefited by being in a red state, and many people fled out of blue states to go live in red states just because they could still, you know, have some, you know, level of freedom. And so it goes back to something I was talking about earlier, how important it is that people actually pay attention and do the bare minimum, you know, of what it. What it means to be a citizen and be engaged, be educated, you know, vote, be an activist. There's so many. There's so many ways you can participate in this government. But what. Here's the key. What happens when you don't. You're seeing it right now. There's always a vacuum. And that vacuum is filled by something. And what's it being filled by right now?

[Sean Ryan]

Bob Dylan had a song. He became a Christian for a while. I'm not sure if he still is or not. I don't know what his faith is, but it was called, you gotta serve somebody. And it was the line, you gotta serve somebody. Be the devil or the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody. And what I think he was saying was, if you're not filling that gap, the other side is, it's just a vacuum. There is no vacuum in politics. It's either at the table or you're on the dad gum menu. And right now, America is on the menu because the fat cats are getting fatter. And all they're concerned about is keeping empower and keeping that cash machine rolling.

[Tim Burchett]

How much do you think these states can shelter its citizens from the federal government?

[Sean Ryan]

It depends on who's in the White House.

[Eli Crane]

Yeah. And up to this point, I think quite a bit, you know, when you look at. Just like going back in. Back to Covid, you know, what life was like when you had a governor, you know, a governor, you know, who wasn't enforcing any of the mandates that other states were enforcing. Even in Texas, right Now you have a governor that's willing to actually, if the federal government won't protect the people, which is one of its primary responsibility from the invasion coming over our southern border, that governor there has actually erected walls, barriers, Constantine wire to protect his own citizens. And so up to this point, I think they have been able to play a very big role on the prosperity and safety of their citizens. To Tim's point though, how long does that continue? Based on where we're headed and the type of candidates that we have now that are running on the other side of the ticket who are way too cozy with totalitarianism.

[Sean Ryan]

And one of the things you gotta realize too, with the illegals, is that who supports that? Who supports that issue? The National Chambers of commerce do. The National Chamber of Commerce did. Every time there's a bill, they're always mucking it up. You know, you gotta remember they're. Yo, they're your little local chamber of Commerce. Well, they give 1% or something to the National Chamber of Commerce. But you gotta realize they endorsed about first time I ran six years ago, about 14 or 15 of Pelosi's closest allies. And they kept the Democrats in power. And that was obviously against small business, but large business loves it. They love the fact they have some guy on their roof, your roof, that doesn't speak English. And when he falls off, he's not going to do anything because he's afraid he's going to get deported. They're going to take him down to the emergency room and then you and I are going to pay for it. And the big boys, they're still going to be making their cut. And the working class people are going to suffer and they continue to rise. My daddy used to always tell me, I said, dad, why are these people? Why would they be for communism? He said, because they're the ones that will be in power. They will be in power. Well, what's the answer?

[Tim Burchett]

What's the answer?

[Sean Ryan]

I'll tell you what the answer is. Revival.

[Eli Crane]

That's right.

[Sean Ryan]

As a Christian, that's gotta be the. At the first and foremost, I think we gotta realize where we are as a nation. And preachers gotta start preach, preaching the gospel again and not be afraid of it. Be bold. I spoke to a group of preachers a couple weeks ago. I said, y'all just gotta be bold. Quit being afraid, man. We get your calling is bigger than the United States government. And I think we've allowed them to get in their comfort zones too much. We got to call them out and they've got to. And that's where it's got to start in this. In my opinion. There's other areas, of course, and people are going to say, oh, but, you know, I'm an atheist or whatever, but as a Christian, I think that's where it's got to happen. We have. We have failed. We have turned from God, and we've allowed this transgender thing. I mean, good gosh, we're allowing kids to permanently scar their bodies, their testicles removed, little boys, the little girls getting their breasts removed, and we're celebrating that.

[Eli Crane]

On that note, Shawn, there's a.

[Sean Ryan]

You might want to edit all that out. I apologize.

[Eli Crane]

There's a scripture I do care in, Second Corinthians, and it says, I don't know it by heart, but it says something to the effect of, if my people who hear my voice will humble themselves and pray and repent, call upon my name, then I will heal them, and I will hear them and I will heal their land. Like, I think that is the biggest, most important thing going on here. I think everything that you see is just a ramification of, like Tim said, pushing God out of everything. And I think that you're seeing God, you know, be like, okay, you don't. You don't. You don't want. You don't want me. Okay, well, and I think that's the key, you know, people that have turned their back on God, and every time this happened, every time that happens throughout the scriptures, it's always the same cycle. It's always the same cycle, and it never ends well until it gets so bad that people finally are willing to humble themselves and turn back to God. And so I hope we do it. I hope we do it before it gets much worse. But based on what I'm seeing in the culture, I'm not. I'm concerned.

[Sean Ryan]

I don't think Trump's the Messiah. I don't think he's. You know, I was asked on the BBC, they were making fun of something I said about God's will, and I said, yeah, I'm a Christian. I believe the scripture says a sparrow falls from the sky. I know it. I know how many hairs are on your head. Of course, on yours, there are a few less than are on mine and Eli's. But my point was, is that, you know, we have. Every time God puts his hand out, we've swatted it away. It's the old adage, you know, so redneck farmers on a roof, on his ladder, and he starts falling. He says, lord, help me. And then A nail catches his pant leg or his overalls, and he says, never mind, Lord, I got it. Well, in mine and Eli's, in your minds, God put that nail there. And, you know, and I'm a big believer in that. I was. When I was county mayor, we had a. I used to ride around in these ice trucks, the snow trucks, and they'd go out and south the roads there in Knoxville, Knox county, and we hit this black ice spot. I'll never forget it. It just. This just almost just went slow motion. And we were just sliding. I looked over and we were going off a cliff and I looked down there. There's a dead deer carcass. I thought, how ironic is that? And that thing, that truck goes like this. It just goes. And it just stopped. And there was one tree there. And the press asked me about that. What did I think about that? I said, God planted that tree 60 years ago knowing that my dumb ass would have died probably. I could have, literally, because it was. And I'd probably end up with a jack stand impaled in my head or something. But, you know, continuously in this country, we swatted away when Trump. That bullet and what they were making. The point was, I said that was God's will that Trump missed. You know, I don't think he's. I don't even know if he's a Christian or not, but I know what he'll do if he's in power. And you know, King David, for instance, terrible guy. I mean, he sleeps with Bathsheba, his best general, his best buddy's old lady, has the general killed, sends him out in this area, and then they pulls everybody back and leaves him in there and he gets killed. But God had favor on him and he led the Jews through it all. And to this day, he's remembered as one of the great. As a matter of fact, I think he's one of the only non American who's. There's a. In the Capitol there. He's got his face up on the wall up there. And so he's not a perfect vessel. Trump isn't. But I think for some reason, he is our best choice right now.

[Tim Burchett]

Mm.

[Eli Crane]

Man.

[Tim Burchett]

Well, it's funny you mention that, because me and Eli were talking about that on the way over here too, that I think the left versus right thing is. It's not working.

[Sean Ryan]

No, it's not. I mean, but also it keeps the big boys in power. You don't think that they're not just laughing. I mean, they're at the end of Session. They'll. They had a lot of the head boys in both parties. They're up at Kennebunkport or someplace drinking a expensive glass of wine or something, toasting each other, laughing at us. And I think we got to realize that these, these parties are leaving us, man.

[Eli Crane]

And. But to that point, that's why I love, even though I know this, this title, the America first movement, I know it's been hijacked and turned into some like, white supremacy, like, nonsensical, you know, thing, but I love that the movement, because it puts Americans of all political parties, you know, of every color first. And I think that's what we've been missing. That's what the uniparty, that's what the cartel, the establishment, whatever you want to call it, that's what it fails to do on a daily basis. And that's why I love that movement. Because regardless of whether you're talking energy policy or border policy, that movement is based on putting Democrats, Republicans, independents first. If they're American citizens.

[Tim Burchett]

Man, that would be nice.

[Eli Crane]

It would be.

[Tim Burchett]

That would be nice. But. Well, gents, I know you guys are on a time crunch, so I'm gonna wrap this up, but I just want to say, you know, we talked about the voting. Only 15% of the people vote. Most people are too lazy. I would say just grab a buddy, drag their ass to the poll and make them vote. If we all did that, then we get double the numbers. So on that note, I just want to say, once again, it's an honor to have you guys. You are. There's not very many people in Congress that still have control of their soul. And I think you guys do. And I just. I just really appreciate both of you. You know, with the Afghanistan stuff, with the Brad Geary stuff all. I mean, you guys are just always doing the right thing and. Which appears to me.

[Sean Ryan]

And it's an honor for me to be here with you two guys. Y'all served our country. And that in my family, that goes a long ways. And I'm. I'm always. It's an honor for me to call you two guys my friends because I'm in public a lot and people ask me about you all and I don't tell you that enough. That much I appreciate you guys because it really is an honor for somebody that. Because, you know, my dad served and my mama flew an airplane and my wife's deceased husband, the biological father of my child served, you know, and I never did. My brother in law's Marine sniper. I never served my dad. Come country. And you guys did. You weren't drafted. You chose and you. You were called on to do incredible things. And I'm in honor. I'm in awe of you guys. And it is incredible honor to call you guys my friends. And I appreciate it. And y'all let me hang out and. And say stupid stuff, and I appreciate it.

[Eli Crane]

Thanks, Tim.

[Tim Burchett]

Thank you.

[Eli Crane]

It's a good note.

[Tim Burchett]

All right, brother.

[Eli Crane]

God bless.

[Sean Ryan]

Hey, it's Rich Eisen here. Join me and my compadre Chris Brockman every Monday on the Overreaction Monday podcast.

[Eli Crane]

Rich Jamis has taken the Browns to the playoffs.

[Unknown]

Dude, why can't they win seven, eight.

[Eli Crane]

Games to finish the year?

[Sean Ryan]

Why not? I'm not saying that it's no why not, but this is a definitive statement that's clearly an overreaction, and it's perfect fodder for a show like this one. I appreciate you coming out of the gate hot come react or overreact with us. Overreaction Monday, wherever you listen, it's game over over, man.