ActBlue Pleads the Fifth on Hiding Foreign Campaign Donations, SPLC Dodges on Funding the KKK & DHS Finds 146,000 Missing Children

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: ActBlue Pleads the Fifth on Hiding Foreign Campaign Donations, SPLC Dodges on Funding the KKK & DHS Finds 146,000 Missing Children

Date: June 12, 2026
Hosts: Ben Ferguson & Senator Ted Cruz

Overview

In this episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz dive into three major stories shaking up Washington:

1. The ActBlue CEO's repeated invocation of the 5th Amendment during Congressional testimony about alleged foreign campaign contributions.
2. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) CEO grilled over DOJ accusations about secretly funding extremist groups, including the KKK.
3. The Department of Homeland Security’s ongoing efforts to find over 146,000 missing children lost during the previous administration’s immigration policies.

The tone is direct, combative, and unapologetically conservative, with extensive criticism of Democratic leadership and progressive activist groups.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. ActBlue CEO Pleads the Fifth on Foreign Campaign Donations

[02:36-11:25]

• Who is ActBlue?

  “ActBlue is the principal online funding arm for the Democrats nationally...funnels in, in the aggregate, billions of dollars for Democrats.” — Ben Ferguson [03:01]

• Allegations:

  • Longstanding claims ActBlue allowed (especially Chinese) foreign, illegal contributions.
  • CEO Regina Wallace Jones subpoenaed to testify regarding the suspected laundering.

• Congressional Testimony Bombshells:

  • Wallace Jones refused to answer any direct questions, repeatedly pleading the Fifth Amendment.
  • Audio montage presented of her reciting, “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer this question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights...” for every question. [08:29]
  • Committee Chairman cited credible concern of ActBlue:
    • Accepting foreign money,
    • Lying to Congress,
    • Withholding subpoenaed documents.

• Republican Criticism:

  • Democrats’ historical outrage over alleged foreign interference during Trump’s campaign was highlighted as hypocrisy compared to their silence now.
  • “They did impeach him...And now...ask them a question like, ‘Where’s your guys’ funding coming from?’ They’re literally not saying a word.” — Ben Ferguson [05:33]
  • “Just in 2024, ActBlue raised over $2 billion with a B.” — Ben Ferguson [09:45]

• Memorable Quotes:

  • Ted Cruz on the testimony:

    “She practiced and rehearsed and did it perfectly right. I’m not going to do anything that can incriminate myself...We're talking about millions and millions coming in from foreign adversaries...” [09:23]

  • Representative Jim Jordan’s questioning:

    “Your board chairman said ActBlue accepted up to 38 million contributions in 2024 that had the signs of foreign origin. How much fraud is too much fraud?” [10:34]

2. Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Accused of Funding the KKK

[11:25-18:54]

• Context:

  • Recent DOJ fraud and conspiracy indictment alleges SPLC funneled millions to hate groups, including KKK and Nazi-affiliated organizations.

• Key Testimony Moments:

  • CEO Brian Fair faced four hours of grilling in the House. He repeatedly deflected specifics:

    “All of the allegations in the indictment will be addressed in the middle district of Alabama...” (paraphrased from [11:37])

  • GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt detailed DOJ claims that SPLC:
    • Paid KKK members salaries and reimbursed cross burning expenses.
    • Funded “informants” who were active participants in extremist groups.
    • Approved $1,200/month salaries for Klan members who then recruited for the Klan.

      “I can’t make this up. This is not just ironic, sir. It’s quite outrageous.” — Rep. Hunt [13:42]

• Denial and Evasion:

  • Fair’s main refrain:

    “That’ll be addressed in court.” [11:37, multiple instances]

• Notable Exchange:

  • Rep. Brandon Gill questioned SPLC CEO on a Democrat Senate candidate’s Nazi tattoo:

    “Do you have an opinion on this tattoo?”
    “If it’s a Nazi symbol, we oppose Nazis.”
    “Would you want somebody with a tattoo like that in the Senate?”
    “No, I wouldn’t.”
    [15:11-17:29]

• Hosts’ Commentary:

  • Ben and Ted mocked SPLC’s hesitancy to clearly denounce the candidate, citing it as evidence of extreme Democratic partisanship.

    “That tells you just how indefensible it is when even their most extreme partisans are forced to say of course not.” — Ben Ferguson [18:24]

3. DHS Finds 146,000 Missing Children

[21:11-31:32]

• Background:

  • Large numbers of unaccompanied minors entered the U.S. during Biden’s administration; more than 300,000 went “missing” after being handed to unvetted sponsors.

• Policy Failures:

  • “They would hand them over to adults and then they simply lost them...a significant number of those kids were put into forced child labor...sex slavery...” — Ben Ferguson [22:44]

• Trump Administration’s Actions:

  • New DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullen spearheading the recovery effort:

    “We found 146,000 kids so far...We still have nearly 300,000 missing.” — Mark Wayne Mullen [27:11]

    • Descriptions of “horrific” abuse, including reports of children raped hundreds of times.

• Location & Sanctuary Cities:

  • Most found in sanctuary cities, “because they know they’re safe” for traffickers.
  • Sanctuary cities blamed for lax prosecution of human/sex traffickers:

    “In a sanctuary city, you have Democrat elected officials...who have decided as a political matter that their party...is for open borders.” — Ben Ferguson [29:03]

• Democratic Voting Records:

  • Ted Cruz accused Democrats of voting against deporting criminal and abusive illegal aliens ([25:32]):
    • 145 Democrats against deporting sex offenders,
    • 160 against deporting those with DUIs,
    • 186 against welfare fraud,
    • 190 against those who harm police animals.

• Memorable Quotes:

  • Secretary Mullen:

    “There was zero wellness checks...They want to claim that Republicans, because we’re enforcing the laws, it’s inhumane somehow. What’s inhumane about taking care of our kids?” [24:16]
    “Some of these kids claim they were raped six to seven hundred times.” [27:11]

• The Hosts’ Tone:

  • Strong outrage at Democratic “neglect” or “criminal” actions; clear emphasis on protecting children and law enforcement.

4. Green New Deal Funding & Ending “Cash Cows” for NGOs

[31:32-39:27]

• Interior Department Cuts:

  • Trump administration new measures cut $4+ million to dozens of progressive/left-wing groups, including those providing “scholarships for illegal immigrant Latino students” and “Latino Outdoors” (helping avoid ICE).
  • Programs cut for DEI, environmental justice, and assistance to illegal immigrants.

• Hosts’ View:

  • Argue that many NGOs/activist groups are actually partisan funding arms for Democrats.

    “What they don’t have is an entitlement to get taxpayer dollars to do it, to pay them to fight the Trump administration.” — Ben Ferguson [36:21]

  • Practices described as “naked corruption.”

• Democrats and the “Green New Scam”:

  • Ted Cruz:

    “I am still a little bit surprised that Democrats are pushing the Green New scam...it’s like our religion as a party...” [37:34]

• Revolving Door Allegations:

  • Ben describes a cycle of activists moving between NGOs, the Democratic Party, and the federal government to implement progressive policies and secure funding.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On ActBlue’s CEO Pleading the Fifth:

  • “You could play three straight minutes of nothing but ‘I respectfully decline...’ She wouldn’t answer anything.” — Ben Ferguson [09:45]

• On SPLC Allegations:

  • “The SPLC paid a KKK leader a salary and approved an expense report for a cross burning.” — Rep. Hunt (quoted by Ben) [13:42]

• On DHS Recovery Efforts:

  • “As a father of six with three young girls, I will do whatever I have to do. I will move heaven and hell to go find these kids.” — Mark Wayne Mullen [24:16]
  • “If you can’t stand for law enforcement to go find these kids, who are you?” — Mark Wayne Mullen [27:11]

• On Green New Deal Funding:

  • “Normally Republican administrations are not very good at unwinding this. I’m glad the Trump administration is going after and cutting off this cash cow.” — Ben Ferguson [36:28]
  • “This is a pattern, the Democrats do a lot...begin funneling millions and sometimes billions of dollars to their left wing, supposedly nonprofit allies...” [36:21]

---

Key Timestamps

• ActBlue & the Fifth Amendment: 02:36–11:25
• SPLC Grilled on Funding Extremists: 11:25–18:54
• DHS — Missing Children: 21:11–31:32
• DOI/Green New Deal, Cash Flows to NGOs: 31:32–39:27

---

Final Takeaways

This episode features high-profile, controversial stories and fiery commentary centered on accountability, government transparency, and the alleged failures or hypocrisy of prominent Democratic figures and institutions. The hosts repeatedly call out what they view as media and political double standards, offering audio clips and pointed exchanges from recent Congressional hearings. The tone is urgent, accusatory, and unapologetically partisan, focusing on exposing alleged wrongdoing and demanding reform.

Transcript

[Act Blue CEO]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Ben Ferguson]

Guaranteed Human

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Ben Ferguson]

mom, can I have Lingokids? Zach Lingokids, please? When did we become the Lingokids House?

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

No idea.

[Ben Ferguson]

Last week it was Dinosaurs. This week it's Lingokids. Why Lingokids? Because it's the best thing ever. We can play games with astronauts, wild animals and superheroes.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ted Cruz]

No one can ever be as good as this right here.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ted Cruz]

It is verdict with center Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you and if you're listening on the radio. It's so nice to have you around the country with us. And don't forget this show is a podcast three days a week as well. So make sure you download Verdict with Ted Cruz wherever you get your podcast so you don't miss an episode center. We've got a lot to talk about today on the show, including some very interesting moves by Act Blue. We got to remind people exactly who they are.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, ActBlue is the principal online funding arm for the Democrats nationally. It is the website that left wing donors go to to give money to Democrats. It raises hundreds of millions of dollars for Democrats. It funnels in, in the aggregate, billions of dollars for Democrats. And there have long been serious allegations that ActBlue was essentially laundering foreign contributions, that foreign nationals, in particular Chinese nationals, were making illegal campaign contributions through Act Blue to fund Democrats running for office. And, and this week the CEO of Act Blue testified before Congress and, and Congress. The House is examining whether Act Blue was deliberately covered up the four illegal foreign contributions that they were receiving, whether Act Blue lied to Congress over it. And the ActBlue CEO over and over and over again pleaded the fifth. Her answer to just about every question was I can't answer because that may incriminate me in criminal conduct. It, it was stunning. We're going to break it down and give you all the facts on that.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it really is incredible. I also wanted to talk to you real quick about the international fellowship of Christians and Jews and the really important work they're doing to help people that are hurting right now in Israel and how you can get involved. From America's revolutionary war to Israel's fight for survival in 1948 by both nations have faced moments that tested their courage. Yet freedom endured. In October of 1985, President Ronald Reagan delivered these remarks about America's commitment to stand with Israel. In our talks we paid special attention to two our commitment to Israel's security and well being and our shared desire to move forward together toward a just and lasting peace between Israel and all its Arab neighbors. A strong, secure Israel is a shared interest. As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews reflects on the friendship between the United States and Israel, two democracies built on faith, liberty and hope. Sign up to receive a Free USA Israel flag pin when you go online to flagpin ifcj.org that's flag pin ifcj.org all right, so let's get back into this Act Blue. So there, there are many People that they've heard the name you describe, this perfectly center, this is the, the, the arm and the power, the muscle of the Democratic Party pushing agenda, ideology campaigns, ad campaigns, advocacy campaigns for radical left things. But when they were asked about their funding, and this is why it matters, they wouldn't answer the question of hey, is this money coming in that you guys are raising from outside the United States of America? That would be a huge deal. Because if I remember correctly, Democrats were obsessed with foreign interference in our elections. They were obsessed with if Russia was involved in Donald Trump's campaign. Remember that? That was like something they wanted to impeach him over. And now like you asked him a question like, hey, where's your guys funding coming from? They're literally not saying a word.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it's not just that they wanted to impeach him over it. They did impeach him over it. They, they impeached him. That the House voted to impeach him when the Democrats had control and then the Senate acquitted President Trump. But, but look, the facts here are, are really concerning on their face here. Here's what the New York Post reported. Act Blue CEO pleads the 5th as House probes illegal foreign donations to Dems, the CEO of the largest Democratic fundraising platform pleaded the Fifth Amendment Wednesday rather than testify before Congress about allegations that her firm illegally funneled foreign donations to federal campaigns. Quote, on the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer this question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution. Act Blue boss Regina Wallace Jones said in response to the first question posed during the House hearing. House Administration Committee Chairman Brian Stile from Wisconsin said in his opening remarks that there was, quote, significant concern that Act Blue may have allowed foreign donations on their platform, lied to Congress and withheld responsive documents from a congressional subpoena. All three of those actions are illegal. The panel issued a subpoena compelling Wallace's Jones testimony after Act Blue lawyers indicated she wouldn't answer questions on a voluntary basis. Stile and other Republican committee chairman looking into Act Blue have claimed that Wallace Jones also misled Congress about the strength of fraud safeguards on its platform. Representative Joe Morrell, the top Democrat on the Administration committee, dismissed the hearing as a partisan exercise and accused his GOP colleagues of refusing to investigate possible illegal foreign donations on their party's biggest platform, Win Read. But the difference is Win Read does not have multiple serious credible allegations of foreign donors, in particular Chinese donors funneling vast amounts of cash into campaigns. And I want you to listen to this exchange. This is an exchange with The Act Blue CEO and the House Committee. Give a listen.

[Act Blue CEO]

On the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer this question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution. On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer the question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution. I respectfully decline to answer the question pursuant to the attorney client privilege and my fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution. On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer the question pursuant to my fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution. On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer the question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution. On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer the question pursuant to my fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution.

[Ted Cruz]

Senator, that goes on for another like two minutes. You get the point. She practiced and rehearsed and did it perfectly right. I'm not going to answer any questions. I'm not going to do anything that can incriminate myself. I'm not going to answer if in fact there's countless dollars. We're talking about millions and millions coming in from foreign adversaries that might be influencing the Democratic Party.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, the one word you said that was inaccurate. There was millions. Just in 2024, ActBlue raised over 2 billion with a B. We're talking a massive amount of money coming in online, typically in smaller donations, but lots and lots and lots of them. And there are literally three minutes of nothing but her pleading the Fifth over and over and over again. We only played the first minute of that for you, but it just goes on and on and on. She wouldn't answer anything. And here I want you to listen now to Jim Jordan. Jim Jordan questioning her. Give a listen. Your board chairman said ActBlue accepted up to 38 million contributions in 2024 that had the signs of foreign origin. How much fraud is too much fraud?

[Act Blue CEO]

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer the question pursuant to my fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution.

[Ben Ferguson]

How many Foreign Contributions Did ActBlue accept?

[Act Blue CEO]

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer the question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution.

[Ben Ferguson]

How much money did ActBlue accept from Russia?

[Act Blue CEO]

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer the question pursuant to my fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution.

[Ben Ferguson]

Why did your entire legal team quit in House legal team?

[Act Blue CEO]

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer the question pursuant to my fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution.

[Ted Cruz]

Center. It wasn't just, by the way, Act Blue that was having a bad week on Capitol Hill, the Southern Poverty Law Center. Well, things weren't going well for them either, and we should definitely talk about that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. So the Southern Poverty Law center also testified in the House of Representatives this week, and their testimony went abysmally bad. The Act Blue CEO sounded like a Mafioso just pleading the Fifth over and over and over again. That's the same thing typically Mafia bosses have done when they've been in congressional testimony. And that apparently is what Democrat fundraisers do as well. Well, Southern Poverty Law center didn't plead the Fifth. Uh, but. But here, here's how, here's how the New York Post covered it. Southern Poverty Law Center CEO grilled at testy hearing about DOJ charges for secretly funding the kkk the embattled Southern Poverty Law Center CEO Brian Fair appeared Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee for a grilling over Justice Department allegations that the ostensibly anti racism group secretly funded the extremism it claims to oppose. Fair broadly defended the center while declining to answer for specific alleged wrongdoing after the DOJ in April filed fraud and conspiracy charges alleging millions of dollars in donor funds flowed to hate groups including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan nations, and National Socialist Party of America, otherwise known as the Nazis. Yeah, all of the allegations in the indictment will be addressed in the middle district of Alabama, Fair said repeatedly through nearly four hours of testimony. So rather than say, I plead the Fifth, he just said, well, that's gonna be addressed in, in. In court. Representative Wesley Hunt, a Republican from Texas and a good friend, he asked, were donors informed that contributions were actually funding members of the kkk. Fair gave the same deflection, saying, that'll be addressed in court. Hunt, one of four black House Republicans, recounted allegations that legacy civil rights group paid a KKK leader a salary and even approved an expense report for a cross burning. Let me repeat that.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

Wow.

[Ben Ferguson]

The Southern Poverty Law center, according to the US Department of Justice, paid a KKK leader a salary and approved an expense report for a cross burning quote. According to a superseding indictment, the SPLC paid more than $4.1 million to informants tied to extremist groups, including the KKK from 2010 to 2023, Hunt said. In two cases, informants who were active members of the local KKK chapter reportedly told the SPLC that they wanted out because they feared for their safety. Instead of supporting their exit, the SPLC employee allegedly encouraged them to remain involved and offered them a monthly salary of $1,200 to do so. As a result, one informant rose into a leadership role within the kkk, recruited other new members, purchased KKK materials, and were even reimbursed for expenses related to cross burning events. Hunt added, quote, I can't make this up. This is not just ironic, sir. It's quite outrageous. FAIR gave a big picture denial during another member's grilling, saying, quote, we don't fund the KKK and we don't fund hate groups while deferring to the outcome of litigation on the specifics. Now, I want you to listen to this exchange, in particular with Congressman Brandon Gill when he's questioning the CEO of the SPLC here. Give a listen.

[Brandon Gill]

Do you have an opinion on this tattoo? I'm not an expert on tattoos. No, I don't. Okay. I can give you a little bit of background. This is a tattoo on Maine Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner's chest. That's the Nazi SS death pad, death head tattoo. Do you have any opinions on that? If it's what you say, if it's a Nazi symbol, we oppose Nazis. We oppose. I agree. We do oppose Nazis. Do you think if somebody got a Nazi tattoo on their chest that's indicative that they might be a Nazi? You'd have to ask Mr. Platner why he has that symbol. I've already said that. If it is a symbol of Nazism, we oppose Nazis. You don't think that that's indicative that perhaps he holds Nazi sentiments? It may well be. It may well be, I think. Do people who aren't Nazis normally get Nazi tattoos on their chest? Again, I assume they don't. You assume they don't? I would assume so, too. I don't know anybody who's not a Nazi. I don't know anybody who has a Nazi tattoo on their chest but is not a Nazi. Do you. Do you think that somebody who has a Nazi tattoo on their chest should serve in the United States Senate? I wouldn't vote for that person. I certainly wouldn't either. Do you think that this should disqualify him politically from serving in the Senate? Again, I'm not sure where the line of questions is going. The splc, if you're asking me. I'm sorry, go ahead. If you're asking me if the SPLC opposes Nazis and Nazi symbols, the answer is yes. The SPLC has referred to this same tattoo as a racist skinhead symbol and tattoo. You can see the resemblance there. You wouldn't want somebody with a tattoo like that in the Senate. No, no, I wouldn't. I wouldn't either. I appreciate your candor there.

[Ted Cruz]

I love that that's how hard it is to get the Southern Poverty Law center to denounce a guy with a Nazi tattoo that you have to spoon feed it to them, Senator. And then these are the same people that were actually funding and approving expense reports for cross burning of people they were paying a salary to in the kkk. That is the point you can't make up.

[Ben Ferguson]

And Nazis. To be clear, it wasn't just the Klan. They were also funding Nazis. But, but look, the head of the Southern Poverty Law center is a hardcore left wing Democrat partisan. The SPLC is entirely in the tank for the Democrat party. They hate Republicans. It is fairly striking that the CEO of the of the Southern Poverty Law center was forced to say about Graham Platner, the. The commie Nazi oyster farmer in Maine, quote, I wouldn't vote for him.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

And and to follow up, should the guy with the Nazi tattoo be in the Senate? No. That tells you just how indefensible it is when even their most extreme partisans are forced to say of course not. If you got a frigging Nazi tattoo on you, you're a Nazi. And we should be not be electing Nazis to the Senate. This shouldn't be hard. And yet every single Democrat senator except John Fetterman is unwilling to say what what the CEO just said there.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Ben Ferguson]

mom, can I have Lingokids? Dad? Lingokids, please. When did we become the Lingokids house?

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

No idea.

[Ben Ferguson]

Last week it was Dinosaurs. This week it's Lingokids. Why Lingokids? Because it's the best thing ever. We can play games with astronauts, wild animals and superheroes.

[Commercial Announcer]

With more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows, LingoKids is the number one

[Ben Ferguson]

entertainment platform for young kids. So no dinosaurs and dinosaurs. Lingokids. Everything kids love. Download it for free. Professional wrestling fans, the action continues every week. You got it coming. This is total non stop action. TNA Thursday night impact every week on AMC. For showtimes and more information, visit TNA

[Ted Cruz]

wrestling.com why should you listen to Armstrong

[Ben Ferguson]

and Getty on Demand? We're not boring. A lot of news is boring and tedious. And depressing and makes you angry. You don't want to live your life like that. Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.

[Ted Cruz]

He's Joe Getty.

[Ben Ferguson]

We're Armstrong and Getty. We try to bring you the truth and help you figure out this crazy modern world. How about something about a comedic tone? We have a winner. Yes. Listen to Armstrong. You get Yeti on demand on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Turn someday into Right now with Buddy by Jake Radio Non stop workout music and expert tips 24 7. Hey, head over to iheart.com search body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight when your hardest hit. It's when things seem worst that you must not quit. Don't quit. Body by Jake Radio where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day.

[Ted Cruz]

Center. I want to move into another story that we highlighted here months ago. It's an important story about the children that were lost by the prior administration. There were kids that were let into this country. They were not vetted by with the adults that were with them. They were then given out to different people to, quote, take care of them in this country. And they disappeared. These children, many of them have been abused. Many of them have been abused sexually. Many of them been abused even in work conditions. And they were lost by the prior administration. And now luckily, many of them are being found because of what Donald Trump and the administration are doing.

[Ben Ferguson]

So perhaps the biggest lie about Joe Biden and the Democrats immigration policies is the lie that they embrace open borders because of compassion. The reality is it is precisely the opposite. The Democrats had zero compassion for the Americans who were murdered by the violent criminal illegal aliens they released. They had zero compassion for the women who were raped by the violent criminal illegal aliens they released. They had zero compassion for the kids who were brutalized and sexually assaulted by the violent criminal illegal aliens they released. Another aspect of this tragedy is specifically the kids. During four years of Joe Biden's administration, the Biden administration lost over 300,000 children.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Verdict has covered this at length. We've this is a topic we talked about throughout the Biden years, but it was staggering. And these are kids, often kids that come across the border unaccompanied. We had over 12 million illegal immigrants come into this country during the Biden years. And in many instance, you'd get a little boy, you get a little girl they'd be in government custody. And what the Biden administration would do is they would hand it over to adults that came to pick them up, but they wouldn't check to see if those adults were, were family members. They wouldn't do DNA tests to see if they're related. They'd hand them over to adults and then they simply lost them. And they would end up with, with random adults that have kids. And the Biden administration said, we don't know where they are. We, we, we have no contact for them. And, and a significant number, we don't know how many, but a significant number of those kids were put into forced child labor. A significant number of those kids were put into sex slavery. Were, were sexually abused. And no one in the Biden administration gave a. When, when Alejandro Mayorkas, who ran the Department of Homeland Security, would testify before the Senate, I would question him about it and he was defiant. Well, thankfully, one of the very top priorities the Trump administration came in with is we're going to find those kids. And they've already found over 146,000 of them. They're still looking. I want you to listen to current DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen at a press conference this week. Give a listen.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

We're going to enforce our nation's laws and we're going to right the wrongs that the Biden administration turned a blind eye to. It's because of President Trump's leadership. It's horrific to what's happening right in our own country because of four years of a blind eye that allowed unvetted sponsors to come pick up 450,000 kids on our borders. Knowing their reports, why the Biden administration was in office, their own reports was reporting that over a third of the females, regardless of age, was sexually assaulted before they made it to their border. They knew it was human traffickers that were trafficking these young kids to the border. And then they were unvetting or refusing to vet the so called sponsors and there was zero wellness checks. And they want to claim that Republicans, because we're enforcing the laws, it's inhumane somehow. What's inhumane about taking care of our kids? As a father of six with three young girls, I will do whatever I have to do. I will, I will move heaven and hell to go find these kids.

[Ted Cruz]

You know, I love the commitment there. And I want to remind people of the vote center that have taken place. The Democrats, you had 145 Democrats that vote against mandating deportation for illegal aliens who commit sex crimes. You have 160 Democrats vote against mandating deportation for illegal aliens with DUIs. You have 186 Democrats who voted against mandating deportations for illegal aliens who commit welfare fraud. And you have 190 Democrats who voted against mandating deportation for illegal aliens who harm police animals. I think it's clear Democrats have literally never met illegal alien. They're not willing to feed, protect defenders and allow to then take children and unvet them. There's nothing they won't do to have an open border policy.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, look, that. That's right. And those votes were all in this past year. If you go back to during the Biden administration In the Senate, 100%, every single Senate Democrat voted in favor of open borders over and over and over again. We would tee up the votes. I led the fight on many of these. And the Democrats straight party line would vote in favor of open borders. It was. And when you asked them about the kids, they didn't have a response. They don't dispute these figures that. They just don't talk about them. And it's, look, I want you to listen to Secretary Mullen talking about the kids they found so far and what they're. What they continue looking for.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

You know, I tell people that I haven't quit smiling since I've been secretary of Department of Homeland Security, but I have to take that back. Because when we start digging into these cases and you start hearing the absolute horrific things that took place underneath the Biden administration under true neglect at best and criminal at worst, to allow 450,000 kids to go missing throughout this country. President Trump has made it a point to go find these kids because of our partnership with HHS and doj, Department of Homeland Security, truly using the best. The best, which the Democrats sometimes want to demonize because a lot of times, this is ice, this is hsi, this is cbp. These individuals that the Democrats seem to want to defund. But because of President Trump, we finally funded them for three years. We're able to push and go find these kids. We found 146,000 kids so far. 146,000 kids. We still have nearly 300,000 missing. We're investigating reports to where some of these kids claim that they were raped six to seven hundred times. I don't care who you are, have kids. If you don't have kids. I don't care if you're liberal, you're independent, you're a Democrat, you're Republican. If you can't stand for law enforcement to go find these kids, who are you? Who are you? Every leader should understand what's going on. And do you know, we're finding the most of them sanctuary cities, because they know they're safe.

[Ted Cruz]

If you think about sex trafficking, a child center, you would go to a sanctuary city that is the safest place for you to operate. You and I have talked about this

[Ben Ferguson]

bluntly well, and it's worth explaining why. Because in a sanctuary city, you have Democrat elected officials, you have Democrat district attorneys who won't prosecute the human traffickers, who won't prosecute the sex traffickers who have decided as a political matter that their party, the Democrat party, is for open borders. You know, you remember Chris Murphy when he said on tv, the very liberal Democrat from Connecticut, he said, the people we care about most, illegal immigrants. That was his phrase, the people we care about most. And by the way, that's a lie. Also, he doesn't care about the little girls and little boys being raped and turned into sex slaves. He doesn't care about them at all. What he cares about is letting in as many illegal immigrants as possible who will then vote Democrat and keep the party in power. I want you to listen to Secretary Mullen making this point that as there were multiple reports of kids being trapped in sex slavery, no Democrat gave a damn.

[Mark Wayne Mullen]

It was being reported at the time it was happening and there was no outrage. And no one tried to hold these people accountable. And kids now have been paying for it. They've been getting raped over and over and over again because this previous administration chose not to enforce our nation's laws and protect the most vulnerable. That is shameful.

[Ted Cruz]

Six to 700 times. That is a number that I do believe should haunt everyone listening.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Look, I want you to remember when Alejandro Mayorkas testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. And I showed him the plastic bracelets, the colored bracelets that traffickers would put on every illegal they brought into this country. And they were color coded for how many thousands of dollars they owed them. And it was literally they were treating human beings like cattle. And when you stand on the border down by the Rio Grande river, you see hundreds of these in the grass. And I asked him what the colored wristbands were and his answer was, I have no idea. I've never seen them before, which, which I gotta admit, made me really angry because it means he hadn't bothered to go to the, to the border at all. He. He did not care about the children being trafficked. And I view those colored wristbands as modern day leg irons. This is slavery. Today in America and the Democrats were responsible for it. And one of the most important things the Trump administration is doing is is stopping this horrific abuse of kids that the Democrats allowed to have happen.

[Ted Cruz]

All right, Senator, I want to get into another story that is getting like no news at all. It's the reason why we love doing this show together. We get to talk about issues like that. The Green New Deal, which is the Green New Scam, has been exposed yet again for exactly what it is. And we've got some very interesting data and ties to different green scam deals that your tax dollars were involved with.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, this week the Department of the Interior announced that they were cutting off millions of dollars that were flowing to radical left wing groups that were using that money to actively fight against the Trump administration to undermine the policies they were supposed to be implementing. And, and here's how Fox News reported it Trump administration Access ties to dozens of progressive groups in quote, direct opposition to Mission Decisive Action the Department of the interior is cutting 43 partnerships with outside groups it says no longer align with the Trump administration's priorities, eliminating more than $4 million in planned funding for programs tied to DEI, Environmental justice and support services for illegal immigrants. Led by Secretary Doug Burgum, the department determined that the agreements were operating, quote, in direct opposition to its mission, according to a press release obtained by Fox News Under Secretary Burgum. The Department of the Interior is ending partnerships with groups that no longer represent the priorities of the American people, the department said. In response, DOI said it is terminating all agreements with the identifying groups and removing references to them from its websites. The terminated agreement supported internship programs, conservation initiatives, research projects and cooperative partnerships. A department wide review launched in March uncovered nearly 3,000 active agreements with about 2,000 outside groups ranging from NGOs and nonprofits to private entities and educational institutions. The review later found multiple groups, quote, did not appear to provide a clear benefit or, quote, did not align with the department's mission. According to the department, among the groups targeted were the Hispanic Access foundation, which offers scholarships for illegal immigrant Latino students, and Latino Outdoors, which the department said provided instructions on avoiding detention by ice. Latino Outdoors has advocated against oil and gas development, while Hispanic Access foundation has worked with the National Park Service to conduct a variety of educational and cultural support activities, according to the department. The department cited the American alliance of Museums, which it said had a contract with the National Park Services to build DEI programs across national parks as a part of the agency's Community Engagement Initiative. The department pointed to the group's previous facing change Initiative, which promoted DEI efforts at museums. Conservation International, an environmental group the department said advocates a total phase out of fossil fuels. The department noted the organization's statement describing fossil fuels as the, quote, leading culprit of planet warming, carbon emissions, and its support for environmental justice and equity focused climate policies. Another group on the department's list was the Cultural Landscape foundation, which it said has a master cooperative agreement with the National Park Service to conduct a variety of educational and cultural support activities. The organization has opposed several administration initiatives, including suing over changes at the Kennedy center, criticizing plans for the for the White House ballroom, and highlighting cultural landscapes and historic sites it said are threatened by administration action through its landside 2026 erasing American history initiative. And look, understand these are left wing activist groups. They're entitled to have their political views. They're entitled to disagree with the Trump administration that we are a free country and they have a free speech right to say they think everything that the Trump administration does is wrong. What they don't have is an entitlement to get taxpayer dollars to do it, to pay them to fight the Trump administration. This is a pattern. The Democrats do a lot, which is when they take over government, they begin funneling millions and sometimes billions of dollars to their left wing, supposedly nonprofit allies who then use that money to support their agenda and by the way, to hire all of them and funnel the cash. Often it is just naked corruption.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, you are making a ton of money off the money being donated. Let's be clear.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, no, it is a very lucrative business when you can turn on the spigot and you know, have as, as, as the EPA put it at the end of the Biden administration basically throwing gold bars out the window. That's how bad it was. That, that, that was the Biden administration describing what they themselves were doing. But this is a pattern, I gotta say. Normally Republican administrations are not very good at unwinding this. So, so the Democrats dump a bunch of money and when Republicans get in, typically they don't do anything about it. They don't, they don't follow the money another direction. They don't stop it. They just are typically blissfully ignorant. I'm very glad the Trump administration is going after and cutting off this cash cow.

[Ted Cruz]

Senator, you talk about the cash cow and that's obviously part of it. We saw how many lefties and friends of Obama, for example, got massive amounts of cash before they filed for bankruptcy

[Ben Ferguson]

with things like Stacey Abrams with her left wing nonprofit. Got $2 billion. With a B. Yeah, with a B.

[Ted Cruz]

So not only is this a cash cow, but then there's a second aspect of this. I, I am still a little bit surprised that Democrats are pushing the Green New scam, especially with all their deadlines that the world was going to end. Al Gore put timelines out there that obviously never happened. And yet they are still so committed to this indoctrination, this religion, the Green New Deal, the Green New scam. And, and they're making it clear coming in these midterms, we're not backing down. One, we make too much money off of it and we funnel it to our friends. But two, this is like our religion as a party look.

[Ben Ferguson]

And there's a revolving door between these supposed nonprofits, these NGOs, and a Democrat administration. And by the way, Democrat offices on Capitol Hill. And people go back and forth and back and forth and they get paid, they make money. You may remember during the Biden administration when, when I went to visit a detention facility on the border, and this was at a time when the Biden administration was locking out all reporters, would not let any reporters see the kids in cages. And, and the cages. This was during COVID The cages were packed and I went in. And by the way, the, the ludicrous explanation that the Biden administration had at the time is they said, well, if ABC's reporter or Fox News cameraman came in, they might spread Covid to the thousands of illegal immigrants housed in these cages. Well, I went in with my cell phone and filmed it and took a picture. And if you may remember, there's this young left wing woman who gets in my face and begins yelling at me and saying to stop filming him. She was someone who had come straight from a left wing, open border NGO and had come into the Biden administration to implement their open border policies. That's what happens over and over and over again. And so cutting off their money is key to stopping this constant lawfare and this constant attack.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it's a great point. Don't forget, we do this show as a podcast Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So if you're listening on radio stations, thank you for listening. Hit that subscribe or auto download button or tell Siri or Alexa you want to listen to the show. It'll do it for you automatically in the Senator and I will see you back here next week.