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Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
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Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
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Ted Cruz
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Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
It is verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And if you're listening on the radio, it's really nice to have you with us. And as a quick reminder, what you're listening to right now, we do is a podcast three days a week. So make sure you download for free wherever you get your podcast. Verdict with Ted Cruz and you can listen all week long. Center, we got a lot to talk about, including the fact that we thought you were going to be in Washington for a voterama. That could have turned into the whole weekend. That didn't happen. So what actually happened there?
Ted Cruz
Well, you're exactly right. It is right now 1:42am Friday morning. So late Thursday night, early Friday morning, I am in Texas. I just landed back at home. I'm sitting here at home in my studio here at home. By the way, studio is a euphemism. So Ben, you know, you know this. But, but let's actually expose the fancy like, like really exotic place. We record this. I am in the laundry room. Like, like, like the washing machine and dryer are four feet behind me.
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, he's not joking everybody. This is, this is, I, I, I will validate. This is actually reality. You are doing this, you're doing this show in the, in the laundry room? Yes.
Ted Cruz
So, so by the way, I, I used to have this thing set up in, in the game room. We have a game room on the third floor and there's a pool table and like a big screen TV and the kids hang out there. And then my daughters threw me out of the third floor. They're like, no, we don't want all this, this damn podcast equipment up here. Get it out of here. And, and I get relegated to the laundry room.
Ben Ferguson
To the laundry room.
Ted Cruz
And Ben, do you know what I do? I did not do this tonight, but do you know what I do at least two thirds of the time before I record the podcast in laundry room?
Ben Ferguson
So, so this goes back to my suspicion which I was about to ask and I feel like I know the answer to this question now. I feel pretty confident knowing that you have cats in your home, that there's a litter box that is in the laundry room that you then have to move to do this show. Am I right or wrong?
Ted Cruz
You are notionally right, yes. There's a Litter box. But we have not one. We have not two. We have not three cats. Now, now listen, I'm not a cat guy, but you know what I am.
Ben Ferguson
You and I agree on that, by the way.
Ted Cruz
But you know what I am? I'm a daughter.
Ben Ferguson
What are you?
Ted Cruz
I'm a daughter guy. And I have two daughters. And my eldest daughter, Caroline loves her cats. So I have not one, not two, but three. Three damn cats in the house. And if it were up to me, I'd have zero. But I adore my daughter and she loves these cats. So I've got three cats. That, that's just, that's just how it works. Because I, I'm a girl, by the way.
Ben Ferguson
That's a lot of, that's a lot of litter in the litter box in the laundry room where you're getting to do this show.
Ted Cruz
Okay? But you need to understand. So the laundry room, the litter box is there. They occasionally use it. But two thirds of the time before I record the podcast, I have to pick up piles of cat crap. Like I go to, I go to
Ben Ferguson
the bathroom so happy.
Ted Cruz
I, I get pieces of toilet paper. I just pick up hunks. Because I'm not gonna sit here and do the podcast with like a, a stinking pile of cat crap next to me. So I pick them up. Tonight was a good night. There's actually none. None tonight. This is actually, it's been a while that I haven't had to pick it
Ben Ferguson
up, but this is all, this is all of our plan just to keep you grounded and humble and just, you know, you are a senator. You're kind of a big deal.
Ted Cruz
I'm just saying people think this may be exotic and like, sexy. I'm in the laundry room, happy not to have cat crap next to me. There you go.
Ben Ferguson
I feel like you're almost wishing you were doing a votorama in Washington, D.C. right now. I feel that's, I feel like that's where we're going with this.
Ted Cruz
So in many ways I do. It's 1:46am we're going to break down, number one, why Congress, why the Senate is right now not passing funding for ICE and cbp. What happened? And I'm going to give you the inside story. I'm going to take you inside. We had a two hour meeting with the Acting Attorney General of the United States. We had some fireworks in the Senate. I'm going to take you inside that. And by the way, that's, that's one of the things this podcast does, tries to take you behind the curtain, behind the scenes to let you know what's happening in Washington. We're also going to talk about the amazing fact, and I got to say, as a Cuban American, my heart is going pitter pat, that Raul Castro has been indicted, criminally indicted, and that we may well see people showing up to arrest him. We're going to break that down. And we're also going to talk about the Democrats who are weeping. They don't like communists who are indicted.
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, it's going to be a great show. We also want to talk to you about the incredible work that's being done right now by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews and how you can get involved to help so many people in need. Right now, when we talk about Israel, we're not just talking about a place. We're talking about a people connected to a promise, a promise made by God, one he has never broken and one that continues even today because God's character doesn't change. What he begins, he sustains, what he promises, he fulfills. And that matters today, right now in Israel, families run to shelters as sirens sound. Now this isn't just a crisis. It's a call to respond. For Christians, caring for Jewish people isn't rooted in politics. It's rooted in trust in a God who keeps his word. So we don't stay distant. We step in with prayer and practical help. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is on the ground bringing food, caring for the vulnerable, and reminding people they're not alone. This is what it looks like to align your heart with God's, to pray, to show up and to care. So join us in praying for peace of Jerusalem and for the people who need it right now. Visit pray ifcj.org that's pray ifcj.org all right. So Senator, there was news this week that it was going to be a voterama. It was going to be reconciliation. Some really important issues were going to be resolved going through the Senate. And then all of a sudden it was like, never mind, everyone's going home. So explain for everyone listening right now what happened.
Ted Cruz
So what we were supposed to be doing right now, what, what I expected to be, was on the floor of the Senate at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in the morning in the midst of what's called votorama. Votorama is part of reconciliation. Now, what is reconciliation? Reconciliation is the major exception to the filibuster rule in the Senate. And it is the way. It is the way. Last year we passed the working families tax cut. It is a way to get around the Democrats obstruction. And right now we're going to use reconciliation to fund ICE and cbp because the Democrats have decided that they are radical at a level we've never seen before. I think we're living in a world where Democrats will never, ever, ever again vote to fund ICE or border enforcement. Now, that is radical. That is ridiculous, that is extreme. And yet it's where I think Democrats are. So we were getting ready to vote on reconciliation to fund border security for the next three years, for all of President Trump's presidency. That all blew up today. And instead of doing that, we had a long, long meeting. And I'm going to take you inside. So the meeting started at lunchtime and Todd Blanch, who's the acting Attorney General, showed up to explain what the administration is doing with the so called weaponization or judgment fund. There were fireworks at an epic level. And I gotta say, it's one of the roughest meetings I've seen in my entire time in the Senate. There were a lot of Republican senators who were just pissed. And there are two dynamics going on. Number one, just electorally, there are several Republican senators who are just really, really unhappy. Bill Cassidy, Republican from Louisiana, President Trump endorsed against him. He just had his primary. He had two candidates, Letlow and Fleming, running against him. Cassidy came in third, so he did not make the runoff. So it is 100% that next year Bill Cassidy will not be a senator in the United States Senate. Now, this is not subtle or rocket science. Bill Cassidy's pissed. He is angry. He's angry at the president. There are consequences when you endorse and defeat a sitting Republican president. A second Republican senator who's unhappy is Thom Tillis. Thom Tillis, Republican from North Carolina. President Trump has been extremely critical of Tillis. He pledged to defeat Tillis in his election. And so Tillis dropped out. He's not running for reelection. He's going to be gone instead. Michael Whatley is a good guy, is running for his seat, but it's an open seat now. And Tillis did it because the President came out hard against it. But that's a second Republican who's pretty damn chippy. Yeah. A third Republican who was not there for this meeting, but is my colleague John Cornyn. So John Cornyn, the senior senator from Texas, he is in the middle of his primary right now in Texas. The primary is next Tuesday. We are right now, as we speak, in the middle of early voting. So Texans are voting right now. And this week, President Trump endorsed Cornyn's primary opponent, Ken Paxton. Now, that is going to have a massive effect on the election. We talked about this in the last podcast, how President Trump's impact in each of these races had a really big impact. But, and I will say Cornyn was not there, but I think it's fair to expect, and I say this without John having expressed this, but it's fair to expect John's going to be less than thrilled. And then finally, Rand Paul. So we had a Kentucky primary with Thomas Massie. Thomas Massie is a House member. Thomas Massie is very, very closely aligned with Rand Paul. Thomas Massie is a libertarian. He's a really smart guy MIT graduate, but he is someone who, number one, has been passionately anti Israel in a way that I think has been pretty extreme. But secondly, Thomas Massie has voted against Donald Trump over and over and over again. The biggest legislative accomplishment we've had in the second term, which is the one big beautiful bill also called the Working Families Tax cut. Massie voted no, and Massie has voted no over and over and over again. I like Thomas. He's a really smart guy. He's an interesting guy. He believes in what he's saying. But President Trump is understandably pissed because Massie votes no and votes against President Trump over and over and over again. And so President Trump leaned in in a big way against Thomas Massie and beat him in a primary. Well, look, that will have its own repercussions in the House. Although actually, it doesn't make things much harder in the House because Massey was already voting no on almost everything Trump did. So presumably Massey will still vote no on almost everything Trump does. So that doesn't change the House a whole lot. But in the Senate, I'll tell you, Rand Paul, who was very, very close with Massey, was campaigning with Massey. Rand was. Now, here's the problem. I work walked through four people there. Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, Rand Paul. Those are four senators. We have a 5347 majority. If you lose four senators, you're below 50 and you can't get anything done. That is going to be a complicating factor for the rest of the year. Like those four senators, I don't envision suddenly anything becoming hunky dory. And they're being happy like that dynamic for 2026. The rest of the year, we're going to have interesting challenges. And so today at 11, we had Todd Blanche. Todd Blanche is the acting Attorney General. He came to address us. And Todd Blanche was trying to Discuss the judgment fund, the fund for weaponization. So the administration announced this week a fund that has been created that is $1,776,000,000 that is there to provide restitution, is there to provide remedies for people who are victims of the political weaponization of the Biden administration. Now, listen, you and I have talked a lot about weaponization and about accountability. I am very, very glad President Trump and the Trump administration are moving to hold people accountable, are moving to provide relief to people who were victimized by weaponization. That being said, I got to tell you, Ben, Fiery does not begin to cut it. The senators I mentioned, they were pissed, but almost every, every Republican senator was there. So my guess is they're probably 45 senators in the room. At least half of them were blasting the attorney general and they were pissed. Basically, the message they said is, you know what? We were going to pass reconciliation this week. We were going to fund all of ice, all of cbp, all of border control. And then you announced this judgment fund. And right now, here's the challenge. If John Thune had put reconciliation on the floor tonight, the Democrats would have put a bunch of amendments on the floor to unwind the judgment fund, and we would have lost every vote. And we wouldn't have lost it close. It wouldn't have been 5,149. I got to tell you, the Republican senators were pissed. People were. The entire meeting, they were screaming at the acting attorney general and he was trying to lay out the legal basis. And by the way, the legal basis is quite sound. Listen, under Joe Biden, the Department of justice, the FBI, the entire federal government was weaponized against American citizens. They use DOJ and the FBI as their storm troopers to go after their political enemies. And so you and I have been talking about for a long time, there needs to be accountability. There needs to be accountability in terms of the people that did that, but there also needs to be accountability in terms of a remedy for the people who are targeted. This week, the Department of Justice announced this judgment fund. The judgment fund would be one for $1.7 billion. I understand what they're trying to do. They're trying to provide real relief to people who are targeted by political weaponization by, by the Biden, Justice Department and FBI. Here's the problem. Number one, there were multiple senators who were yelling at the attorney general and it was not calm. It was yelling. And they were saying, this feels like self dealing. So President Trump sued the United States government. This judgment fund came out of a settlement as A result of the lawsuit between Donald Trump and the U.S. government. And there were multiple senators yelling at the Attorney General saying, this feels like self dealing. This feels like Trump cut a, cut a deal with himself. Now let me give you the Attorney General's response. And by the way, Ben, you were going on CNN because you like hanging out with communists.
Ben Ferguson
I like, I like beating the communists. I like smoking the communists.
Ted Cruz
Let's be clear about that.
Ben Ferguson
Somebody's got to fight the commies.
Ted Cruz
Yeah. So you called me tonight and you're like, all right, I'm going on cnn. What do I say about this?
Ben Ferguson
Actually, we're being totally honest. Let's be clear. I called you and I said, I need your help, I need your advice. How do I talk about this? And what, what am I. Because I knew it was going to be five against one on this issue. Right, okay.
Ted Cruz
And Ben, you and I have been doing this for years. I can't remember another time you've asked for my help. It was actually pretty stunning. I'm like, wow, this issue is bumpy. If Ben's like, what the hell do I say?
Ben Ferguson
No? Yeah. I'm like, call, you know, it's like who Wants to Be a Millionaire? It's like, call a lifeline.
Ted Cruz
Like, you were like, you were like, okay, I'm going to go be surrounded by liberals attacking me. What do I say? Yeah. Here was Todd Blanche's talking point number one, which most people don't know. Apparently, according to the agreements of this announcement, President Trump and his family are not eligible to receive funds from this fund. That's a good thing. Like in terms of the question of did they cut a deal that was self dealing and benefiting themselves if they're not eligible to receive funds from this fund, that helps. That makes it better. Secondly what they said. So there were a lot of questions about January 6th. And listen, January 6th, a lot of things happened and most of the senators, we were in the Capitol on January 6, we saw a violent rioters storm the Capitol. We were evacuated. We evacuated the Senate floor because there were violent rioters who, to be clear, were chanting hang Mike Pence, who were coming in. And there was a real era of violence that was occurring. And a lot of senators were unhappy saying, wait, are people who committed acts of violence, are people who assaulted police officers, who beat up police officers on January 6, are they about to get a check from taxpayer funds? Now, Todd Blanche was adamant and he said not just no, but hell no. And he said this was not just to one senator, this was to 3 or 5 or 10. I mean, it was over and over again. He said, no, no, no. Nobody who committed an act of violence, nobody who assaulted law enforcement is going to be eligible to receive a payment. He said, listen, this judgment fund is here for people for parents who were targeted as school boards, for people who were targeted for Catholics going to their parish who were targeted by the FBI. This fund is here for American citizens that were targeted by the weaponization of the Biden administration. Everything they said, I'm like, hooray, hooray, hooray. But I gotta tell you, people were really worked up. And they said, listen, the terms of this judgment fund. Acting Attorney General Blanch, you're telling us people have committed acts of violence are not eligible. But the announcement doesn't say that. And so that was the real divide. And here was the problem. We had planned to put reconciliation on the floor tonight. So my plan was, it is now 2:06am Texas time, 3:06am DC time. I'd expected to be on the floor of the Senate right now doing reconciliation, voting on the Democrat amendments and then funding border security. But here's the problem. The Democrats were going to introduce a bunch of amendments all focused on the judgment fund. And we were going to lose those amendment votes because of the 40 plus Republicans in the room, I'd say half of them were ready to vote with the Democrats on this. And so it was angry, it was hot. People were pissed. And there were going to be amendments like, the judgment fund cannot be used to pay people who are guilty of raping women. Now, I gotta say, look, I'm pretty darn conservative. I don't want to pay taxpayer dollars to people who are rapists. Like, there were amendments that were coming up that were going to be bumpy. And by the way, I agree with the idea of this judgment fund. I'm a big supporter of it. But the degree of the jailbreak of Republicans who were bolting, who were saying, we're going to vote with the Democrats and basically kill reconciliation because of this judgment fund. I think if the judgment fund had not been announced this week, we would be right now on the Senate floor. We'd be funding border security. And if they announced the judgment fund next week, it would have been a political issue, but it wouldn't have been the same contest. What ended up happening is Republican leadership said, look, we don't have the votes. And that ain't changing in the next 12 hours. And so they just punted. They said, you know what? We're going to vote in A week. We're all on a one week recess. So the next week I'm going to be traveling around Texas. We're all going to be in our home states and then we'll be back on June 1st. We're going to vote on border security then. Now the good news is the funding for border security is there, so it will not limit border security. But I got to say, this meeting, I felt bad. I like Todd. He's a good guy. He was the deputy Attorney General. He's now the acting ag. He was giving legal answers to the questions that were being raised, saying, look, this is a judgment fund. This follows precedent of other judgment funds. This is settling litigation. He was giving very legal answers. The anger and frustration from Republican senators was not legal. It was political. It was. You're putting us in a position that for many of the Republican senators, they were not willing to defend. Here's what's gonna happen, Ben. There's gonna be some change to this judgment fund. I don't know what it's gonna be, but it will be something that the White House and Department of justice agrees on. They're going to announce it because if nothing changes, we don't have the votes to secure our border. And it is unacceptable. It is untenable. It is, it is impossible to imagine that we will not fund border security. Look, I'm a yes. I'm a yes regardless. So. So I ain't the problem in the votes here. But I'll tell you, in the room of 45 Republicans, there were 20 no's right now. And so that's. That is a problem, the solution, what is going to happen? And I told you this when you're going on cnn, I said, I don't know exactly what will happen, but we will see the administration announcing at a minimum a modification of this because if they don't, they've got a full on revolt in the Senate.
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, it's going to be very interesting to see what this next week unfolds. And we're going to keep you up to date on it. I can promise you that. And take you behind the scenes. You can't get this anywhere, El. This is why I love doing the show because you get to hear.
Ted Cruz
By the way, Ben, is there another show that takes you inside the closed door meeting at the Senate that happened today, I don't know.
Ben Ferguson
And brings you that show from the laundry room? Let's be clear. Like this is all access, Senator. All access here. I love it.
Ted Cruz
And I got to say on this, Ben, look, normally in these fights, I stand up and I'm fighting for the president. I'm fighting for the White House. I'm fighting for us to do the right thing. This was a meeting where, frankly, there was no point. There were so many people who were pissed that it was clear you just had to give it a little while to let it play out. When you have cathartic anger, you need to let it spill out. And part of it is, as I mentioned, there are a number of Republicans who are really angry at the president because he's endorsed against them. That's going to be a challenge for the rest of the year. And so we will get this done. We will secure the border, and we're also going to deal with the abuse of power. But it's going to take a little bit of time.
Ben Ferguson
I want to take a quick moment and talk to you about an incredible organization, and it is called Compassion International and how you can get involved. Love, generosity and compassion. We say those words all the time, and they sound good, they feel good. But here's the truth. Those words don't mean anything unless they turn into action. And right now, not later today, not tomorrow, there's a child in the world who doesn't know if they'll eat, if they'll have a chance to learn, or if there's any hope at all. And while we're all busy, life keeps moving forward. But that child is waiting. This is where you come in. With Compassion International, you have the chance to change a child's future, not just with words, not with promises, but with real help that provides food, education and hope through local churches and people already in their community. Put your words into action and join me. Introduce a child to a loving heavenly father today@compassion.com that's compassion.com I want to move on to what we talked about in the last show has now become a reality, and that is Raul Castro has been indicted. This is bringing lots of celebration to the, the Cuban community down in Florida. A lot of excitement also in Cuba because of this. And we've seen some of those videos, have been able to get out of the country with limited access to the Internet there. But this is a very big moment for justice. And, and now we, we there, there couldn't be more of a, a stark difference between having a former President Barack Obama, that would sit down with this man who's now been accused of murder by the United States of America, indicted for that. He sat down with him in a baseball game, hung out with him, and now Donald Trump's like, no, no, we don't do that with bad guys. We don't negotiate with them, we indict them.
Ted Cruz
Well, forget the Cuban community in Florida. This Cuban American in Houston, Texas, in my laundry room, thankfully not surrounded by cat crap right now, is celebrating because Raul Castro has been indicted. Let me read from Fox News. Former Cuban President Raul Castro has been indicted in connection with to his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two planes operated by the Miami based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. The indictment, which a Florida grand jury returned in April, was unsealed Wednesday. Acting U.S. attorney General Todd Blanche said during an announcement in Miami on Wednesday. It charges Castro with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four separate counts of murder. The indictment stems from a February 1996 indictment in which four Americans, Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandra Jr. Mario de la Pena and Pablo Morales, were flying in civilian aircraft when Cuban military aircraft shot their planes down in international waters and killed them. The indictment alleges, according to Blanche, quote, they were unarmed civilians and were flying humanitarian missions for the rescue and protection of people from fleeing oppression across the Florida Straits. Blanche said, quote, as alleged in the indictment, Raul Castro and five co defendants participated in a conspiracy that ended with Cuban military aircraft firing missiles at those planes and killing four Americans. He continued, nations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans, kill them and not face accountability. Blanche also said. Joining Blanche announcing the indictment were United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason A. Reading Quinones, Deputy FBI Director Christopher Rea and Florida Attorney General James Utimer. Look, Raul Castro, he's in his mid-90s. He is a murdering, torturous communist bastard. Look, if there's one thing, and let me say to the folks that listen to verdict, you guys know me. If there's one thing about me I genuinely and deeply and passionately loathe communists. Communism is the most evil ideology humanity has ever created. Communism has produced more murder, more torture, more imprisonment, more poverty, more misery than any ideology in the history of our planet. Fidel Castro was an evil monster. When Fidel Castro died, I gave a floor speech saying how happy I was that Fidel Castro had moved to warmer climates. I believe Fidel Castro is burning in hell right now. His brother Raul was vicious, was responsible for much of the oppression in Cuba. He's no longer the president. He's now 94. And I am incredibly glad. I am gratified that the Trump Department of Justice has indicted him for murder. This is an evil man and this may well set sense, set the predicate just like Nicolas Maduro for the United States going in to execute this arrest warrant to arrest him. And I gotta say one of the striking.
Ben Ferguson
By the way, I had to ask you this real quick. Do you think there's a decent probability that is actually what could happen here?
Ted Cruz
50 50. Look, I think President Trump is going to ask the military, how likely are we to succeed? It depends where Raul Castro is. Could you mount a military campaign to go in and get him? I don't know how scary he is. I have zero classified information on this, so I'm not revealing anything. But I don't think President Trump will order the operation if it is unlikely to succeed. So if Castro makes a stupid decision and goes somewhere where we could get him, I think there's a real chance we go arrest him. If he is hidden underground, either figuratively or literally, where we don't know where he is, that becomes more complicated. So I don't know the answer to that, but, but I think it's a 5050 proposition right now. And I will say the contrast, if you look at the alums from the Obama administration, if you look at Ben Rhodes who was the deputy National Security advisor under Obama, he is effectively weeping. You look at Jen Psaki, Jen Psaki had Ben Rhodes on TV and they were lamenting how horrible it was that Raul Castro had been indicted. Understand when Obama was was president, he went and joined Raul Castro at a baseball game. They were palling it around, they had their arms around each other and listen, Commies like other commies. Listen. Barack Obama, when he was president, at times he pretended he was moderate. But I think as the years have gone by, it has been clear, look, there is a very real communist movement in the Democrat Party. They've got people like Graham Platner, this crazy self described communist running for Senate in Maine, the guy with the Nazi Totenkampf tattoo on his chest. Yeah, he will tell you he's a communist. Aoc Ilhan Omar, those folks, they won't quite tell you they're communists, but they're close. Al Said, who's the radical leftist running for Senate in Michigan is also pretty damn close to a communist. And listen, I believe, I think Obama is responsible for all of this. He has radicalized the Democrat Party. And so you look at, you look at the pictures and images of Obama embracing Raul Castro. Obama loved communists who were enemies of America. Obama started his presidency, one of the very first things he did, he went to the University of Cairo in Egypt and he gave a speech and he said Iran has a right. And he used the word right to nuclear technology. Now that's idiocy. That makes no sense. But all of the Obama bros are weeping right now because if you gave them a choice, who do you like more, Raul Castro, the communist, murdering, torturing evil tyrant, or Donald Trump? 100% of the Obama brothers would pick Castro over Trump and so they're all freaking out. I gotta say, karma is a bitch.
Ben Ferguson
It really is. Don't forget we do the show as a podcast three days a week. Make sure you get Verdict with Ted Cruz. Wherever you get your podcast, you can download it for free and you can also watch us on YouTube as well. If you want to watch the show, just go to Verdict with Techaroos on YouTube and you can do that. And we'll also see you back here on this radio station next weekend as well. Have a great week. Combat sports fans. This January it's the Bruise Cruise Party with fighters. Watch a bare knuckle fighting event live in the Caribbean. Plus DJs, bands and chaos at sea. Prices increase soon. Hop aboard now. Go to bkfsea.com Ever wonder how to
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Ted Cruz
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Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
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The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Episode: Chaos in DC on Reconciliation & DOJ Judgment Fund plus Raul Castro Indicted
Date: May 22, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson (with guest Sen. Ted Cruz)
Podcast by: Premiere Networks
In this episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz deliver a candid and behind-the-scenes look at dramatic developments unfolding in Washington D.C. The discussion focuses on the collapse of Senate efforts to use reconciliation to fund border security, the uproar over the Trump Administration’s newly created DOJ Judgment Fund, and the historic indictment of former Cuban President Raul Castro for murder. The hosts offer insider details from closed-door Senate meetings and share their personal reactions to the week’s political chaos and international developments.
[02:46 - 09:27]
[09:27 - 19:25]
[19:25 - 26:35]
[26:35 - 27:54]
[27:54 - 37:20]
This insider-heavy episode combines serious political analysis with colorful anecdotes and unfiltered opinion. Cruz reveals the raw political infighting in the Senate GOP that stymied critical immigration votes and sparked a revolt over the Trump Admin’s DOJ restitution fund. The historic indictment of Raul Castro is celebrated as overdue justice for Cuban-American victims and used to draw sharp contrasts between Democratic and Republican approaches to totalitarian regimes. For listeners seeking both a fly-on-the-wall view of Washington dealmaking and pointed conservative analysis, this episode delivers both substance and personality.