China Buying Farmland NEXT to U.S. Military Bases to Spy on us, plus Alvin Bragg RELEASED the anti-Israel Protestors who Took Over Columbia

Summary

Summary of "China Buying Farmland NEXT to U.S. Military Bases to Spy on us, plus Alvin Bragg RELEASED the anti-Israel Protestors who Took Over Columbia"

Released on June 24, 2024, on The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson, hosted by Ben Ferguson and featuring a conversation with Senator Ted Cruz. This episode delves into pressing national security concerns, recent legal developments, and the administration's handling of these issues.

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1. China’s Strategic Acquisition of Farmland Near U.S. Military Bases

Overview: The episode opens with a critical discussion on the alarming trend of Chinese entities purchasing farmland adjacent to U.S. military installations. Senator Ted Cruz underscores the national security threats posed by these acquisitions.

Key Points:

• Systematic Land Purchases: China has acquired farmland surrounding 19 military bases across the United States, including notable installations like Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in North Carolina, Fort Cavazos in Texas, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California, and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. (Ben Ferguson, [01:21]).
• Espionage and Surveillance Risks: These land purchases are not purely for agricultural purposes but serve as strategic reconnaissance sites. They enable the installation of surveillance technologies such as tracking systems, radar, infrared scanning, and facilitation of drone operations over military bases. (Senator Ted Cruz, [01:21]).
• Notable Investors: High-profile Chinese investors like billionaire Sun Guang Xin, who invested an estimated $110 million near Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas, and the Fufeng Group from Shandong, China, which purchased 300 acres near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, are highlighted. These investments disrupt military training operations, such as the placement of windmills that interfere with pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base. (Senator Ted Cruz, [08:30]).
• Increased Espionage Attempts: Admiral Cottle reveals a significant uptick in unauthorized attempts to access military bases, often involving individuals with passports indicating origins from adversarial nations like China and Russia. (Admiral Cottle, [13:08]).

Notable Quotes:

• "We're seeing a pattern across the country of China systematically buying farmland next to military bases... It makes us vulnerable to espionage. It makes us vulnerable to all sorts of surveillance." — Senator Ted Cruz ([01:21]).
• "This is Russian, Chinese. It comes from all these different nations. We're seeing an uptick in it." — Admiral Cottle ([13:56]).

2. Critique of Alvin Bragg’s Handling of Anti-Israel Protestors

Overview: The conversation shifts to the controversial actions of New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg concerning the release of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protestors who disrupted Columbia University.

Key Points:

• Release of Protestors: Senator Cruz criticizes Alvin Bragg for dismissing charges against violently anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protesters who stormed Columbia University, labeling Bragg as a "George Soros prosecutor" more inclined to release criminals, except high-profile figures like Donald Trump. (Ben Ferguson, [25:12]).
• Impact on Public Safety: The episode highlights a perceived surge in crime and diminished accountability in cities led by Democratic officials, contrasting this with the more stringent law enforcement approaches in Republican-led states. (Senator Ted Cruz, [28:03]).
• Political Influence and Law Enforcement: Cruz argues that Democratic leadership undermines law enforcement by supporting radical elements and refusing to prosecute violent offenders, thereby fostering an environment of chaos and reduced public safety. (Senator Ted Cruz, [29:50]).

Notable Quotes:

• "You know what? Bragg is honoring his promises." — Senator Ted Cruz ([25:12]).
• "It's about expanding chaos. This is about destroying American society." — Senator Ted Cruz ([31:27]).

3. Legal Challenges Surrounding Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Appointment

Overview: The final major topic explores the legal controversies surrounding Special Counsel Jack Smith’s appointment and the potential implications for ongoing legal actions against former President Donald Trump.

Key Points:

• Constitutional Arguments: Senator Cruz explains that former Attorney Generals Edwin Meese and Michael Mukase have filed amicus briefs challenging the legality of Jack Smith’s appointment. The crux of the argument is that Smith was appointed under a Justice Department regulation rather than a congressional statute, lacking the necessary Senate confirmation. (Senator Ted Cruz, [40:10]).
• Historical Context: The discussion references the Morrison v. Olson case, where the Supreme Court upheld the independent counsel statute 8-1, with Justice Scalia dissenting. This precedent is pivotal in understanding the current legal debate around Smith’s authority. (Senator Ted Cruz, [44:53]).
• Potential Outcomes: If Judge Cannon rules Smith’s appointment unconstitutional, it could halt the Florida case against Trump and impact the D.C. case, potentially requiring a reevaluation of Smith’s authority across all prosecutions. (Senator Ted Cruz, [46:56]).

Notable Quotes:

• "There are real arguments on the other side. But look, I think there is a possibility this argument prevails." — Senator Ted Cruz ([44:21]).
• "The independent counsel statute is no longer the law. And neither Democrats nor Republicans wanted to authorize it." — Senator Ted Cruz ([44:54]).

4. Closing Remarks and Future Considerations

Overview: Ben Ferguson concludes the episode by emphasizing the importance of these issues and encouraging listeners to stay informed and engaged. He mentions upcoming presidential debates and the significance of addressing these national security and legal challenges.

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Conclusion: This episode of The 47 Morning Update provides a thorough examination of critical national security concerns involving foreign influence near U.S. military installations, the contentious actions of a high-profile District Attorney affecting public safety, and the constitutional debates surrounding Special Counsel appointments. Through insightful dialogue with Senator Ted Cruz, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of these complex issues and their implications for American society and governance.

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This summary aims to encapsulate the essential discussions and viewpoints presented in the episode, providing a coherent narrative for those who have not listened to the original podcast.

Transcript

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[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, this is going to be a very interesting show today. And one of the most shocking topics is the Biden administration has been asleep at the wheel, apparently as China is buying up farmland at alarming rates not just in the country in general, but specifically around military bases.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, that's exactly right. We're seeing a pattern across the country of China systematically buying farmland next to military bases. 19 military bases across the country. China has acquired farmland. That makes us vulnerable to espionage. It makes us vulnerable to all sorts of surveillance. It should be completely unacceptable. We need to do a lot more to stop it. We're also going to get into what has happened in New York City. Alvin Bragg made his name by bringing this ridiculous bogus case against Donald Trump. Well, now he's making his name again by taking the violently anti Israel, pro Hamas protesters at Columbia. The protesters who broke into the building, who seized the building, who was arrested. Well, he just announced he's not going to prosecute them. He dismissed the charges against them. I have to say that should surprise virtually nobody. Alvin Bragg is a George Soros prosecutor who was elected to let criminals go. And unless your name happens to be Donald Trump, he's in the business of letting criminals go. Finally, we're going to talk about the hearing that is coming up in the federal court in Florida on the case against Donald Trump for possession of classified documents. And in Particular, the judge has scheduled a hearing on whether Jack Smith, the special prosecutor, is legally appointed, whether it is constitutional for him to serve as special counsel. There's a serious legal argument here. We're going to break it down.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it's going to be really interesting to see what happens with that case. Want to tell you first, though, about our friends over at Patriot Mobile. If you have a cell phone and your cell phone is with Big Mobile, you may be giving donations to Democratic Party candidates running in the local, state and national elections. You also may be giving donations to big liberal Democratic organizations. And you may even be giving money, without you knowing it, to Planned Parenthood. Big Mobile gives massive donations to Democratic causes and candidates and big donations year after year to Planned Parenthood. And that's why I want you to know about Patriot Mobile. I have switched to Patriot Mobile and I travel all the time and I get phenomenal coverage. In fact, worrying about coverage is no longer really a thing. You're going to use the same exact cell towers you're using right now, except you're going to be supporting conservative causes when you switch to Patriot Mobile. Because every month when you pay your bill, they take about 5% of that bill at no extra cost to you, and they give it back to conservative causes and organizations that support our first and our second amendment rights, the rights of unborn children. And they also do something else that's amazing. They support our military, our wounded warriors, our veterans, and our first responder heroes. So, you know, you're with a company that's aligned with your values. Making the switch is also easier now in 2024 than it's ever been. You can do it all now over the phone. Keep your same cell phone number, your same phone, and all you got to do is call them. 972-patriot. Use the promo code verdict. You're also going to get free activation. That's 972-patriot or [e-mail] verdict. That's patriotmobile.com verdict or 972 Patriot promo code. Verdict. You'll get free activation. Senator, we had a warning earlier this past year on China and the threat of China. It came in the unorthodox way of a really big balloon that was traveling across this country. The Biden administration allowed it to sit hover, even back up, use our cell towers to then send data back to the Communist Chinese government. And then we shot it down after it finished its mission. That was a big concern of many Americans. But now we find out about all of this farmland.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and to be clear, There were multiple Chinese spy balloons, and the Biden administration didn't bother to tell anyone about them until finally some ranchers in Montana spotted this one and they got outed on the Internet. Were it not for that, we wouldn't even know about this one. They kept it secret that the Chinese had been sending spy balloons over U.S. airspace, over U.S. military bases. They're engaged in active espionage against us. Well, this pattern is a second pattern. It's one I've been focused on for a long time, and it is a real national security threat. Here, I want you to take a look at this map. You pull up this map. This shows the Chinese farmland that they have purchased around military bases. 19 bases across this country. That includes Fort Liberty, which is what used to be Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, that includes Fort Cavazos, which is what used to be fort hood here in Texas. That includes Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California. And it includes MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. All of those. The Chinese are buying up land, and they're claiming they're buying it up for farming or ranching, but it allows them to set up reconnaissance sites. It allows them to install tracking technology, to use radar, to use infrared scanning, and to view the bases, and from there, to attempt to fly drones over the bases and engage in surveillance. And I gotta say, it is insane that we are allowing the Chinese to do this. This should be illegal. We should not allow the Chinese Communists to. To buy land anywhere near our bases. And this is an issue I've been fighting on a long time in the Senate. And at least so far, the Democrats have resisted doing anything meaningful to stop this problem.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let me ask you this. When did this become a problem that was on put on your radar screen? Because it's not like they went and bought all this land up at the exact same day at the exact same time. There should have been some warnings that went off for people in their government that, like, hey, there's a trend. Now we're seeing these Chinese companies coming in or individuals coming in, and they're specifically buying up farmland right around our military installations. You would think with an FBI that can find grandma from January 6th, they would be paying attention to things like this or even the CIA. You would think there'd be somebody at the DOD that would have been raising the red flag here, going, we've got a major problem. We gotta make sure this is stopped. And now we look at the entire US Map and all of our biggest military installations, and there is literally farmland Surrounding. I mean, I look at Fort Liberty and I was actually there and went on base last year.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yep.

[Ben Ferguson]

This area around, it's not like it's a little sliver. It's almost encompassing the entire Fort Liberty base, which is a massive base. We have farmland all around it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now look, it's an enormous problem. And you gotta remember, you gotta overlap this with the consequence of our open borders, our open borders on the southern border due to Joe Biden and the Democrats, we've seen an explosion of illegal aliens, over 11 million illegal aliens since Biden became president. But we've also seen an explosion of Chinese nationals. In 2021. How many Chinese nationals do you think crossed illegally into this country?

[Ben Ferguson]

2021. Not that many.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I would assume 342.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

How many this past year?

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm gonna guess 10x because it's Biden.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So 342. 10x would be 3420.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now 24,125.

[Ben Ferguson]

Good grief.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

24,000. Now the last I checked, 24,000 military age Chinese men marching over our border. In any normal world, that would be called an invasion. That's in one year. And they're almost all military age men. Let's talk about some of the specific people investing here are some of the known investors with ties to Communist China. One of the biggest investors in Texas is a billionaire named Sun Guang Xin. He has very deep ties to the Communist party and he spent an estimated $110 million buying up land next to Laughlin Air Force Base in Valverde County, Texas, a training ground for military pilots. I've been down to that Air Force base. When this issue really came on my radar screen was when I was down at Laughlin Air Force Base and was meeting with the leadership there and they were expressing. So what the Chinese have done is they bought a lot of the land surrounding that base and they put windmills up on it. Now why is that a problem? Because Laughlin uses that to train our pilots. And you can't train flying through windmills. It's a hazard. And what they're doing is they're chopping off major routes that are available for training our pilots. They're limiting the ability to train our pilot. And they're doing it in the name of quote, let's build some windmills here.

[Ben Ferguson]

So not only is it interfering with our military readiness and training, but then there's the other part that we discussed, which is espionage. And look, the FBI director, we talked about this on verdict a couple months ago. He came before Congress and put a very clear warning to Congress that he was very concerned about China. He was very concerned about what they're doing inside the United States of America, espionage and also what they're stealing, using hacking, et cetera. But he says they're opening up cases against Chinese individuals and having to basically monitor all of these people in this country at alarming rates that he said they can't even keep up with.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. Look, remember when Trump was president and Mike Pompeo was Secretary of State, where the FBI came in and shut down the Chinese consulate in Houston, Texas, where you and I are right now? Because the Chinese consulate they were using for espionage. It was basically a spy ring. They had cells that they were detaining and imprisoning Chinese nationals who live in Texas within the consulate. It was apparently filled with rats. It was a nasty, nasty place. But it's where they were running spies right here out of Houston, Texas. It was shut down. You know, I'll tell you, following the problem with Laughlin Air force base in 2020, I wrote a letter to then Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin calling on the Treasury Department to step in and put more protections in place. And I'll tell you, since then, the Department of Treasury has increased the protections against foreign adversaries, acquiring real estate for both Laughlin Air Force Base and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. So we've made some progress. But. But here's another group of investors, the Fufeng Group, which is a Shandong, China based company that specializes in flavor enhancers and sugar substitutes, purchased 300 acres of farmland 40 miles from the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota in 2022. Chen Tian Kuo. I'm sorry, my pronunciation is not great on that. I'm doing the best I can. He's a billionaire. He's a Chinese Communist Party member, is the second largest foreign owner of farmland in the United States. He bought nearly 200,000 acres of farmland in Oregon in 2015 at about $430 an acre. His purchase of the acreage didn't even appear in government records of land ownership by foreign investors until it was first revealed in January. And another1 mine1partners, a firm partially backed by Chinese nationals, was told to move equipment from less than 1 mile from F.E. warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, saying it was a national security risk, per the Air Force Times. Here, listen to a Navy admiral describe the scope of the problem.

[Admiral Cottle]

You know, this thing of our military bases getting penetrated by foreign nationals is happening more and more. This is something we see probably two or three times a week where we're stopping these folks at the gate.

[Ben Ferguson]

A week?

[Admiral Cottle]

A week at least. And this is just Navy alone, where we're seeing folks try to come in. And usually the COVID story is. And I'm a student, you know, I'm here, I'm an enthusiast. I want to see the ships, that type of thing. We have to turn them around. And typically, we get NCIS involved with those, and we get biometrics when possible. But, yes, there's been an uptick in that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Do they have passports?

[Unknown Speaker]

Do they have.

[Admiral Cottle]

A lot of times they have passports, they have papers, yes. But they're in no way, shape or form authorized to be on our base. And it's really hard for us to tell the underlying motive for these type of cases.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow, that's stunning.

[Admiral Cottle]

It is.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's got to be a concern.

[Admiral Cottle]

This is Russian, Chinese. It comes from old. Old. All these different nations. We're seeing an uptick in it.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, this sounds a lot like a dry run. That's what's probably so concerning. But you combine that with what they could be picking up with surveillance technology being on these bases, what they could be learning about how we fly missions, how we're doing our drops with men. If you look at 82nd Airborne, I mean, it's kind of important. It's right there at Freedom Fort Bragg. And they could be watching, monitoring, seeing everything they need to know about the US Military because they're buying up farmland, and no one seems to be paying attention to the Biden administration, and they're.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Sending Chinese nationals day after day after day to these bases, trying to make incursions here. Listen to Admiral Cottle discuss that as well.

[Ben Ferguson]

How do you overcome that?

[Admiral Cottle]

Well, you know, we are improving our capabilities to detect that, to defend against that, to make sure that our folks are trained to actually counter that. I do this under my authorities from U.S. northern Command as the component commander for that, and so I have great reporting on it. And generally, in general, we believe it's mostly just folks with drones that you buy them commercially from Amazon or whatever the case may be. But it's hard to differentiate between that and a nation state trying to. Us being sure.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I'm sure. And you got to do a lot.

[Ben Ferguson]

Of investigative work to figure out that answer.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Absolutely.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, you listen to the drone issue. We've all seen drones. We've seen how popular they become. But this is great cover for the Chinese, right? Oh, there's a bunch of people just flying around drones. Maybe we can sneak one out of every 20 in. And we can claim ignorance here, yet in reality we're getting incredible intelligence. So my question for you is this. Is it the job of the President to change or advocate or support laws that say you can't buy up land around military bases or does this fall the states. We've seen that happen in Arkansas, for example, with Governor Huckabee there, she has now said you can't buy up land. Chinese can't come in here and buy up a bunch of land. Or is it a two prong approach that we need?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So it's principally the federal government that has the responsibility here to safeguard our federal military bases. We need to do much more. I think the most effective method would be expanding the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is what's called cfius. And CFIUS jurisdiction right now over real estate investments is very limited. And what it was, the CFIUS regime was designed to counter foreign investments in U.S. businesses. And so for certain critical U.S. businesses, a foreign actor has to get approval from the CFIUS Committee to be able to make that investment. Currently, CFIUS jurisdiction for real estate purchases depends on the proximity of that land to sensitive facilities. And that proximity varies depending on the category of sensitivity for each facility. So for example, last year CFIUS reviewed a controversial purchase of 370 acres near a North Dakota Air Force base by a Chinese company. And CFIUS found that it didn't have jurisdiction because the land was 12 miles out from the base and the base sensitivity was too low to provide jurisdiction 12 miles out. I've introduced legislation called the Protecting Military Installation and Ranges act that would expand CFIUS jurisdiction for real estate investments by foreign persons out to 100 miles from any military installation.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, America's a pretty big country. 100 miles does not seem that extreme.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, when you're dealing with national security. I think this is a common sense provision. We need to get Democrats who are willing to work together on this, who recognize this is a national security threat. You know, I'll point out that. So I've introduced that bill in the last three Congresses. I fought for that bill to be included in the National Defense Authorization Act. So far, unsuccessfully. I've not been able to get that.

[Ben Ferguson]

How many Democrats in any of these states where this has happened, they've said, hey, Senator Cruz, we're on the same page here.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So what I was able to get in was in the fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, I drafted legislation that empowered the site clearinghouse to conduct a more thorough review of wind farm construction near bases. As I said, we have this problem. We have this problem with Laughlin at Air Force Base, we have the problem at Corpus Christi. And pilot training operations at Laughlin, at Dyess, at Goodfellow, at Kingsville and Corpus Christi have all been threatened by a growing number of wind farms in South Texas and West Texas. So I drafted legislation that was passed into law to put added protections to say, look, you're not going to put windmills up in a way that significantly harm the ability of training our pilots. That if you're taking away major routes that we're using for training, that's not an appropriate place to put a windmill. And so we've had some progress in that regard, but frankly, we need to do a lot more. If the president wasn't awol, a president should lead on this. I feel confident if Trump is reelected, I'll work directly with President Trump and we will get legislation enacted to address, address, and stop this problem. But with Biden, the Biden administration is just completely disengaged from it.

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[Ben Ferguson]

Just their ignorance to the issue and not caring how much of this could be compromised because of all the deals they've done and the millions have come into the Biden family China? How much of this is us just asleep at the wheel with a pre 9 11s mentality right where you don't Think that ever. That really anything bad's gonna happen where. And then all of a sudden, you trace it back, and it's like, yeah, they surrounded all of our bases. They knew what we were doing. They understood our technology. They were stealing it from us. This is the stuff that keeps me up at night thinking about, we're seeing the warning, we're witnessing the landing purchase, and we're still not doing anything.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So it's some of all of that. And there's an element of just apathy and ignorance. But there's also. We've talked before about how I think today's Democrat Party is structurally pro China, that they're major stakeholders. Big business, big tech, big Hollywood, big universities. They're all in bed with China. So today's Democrat Party is not focused on standing up to China. And this is one of the consequences, I think, really, of having a Democrat majority in the Senate is that you're unable to drive an agenda. With a Republican majority in the Senate, we can drive an agenda far more effectively. And listen, it is hard for Democrats to vote no on common sense protections that would stand up on this. But as long as the Democrats are in charge, they just avoid the votes altogether. So I think this is one of the real consequences, I believe, if in November we have a Republican president, Senate and House, we will pass legislation, hopefully my legislation that I've introduced the last three Congresses. We get that passed, which would be a big, big step to solving this problem.

[Ben Ferguson]

Final question on this. We have a presidential debate coming up this week. Yeah, I have no doubt in my mind Cenan's not gonna bring up this type of issue. Is this where a candidate should take the opportunity to bring it up? Is this where Donald Trump should take a moment and talk about, hey, Mr. President, we've got this problem. We have bases that are being surrounded. Is that a moment that he should take and bring this issue to the people?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, he could. I would be surprised if Trump puts a lot of time and energy into this because, frankly, this was a problem when Trump was president, too. So Biden. Biden could push back and say, well, you didn't stop it. And he's right. Trump didn't stop it. It's gotten worse under Biden, and I'm confident Trump will stop it the next time around. But. But I don't. Of all of the national security areas to draw distinction. I don't know that I would put this at the top of the list.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, sadly, this is the base of today's Democrat party. When you look at those vicious anti Semites, those angry young people on college campuses that hate Israel, that love Hamas, that are threatening Jewish students, that are chanting horrible Nazi slogans, telling Jews literally as they said in the University of Washington, go back to the ovens. That was a verbatim quote chanting we love Hamas, as they did at Columbia. That was a verbatim quote. We're living in an environment where today's Democrat Party wants the votes of these radicals. And so at Columbia, it got so bad that the NYPD went in and arrested a number of people, arrested 46 defendants. Well, this week, 31 of them had their charges dropped and dropped by Alvin Bragg, that same hard left, George Soros. DA Soros put millions behind electing Alvin Bragg. Alvin Bragg came in on an Agenda two part agenda. Number one, I will get Donald Trump. That's what he campaigned on. And number two, I will let criminals go. George Soros, DA's across the country come in on the promise to let murderers go, to let rapists go, not to lock violent criminals up, to let them go. And you know what? I'll say this. Bragg is honoring his promises.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's the promises that he made. But I even think many Americans saw this. And in New York, you're seeing crime out of control. You were just there. I was there. It is starting to feel like a different city than it did four, five, six years ago. And you can see it in areas that are very populated. You can see it in the crimes that we've seen committed. Even at Times Square. You see so many problems that are happening. And at what point do the American people turn and say enough is enough? Like if you look at what they were doing on these college campuses in New York City and the violence and taking over, I would assume a lot of New Yorkers would say, this is not okay.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You would assume that. But there are consequences. When you elect Democrats, I will say one of the talking points you see among some Democrats as well, this is terrible what's happening at campuses, but. But there's nothing we can do about it. And let's be clear. This is happening in New York, this is happening in Connecticut, this is happening in Pennsylvania, this is happening in New Jersey, this is happening in Massachusetts, this is happening in Illinois, this is happening in Washington state, this is happening in California. This happens in blue states that elect Democrats and put Democrats in charge. And when you elect Democrats and put Democrats in charge, when there are radicals who hate Israel, who are threatening Jewish students and chanting for Hamas, the Democrats you elected and put in charge, they support the radicals and they refuse to prosecute them, you know what? You do that in Texas, you do that in Florida, you do that in Georgia, you do that in Alabama, you will be arrested and you will be prosecuted. There is a consequence if you elect Republicans who actually believe in prosecuting criminals. You're not seeing Jewish students being threatened. You're not seeing Jewish students afraid to go to class. You know, Texas A and M. I was just at Texas A and M a week ago for the George Strait concert, which was phenomenal, by the way. What an amazing concert.

[Ben Ferguson]

Broke an attendance record, which is pretty cool. And you were one of them.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It was the largest concert in America in US history, 110,905 people. It was phenomenal. It's also the largest crowd ever at Kyle Field. Because you think about it, a football game. They don't have people on the field. Yeah, so you had the field full of chairs. Also. It was a packed crowd. You know what? Jewish students at A and M aren't afraid for their safety.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, great point.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Because if there's a pro Hamas terrorist who threatens them, they'll arrest him and they'll throw him out of school.

[Ben Ferguson]

When you look at what this prosecutor has done here and the others, part of it goes even to a bigger plan from Soros. And I think Americans need to understand this. It's about bail reform, prison reform, which means letting out violent criminals who are currently in prison. And it's about having driving the police insane. If you can't defund the police, you at least drive them to insanity where they just quit. Major cities now are watching experienced police officers walk off the job, leave, and go to other departments or get out of the field altogether because they're risking their lives to lock people up. And then Alvin Bragg immediately sets them free before they've even finished the paperwork. That's part of the bigger world of Alvin Bragg and Soros that they're trying to create, which is chaos, organized and designed to make the police just say, I'm done.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

There are two ways you abolish the police. One, you do it directly. You take over the city government, you take over whoever the controlling governmental entity is, and you shut. You defund the police, you cut off the money, you fire the police officers. That's what we've seen the radical left do. We saw the NYPD cut over a billion dollars from their budget. Sadly, we saw the Austin Police Department here in Texas cut $150 million from its police budget. We saw Minneapolis do that, by the way. Every time they do that, the crime rates go up, the murder rates go up. Amazing. When you pull cops off the street, more people die. But the other way you abolish the police is you go after the DA's you elected George Soros DA and the cops can do anything they want. They can catch the murderers, they can catch the rapists. And the DA turns around and says, nope, I'm going to let him go. And that is functionally the same thing. The cops cannot do their jobs without a DA who will prosecute. By the way, just this past week, we had. Actually, we talked about it in this last podcast. A judicial nominee from Joe Biden nominated to the Federal Court of Appeals, who had done volunteer work for a communist organization in Tennessee that had vocally called for abolishing ice, abolishing the police. And the Biden administration wants her to be a court of appeals judge. Because, by the way, another way to abolish the police is put judges on the bench that just order criminals released free. This is all about, at the end of the day, this is about expanding chaos. This is about destroying American society.

[Ben Ferguson]

Law and order.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I genuinely do not understand. I don't know how to, you know, look, in any debate, one tries to stand in the shoes of the person you're arguing. You try to understand, okay, why would someone think that? Look, you and I are both pro life. We can both understand why someone would be pro choice. There are arguments. You can understand why, in good faith, someone would get there. There are lots of arguments. You and I both think we should have low taxes. We can understand the arguments why you want the rich to pay a bigger chunk. Like, those arguments are not irrational. I am genuinely incapable of articulating the reasons why anyone would want to release more murderers to say the world would be better if more murderers, more rapists, more child molesters were on the street and out there murdering more people, raping more people, molesting more kids. I'm trying to give the benefit of the doubt, but I know of no reason to support that other than that you want to destroy society.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Am I wrong?

[Ben Ferguson]

Can you give.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I mean, play devil's advocate for a minute. Give me the argument why you're Alvin Bragg and you think the world would be better with more murderers on the street.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. There's not a logical argument there. This is where it's about remaking this country and it's about fundamentally changing this country, changing what law and order is. There's no longer right and wrong. There's no longer good and evil. There's no longer a society that's ruled by laws that are applied equally. This is about some sort of new type of country I think they want to develop. But I also think some of this is just I think they look as revenge.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and listen, all law enforcement becomes political. And here I want you to watch and listen to a really extraordinary exchange that just happened. And it's an exchange between Bill Maher.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And Andrew Cuomo, former Governor of New York, former Attorney General of New York. Here. Give a listen, give a watch.

[Bill Maher]

The trial in New York, the one he got convicted for, was the greatest fundraising bonanza ever. Yes, he is now. He was lagging behind Biden, and now he's pulled quite a bit ahead. That trial was the greatest reason people had to send their checks for 5, 10, 25, whatever dollars to Donald Trump. So I was always with you on the one in New York, the hush money trial. I don't think they should have brought that one. It was just always going to look like a sex case, and people were always just going to look at it that way.

[Unknown Speaker]

That case, the Attorney General's case in New York, frankly, should have never been brought. And if his name was not Donald Trump and he wasn't running for president from the former AG in New York, I'm telling you, that case would have never been brought. And that's what is offensive to people. And it should be. Because if there's anything left, it's belief in the justice system.

[Ben Ferguson]

Go after Trump. But everyone else that's an actual hardcore criminal in New York City, let him walk.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, I gotta say, that is the first time in my life that I've ever been quoted by Andrew Cuomo, because on this podcast, I've said multiple times, this case would never have been brought if his name were not Donald Trump. And it's indisputably correct. And look, Cuomo was governor. He was Attorney General. He is obviously a partisan Democrat. And interestingly enough, he was not just addressing. He was addressing the Alvin Bragg case, but he was also addressing Letitia James case, the case, the ridiculous case, with the wildly partisan judge who went after and is trying to get a half billion dollars out of Trump to destroy his business. Both of those cases were vindictive. Both of those cases are legally frivolous. Both of those cases will be overturned on appeal, and they were all about the weaponization of justice. Look, I'm gonna say I'm gonna give credit to both Bill Maher and Duomo. They're both Democrats, they're both outspoken Democrats, and they are among the very first to actually have the guts to call this out for what it is. That's a big deal. Listen, if Cuomo is willing to say it, you know what? There are a lot of other people who see it, even if they're scared to say it out loud, they can tell just how political, just how much garbage this is.

[Ben Ferguson]

It brings us to story number three. It's an important one, and that's the unlawful appointment argument that's been made about the special counsel, Jack Smith. I want you to walk us through this because it is complicated. And I want you to make the argument that is, why is there a possibility that this may work for Trump's legal team? They're the ones that are basically raising the argument about this special, the unlawful appointment of Jack Smith. Walk us through the argument that his legal team is making and why they're making it now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, let me start by watch and listen to how it was laid out in a TV interview with Andy McCarthy, and then we'll talk about it as soon as we listen to this.

[Andy McCarthy]

Jackie. I think it's deceptive coverage. The difference between the issue about Smith's status that's been raised in this case that distinguishes it from other cases is that prior independent counsels were appointed under a congressional statute. This independent counsel, Jack Smith, has been appointed under a Justice Department regulation. And what the Constitution says is that when you're talking about an officer of the United States carrying out these kinds of duties, either the person has to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate or has to occupy a position that Congress has established by law. So this actually is a pretty novel and important argument, which is why people like former Attorneys General Edwin Meese and Michael Mukase have filed briefs saying that Smith doesn't have adequate legal constitutional basis to proceed with this case. It's not at all a frivolous argument, and I think the rap on Judge Cannon is just ridiculous. This is a classified information case. They're very hard to get to trial. She could have satisfied the media and said, you know what? Will have an Aug. 1 trial date that everyone would have known was illusory. Instead, she's trying to move through a massive pretrial work that has to be done so that she can set a realistic trial date. And for that, she's being accused, I think, falsely, of postponing the case because she's trying to help Trump's electoral effort.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want to ask you about Meese and these others that have filed these amicus briefs, but before we do that, I want to talk to you about our incredible organization called Preborn. For two years, it has now been since Roe v. Wade was overTurned and over 65 million babies have fallen, with thousands more taken Every day Preborn honors these precious souls who never had a chance to take their first breath. Who would they have become is the question we should all ask. Every one of them was special. We lost a generation. With the abortion pill now accounting for over 63% of abortions, ending a baby's life is all too convenient. That's why every day Preborn's networks of clinics stand strong with these little defenseless babies offering love, support and a free ultrasound to introduce mothers with unplanned pregnancies to the life growing inside of them. Once a mother sees her baby and hears their heartbeat, she is twice as likely to choose life. So that's why I want you to join with me and preborn in defense of these babies. One ultrasound costs just $28 and $140 helps to rescue five babies. Now, giving is easy. You just dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250. Say the keyword baby. Or you can go online to preborn.com verdict that's preborn.com verdict. And rest assured that 100% of your tax deductible donation will actually go directly towards saving babies and mothers. That's preborn.com verdict or £250 say the keyword baby to give today. Senator, I want to get your reaction to the point he said about these briefs that were filed. They're important briefs that are being filed and yet for many Americans, they can still sound very overwhelming to understand. So what's the goal here?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, and let me say, by the way, we just played a clip from Andy McCarthy. Andy's a good friend of mine. One question I'd be interested from verdict listeners. We could certainly have Andy as a guest on this podcast. We could also have law professor Jonathan Turley as a guest on this podcast. Both of them I know very well. So if you all think those would be good guests to have a detailed discussion about these issues, let us know on Twitter. Let us know, reach out to Ben and me and let us know. And either or both of them. We could have on and it could be a very interesting discussion. Listen. So the judge in Florida has set an oral argument on the question of whether Jack Smith's appointment is legal and constitutional. And that's going to be argued by Gene Scherz and Josh Blackmon. Josh Blackmon is a law professor. Gene Scher is a very, very well respected Supreme Court litigator. Share is the name partner in Cher Jaffe. Jaffe is Eric Jaffe who clerked with me he was a Clarence Thomas clerk the same year I clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist. I've known both of them a very, very long time. Ed Meese, former Attorney General, who has brought this argument and has filed an amicus brief arguing that Jack Smith is not appointed legally. And the argument, first of all, they say there's no federal statute that establishes an Office of Special Counsel in the Department of Justice, so there's not a statutory basis for creating this role. Secondly, they argue that even if you ignore that there isn't a statute, there is also no statute authorizing the Attorney General, rather than the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint such a special counsel. The special counsel, the way it's structured right now, has more power than any of the 94 US attorneys who prosecute cases across the country. So all across the country, there are 94 U.S. attorneys. Every single one of them has been nominated by the President of the United States, and every single one of them has been confirmed by the Senate. That's the structure. When you have a prosecutor with that level of power, you go through the checks and balances. Well, Jack Smith was not confirmed by the Senate, and their authority is limited to the jurisdictions where they're appointed. So if you are confirmed to be the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, you can't prosecute someone in California. You don't have the authority to bring any case outside of whatever district you're confirmed to. Jack Smith has nationwide authority to pursue his prosecutions anywhere in the country he wants. And he's indicted Trump in two separate jurisdictions, in D.C. and in Florida. He was not nominated by the President. He was not confirmed by the Senate, and that the amicus brief argues violates the requirements of the Constitution. General Meese also acknowledges, quote, there are times when the appointment of a special counsel is appropriate, but federal statutes in the Constitution only allow such appointments through the use of existing United States attorneys. So it's worth noting there have been other special counsels, but they were sitting U.S. attorneys. So, for example, Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed as a special counsel. He was a sitting U.S. attorney. Rod Rosenstein was appointed as a special counsel. He was a sitting U.S. attorney. John Hubert was appointed as special counsel. He was a sitting U.S. attorney. John Durham was appointed as special counsel. He was a sitting U.S. attorney. Every one of them had been nominated by the President, had been confirmed by the Senate at the time of their appointments. And so what they argue is you can't just make an appointment as Attorney General and create a roving U.S. attorney with national authority greater than any U.S. attorney without the Senate having the right to engage in advice and consent. That argument.

[Ben Ferguson]

Is that a legitimate argument? I mean, you're obviously a guy that did this for a very long time in that role as a lawyer. So the question I ask you is when you hear this argument, you see names like Meese and others that are getting involved, and you hear the argument they're making. Is it a legitimate one?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It's a real argument and a serious argument. It doesn't mean it'll necessarily prevail. Doesn't mean it'll be a slam dunk. There are real arguments on the other side. But look, I think there is a possibility this argument prevails. There's a long history dealing with special counsels. And before that there was something called the Independent Council. There was a statute that allowed independent counsels to be appointed and that was created by Congress. So you'll recall Ken Starr was appointed as an independent counsel to prosecute Bill Clinton.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And at the time. So there was a case that was brought challenging the constitutionality of the independent counsel statute. It was a case called Morrison vs. Olson. The Olson was Ted Olson, who at the time was the head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice. He later became the Solicitor General of the United States under George W. Bush. Ted is a good friend. That case went to the Supreme Court, and eight to one the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the independent counsel statute. The dissent was authored by Justice Scalia. And Justice Scalia laid out an argument why having an independent counsel who is not subject to the authority of the Attorney General, not subject to the authority of the President, is contrary to Article 2 of the Constitution and exceptionally dangerous. What's interesting is the view of Scalia's dissent. A lone dissent, 8:1, I think, has been vindicated over the years. And over the decades, more and more people realize Scalia made some very effective points. So much so that when the independent council statute expired, so it was written so it would expire. I don't remember if it was 10 years or 20 years, but it had a date certain where it expired, when it expired, Congress didn't reauthorize it. So it is no longer the law. The independent counsel statute is no longer the law. And neither Democrats nor Republicans wanted to authorize it. I think Democrats were really unhappy with the job Ken Starr had done going after Bill Clinton. So they didn't want that to happen again. Republicans had seen it abused going after Republicans. And so both parties said let's let this statute expire, which means you don't have a special statute authorizing Jack Smith the way you would otherwise. So I think this is a real argument. We'll see what Judge Cannon does. But these are serious arguments that deserve to be considered seriously on the map.

[Ben Ferguson]

How do we find out?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I think we'll get a decision relatively quickly. My, my suspicion is that we'll get it within the next few months.

[Ben Ferguson]

Best case scenario for Trump, what would that look like?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, if, if Judge Cannon rules that Jack Smith is illegally appointed, that he does not have the authority to bring the case, that would, that decision presumably would be appealed, but that would permanently put on hold the case in Florida. But it would naturally have an implication on the D.C. case because Jack Smith is the prosecutor who's brought the DC Case as well. Now, technically speaking, the DC Judge would not be bound by the decision of the Florida judge. Nonetheless, how those two interact, it would become a major issue in every case. Both cases being brought by Jack Smith.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's going to be very interesting. We're going to cover it here. We'll keep you updated. Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We have a week in review for anything you may have missed on Saturday as well. So hit that subscribe or auto download button. If you're watching this episode on YouTube, make sure you hit that follow button there. So you are subscribe button so that you will not miss an episode. We do one episode typically a week on video and audio. The other ones are just on audio. So make sure that you do that as well. And grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast, on those in between days. I will keep you updated on the latest breaking news in the Senator and I will see you back here in a couple of days.

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