Dearborn 'Sad Faces' for the Ayatollah, Hezbollah Inspired Michigan Man & Democrats’ Cash Pipeline at Risk Week In Review

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode Title: Dearborn 'Sad Faces' for the Ayatollah, Hezbollah Inspired Michigan Man & Democrats’ Cash Pipeline at Risk Week In Review
Date: April 4, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson (with guest Senator Ted Cruz)
Network: Premiere Networks

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Episode Overview

This episode serves as a week-in-review, zeroing in on three explosive political stories:

1. The rhetoric and candid comments from a Michigan Senate candidate regarding the death of Iran’s ayatollah and its impact on Dearborn voters.
2. A Hezbollah-inspired terror attack on a Michigan synagogue — and the alarming lack of media coverage or political response from Democrats.
3. A developing scandal around ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s main fundraising platform, which is facing potential criminal investigation for mishandling, and possibly laundering, foreign donations.

Ferguson and Cruz dissect these issues with their trademark polemic and skepticism towards mainstream narratives, arguing that the stories reflect alarming trends in the Democratic Party and a national security crisis.

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1. Michigan Senate Candidate and the “Sad Faces” in Dearborn

Main Theme: The infiltration of Islamist sentiment and “America-hating” rhetoric in the Democratic Party

Key Discussion Points

• The Mandani Precedent
  Ferguson: “Mandani is part of a broader movement of America-hating Islamists who are taking over the Democrat Party.” (04:21)
  The episode starts by connecting the growing Islamist influence within the Democratic party to recent comments from congressional and Senate candidates.

• Abdul El-Sayed’s Leaked Comments

  • A recorded quote from Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan Senate candidate, struck both Ferguson and Cruz:

    “There are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today. So I just don’t want to comment on Khamenei, Khomeini at all. Like, I, I don’t think it’s worth…” (05:05 – El-Sayed recording)

  • Cruz and Ferguson frame this as an example of politicians pandering to what they view as dangerous sentiments within the Muslim and Arab community in Michigan.
  • Ferguson characterizes the strategy as prioritizing electoral calculous over national security:

    “They’re sad for the same reason Mandani is sad, because far too many of them are Islamists who cheer for the Islamists who want to kill Americans…” (05:31 – Ferguson)

• Pivot Tactics and Media Cynicism

  • El-Sayed’s further remarks are played, showing how he intends to avoid the Iran question by shifting topics and attacking the President:

    “Just gonna go straight to pedophilia… I should be like, pedophile president probably decides that he doesn’t like the front page news, so he decides to take us into another war.” (06:14 – El-Sayed)

  • Cruz lambasts “lying about the president” and scapegoating Israel and Jewish Americans as another component of the strategy (07:17-08:11).
  • Both hosts bemoan the mainstream media’s role:

    “The cynicism of it only works because the media is corrupt.” (06:51 – Ferguson)

• Democratic Primary Dynamics

  • Ferguson: “Attack Israel, attack the Jews. Like that is his strategy… That may be a winning strategy in a Democrat primary in Michigan.” (09:37)

• Notable Quotes

  • Cruz: “We gotta prep for taking out a murderous terrorists in Iran that says he wants to blow up and kill innocent Americans… This is a big PR nightmare for us. What are we gonna do now?” (07:29)
  • Ferguson: “The same people who…are, quote, sad that the Ayatollah who chanted death to America is no longer able to pay terrorists to kill Americans, those are the same people that when you attack Israel and attack Jews, they get excited and vote for you.” (09:37)

Timestamps:

• 04:21: Discussion of Mandani and introduction of El-Sayed story
• 05:05 – 05:31: El-Sayed’s leaked comments played
• 06:14 – 06:27: El-Sayed’s strategy pivot
• 07:17 – 08:31: More of El-Sayed’s campaign tactics discussed
• 09:37: Ferguson’s summary of Democratic base dynamics

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2. Hezbollah-Inspired Synagogue Attack in Michigan

Main Theme: Islamist terrorism within the US, inadequate media and political response, and failures of immigration/terror vetting

Key Discussion Points

• Attack Recap

  • Ben Ferguson begins by describing the attack: Ayman Ghazali, a Lebanese-born, naturalized US citizen, drove his pickup into a Michigan synagogue with the intent of mass murder.

    “He was trying to kill as young children as he could. And, and the media coverage, they referred to him as Michigan man.” (20:00)

  • Ghazali’s motives: “His brother was a commander for Hezbollah…So Hezbollah terrorist in America, unhappy that a different Hezbollah terrorist had been killed. And so he tried to kill as many children, as many Jews as possible.” (20:34)

• Media Coverage Criticized

  • Ferguson criticizes outlets for superficial or misleading reporting:

    “The attack earlier this month, this is from CNN…was a ‘Hezbollah inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community…’ The assailant, Ayman Ghazali, was a naturalized US Citizen from Lebanon.” (21:01)

• Failures in Immigration Vetting

  • Ferguson: “He was located in federal government databases as having connections to, quote, known or suspected terrorists associated with Hezbollah. Stop there for a second…Why did they allow him in? Why did they naturalize him as a citizen?” (22:23 – Ferguson)
  • Cruz and Ferguson link the attack to broader failures in Democratic policy, especially around the border and naturalization.

• Botched Gun Sale and Red Flags

  • Ghazali had been turned away by two gun shops before successfully purchasing the rifle used in the attack:

    Cruz: “That is a massive red flag…if you believe that they're drunk or high or on some sort of drug, you can refuse. And if you just have a really bad feeling, if something doesn't feel right, you can say, I'm not going to sell you a gun.” (25:46 – Cruz)

  • Raised the question of authorities/bureaucracy failing to connect red flags.

• Systemic Security Issues and Political Paralysis

  • Ferguson: “We need to get to the bottom of [immigration vetting failures]…We had the Department of Homeland Security shut down because the Democrats have defunded it.” (27:58)
  • Cruz: “Their party is the Open Borders Party. Anyone who is focused on securing the border, today’s Democrats oppose as before.” (29:38)

Timestamps:

• 19:27 – 27:02: Full attack rundown, media critique, vetting failures
• 25:27 – 27:02: Gun purchase red flags and retail practices discussion
• 27:58 – 29:38: Immigration and DHS defunding critiques

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3. ActBlue Fundraising Scandal and Threat to the Democratic Cash Pipeline

Main Theme: ActBlue under threat for possibly accepting illegal foreign money, with substantial political implications for Democrats

Key Discussion Points

• Allegations Against ActBlue

  • New York Times report: ActBlue’s own law firm, Covington & Burling, warns that the organization may have misled Congress about their efforts to prevent illegal foreign donations.

    Ferguson: “This is actually a bombshell story that that could potentially have very real consequences. It’s in the New York Times. The headline is ActBlue may have misled Congress on Vetting Foreign Donations, its lawyers warned.” (33:47)

  • Huge monetary figures: $19 billion in contributions since 2004; $1.8 billion in the last year alone.

    Cruz: “People need to understand not millions, billion dollars raised just for Democrats.” (34:25)

• Possible Criminal Exposure and Fallout

  • Internal memos suggest ActBlue’s compliance mechanisms were knowingly inadequate.

    Ferguson: “It can be alleged that ActBlue accepted and/or facilitated the acceptance of foreign national contributions into American elections… it could be alleged that these violations were knowing and willful…” (36:17)

  • Covington & Burling warned of potential criminal consequences and investigation, leading to panic and resignations at ActBlue.

• Political Ramifications

  • Most dire: A federal criminal investigation could shut ActBlue down ahead of the election, disrupting Democratic fundraising.

    Ferguson: “The biggest political consequence would be if a criminal investigation shuts down ActBlue between now and the election. Because Act Blue, if nothing else happens, Act Blue will raise billions of dollars for Democrats between now and November.” (38:15)

• “Less Than 1%” Defense – Called Out

  • Ferguson: “Less than 1% out of $19 billion is a crap ton of money, and it is illegal.” (38:15)
  • Cruz: “If ActBlue has committed criminal conduct laundering foreign money...that could be more than sufficient for the Department of Justice to shut Act Blue down. And if that money spigot is cut off from Democrat candidates in November, that has massive, massive consequences.” (39:59)

• Foreign Influence and Hypocrisy

  • The hosts argue that “foreign money” is not an abstraction, and that adversaries, from China to Russia to Iran, have a clear interest in seeing Democrats win.

    Cruz: “If you’re the Chinese, if you’re the Russians, if you’re the Iranians, if you’re the Venezuelans, if you’re the Cubans, it is objectively in your interest to have Democrats win in November. Donald Trump has made your life a living hell.” (40:42)

Timestamps:

• 32:48 – 34:30: Introduction and ActBlue law firm memos
• 36:17 – 39:59: Political, legal, and monetary stakes
• 40:42: Foreign actors and November election stakes

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Democratic strategies:

  “His strategy is simple. Attack Israel, attack the Jews…That may be a winning strategy in a Democrat primary in Michigan.” – Ferguson (09:37)

• On media coverage:

  “The cynicism of it only works because the media is corrupt.” – Ferguson (06:51)

• On vetting immigration:

  “Why the hell was this guy let in the country in the first place? Why did they allow him in? Why did they naturalize him as a citizen?” – Ferguson (22:23)

• On fundraising scandal scope:

  “Less than 1% out of $19 billion is a crap ton of money, and it is illegal.” – Ferguson (38:15)
  “That could be more than sufficient for the Department of Justice to shut Act Blue down.” – Cruz (39:59)

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Episode Takeaways

• Central Claim: The Democratic Party is increasingly influenced by radical and “anti-American” voices; security failures are worsening; and the party’s dominant fundraising platform may be on the brink of legal and operational collapse, with foreign money as the catalyst.
• Tone: Incendiary, incredulous, combative — both hosts lean heavily into rhetoric warning of conspiracies, corruption, and national decline, claiming their perspective is omitted from mainstream sources.
• Audience Value: The episode offers listeners a “behind-the-scenes” critique of both Democratic Party dysfunction and media failures — casting a stark warning for the upcoming election cycle.

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[End of summary]

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

People.

[Ben Ferguson]

Don't listen to radio ads while you're driving or making a sandwich. Your subconscious pays full attention. So relax, let it take over.

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[Ted Cruz]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz, the Weekend Review, Ben Ferguson with you. And here are some of the big stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, a Michigan candidate is now saying that in Dearborn, the people there may be sad because the ayatollah in Iran was killed. So therefore he doesn't want to talk about it. We'll have that story in a moment. Also, the synagogue attacker was attacking. Now we've learned on behalf of Hezbollah that happening in Michigan and why is the media not covering it at all? And finally, the big Democratic organization Act Blue, there's a very good chance they could be investigated. The New York Times is now reporting for what we explain it all. It's the Weekend Review and it starts right now. If you think Mandani is like a one off, you're wrong. And if you want proof of it and how concerned you should all be over these types of individuals. Let's take a look at the Michigan Senate candidate that avoids discussing Iran because, quote, there's a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad that we took out the ayatollah. Like, this is not just Mandani, folks. This is the Democratic Party growing very quickly in this.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Look, some listeners, particularly listeners who are skeptical when I said Mandani was sad the ayatollah was killed, might have said, gosh, that's too harsh. He's not really. That's putting too much. Well, Mandani is part of a broader movement of America hating Islamists who are taking over the Democrat Party. And in Michigan, you've got a candidate for U.S. senate, a guy named Abdul El Sayed. And interestingly enough, he was caught on tape strategizing what to say about the Iran war. And I'll tell you what, how about I don't put words in his mouth? Ben doesn't put words in his mouth. Let's listen to the words that came out of his own mouth. Give a listen.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This is going to Destabilize reason. I also want to remind you guys that there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today. So I just don't want to comment on Khamenei, Khomeini at all. Like, I, I don't think it's worth

[Ted Cruz]

even touching that, doesn't even want to touch this, this, this butcher and killer and murder of Americans because there's a lot of people that he wants to vote for him in Dearborn that are sad today.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, you hear his staffers. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, they all know that this is no secret. Why are the people in Dearborn sad? They're sad for the same reason Mandani is sad, because far too many of them are Islamists who cheer for the Islamists who want to kill Americans. And, you know, this Michigan Senate candidate, you know, talk about cynical. Listen to his strategy rather than talk about US national security, rather than talk about killing terrorists, rather than talk about keeping America safe. What do you think he wants to do instead? Well, again, don't take my word for it. Give a listen to his strategy rather than address U.S. national security, and I'm

[Senator Ted Cruz]

just gonna go straight to pedophilia. Frankly, I should be like, pedophile president probably decides that he doesn't like the front page news, so he decides to take us into another war. There was a time when you all were talking about America first. This seems to be to be America last.

[Ted Cruz]

There it is. Like, we're just gonna make up stuff, lie about the president and do this. And that'll be our pivot from us actually having to talk about what's happening in Iran. Because I don't want to upset the Islamists that support, you know, support the Ayatollah.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, quick question. What painting did Jeffrey Epstein have hanging in his living room in New York City?

[Ted Cruz]

It was Bill Clinton in a blue dress. Isn't that right?

[Ben Ferguson]

And red pumps. He literally had a painting of Bill Clinton on his wall. He was an original friend of Bill. Bill Clinton practically had his own seat on the LEDA Express. And yet the Democrats just scream, okay, let's just call Trump a pedophile. It's pure. But, but the cynicism of it. The cynicism of it is. Only works because the media is corrupt. Let's listen to what else this Democrat Senate candidate had to say.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Like, we have the moral high ground here. I think the more we stay out of, like, they're going to try and bait us into saying, yeah, but isn't it Justified now that they took him out.

[Ben Ferguson]

Right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And I just think that's what we

[Ben Ferguson]

got to prep for.

[Ted Cruz]

We got to prep for it. We got to prep for taking out a murderous terrorists in Iran that says he wants to blow up and kill innocent Americans who already has, and Israel. And they're like, we gotta prep for this, guys. This is a big PR nightmare for us. What are we gonna do now?

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, there is one other Democrat strategy. One, they scream pedophile and attack Trump. But there's a second Democrat strategy because if they don't want to actually talk about protecting America and killing terrorists, what they do instead is their old refuge. Well, again, listen, rather than let me characterize it, I mean, the talking about doing this in Israel's issue always just makes me a little nervous.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I figured as much. I can, I can, I can shade away from it, but when I, if I'm going to take the shot, I can't just allude to it. I got to take the whole shot. Which means that I'm going to say, look, you've got a PAC backed Congress, people who now don't want to empower Congress to step up and enforce its own prerogative.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Ask yourself who that benefits and why. Ask yourself how powerful that force is in our politics if they won't even stand up to a president who's making illegal and unjustified war. Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Making a legal war in order to distract us, you know. Yeah, yeah, I think that, I think it's, that shot is fine. I just think that it should always be coupled with the affordability argument. Like, I think the danger here is just getting too caught up in the like high level politics of it and

[Ted Cruz]

not, not spending enough time with how

[Senator Ted Cruz]

it's gonna come up with. What's her name? With Welch.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, it will.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

She's gonna be hot on this and she's gonna, she's going to debate me into the Israel stuff. And if I'm gonna take the shot, I gotta set up, I gotta set up the whole shot. That's the thing, you know what I mean? Like, look, I'm running against an APAC backed Democratic congresswoman. And you know what? Her statement was perfectly okay with this war. He should have asked us first.

[Ted Cruz]

It's amazing how much sustain he has, by the way, for Jewish people in Israel. Right? Like just, you can hear it there in his voice.

[Ben Ferguson]

His strategy is simple. Attack Israel, attack the Jews. Like that is his strategy. And you know what? In Dearborn, the same people who, as he put it, are, quote, sad that the Ayatollah who chanted death to America is no longer able to pay terrorists to kill Americans. Those are the same people that when you attack Israel and attack Jews, they get excited and vote for you. And you know, you know what's, what's really terrifying. That may be a winning strategy in a Democrat primary in Michigan. It obviously was a winning strategy in a Democrat primary in New York City. It was a winning strategy for Ilhan Omar. It was a winning strategy for aoc. It was a winning strategy for Rashida Tlaib. This is the base of the Democrat Party. And if you have any serious question about how do you protect America against radical Islamic terrorists who want to kill us. Yeah, like the Hezbollah terrorist in Michigan that we started this podcast talking about. Today's Democrat Party has nothing to say about it.

[Ted Cruz]

Nothing. I want to move to this last story. It is April 1st. April fools. But this story is not a joke. We're not Babylon being. You hear, Senator, this is actually a real story that has come out and it's amazing from the Washington Post talking about the Iran conflict, showing why energy dominance is so important. You can't make this up. I mean, wow.

[Ben Ferguson]

So this is a real editorial in the Washington Post and it's an editorial from the paper itself. It's not a guest columnist. It is entitled Three Cautionary Tales from the Iran Energy Shock. Never confuse good intentions with good planning. And here's what the Washington Post editorial board has to say. Roughly 28 million tons of liquefied natural gas have disappeared from global markets since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and damage to Qatar's export terminals. Analysts predict the shortfall could last years. While every energy importer will feel the pinch, not every one of them will feel it equally. Germany, Taiwan and California are cautionary tales. All three have had their politics shaped by green movements. And all three are more vulnerable for it. When environmentalists came to power, they forced the premature retirement of nuclear reactors, coal plants and oil refineries. They calculated that the planet's needs demanded it and that global markets would fill the gap. All three polities are now frantically reversing course. But energy sources can't be rebuilt overnight. Germany's Green Party was founded in 1980 as an anti nuclear movement. When it first entered coalition government in 1998, its price of admission was nuclear phaseout. It re entered government in 2021 in time to oversee the shuttering of Germany's last three reactors in 2023. The Greens also pioneered the phasing out of the country's coal plants that Germany sits atop 35 billion tons billion tons of lignite did not enter into their calculations. Germany bet big on solar and wind, but intermittent renewables can't ensure a consistent supply. That left LNG filling the gap. Last week, Energy Minister Katharina Reich called the nuclear shutdown, quote, a huge mistake. With spot prices for LNG sharply up, the government is now looking at restoring coal plants it retired in the past. Germany has imported nuclear generated electricity from France when squeezed. So notice the Green Party. The effect of them is to go back to coal generation and to increase pollution. All right, let's continue and see what the Washington Post has to say about Taiwan. Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party codified Anton anti nuclear dogma into its founding Charter in 1986. Its arch rival, the nationalist and at the time authoritarian Kumanting Kuomintang, wisely built nuclear power plants as part of a breakneck industrialization program. When the DPP won power in 2016, it legislated a nuclear free homeland and began retiring the country's coal plants. Phasing out coal made sense. Replacing nuclear with LNG much less so like Germany, Taiwan can't rely solely on renewables. Taiwan has virtually no domestic fossil fuels and without nuclear, it has to import 97% of its energy by sea. Last week, the DPP reversed course and announced plans to restart the reactors. All right, how about the People's Republic of California led by comrade Gavin Newsom? In California, environmental regulations have achieved something remarkable. They have severed the state's gasoline market from the rest of the country. Unique fuel blend mandates mean no other state's gasoline is compatible with California's other onerous regulations. Emission fines, profit caps, drilling restrictions have driven refiners out. And there are no inbound pipelines for crude or refined products. Now gas is approaching $6 a gallon.

[Ted Cruz]

Yep.

[Ben Ferguson]

With no domestic replacement, California became dependent on gasoline imports from Asian refineries which are now cutting shipments because the Strait of Hormuz is closed. As Chevron's refining chief Andy Waltz recently put it, quote, the California intent to offshore carbon to other nations has offshored their security of supply. Chevron has warned that it could leave California entirely within a decade unless regulations change. By the way, Chevron was a California company. They moved to Texas in the last year because the California loonies drove them out. Yeah, and here's what the Washington Post closes with the error in Germany, Taiwan and California was confusing good intentions with good planning. And assuming a stable global energy market would always be there to paper over the difference. The Iran war shows it won't. The governments best situated to weather this energy shock are not the greenest, but the ones that treated energy as a national security interest and diversified their supply responsibly. I'm going to say something I don't know that I've ever said before. I agree wholeheartedly with the Washington Post.

[Ted Cruz]

Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ted Cruz]

GetSunday.com now on to story number two. All right, Senator, so let's get to this first big story here, and this is one of the ones that concerns me so much about what is happening in this country right now. We've also seen this happen in Europe. And we are now seeing that there are more attacks. We're seeing churches that are being burned around the world. And we're now seeing this synagogue attacker that attacked on behalf of Hezbollah. It happened right here in Michigan. We know a lot more now than we did before.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. You remember when this story broke when the man drove his truck into the synagogue that was also a school. There were over 100 kids there. He was trying to kill as young children as he could. And, and the media coverage, they referred to him as Michigan man. It was, it was reminiscent of Maryland man. The guy who was the MS.13, gang banger and human trafficker. That was just a Maryland man who for some reason was deported. No one could imagine why. Well, here it was Michigan man. And then they had all this sympathetic coverage. Michigan man was, was upset that his brother had been killed in the Middle East. What they didn't mention is his brother was a commander for Hezbollah, and so he was a terrorist. So Hezbollah terrorist in America, unhappy that a different Hezbollah terrorist had been killed. And so he tried to kill as many children, as many Jews as possible. Here. Here are the details. The attack earlier this month, this is from cnn, on a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, was a, quote, Hezbollah inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan. The FBI said a news conference on Monday, the assailant, Ayman Ghazali, was a naturalized US Citizen from Lebanon. Now, put a pin in that, that we need to change our vetting for naturalized citizens. Yeah, he rammed a Pickup truck into the synagogue on March 12 as more than 100 children were attending school inside. After waiting in the synagogue's parking lot for more than two hours, authorities said Ghazali drove the truck far into the building, hitting a security officer. Before the vehicle became wedged in a hallway. Security officers for the synagogue began exchanging gunfire with Ghazali, who eventually shot and killed himself inside the truck. During the chaos, the truck's engine compartment caught fire and caused extension extensive damage to the building. The truck was filled with over $2,000 of commercial grade fireworks and about 35 gallons of gasoline, which he used to enhance the explosion. No one else was killed. One of the temple's lead security officers was injured after being hit by the vehicle. Had he lived, he would have been charged with providing material support to Hezbollah, the Iranian backed terrorist group in Lebanon, said Jerome Gorgon, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Gorgon added that Ghazali was inspired by Hezbollah propaganda to carry out the attack. Quote, this man acted under Hezbollah's direction and control. He intended to kill others, not just himself. In the days after the attack, US Officials said Ghazali was located in federal government databases as having connections to, quote, known or suspected terrorists associated with Hezbollah. Stop there for a second. So they searched the databases. The databases showed that he had connections to known or suspected terrorists. Then why the hell was this guy letting the country in the first place? Why did they allow him in? Why did they naturalize him as a citizen? I have a feeling that information in the databases didn't magically appear in the last 15 months. It's been there a long time. It's just prior administrations didn't care. We need to get to the bottom of that. A week prior to the attack, members of Ghazali's family in Lebanon, including two brothers, were killed in an Israeli airstrike as the US And Israel entered its second week of conflict with Iran. Now, this is where the media clutched their pearls. Well, his brother was killed. So naturally, when your brother's killed, what you do is try to murder a hundred kids. That's that. That's the normal reaction to that. But then here's the killer paragraph that follows. The Israeli. Israeli military said one of the brothers, Ibrahim Mohammed Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander in charge of managing weapons operations in the Iranian proxy group's batter unit. Ghazali began planning for the attack days earlier, the FBI said. With his plans intensifying on March 9, a review of Ghazali's online activity dating to January. January was before the war in Iran started showed repeated searches for pro Hezbollah and Iranian news outlets, as well as videos related to gunfire and ammunition. Beginning March 9, the FBI said he closely followed speeches and live coverage involving Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem, along with reporting about an Iranian fatwa, a religious ruling concerning Islamic law calling for total jihad against the US Military. He also researched Jewish cultural education and religious centers throughout the Detroit metro area, viewing multiple pages of upcoming events at Temple Israel and search specific terms and phrases such as, quote, the largest gathering of Israelis in Michigan Orthodox synagogues and Israelis near me that day. After two people declined to sell him a weapon, Ghazali bought an AR15 style rifle, 10 magazines and about 300 rounds of ammunition at a gun store in Dearborn Heights, Runyon said. Now, it's interesting that two stores declined to sell it to him, and yet the one in Dearborn was willing to. I think that's something else. You've owned a gun store.

[Ted Cruz]

I was going to say that is a massive red flag. Like, if you turn down somebody and there's two stores, they clearly like, were doing their jobs, by the way, gun stores.

[Ben Ferguson]

And so tell us as someone who's owned a gun store, like, like this guy goes in and says, I want to buy an ar. Why would, why would a gun store say no?

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, there's a couple of reasons. One, you profile and you can see if someone seems angry or agitated. You can also, you're supposed to be looking to see if an individual you think is doing a straw purchase, which means they're buying for someone else illegally. Uh, you'll see that happen a lot of times with wives that will come in, their husband would be a felon or someone that's disqualified from only a weapon or a friend will come in. We, we. You'll see people that walk in the store, they'll look at a gun, they'll take a picture of it, they'll leave, and then literally 30 seconds later, a minute later, someone comes in and tries to buy the exact gun that you just showed to someone else. Like, there's multiple things that you look for here. But then there's also conversations if, if you see that someone comes in and, and, and by the way, if you believe that they're drunk or high or on some sort of drug, you can refuse. And if you just have a really bad feeling, if something doesn't feel right, you can say, I'm not going to sell you a gun. And you have the rise of store owner to do that. But when you hear that two gun stores did this, that says. And most. Yeah, that says a lot because something there I would love to see and go back and, and, and hear, because I'm sure there's going to be an interview. What was it? And then were the authorities alerted to this? And yet a third store was able to sell them the gun. They didn't check in on that afterwards. That also is very concerning.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. The story continues. He practiced shooting the new weapon the next day and bought the fireworks. An order of dozens of water containers arrived on the 11th day before the attack, and he immediately started filling them with gasoline, making four trips to gas stations so he would not arouse suspicion. He also bought two torch lighters, which authorities believed he used to set his truck on fire. On the day of the attack, Ghazali sent his sister, who authorities believe lives in Lebanon, numerous videos and messages, quote, affirming his Hezbollah inspired ideology. Ten minutes before he drove his truck into the synagogue, Ghazali sent his sister two videos in Arabic indicating that he was at the largest gathering of Israelis in the state of Michigan, had booby trapped his car and would forcibly enter and start shooting people. The FBI said, God willing, I will kill as many of them as I possibly can. Gazali recorded himself saying, according to Runyon. Look, these are the kind of threats we're facing. By the way, this podcast covered when the Iranian fatwa went out, and we have covered at length the radical Islamic terrorists that the Biden administration allowed to flood into this country and the lack of vetting. And tragically, all of this happened at the same time. We had the Department of Homeland Security shut down because the Democrats have defunded it. And I'm sorry to say this guy is not the last radical Islamic terrorist left in the country. And yet Senate Democrats do not seem to care at all.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, let's go back in time just a little bit to remind people this was part of what President Trump had said we need to do, which was to go back into vet.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes.

[Ted Cruz]

Can you give an update on that? And is some of that vetting stopped because of DHS lack of funding and all these fights and the government shutdowns that have happened.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, some, some of that vetting would be happening at the State Department, some of it would be happening at dhs. And, and so I don't know the status of that vetting. We have not gotten a report. We obviously have a brand new Secretary of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen. By the way, I will point out Every Democrat but two voted against confirming him. So their position is they don't want a secretary of dhs. And by the way, they all like Mark Wayne. He was a colleague in the Senate. They knew him. He was well liked on both sides of the aisle. It was not personal. They wouldn't vote to confirm Bugs Bunny as head of dhs. Their party is the Open Borders Party. Anyone who is focused on securing the border, today's Democrats oppose as before.

[Ted Cruz]

If you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Ted Cruz]

I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed. All right, center. There was something very interesting that happened this week. No one was really covering it. The New York Times, however, did report on this that that radical leftist organization Act Blue may have misled Congress on, and I'm quoting here, vetting foreign donations. Its lawyers said. So just to be clear, another example of Democrats taking foreign interference, something I thought they were totally against in our elections and in our laws. But yeah, not on this one. Apparently foreign dollars coming in and they may not have vetted the money at all.

[Ben Ferguson]

So in a shocking development, rain fell upwards, fish began flying, birds began swimming. Yes, and the New York Times actually reported news.

[Ted Cruz]

Do we do a golf club for that? Like Little Masters Golf Club?

[Ben Ferguson]

It is shocking, this story and this is actually a bombshell story that that could potentially have very real consequences. It's in the New York Times. The headline is ActBlue may have misled Congress on Vetting Foreign Donations, its lawyers warned. So understand the source of this is Covington and Burling, which is a blue chip law firm in D.C. where Joe Biden's former White House counsel was the lawyer for Act Blue. And Act Blue is a powerhouse. It has raised billions and billions of dollars for Democrats on the say that again.

[Ted Cruz]

People need to understand not millions billion dollars raids just for Democrats.

[Ben Ferguson]

They flood money and they have all of these donors or their credit card information is set in there on auto contribute month after month after month and it just floods cash. Now here's what the New York Times reported. The Democratic fundraising group is facing investigations from the Justice Department and congressional Republicans ahead of midterm elections in early 2025, a law firm working for ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising behemoth, delivered the organization a startling warning. The firm concluded that ActBlue's chief executive had given a potentially misleading response to congressional Republican investigators in a 2023 letter explaining how the organization vetted donations to ensure that they were not illegally coming from foreign citizens. Quote, this presents a substantial risk for Act Blue, the law firm Covington and Burling wrote in one of the two memos. One memo raised the specter of criminal investigation of prosecutors believe that Act Blue had tried to conceal facts about its efforts to prevent foreign contributions. The memos instigated a meltdown at the highest levels of Act Blue, one of the Democratic Party's most vital financial organs. A series of top officials resigned in quick succession. Act Blue is now all but declaring war on its past lawyers. An extraordinary turn of events at a moment when President Trump has already ordered a Justice Department investigation into the organization. Democrats are nervous that any additional upheaval at ActBlue could destabilize the critical fundraising apparatus ahead of the midterm elections. All levels of Democratic candidates, from incumbent presidents to school board aspirants, use ActBlue to raise campaign money from online donors the platform has processed. Get this number. Nearly 19 billion with a B billion dollars in contributions since its founding in 20 2004. Building a donor database with millions of credit card numbers that is unmatched in American politics. Nearly 23,000 candidates and groups used the site in 2025. In one year, nearly 23,000 candidates and groups and raised almost $1.8 billion from 52 million contributions, some of which recur every month. And what is striking is the Covington memos said, and here's the really killer sentence, quote, it can be alleged that ActBlue accepted and or facilitated the acceptance of foreign national contributions into American elections. In addition, because ActBlue staff was aware that its system was not as robust as necessary, it could be alleged that these violations were knowing and willful, a standard that both increases the penalties the FEC might seek and gives the Justice Department jurisdiction for a potential criminal investigation. This is a big, big deal.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. When you say big deal and I'M I'm a pessimist now, like a lot of people. And, and every time we see something like this happen, then it's like, all right, well, is there going to be people that go to jail and be arrested? And then it seems like nothing ever happens. So when you say this is a big, big deal, are you saying that there could actually genuinely be people that get in trouble for this, or is it just gonna be like some little fine and we move on, or even nothing at all?

[Ben Ferguson]

Look, there could be people criminally prosecuted. There could be people going to jail, but that's not really the biggest consequence. The biggest consequence is if there's a criminal investigation. And this is, this is Covington and Burling, a big Democrat law firm that was the lawyer for ActBlue telling them, Holy crap, you guys have screwed up and you've got real exposure. And then this is the New York Times, the official mouthpiece for the Democrats, reporting on it. The biggest political consequence would be if a criminal investigation shuts down Act Blue between now and the election. Because Act Blue, if nothing else happens, Act Blue will raise billions of dollars for Democrats between now and November. And by the way, Act Blues defense, one of their defense is, well, well, we, we, we, we. Less than 1% of contributions in 2024 were from foreign countries. Well, less than 1% out of $19 billion is a crap ton of money, and it is illegal. And that dynamic. And I'll give you some other, other stats. So here, here's something Greg Price tweeted. With all the headwinds facing the gop, national Democrat groups have a serious fundraising problem going into the midterm. The DNC currently has more debt than cash on hand, while the RRNC has over $100 million on hand. The SLF, CLF, NRCC, and NRSC, which are all the different committees on the Republican side, all have more cash than their Democrat counterparts. And now this. With ActBlue, the Democrat crown jewel of their fundraising, the big, big political consequence. If ActBlue has committed criminal conduct laundering foreign money into American elections, and if they actively covered it up, which is what Covington and Burling suggest there's evidence of, that could be more than sufficient for the Department of Justice to shut Act Blue down. And if that money spigot is cut off from Democrat candidates in November, that has massive, massive consequences.

[Ted Cruz]

And it shuts off the foreign money. Right. That's also another big part of this. And so even if they try to morph into a new group, right, people.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, look, the foreign money is not just some hypothetical specter. If you're the fact that if you're the Chinese, if you're the Russians, if you're the Iranians, if you're the Venezuelans, if you're the Cubans, it is objectively in your interest to have Democrats win in November. Donald Trump has made your life a living hell. And so you want Congress to declare war on President Trump. You want a Democrat House and Senate that impeaches the president, that investigates the president, that prevents the President from doing what he's done to the enemies of America.

[Ted Cruz]

As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards. I'd love to have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here on Monday morning.

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

People.

[Ben Ferguson]

Don't listen to radio ads while you're driving or making a sandwich. Your subconscious pays full attention, so relax. Let it take over.

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