FBI Stonewalls Congress, White House Covers up Cocaine Culprit, & BIG WIN for Texas

Summary

Podcast Summary: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson Episode: FBI Stonewalls Congress, White House Covers up Cocaine Culprit, & BIG WIN for Texas
Release Date: July 14, 2023
Host: Ben Ferguson
Published by: Premiere Networks

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Introduction

In the July 14, 2023 episode of The 47 Morning Update, host Ben Ferguson engages in a comprehensive discussion with Senator Ted Cruz, addressing pressing political and national issues. The conversation delves into the FBI's recent interactions with Congress, alleged misconduct within the White House, and a significant legislative victory for Texas. This summary captures the essence of their dialogue, highlighting key points, notable quotes, and the implications of each topic.

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1. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Victory for Texas

Key Discussion: Senator Cruz outlines a major legislative success achieved in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which directly benefits Texas' commerce with Mexico. The focus is on streamlining the approval process for new bridges over the Rio Grande, a critical infrastructure component for facilitating trade.

Notable Points:

• Economic Impact: Texas trades approximately $800 billion worth of goods and services annually with Mexico, utilizing multiple bridges over the Rio Grande for transport.
• Biden Administration's Policy Change: The current administration has imposed stricter requirements, delaying bridge projects by requiring full environmental reviews before issuing presidential permits—a shift from the previous administration’s approach.
• Legislative Amendment: Cruz successfully introduced an amendment that allows presidential permits to be issued prior to the completion of environmental reviews, thus expediting bridge construction.

Notable Quotes:

• Senator Ted Cruz [00:45]: "This makes zero sense. And so for months, I have been working, leaning on the Biden administration to change this policy."
• Senator Ted Cruz [08:41]: "This is good for Texas in terms of jobs. That has the potential to produce thousands of high paying jobs."

Implications: The bipartisan support for Cruz's amendment signifies a unified congressional front to prioritize economic growth and job creation in Texas. By removing bureaucratic hurdles, the legislation is expected to enhance trade efficiency, lower consumer costs, and contribute to national security by reducing dependency on Chinese manufacturing through strengthened U.S.-Mexico trade relations.

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2. Christopher Wray's Testimony and FBI's Partisanship

Key Discussion: The conversation shifts to the FBI Director Christopher Wray’s recent testimony before Congress, where Senator Cruz critiques Wray's leadership and the agency's alleged politicization.

Notable Points:

• Performance Evaluation: Cruz harshly rates Wray with an "F minus," citing the FBI's failure to depoliticize and its aggressive stance against conservative groups.
• Allegations of Bias: Examples include the FBI labeling pro-life Catholics as extremists and the high-profile arrest of Mark Hauck, a father who defended his child outside an abortion facility.
• Stonewalling Congress: Cruz accuses the FBI of obstructing congressional investigations, particularly concerning allegations of corruption involving President Biden and his son Hunter.

Notable Quotes:

• Senator Ted Cruz [15:49]: "I'd give him an F minus because he has utterly failed to correct the rabid partisanship and the deep politicization of the FBI."
• Senator Ted Cruz [22:49]: "There is a contempt for the American people."

Implications: Cruz's criticism underscores a growing tension between the FBI and certain members of Congress, particularly Republicans who argue that the agency is being used as a political tool against conservatives. The allegations of partisanship and obstruction raise questions about the FBI's impartiality and its role in upholding justice without political influence.

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3. White House Drug Use Allegations

Key Discussion: Senator Cruz addresses recent reports of cocaine and marijuana found within the White House, criticizing the administration's handling and transparency regarding these incidents.

Notable Points:

• Drug Findings: The Secret Service confirmed the presence of cocaine and marijuana in the White House, sparking controversy and criticism of the administration's oversight.
• Political Reactions: Democratic Representative Raskin downplayed the findings, suggesting they are not a significant concern, while Cruz condemns the lack of accountability.
• Media Response: Cruz highlights the media's dismissal of the issue as a conspiracy theory, contrasting the public's potential reaction if similar incidents occurred under the Trump administration.

Notable Quotes:

• Representative Raskin [39:16]: "I'm satisfied that the Secret Service and the White House are on top of it."
• Senator Ted Cruz [40:05]: "This White House applies no ethical standards to itself."
• Senator Ted Cruz [47:16]: "It is a fact that a bag of cocaine was found in the west wing of the White House."

Implications: The discovery of illegal drugs in the White House raises serious concerns about security and ethical standards within the highest levels of government. Cruz’s staunch criticism reflects broader Republican frustrations with the Biden administration, accusing it of hypocrisy and negligence. The issue also highlights potential vulnerabilities in White House security protocols and the administration's prioritization of maintaining image over addressing substantive misconduct.

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Conclusion

In this episode of The 47 Morning Update, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz engage in a robust analysis of significant political developments impacting national security, legislative processes, and executive accountability. From securing a pivotal legislative victory for Texas to scrutinizing the FBI's partisan actions and questioning the White House's ethical standards, the discussion underscores the deep political divides and the ongoing battle over transparency and governance in the United States.

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Disclaimer: This summary is a synthesis of the podcast episode's content based on the provided transcript and is intended for informational purposes only.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is a verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, we've got a lot to talk about, including Christopher Wray being grilled in front of the House side of Congress. And there were some very awkward responses from him. We're going to break all that down for everybody listening. Plus, we don't just have cocaine at the White House. We've got other illegal drugs that have now been disclosed. But don't worry, we're never going to find any of these people apparently. We'll give you an update on that. But before we get to that, Senator, there's a bit victory that took place in the Foreign Relations Committee that's going to have a huge impact on commerce, not just in this country, but specifically as well with Texas. Talk about this victory and what it means.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, that's exactly right. It was a massive victory that we won yesterday for the state of Texas before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And it concerns commerce and trade with Mexico. So Texas engages in a massive amount of trade with the nation of Mexico. About $800 billion a year is the value of the goods and services that travel north and south across the border to Mexico. And much of that travels over bridges that cross the Rio Grande and that you have trucks and cars that are driving across the Rio Grande either north from Mexico to Texas or south from Texas to Mexico. And there's an enormous amount of, whether it's agricultural trade and commerce or manufacturing trade and commerce or auto parts, it's just a massive volume. The Biden administration bizarrely has been doing everything it can to slow walk new bridges across the Rio Grande, new bridges to Mexico, and in particular in south Texas, there are four bridges that are that are trying to be either built or expanded, bridges that would allow more traffic, more trucks, more cars to travel and more commerce to travel. And the Biden administration has been putting unnecessary bureaucratic roadblocks in the way of doing so. In particular, if you want to build a bridge anywhere in the state of Texas, anywhere in another state, you can do so. And you don't need a special permit from the White House. If you want to build a bridge across an interstate border, there's a federal law that says you have to get a permit from the president of the United States because it's crossing a border. Now the process used to be, and this is what the Trump White House did, that the president would grant that permit for a new bridge or an expansion of a bridge across the border and the president would grant that permit conditional on completing the environmental review that is required for every bridge that's built in this country. Anywhere you're building a bridge, you have to do under a statute called nepa, an environmental review. And so the way President Trump would do this, he'd approve the bridge, but you'd still have to complete the environmental review on the back end before you built the bridge. Biden came into office and he implemented a new rule that made no sense whatsoever. And his new rule was that the presidential permit would not be issued until all of the environmental review was completed. And the problem is that actually delays these bridges by years, two to three years. It pushes them back. And there's an even bigger problem, which is that the groups that are building these bridges are having a difficult time getting financing because the financing doesn't want to commit until after the presidential permit is granted. And the presidential permit won't be granted until after the environmental review is complete. And so it's delaying the projects dramatically. This makes zero sense. And so for months, I have been working, leaning on the Biden administration to change this policy. I have raised this directly and repeatedly with the White House. I've raised this directly and repeatedly with the Department of State. I've raised this directly and repeatedly with, with the Secretary of Transportation. And I worked to bring together a bipartisan coalition in South Texas, and in particular to get every member of Congress from South Texas, both Democrats and Republicans, all united behind this issue, behind building the bridges. And so I drafted a letter to Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and it was signed by all four of the Rio Grande Valley Congressman. It was signed by Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat, was signed by Monica Dela Cruz, a Republican. It was signed by Henry Cuellar, a Democrat. It was signed by Tony Gonzalez, a Republican. And so all four of them signed my letter, and John Cornyn signed the letter. And so we had complete bipartisan agreement. And even so, the Biden administration continued to slow walk these bridges. Well, yesterday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I filed an amendment to the Department of State authorization. And the amendment would dramatically streamline the approval of these bridges. And in particular, it directs the White House and it directs the State Department not to delay the presidential permit until after the NEPA review is concluded. And so it forces them to decide and issue the presidential permit and then move forward. And the environmental review occurs as it does ordinarily for any other bridge. Well, it was initially a battle, and it went round and round and round. And there were initially Democrats who were fighting me on this. And yet yesterday afternoon, I ended up getting the support of both Democrats and Republicans on the committee, and it was voted into the bill. So the amendment is now adopted with big bipartisan support. And the next step is that the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are trying to attach the entire bill, the Senate, the State authorization bill, to the National Defense Authorization act, which is right now moving in the Senate Armed Services Committee. The reason for that is every year Congress passes the ndaa, the National Defense Authorization act, and it is often a vehicle for passing legislation because it's considered must pass legislation. And so we ended up with a big, big victory that for two and a half years the Biden administration had been stiff arming Texas and hurting the people of South Texas. And we got this amendment adopted, which if it goes forward and gets signed into law, and I think it will be, it will speed up these bridges by several years. Ben, that's good for South Texas in terms of jobs. That has the potential to produce thousands of high paying jobs. It's good for Texas farmers, it's good for Texas ranchers, it's good for Texas small businesses and manufacturers. And I'll tell you the amazing thing. Not only is this good for jobs and commerce and farmers and manufacturing, it's also very good for the environment. Because right now, let's take the city of Laredo. Laredo is the single largest land port in the United States. A massive amount of commerce flows through Laredo each and every day. Right now, if you go down to the bridge in Laredo, it's a massive bridge and there are hundreds, Sometimes thousands of 18 wheelers backed up waiting to cross the bridge. And they can sit there 2, 3, 4, 5 hours just sitting there spewing out pollution, just sitting there doing nothing. One of the bridges that's going to be expanded is that big, that main bridge, that the proposal is to add eight new lanes to that bridge. Doing that will dramatically speed up commerce across that bridge. And that's good for the environment. No one wants hundreds or thousands of 18 wheelers sitting there idling and just spewing pollution into the air. And so this is good all around. The Biden administration's policy made no sense. But I'll tell you, it was a hard fought battle and one that I was really pleased to see. A lot of allies came together. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce came and supported my amendment, supported my effort, and it was a big win in Senate Foreign Relations.

[Ben Ferguson]

You mentioned that this was bipartisan as well at the end. And did that shock the White House how bipartisan this became? As you mentioned there at the end. Because this. What was. I mean, the politics behind this was this just a stick it to Texas, a border state. And that's the reason why they made the change. The beginning. Obviously you said it didn't make sense why they did this, but what was their reason for doing it? Was it solely political? And then when it became bipartisan, that's how you're gonna overcome it?

[Ted Cruz]

You know, I actually think it was more mundane than that. I had a former boss who used to say, never blame on malice. What can be explained with incompetence. I think there's a lot of wisdom to this. What I think happened is I think there was some 26 year old knucklehead either at the Department of State or the, or the White House who just is a Green New Deal zealot. And they said, nope, we're not approving anything till all the environmental review is done. And it just was sort of a knee jerk. No, no, no. But it never made any sense. And I have to tell you, when I explained it to people, you know, Pete Buttigieg sat in my office, when I explained it to him, his reaction was, that doesn't make any sense at all. Now, the Department of Transportation doesn't have a formal role in this process, but he offered his help to try to get it fixed. And so what I decided to do and what I explained to the White House, what I explained to the State Department is I said, this is a massive priority for me because this is a massive priority for Texas. And I said, I'm a big believer in carrot and stick. And so I'm gonna continue ratcheting up the pressure, and I'm gonna ratchet it up higher and higher and higher, and I'm gonna make it more and more unpleasant until you change these policies. And that's the one thing the Biden administration responds to. And so in particular, I'd placed a hold on a number of State Department nominees. And I said, I'm not gonna let these go through unless and until you fix this problem and stop putting idiotic roadblocks in the way of these. These four bridges in Texas. Part of the way we got this done yesterday is the State Department desperately wanted these holds lifted. And State asked, well, gosh, if we agree to go along with this, will you lift the holds? And I said, sure. Of course, the whole point of the holds is to get you to change the policy. And so State, at the end of the day, was willing, willing to go along with it, which in turn is what led the Democrats on The committee to agree to it as well is that state wanted me to end the holds that I had put in place in order to incentivize them to do the right thing for the state of Texas.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want to ask you one more question about what this also means outside of Texas, nationally with this opening up and how that's going to affect other states. Before I do that, let me tell you about our good friends over at Patriot Mobile. If you've got a cell phone and virtually everyone does now, how would you like to be with a company that actually supports causes that you believe in with every single bill you pay at no extra cost to you? That's exactly what Patriot Mobile, the only conservative Christian cell phone provider in the country does. They take a portion of your bill every month when you pay your bill at no extra cost to you. And they support causes, things like free speech and religious freedom. They protect the unborn children and protect the sanctity of life. They advocate and support the second amendment and our military, our veterans or first responders. They do this with your dollars every month now for years big mobile companies have been dumping millions in into leftist causes including Planned Parenthood. If you don't want your money going there then switch to Patriot Mobile. They also give you great dependable nationwide coverage on all three major networks so you get the best possible service in your area without the woke propaganda pushed by leftists working to destroy this country. So check out patriot mobile patriot mobile.com verdict that's patriotmobile.com verdict or 878 Patriot. That's 878 Patriot use the promo code verdict. You'll get free activation and the best deals of the year. Plus you can keep your same cell phone number you have right now if you want to 878patriot or patriot mobile.com verdict center you mentioned this is obviously a big win for Texas but the amount of commerce that you're talking about that's going to be moving with this expansion and these bridges. That's not just going to affect Texas. That's also going to affect all these trucks are going all over the country as well and getting things there quicker.

[Ted Cruz]

So that's exactly right. It affects the entire country. And whether when you go to the grocery store and say you buy fresh fruits and vegetables, many of those fruits and vegetables are grown in Mexico and so speeding up the travel reduces the cost. It means you'll pay less than you would have otherwise at the grocery store if you're buying a new car. Many automobiles, there's significant auto parts that are assembled in Mexico. A lot of auto parts are built in Texas. A lot of them are built in Mexico. And there's actually a trade that goes back and forth, sometimes two, three, four times, where a component will be built partially in Texas and then shipped to Mexico, and more of it'll be built there, and then it'll ship back to Texas, and more of it's built there, and it goes back and forth. And so every time you're crossing the border, the delay drives up the cost. And so if you're buying a car or truck, speeding this up lowers the cost that you're paying. But there's an even broader benefit to that, and there is a national security benefit, particularly post Covid. Many of us rightly have focused on the need to decouple from China and in particular to move more and more manufacturing out of China and to move it closer to America. Either bring it home and bring manufacturing here to the United States, or at a minimum, bring it to allies that are not controlled by communist China. And a lot of that manufacturing is moving to Mexico. That's a good thing. Decoupling from China and so expanding the ability to have trade and commerce crossing our southern border helps us delink and decouple from China. This that's unambiguously good for the entire country.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want to also move on to another big issue that we teased earlier, and that was the Christopher Wray testifying before Congress. There's been a lot of fallout from this. You've seen a lot of the clips, and before we get into some of those, center, give me your overall take on Christopher Wray. Did he stabilize the ship or did it actually make things worse for his standing and the defense or lack thereof? I would say if some of the decisions they've made. On a scale of 1 to 10, what grade would you have given him before Congress?

[Ted Cruz]

Well, let me focus less on his grade before Congress and let me focus more on his grade and the job. And in terms of the job, I'd give him an F minus because he has utterly failed to correct the rabid partisanship and the deep politicization of the FBI. He has been at the helm when the FBI has behaved like the DNC's political stormtroopers, and it's done enormous damage. And he's also been at the helm when the FBI stonewalled, which they have done to Congress over and over and over again.

[Ben Ferguson]

Jim Jordan talked about some of that stonewalling when he was kind of laying out just how much the FBI has fallen under his direction. And here's part of the reminder the American people about what's happened with the politicalization of the FBI and the DOJ.

[Jim Jordan]

Americans have seen the FBI's Richmond Field Office put together a memorandum saying pro life Catholics are extremists. They've seen 20 FBI agents, SWAT team members, show up at the home of Mark Hauck and arrest him in front of his wife and seven children, even though he had indicated he'd be happy to turn himself in. What was he arrested for? Him and his 12 year old son were praying outside an abortion facility. Some guy starts screaming in his son's face. And he did what frankly any dad would do, defended his child. What's interesting is the National School Board association apologized for the letter, but the Attorney General refuses to rescind his directive. The FBI did rescind, thank goodness, the Richmond Catholic memorandum, but they refused to tell Congress who wrote it and who approved it. And Mr. Halk, Mr. Hauck, when he got his day in court, he was acquitted by a jury of his peers. American speech is censored. Parents are called terrorists, Catholics are called radicals. And I haven't even talked about the spying that took place of a presidential campaign or the raiding of a former president's home.

[Ben Ferguson]

You listen to that list. It is stunning to think that this is happening in the United States of America.

[Ted Cruz]

It is. And as you know, the entirety of that list is laid out in detail in my most recent book. In the book justice how the Left has Weaponized the Legal System. The book starts with the sexual assault in Loudoun County, Virginia of the teenage girl by a boy dressed in a skirt in the girl's bathroom. And the school board covering it up, lying about it, and ultimately having the father of the girl arrested because he dared speak up for his daughter. And that incident was one of the incidents that prompted the letter from the national association of School Boards to President Biden that resulted in Merrick Garland five days later issuing a memo, a directive to the FBI, to go after parents, to target them, essentially to treat them as domestic terrorists if they dare speak up at school board meetings. That memo was disgraceful. It's a perfect example of weaponization. And what has happened is. And like the Mark Hauck example is another one I discuss at great length. Mark Hauck. It is a disparate standard of justice to send more than a dozen agents with machine guns drawn at the crack of dawn to arrest someone at their home in front of their crying children. But this administration, if you are pro life, if you dare speak up in defense of life, you have to worry about the storm troopers showing up at your front door. And by the way, when they tried Mr. Hauck, the jury threw the case out within minutes. They thought the case was ridiculous, that he was defending his 12 year old son and he was charged with basically pushing a guy who was screaming at his son and that merited sending in the stormtroopers. It is an absolute double standard. And I have to say the FBI has been willing to be complicit in this. And then after it happens, the FBI engages in stonewalling what you don't see Chris Wray doing. Let's take the memo from the Richmond field office targeting Catholics and laying out a strategy of let's send undercover agents into Catholic churches to spy on churches and, and let's see if we can recruit the clergy to spy on the members of the parish. It's absolutely shameful and disgraceful. And as Jim Jordan noted, the FBI rescinded it when it became public. They realized it was indefensible. But we don't know who wrote it, we don't know who approved it, we don't know who thought it was a good idea to target Catholics. And the problem with Chris Wray is anytime he's given a choice between defending the rabidly partisan left wing extremists who are in the senior career leadership at the FBI or standing with the American people, he chooses the partisans who are corrupting the FBI.

[Ben Ferguson]

You mentioned one thing and I want to clarify on this point because I think for many Americans, they hear the defense from Ray. Well, we rescinded it. If they wouldn't have been caught in public and this wouldn't have been made public, the memo, I think it would probably still be going on today and there's a very good chance there where they would have found people to spy on their own parishioners.

[Ted Cruz]

And you know what they are doing? They're still going after parents who speak up at school boards. There are multiple parents across the country who went to express their free speech rights. And to be clear, nobody has a right to engage in violence. If you threaten someone with violence, if you engage in violence, you should be prosecuted. But everyone has a right to peaceful speech. And multiple parents who go to a school board and speak up because they're upset about some policy at the school board, whether it was COVID policies or vaccine mandates or whether it was teaching critical race theory or, or whether as it was in Loudoun county, turning a blind eye to sexual assaults against the children in their Care. Multiple parents have had the G men show up at their door to intimidate them and interview them just because they exercised their First Amendment rights. And they're doing that even after they got caught. That's how brazen it is.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's also not just that one issue that you described, but there's also the other issue of why are you not looking into the crimes that have been potentially committed by the Bidens? Matt Gaetz called him out for that. Christopher Wray. And here's what he said.

[Matt Gaetz]

I'm sitting here with my father. I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father. Sounds like a shakedown, doesn't it, Director?

[Ted Cruz]

I'm not going to get into commenting on that. You.

[Matt Gaetz]

You seem deeply uncurious about it, don't you? Almost suspiciously uncurious. Are you protecting the Bidens?

[Ted Cruz]

Absolutely. Not the FBI? Well, you want to. Hold on.

[Matt Gaetz]

You want to answer the question about whether or not that's a shakedown. And everybody knows why you won't answer it. Because to. To the millions of people who will see this, they know it is. And your inability to acknowledge that is deeply revealing about you.

[Ben Ferguson]

When he says it's deeply revealing, it's deeply revealing about how much he's willing to protect people that screw up and make big mistakes. Right. I mean. I mean, that's part of this here is if you talk to people in law enforcement, especially people that are in investigative positions, they tell you that finding what we just found, they're seeing what we. What they've seen is that moment where you go, this why I signed up for this, Senator, because now I'm going to deal with this corruption and get rid of it. And instead, it seems like they say every time they find the corruption, they help them cover it up.

[Ted Cruz]

No, that's exactly right. And. And look, this is in a context where we now know that. That a confidential informant approached the FBI with evidence that Joe Biden, as vice president, had personally received a $5 million bribe from a foreign national. And the FBI covered up, refused to acknowledge the form they prepared with that complaint, refused to describe any investigation they engaged in it. We subsequently learned that There were allegedly 17 voice recordings of conversations between that Ukrainian oligarch and 15 of them with Hunter Biden, two of them with Joe Biden. As you know, as we've talked about on this podcast, I questioned the deputy director of the FBI, Chris Wray's deputy, and asked him, will you hand over the FBI form detailing the allegations from the confidential informant? He refused to do so. I said, will you confirm the existence of the 17 voice recordings? He refused to do so. I asked him, does the FBI have possession of the 17 voice recordings? He refused to answer. I asked him, will the FBI give those 17 voice recordings to the Senate Judiciary Committee? He refused to commit to doing so. And, and, and there is just a brazen defiance. There's an attitude at the FBI. We don't work for you. We don't work for anybody. We do what we want and we answer to nobody. And the deputy director, when I was questioning him, had had just this contempt. How dare, dare you ask me those questions? I decide what to investigate, and nobody gets to second guess it. And it's a contempt. It's not ultimately a contempt for me or for the Senate or for Congress. It's a contempt for the American people. Because when Congress engages in oversight, we're fulfilling our constitutional responsibility and we're doing so. When I ask those questions, I am doing so on behalf of 30 million Texans. I'm doing so because I believe Texans would want me to ask those questions and get to the bottom of it. And I hear that from Texans frequently that they are grateful that I engage in that oversight. But when the FBI has this sneering condescension that I'm not going to answer that, and in the instance where Matt Gaetz was asking him about that, that WhatsApp communication between Hunter Biden and the Chinese Communist official, that is one of the most damning communications I've ever heard. Of course it's a shakedown. It's not transparent, it's not subtle. It is about as blatant a shakedown as possible. The only conceivable defense is either that the communication was false, although at this point, Hunter and his lawyer have basically implicitly admitted that it's true, or that Hunter was lying, that, that Joe Biden was not sitting next to him. And, and, and that even though Hunter was threatening the, the retribution from Joe Biden, that, that, that, that he was not telling the truth. That is a possible defense for Joe Biden, although it's not a defense for Hunter, but the FBI. And remember, by the way, you got to also look at this in the context of the two IRS whistleblowers that alleged that in the entire course of this investigation, the Department of Justice politically interfered with the investigation and said, do not ask any questions. About Joe Biden. Do not ask any questions about the Big guy. Do not. They refuse to allow gps, GPS to be looked at to determine was Joe Biden sitting next to Hunter Biden when that communication was sent. They could confirm that. But the allegation from the IRS whistleblowers are that the DOJ didn't want to know if Joe Biden was sitting right next to Hunter Biden when he said I'm sitting next to my father. And so in that context, Chris Wray's refusal to answer is stonewalling and it's ultimately stonewalling the American people, which does an enormous disservice to, to the FBI and to the rule of law.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Harriet Hageman]

Twitter files, Missouri vs Biden disclosures, the Durham investigation and report and exposure and collapse of the Russian collusion hoax. The American people fully understand that there is A two tiered justice system that has been weaponized to persecute people based on their political beliefs and that you have personally been weapon that you have personally worked to weaponize the FBI against conservatives. I asked Mr. Durham about this, to which he answered, I don't think that things can go too much further with the view that law enforcement, particularly the FBI or Department of justice, runs a two tiered system of justice. The nation can't stand under those circumstances. Director Ray, what are you prepared to do to reform federal law enforcement in a manner which earns back the trust of the American people?

[Ted Cruz]

Well, first off, I would disagree with your characterization of the FBI and certainly your description of my own approach. The idea that I'm biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me given my own personal background.

[Ben Ferguson]

Somewhat insane to me, Senator. This on top of the fact that a new polls come out saying that just 37% of Americans have a favorable view of the FBI right now, meaning overwhelmingly the majority of Americans do not trust or have faith in the FBI under Director Wray.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, I have to say I understand both sides of that conversation. So Harriet Hageman is a friend of mine. I supported her enthusiastically when she ran against Liz Cheney in the primary and beat her in the primary in Wyoming. And I supported her in the general election, raised a bunch of money for Harriet. She is a smart, serious conservative, constitutional litigator and lawyer. And so her question was carefully constructed and it relied on a number of very specific data points, all of which Chris Wray utterly ignores. So he doesn't actually address the substance of what she says. Instead he says the idea that he is biased against conservatives, he thinks is, quote, somewhat insane. Now, you and I have talked in this podcast. It's easy for people at home watching everything happening at the FBI to think that Chris Wray is some wild eyed liberal. And I've said before, I don't think that's accurate. He is not. I've known Chris Wray for 25 years. He is not a wild eyed liberal. He's not even a Democrat. He is a Republican. He's been a Republican his whole life. He has been in law enforcement much of his life. As far as I know, he still considers himself a Republican. So the problem is not that he came into the office with an ideological hatred for conservatives. By the way, Merrick Garland, he has that. Merrick Garland is a partisan. But Chris Wray is not. And remember, it was Donald Trump who appointed Chris Wray as director of the FBI. Chris's problem is different, which is that he is temperamentally, he is a company man. It's just his instinct. And so when he became director of the FBI, he instantly went native. And so in every dispute, he looks to the senior career officials at the FBI and he says, my responsibility as director is to have their backs. Now that is often a good instinct in a leader, that if you're in an institution, you want to support your people, you want to have your people's backs. That is a good instinct in a leader, unless your people are actively undermining the integrity of the institution you serve. And the problem with Chris Wray, he seems to have an absolute blind spot that he does not understand that many of these career bureaucrats at the FBI are hard, vicious partisans. And because he doesn't perceive that, he's not willing to rein them in. And in any battle, he takes the side of the hard, vicious partisan and he defends them and he stonewalls. Chris Wray could choose to answer these questions. He doesn't want to. And there's a second component which is he does not have the humility that a senior government official should have a recognition that he is accountable. He believes I, Chris Ray, I'm in charge of, of the FBI and I think he believes in his heart they are not biased or weaponized. And I just think he's utterly blind to what his underlings are doing. It's why he doesn't engage in the substance of any of the points. But, and by the way, I have had literally screaming arguments with Chris Wray as director where I've said, you are not defending the FBI when you defend these wild eyed partisans, you are hurting the FBI. You are hurting the integrity of the institution you lead. I hear from, and I've told him this, your agents who come and tell me that they're embarrassed to be FBI agents because under your leadership, and it started before Chris Wray, it started, Jim Comey was much worse. But Chris Wray wasn't willing to clean house. He wasn't willing to throw the partisans out, and he's not willing to go forward and say, you know what? The American people deserve transparency here on the investigation of Hunter Biden and Joe Biden. Right now the IRS whistleblowers are alleging that DOJ engaged in a cover up, that the Attorney General lied under oath to Congress responding to my questioning in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and that the Attorney General likely committed obstruction of justice. Those are very serious charges. You know who has a lot of information on whether that's true? The FBI. They were side by side in all of this investigation. And Chris Wray feels no obligation to come forward and be candid with the American people and answer those questions. And, and look, I get often law enforcement, it's a standard response in law enforcement if you ask about an investigation for law enforcement to say I can't comment on a pending investigation. That's true in the run of the mill case. In this instance, when you're dealing with serious allegation of corruption, of bribery, of multiple felonies by the President of the United States and by the Attorney General of the United States, I think the FBI has a bigger obligation and that's to the American people to say here's what we know. And in that regard, Chris Wray has failed utterly.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Representative Raskin]

I'm satisfied that the Secret Service and the White House are on top of it. You Know, I was reading a book about Lincoln recently, and anybody in Washington could just walk right into Lincoln's White House, go directly in and try to find the president and talk to him. And obviously, we're in a very different security and environment than that. But I don't know how many people would want to go to the White House if they were going to be administering a drug test on the way in, which is what some of my colleagues have suggested. You know, some people are saying everybody should be drug tested on the way into the White House. And, you know, these are the same people who are opposed to COVID 19 tests. So I don't see a lot of coherence in the criticism.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's one hell of a statement. Senator, your reaction?

[Ted Cruz]

Well, I think it's rather hysterical to see a Democrat congressman saying, gosh, you know, Democrats would be really afraid to go to the White House if we had to get drug tested. I mean, look, you got to get drug tested to get hired as a truck driver. You got to get drug tested to get hired as a forklift operator. There are a lot of jobs in America you got to get drug tested for. In fact, when I speak to small business owners in Texas, they say one of the challenges of hiring new employees is finding people who can pass the drug test. Well, that's one thing if you're dealing with ordinary citizens, but you would think a member of Congress should be held to a higher standard. And yet he's saying, gosh, we don't want to go to the White House with drug tests. Look, this is a White House that applies no ethical standards to itself. This is a White House that covers up serious allegations of criminality by the President of the United States, including bribery. This is a White House that covers up serious allegations of criminality by the president's adult son, Hunter Biden. This is a White House that sends a press secretary out every day to brazenly lie to the American people. This is a White House, as you noted, who. They said they multiple times found marijuana in the White House, and they're like, oh, oh, well, no big deal. They just confiscated the marijuana, threw it away, but didn't bother naming whose it was. Didn't apparently seem to have any concern on figuring out whose it was, because, you know, I mean, you know, who hasn't smoked pot in the White House? Um, this is a White House. Look, this cocaine story. If this cocaine story happened when Donald Trump was president, the media would be losing their minds, Democrats would be losing their minds. And yet, because it's under Joe Biden. Listen, this was cocaine that was left in a working entrance of the White House where they have a log of every person who walked through that door and the exact time they walked through that door. Just yesterday, the Secret Service announced, oh, we've done our investigation, and guess what? We can't figure out who did it. And let's be clear. This podcast predicted that right after the cocaine was found. We said on this podcast, here's gonna be the result. They're gonna announce. We don't know. Well, what do you know? That's exactly what they announced. And the reason they announce it, they don't want to know because whoever it is, it's somebody embarrassing.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and you go back to the Secret Service now confirming they found marijuana not once, but twice in the White House in 2022 alone, long before cocaine was located in the West Wing. The Secret Service revealed last year.

[Ted Cruz]

Not a long time ago, last year.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, and the Secret Service revealed the information to Congress, like, oh, yeah, by the way, in this classified briefing on this investigation into the cocaine found in the West Wing. Yeah, we've also found some other drugs. We found weed a few times last year. This is not normal behavior, yet they're acting like it is.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, this White House believes they are immune from scrutiny. It really is stunning, by the way. Look, I'll give another example. So there was a really interesting column that Maureen Dowd wrote in the New York Times. Maureen Dowd, of course, is a left wing columnist. She is a hard, partisan Democrat. And the title of her column was, it's seven grandchildren, Mr. President. And that, of course, is because Hunter Biden has an illegitimate child, a little girl, Navy Joan, who Hunter Biden has gone to court to stop her from using the name Biden. This little four year old, she doesn't get to use the name Biden because he's unhappy about the circumstances in which he fathered a child. Now, deadbeat dads are not honorable people. When you run away from your kid, that's not honorable, that's not right. That is, frankly, shameful. But Joe Biden consistently refers to his six grandchildren. In fact, every Christmas he puts up six stockings. But as Maureen down pointed out, you don't have six grandchildren, you have seven. And the fact that Joe Biden won't even acknowledge that she exists. And by the way, we're not speculating that she's his grandchild. They did a paternity test and concluded, yep, Hunter is daddy. And by the way, look, look, people have children and they have children. Out of wedlock. That is not, you know, that happens in the world. It shouldn't, but we live in reality. The question is, if that happens, how does someone behave? Do they behave honorably? Do they provide for the kid? And Hunter literally said, here, you can have a couple of my paintings. Like, holy crap, that's dad of the year stuff. You're shaking down communist China and Ukraine for millions of dollars and you're giving your daughter that. You deny your name to a couple of your idiotic paintings, that you're trying to grift money off of it.

[Ben Ferguson]

But you can't have my last name. You can't have my last name.

[Ted Cruz]

At the same time, you can't have my last name. And the fact that Maureen Dowd made that point is a big deal. That the New York Times is starting to turn on him. That's a big deal. But still, most of the corporate media won't ask Joe Biden, why are you denying this four year old child and refusing to acknowledge that she's yours, your grandchildren?

[Ben Ferguson]

Great point. The media, by the way, wanting to cover this up. They're now saying that if you care about cocaine in the White House, you are a conspiracy theorist. Chuck Todd, Meet the Press now on msnbc. This is what he had to say about the Secret Service ending the White House cocaine investigation.

[Chuck Todd]

People, what do you sense? Congress, you know, we know there's a few members of Congress are going to try to use this as a hobby horse. What do you sense? What could they do here? Enforcing more, more focus on this.

[Unnamed Commentator]

I think one of the questions was if this can get through, is there a vulnerability in some other way? And people I've been talking to say when it comes to agents that might have been a powdery substance that could be used in a weapon form, that they have mechanisms to test for that, that they don't test for contraband, they don't test for illegal drugs that don't pose a threat to the President or others inside the White House. It certainly is not a good look. And no one feels good about that.

[Chuck Todd]

I was just going to say, I'm guessing the White House doesn't like that. There's no answer.

[Unnamed Commentator]

Oh, it's, it's, it's unsatisfying because it.

[Chuck Todd]

Only feeds the beast, the conspiratorial beast. Yes, yes, that we know of. Like trying to destroy our.

[Unnamed Commentator]

And, and to answer that, family members typically don't use this entrance. Not that they couldn't, but they typically don't. And they're not asked to put Their stuff in cubbies.

[Chuck Todd]

And this is.

[Unnamed Commentator]

Yeah, yes. Nice to see you.

[Ben Ferguson]

Silly, right? Senator, it's just silly like, oh, the conspiracy. Conspiracy theorists. There, there's real cocaine found. We find out more drugs are in the White House with marijuana as well. But you're conspiracy theorists if you want answers.

[Ted Cruz]

So, so it's.

[Ben Ferguson]

It.

[Ted Cruz]

It is of course not a conspiracy. It is a fact that a bag of cocaine was found in the west wing of the White House. Um, I agree with the comment there and we've talked about this on the pod. I think it's unlikely that it was Hunter Biden's cocaine because the entrance where it was found is the working entrance that the staff goes in and out of. It's not an entrance that I think Hunter was likely to use. So I find it more plausible that it is a staff member who works in the west wing of the White House. It could very well be a senior staff member of the Biden White House. Now, if a senior staff member of the Biden White House is bringing cocaine in, that's a big deal. If they are a drug addict while being a senior White House official, that is a very serious problem. And the reason that we predicted right at the outset, we will never know. The Secret Service will announce we can't figure out who it is is because they recognize it's embarrassing as hell and a real problem if senior White House aides are drug addicts. Chuck Todd dismisses it all as conspiracy theory. I'll tell you this, Chuck wouldn't think that if this were the Trump White House, if this were the Trump White House, he, he would be lighting his hair on fire.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, great point. Don't forget, we do this show three days a week. So make sure if you're listening on Apple, you hit that follow button, you'll never miss an episode. Plus, we've got some really fun shows next week that are going to break some serious news. That's my tease for you. So you don't want to miss next week, I can promise you that. So hit that subscribe auto download button as well. Please write us a five star review as we did a show every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and we'll see you back here on Monday morning.