← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Hunter Indicted! DOJ Covers Up for Joe Biden & FBI Stonewalls Congress
00:42:34
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- [00:01]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And we have got two major stories that we're going to have to deal with. One of them deals with Hunter Biden indicted on nine tax related charges, three of them felonies. And we're going to break down these charges for you so that you understand exactly what's happening with that. Also, there was a very interesting questioning that took place in the judiciary of the FBI Director Christopher Wray. And there was some pretty tense back and forth between Senator Cruz and the FBI Director. We're going to run through all of that for you as well. But Senator, we were not expecting this headline that Hunter Biden would be indicted on nine tax related charges, three of them felonies. This is obviously significant, especially when they thought they were going to have this sweetheart plea deal that the last second exploded because of whistleblowers. So, so how promising is this? It's a 56 page indictment filed in federal court in LA. Something that's never happened before or is this still going to be a big. Well, yeah, we indicted him, but he's still going to get a sweetheart deal. What's your reaction?
- [01:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, listen, when you say we were not expecting this indictment, I don't think that's entirely accurate. Once the sweetheart plea deal collapsed, and it collapsed because there was public scrutiny, it collapsed because the IRS whistleblowers came forward. It collapsed because the House representatives held hearings. It collapsed because the federal district judge realized that signing off on this sweetheart deal would profoundly compromise the integrity of the court system. Once it collapsed, a larger indictment was much, much more likely. This indictment that came down yesterday is nine different counts. It includes failure to file and pay taxes, it includes evasion of assessment and it includes a false or fraudulent tax return. Three of the nine counts are felonies. And according to the special Counsel, Hunter Biden quote, engaged in a four year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in taxes that he owed from 2016 to 2019. Now, $1.4 million is an awful lot of money. Yeah. Hunter Biden eventually did pay his taxes. He got a sweetheart loan from a, quote, friend. But before he did so, according to the prosecutors, Hunter Biden included, quote, false business deductions in order to evade assessment of taxes to reduce the substantial tax liabilities he faced. Prosecutors also allege in the indictment that he, quote, subverted the payroll and tax withholding process of his own company by withdrawing millions of dollars outside of its payroll and tax withholding process. The prosecutors further allege that Hunter Biden, quote, spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills. And the indictment states that between, quote, 2016 and October 15, 2020, the defendant, that would be Hunter Biden, spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other items of a personal nature. In short, everything but his taxes.
- [03:41]
Ben Ferguson
You look at that list that you just described there. They knew all of this, we assume, when they gave him the sweetheart deal. So how did we go? And, and I think this is the part that's going to frustrate so many people that are listening right now. How did we go from a sweetheart deal to a 56 page indictment and an indictment where they couldn't in theory get one before and we can go back and remind people about, you know, all of the shadiness of, well, can I get them to indict in, in Washington D.C. can I get them indicted? In California where some crimes were committed, the statute of limitations was running out on some of the most egregious tax crimes. But to put it differently, maybe from what I said earlier, I'm shocked that now that we're looking at a 56 page indictment filled with, with all of these different issues and it goes back to 16, 17, 18 and 19 taxes, you know, on the, on this timeline. But again, the statute of limitations apparently on some of the worst stuff is already, you know, statues already hit. So therefore we couldn't go back to those.
- [04:47]
Senator Ted Cruz
Now, look, that's exactly right. These facts were all known. They were known a year ago, they were known two years ago, they were known three years ago, they were known four years ago. The Department of Justice has dragged its feet. It has not wanted to bring this indictment the sweetheart deal. They were prepared to get signed off and be done and give Hunter Biden a complete get out of jail free card. The piece they didn't count on was the IRS whistleblowers coming forward. And when they did so, when they brought forth testimony that the Biden Department of Justice was covering up for Hunter Biden, that the Attorney General had lied to Congress under oath, which is a felony, that the Attorney General had committed obstruction of justice, which is a felony, and that in particular the Department of Justice had blocked investigation, any investigation into Joe Biden that put so much pressure on the court that the court could not sign off on the sweetheart deal. Now, I want to address in a minute the, the issue of Joe Biden. But, but let me just point out something extraordinary in this indictment. So this indictment lists some of Hunter Biden's expenditures and when the prosecutors say he lived a lavish lifestyle, that does not begin to describe it. So, for example, ATM cash withdrawals, how much do you think he withdrew from ATMs in 2016 knowing it's a Hunter Biden?
- [06:09]
Ben Ferguson
There's no telling because I can see this guy going high as a kite up there for whatever nefarious reasons, grabbing as much cash as he can.
- [06:16]
Senator Ted Cruz
So the answer is $200,000 and $922.
- [06:19]
Ben Ferguson
Holy crap.
- [06:21]
Senator Ted Cruz
200 grand. You ever pulled 200 grand out of an ATM?
- [06:24]
Ben Ferguson
No, I think my. Over the course of a year on my card is like 500 bucks.
- [06:27]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, I'm confident. I have never had a year in my life that I pulled 200 grand out of an ATM. All right, so he pulled $200,922 in 2016. How much do you think he pulled out in 2017?
- [06:40]
Ben Ferguson
I'm assuming in the hundreds of thousands.
- [06:42]
Senator Ted Cruz
Again, $503,614.
- [06:48]
Ben Ferguson
Can we just talk about the cash aspect of that for a second before you go to the next years? $500,000 of cash. Just having that much cash in hand over a 12 month period, that's more.
- [06:59]
Senator Ted Cruz
Than $1,000 a day, right?
- [07:01]
Ben Ferguson
More than a thousand a day. But what are you doing with that amount of cash? And it goes back to suspicious activity reports of all the bank accounts. Cash is king when you're doing illegal activities. And that's why you might, if you.
- [07:15]
Senator Ted Cruz
Were buying drugs, if you were buying crack, if you were paying prostitutes, that's how you spend $503,614 in 2017. Now, 500 grand in ATMs, I actually think, all right, so I'm 52, about to be 53 years old. I believe in my entire life, from birth to age 52, I don't think I pulled $503,000 out of ATMs in 53 years. I was shocked if I pulled that much out.
- [07:44]
Ben Ferguson
I would be shocked if the average American pulls any more than seven to eight, nine grand a year out. And that would be, I would think, probably on the high end because most people.
- [07:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, to be honest, most years I probably pulled, I don't know, two, three thousand dollars out of any atm. I don't know that there's been a year that I pulled 10,000 out of an ATM. It's, you know, I pull a couple hundred dollars off to have just cash if I need to, like, you know, pay expenses. But most things I do in credit cards, like 500 3614. All right, that was 2017. What do you think he spent just on ATM cash withdrawals in 2018?
- [08:21]
Ben Ferguson
I'm going to guess over half a million dollars again.
- [08:24]
Senator Ted Cruz
$772,000 and $548.
- [08:30]
Ben Ferguson
Wow.
- [08:32]
Unknown Speaker
Like, holy crap.
- [08:34]
Senator Ted Cruz
Who the hell? That's two grand a day. Who pulls $2,000 a day? And by the way, that's $2,000 every day. That's on Monday, that's on Tuesday, that's on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and back on Monday. Like, what are you doing with $772,548 in the year 2018?
- [08:53]
Ben Ferguson
I will be completely honest with you. I don't know what the market rate is for drugs. I have no idea. I don't know how much it costs to do meth or crack or any of these things. But a $500,000 habit to me seems like that would be an insane amount that would probably at some point put you under if you were actually consuming that much in drug use. So I'm assuming this money is either going to other nefarious things like prostitution and who knows what else he could have been doing illegally with his cash, including possible payoffs.
- [09:28]
Senator Ted Cruz
And by the way, I'm going to say there are other accounts that are mentioned. And then 2019, he has an amazing drop off. I don't know why 2019 was a cheap year, but he falls all the way down to $186,920. And my guess is I think 186,000 is more than ever pulled out of an ATM in 52 years. But that was a really mild year compared to a $772,000 year. So from 2016 to 2019, Hunter Biden pulled $1,664,004 out of ATMs. All right, next category. Payments various women. 2016, what do you think it is?
- [10:08]
Ben Ferguson
Payments various women.
- [10:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
I don't even know what that means. That that's how the prosecutors have described it. I'm quoting it. It simply says payments dash, various women, 50 grand. So 2016 is a cheap year. $4,400. Okay, that's that. I don't know what payments various women means, but four grand is, compared to the numbers we were talking about, relatively small. What do you think 2017 is?
- [10:35]
Ben Ferguson
I'm assuming he got written to it, so let's call it 30 grand.
- [10:39]
Senator Ted Cruz
$138,837.
- [10:42]
Ben Ferguson
Wow.
- [10:42]
Senator Ted Cruz
Payments various women. What do you think 2018 is?
- [10:46]
Ben Ferguson
Double it.
- [10:47]
Senator Ted Cruz
$383,548. And then 2019, I don't know. He had a down year. 2019, it drops to just 156,427. All right, next category. Clothing and accessories. 2016, $78,000. 2017, $113,000. 2018, $151,000. 2019, $53,000. How about tuition? Extra education, extracurricular? 2016, $117,000. 2017, $94,000. 2018, $93,000. 2019, it's a cheap year. $4,000. Health, beauty, pharmacy. 2016, $54,000. 2017, $110,000. 2018, $46,000. 2019, $26,000. Let's go down to.
- [11:42]
Ben Ferguson
By the way, this is. This is what burning through cash sounds like.
- [11:46]
Senator Ted Cruz
All right, so you talked about his spending money on prostitutes. There's actually a separate category the prosecutors have enumerated called adult entertainment.
- [11:59]
Ben Ferguson
So that wouldn't count the payments to women. That would be separate. We assume so.
- [12:04]
Senator Ted Cruz
2016, $4411 to adult entertainment. Pretty mild year. He was actually a pretty good boy in 2016. 2017, not so much. $56,846 in adult entertainment. 2017, I don't know what the hell happened in 2017. Trump became president. He got off. He went out and parties. Ass off. $100,000 and $330 in adult entertainment in 2017. And then 2018, it gets back down to a lower level. $27,373. This is. And by the way, I'll give you one other category. There are multiple other categories here, but I'll read one other rehab. Drug and alcohol. 2016, $7,600. 2017, $28,600. 2017, $35,669. So he's paying 35 grand on rehab the same year he's spending 100 grand on adult entertainment. He's spending $383,000 on payments to various women, and he's spending $772,000 on ATM cash withdrawals. When they say that's an extravagant spending level, that ain't even close to describing the facts they lay out.
- [13:26]
Ben Ferguson
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- [16:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, on the face of it, the indictments that were just entered in yesterday against Hunter Biden, if he's convicted, could result in 17 years of prison. Sentence. That's a long time. 17 years is not a slap on the wrist. It's not mild. Now, mind you, the Biden DOJ desperately tried to give Hunter Biden a slap on the wrist. And the public scrutiny that was caused by the IRS whistleblowers blew that plan. But, Ben, look, you know me well. What do you think enrages me the most about this indictment?
- [16:44]
Ben Ferguson
I would assume the money laundering and the crimes is the way I would describe it, in my opinion, against women that he exploited.
- [16:53]
Senator Ted Cruz
So that is infuriating. But that's not what enrages me the most. What enrages me the most are the words that are missing. And the words that are missing from this indictment are Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.
- [17:08]
Ben Ferguson
Look, so how do we keep those words out of there?
- [17:11]
Senator Ted Cruz
So we have talked at length on this podcast. The Biden DOJ was obsessively focused on protect the big guy, protect Joe Biden. We talked about, early on, Joe wanted to protect his son. Look, that's. Admiral. Every father wants to protect his son. But at some point, the political apparatus. At some point, the elected Democrats. At some point, the. The. The corrupt corporate media decided, okay, Hunter Biden is not savable. He's so messed up, he's going down.
- [17:42]
Unknown Speaker
He.
- [17:43]
Senator Ted Cruz
He is doing jail time. And they made the decision to throw Hunter Biden overboard. But the focus, the overwhelming focus is we must, must, must, must, must protect Joe Biden. Now, we've also talked at length on this podcast how the only reason this is a matter of public concern is because of Joe Biden. Listen, Hunter, I've never met Hunter Biden. I don't know the guy, but everything about him. He seems like a deeply disturbed, sad individual. He is wrestling with demons. He has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction his entire life. If his name were Hunter Smith, you and I wouldn't be talking about this. And if we encountered him, we would feel bad for him. We'd hope he'd get treatment. We'd hope he'd get help. But if his name were Hunter Smith, he would not have made millions of dollars. Yeah, there's nothing about Hunter Biden's skill set. There's nothing about his experience. There's nothing about what he's able to produce that would cause anyone to pay him millions of dollars. Look across the entire scope of the country, find one other crackhead who gets paid millions of dollars. They don't. To make millions of dollars, you have to perform some service that is of value. The only service Hunter Biden performed was he Delivered favors from Daddy. And understand, this is not an access case. This is not about he's a lobbyist. This is about, I believe, Joe Biden doing favors explicitly for the people who gave millions of dollars to his son. And also Joe Biden being prepared to exact retribution against the people who refused to pay millions of dollars to his son. We also know that James Comer has cataloged at great length a substantial sum of money that the Chinese Communists paid to Hunter Biden, that the Ukrainians paid to Hunter Biden, that the Russians paid to Hunter Biden. A substantial amount of that made it directly to Joe Biden's bank. Bank account. So this was, understand it is Joe Biden that was leading what you've referred to as the Biden crime, crime family. And this indictment, it's designed on the face of it to look tough. Wow, we're going after Hunter. But every one of the offenses is specifically limited to Hunter. There is nothing. So David Weiss and the Biden Department of Justice allow the statute of limitations to run on all of the violations concerning China. They just let it run. So this doesn't concern China. This doesn't concern the WhatsApp where Hunter says, I'm sitting here next to my father. Pay me the money now or he will exact retribution that is not covered by this indictment. This is entirely putting the blame. And you and I have talked about this. If they were going to try to cover up for Joe Biden, this is what they would do. They try to make Hunter Biden the fall guy. And I got to admit, as I look at this indictment, it makes me angry because this is designed to be a defense of Joe Biden, to insulate him. These offenses, the one unifying theme is they're designed to be completely free of involvement with Joe Biden. And it ignores the broader question, where do these millions of dollars come from? And the answer is Hunter Biden selling favors from Daddy, which the Biden Justice Department desperately wants nobody to know about.
- [21:26]
Ben Ferguson
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- [24:25]
Senator Ted Cruz
I think the Biden Department of Justice is the most political Department of Justice we've ever seen. I think this FBI is the most political FBI we've ever seen. I think they're covering up for Joe Biden with all of their might. And I think they're trying to limit Hunter Biden's exposure. I think they're willing to throw him overboard some, but I think they want to limit his exposure when it comes to the testimony. We don't know right now if Hunter Biden's going to show up. You're right that Donald Trump's kids showed up for hours and hours and hours of deposition. So it's not clear why Hunter Biden should be different. He may try to stiff it. If he tries to stiff it, I fully expect the House representatives to hold him in contempt and to vote out a contempt citation. But to enforce that, that takes the Department of Justice. And I have zero confidence, not even 1%, zero confidence this department of justice will do anything to enforce a contempt citation against Hunter Biden. And listen, part of it is their objective is protect Joe Biden. It is their overarching. It is their obsessive objective. And so they don't want Hunter Biden testifying. They want to delay all of this. Part of the strategy, if you're defending someone from corruption, is every minute of delay is a good, good minute. We're three years into the Biden presidency and the initial lies he told, he never talked with his son about his overseas business dealings. We now know that is a flagrant lie. It is wildly untrue at every stage. Everything Joe Biden has said has been proven a lie over and over and over again. But he's counting on the corrupt corporate media never to let people know, never to report on it.
- [25:58]
Ben Ferguson
Brings me to also the fireworks that took place this week, and it was between you and the FBI director. I want to play a large chunk of this, but before I do set the stage, why was the FBI director before your committee in the Senate and what was this all about?
- [26:15]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, the FBI director, Chris Wray, was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. And periodically the director of the FBI testifies before Judiciary. And so I took the opportunity to question him. And there are a lot of topics I could have questioned him on. I could have questioned him for hours on end. But we only had seven minutes. And so I chose to use the seven minutes to focus on the politicization of the FBI and the refusal of the FBI to investigate the growing, the becoming overwhelming evidence of Joe Biden's corruption. And so that's what I asked him about.
- [26:46]
Ben Ferguson
I want to play a chunk of this because it's really important. And I hope that every verdict listener will make sure that you take this and share this podcast so that you can let people know about what these Questions were. They're really important questions. And also, I would argue, the shocking response from the FBI. Director Wray, take a listen to this.
- [27:07]
Senator Ted Cruz
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Director Ray, welcome. As you know, I am deeply concerned about the conduct of both the Department of Justice and the FBI, particularly in the last three years during the Biden administration. I think the Department of Justice has.
- [27:23]
Unknown Speaker
Been profoundly politicized under Attorney General Merrick.
- [27:26]
Senator Ted Cruz
Garland, and I think the FBI has as well.
- [27:30]
Unknown Speaker
And unfortunately.
- [27:33]
Senator Ted Cruz
I think you've been unwilling.
- [27:35]
Unknown Speaker
To stand up to senior career officials.
- [27:37]
Senator Ted Cruz
In the FBI who's allowed the FBI to be politicized.
- [27:40]
Unknown Speaker
I'll tell you, I regularly speak with.
- [27:42]
Senator Ted Cruz
FBI agents across the country who are.
- [27:44]
Unknown Speaker
Unhappy about the integrity of the institutions being weakened because DOJ is being treated.
- [27:53]
Senator Ted Cruz
As a political weapon. I want to talk in particular about.
- [27:57]
Unknown Speaker
The investigation into multiple allegations of corruption concerning Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, because the Department of Justice has, I think, from the outset tried at every step to stop investigation into corruption from Joe Biden. As you're aware, a WhatsApp text message was sent to Henry Zhao, a senior Chinese Communist, from Hunter Biden that reads as follows. I'm sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the Director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand. And now means tonight. And Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father. Now, Democrats and those in the media trying to defend the White House repeatedly say there is no direct evidence of Joe Biden's involvement in his son's corruption. Well, this is a text that is direct evidence that is stating that it is his father that is going to retaliate. Now, an IRS whistleblower, Gary Shapley, testified before the House of Representatives that the natural step he wanted to follow was to determine whether Joe Biden was, in fact sitting next to his father when this threat was made to extort millions of dollars from a Chinese Communist. And what the IRS whistleblower testified is that when he tried to find out whether Joe Biden was sitting next to Hunter that the DOJ blocked getting the GPS data on Joe Biden's phone. Did the FBI try to ascertain where Hunter Biden was and where Joe Biden was when this Text was sent.
- [30:00]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
Well, I think the questions you're asking go to the ongoing investigation being led by Special Counsel Weiss. And so I'm not going to be able to discuss what is or isn't in scope.
- [30:10]
Unknown Speaker
So, look, there's been testimony under oath from the IRS whistleblower that you did not seek the GPS data. And you're right, David Weiss, the special prosecutor, is in charge of it. And it is David Weiss and his underlings who, according to the IRS whistleblowers, have alleged that they're the ones trying to stop the investigation. They allowed the statute of limitations to run on many of the most serious violations. Not only that, IRS whistleblower Shapley testified that on September 3rd, Assistant U.S. attorney Leslie Wolf explicitly told investigators that despite having probable cause to search, quote, there is no way a search will warrant would be approved when the evidence in question was located inside of Vice President Biden's guest house. Wolf stated that, quote, the optics prevented such a search. Is the FBI, do they make a routine practice of allowing partisan political optics to prevent investigating serious evidence of corruption?
- [31:13]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
My instructions to our people on this and on every other investigation are that we are to follow the effects wherever they lead, no matter who likes it, no matter what political influence.
- [31:24]
Unknown Speaker
Then why did GPS data on where Hunter Biden and Joe Biden were, again center.
- [31:28]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
With respect, I can't discuss.
- [31:30]
Unknown Speaker
And Director Ray, you and I have gone round and round on this because I understand anytime you're asked about this, the answer is it's an ongoing investigation. Of course the investigation isn't ongoing. You're not doing the work. You got whistleblowers pointing out that you're not doing the work and you are hiding behind the skirts of the Attorney General. Look, the whistleblower also testified that the Attorney General, when he came before Congress. Go to the next chart. Came before Congress, lied under oath to this committee. The Attorney General testified to this critic committee in response to my questioning. I have pledged not to interfere with the Hunter Biden investigation. I have carried through on that pledge. The IRS whistleblowers have alleged the Attorney General lied under oath, a felony. Was the Attorney General telling the truth when he said this? Was the Attorney General telling the truth when he said, I have pledged not to interfere with the Hunter Biden investigation. And I have carried through on my pledge.
- [32:24]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
Again, I can't speak to the Attorney General's testimony. I can only tell you what my instructions have been to our people and.
- [32:30]
Unknown Speaker
Has there been political interference in the investigation into Hunter Biden and Joe Biden?
- [32:35]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
Not that I have experienced.
- [32:37]
Unknown Speaker
Were the investigators allowed to investigate whether Joe Biden was complicit in the corruption?
- [32:44]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
Again, there is an ongoing investigation asking.
- [32:48]
Unknown Speaker
You about corruption from doj. Were they allowed to investigate Joe Biden or is the whistleblower telling the truth that DOJ said Joe Biden's off limits, no questions about the big guy?
- [33:01]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
And as to what is in scope or not in scope of the ongoing investigation, I would refer you to Special Counsel Weiss. That is not me hiding behind anything, Senator. That is a long standing policy that has been in place multiple administrations going back years and years and years.
- [33:16]
Unknown Speaker
Responsibility to the FBI not to allow it to be a partisan tool and a partisan weapon. The testimony. And by the way, the FBI has done nothing.
- [33:28]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
And I have not and I will.
- [33:30]
Unknown Speaker
Not have you opened an investigation into whether the Attorney General lied under oath to Congress and whether the Attorney General obstructed justice.
- [33:37]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
I'm not going to go down that road here.
- [33:39]
Unknown Speaker
I know you're not. That's the point. Nobody thinks you've opened an investigation because you're not willing to. And the amazing thing is, Director Ray, I've known you 30 years. You're not a partisan Democrat. You're simply sitting blithely by while career partisans in your agency allow it to be weaponized. And you are damaging the FBI and you are damaging the Department of Justice. Let me ask you also. The whistleblower testified that investigators wanted to execute a search warrant on a storage unit used by Hunter Biden and instead they tipped off Hunter Biden's lawyer before the search warrant was carried out. Is it typical FBI practice to tip off the subject of a search warrant before the search warrant so they can remove any evidence that's incriminating?
- [34:27]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
What is typical is that when you're dealing with an individual who has a protective detail, it is typical for agents to be in contact with detail.
- [34:37]
Unknown Speaker
Does the protective detail guard the storage unit?
- [34:39]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
Again, I can't speak to the storage unit specifically. What I can tell you is that.
- [34:43]
Unknown Speaker
When it comes to why would the FBI tip off the subject of a search warrant about the storage unit that was going to be searched beforehand? Does that not undermine the very essence of an investigation that DOJ is purporting to undertake?
- [34:59]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
Again, I'm not going to be able to discuss specific investigative set.
- [35:02]
Senator Ted Cruz
Who is?
- [35:03]
Unknown Speaker
You're not. Nobody answers these questions. And it's why people are furious with a cover up. Because you don't believe the FBI is accountable to Congress or to the American people.
- [35:12]
Senator Ted Cruz
Your time is up Director Ray has requested a five minute recess. Five minutes.
- [35:17]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
I'll just, Let me just. Senator, if I might just quickly respond and then respond. Go to the break. Thank you. I understand why this is frustrating, I do. But it is also the case that these policies that I am referring to about my inability to discuss ongoing investigations and certainly internal deliberations related to ongoing investigations are policies that have not only been in place for many, many years through multiple administrations of both parties, but in fact, these were policies that were actually strengthened under the last administration and that my predecessor was faulted in a fairly scathing inspector general report for not following.
- [35:58]
Senator Ted Cruz
And when you speak that, in my.
- [36:00]
Unknown Speaker
Mind, you have an obligation to call it out.
- [36:02]
FBI Director Christopher Wray
Engaged in this job, you have an.
- [36:03]
Unknown Speaker
Obligation to call out corruption.
- [36:07]
Ben Ferguson
Senator, I understand him saying it's an ongoing investigation, but hiding behind that when you're talking about basic things that the FBI didn't do, clearly to protect the Biden family, he should still be able to answer those questions, shouldn't he?
- [36:22]
Senator Ted Cruz
He should and he's stonewalling. And there's an arrogance of the Director of the FBI. Look, as I mentioned in my questioning, I've known Chris Wray for 30 years. He clerked for the same federal judge I clerked for. He's not a liberal Democrat. That's the amazing thing. I think Chris Wray still believes he's a Republican. I think he still believes he's a conservative. He just is unwilling, he's a company man. He's unwilling to take on the career officials at the FBI who are rabid partisans, who are left wing zealots. And he also, he buys into the notion that he has no responsibility to the American people, no responsibility to Congress, no responsibility to be accountable or transparent. So he views his obligation. Nope, sorry. Ongoing investigation off jump in a lake. I'm not going to answer your question. Look, you've got two IRS whistleblowers who've come forward and alleged felonies from the Attorney General. A director of the FBI has an obligation to answer questions about that. I asked a very simple question. Did you try to ascertain the GPS data about where Hunter Biden was and where Joe Biden was when Hunter Biden sent the email asking for bribes, trying to shake down the Chinese Communist for bribes. The email on its face says he's sitting next to his father, Joe Biden. If he's in fact sitting next to his father, it directly implicates Joe Biden in trying to extort millions of dollars from Chinese Communists, much of which ultimately went to Joe Biden himself. What the IRS whistleblower said is they wanted to get that GPS data that that is readily ascertainable. And the Biden DOJ blocked it. There is nothing to prevent Chris Wray from answering the question, did you try to seek that GPS data, yes or no? Did DOJ block it, yes or no? He refuses to answer. And his shield, everything. He says it's an ongoing investigation, but as we've discussed, it's not ongoing. They are deliberately not, not not investigating Joe Biden. And so it is a view that there's a hubris. We are the FBI. We don't have to answer your questions. And I gotta say, it is profoundly harmful to the rule of law and the integrity of the FBI to have the leadership of the FBI refuse to provide even the barest minimum of transparency or accountability.
- [38:55]
Ben Ferguson
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- [39:28]
Senator Ted Cruz
Why?
- [39:28]
Ben Ferguson
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- [40:38]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, I put the odds at about 50, 50 on that. I think it could go either way. I think there's a chance Hunter appears, and I think he. He could be defiant. He could be. He could be hiding behind his lawyers. I also think there's a very real chance he just doesn't show up. He just says, go pound sand. If he does, if he refuses to show up, the House will vote him in contempt. But once the House votes him in contempt, nothing will happen because the Biden DOJ will not do anything to enforce the contempt sanction. Remember, the House of Representatives held Eric Holdren in contempt when he was Attorney General under Barack Obama, and nothing happened. Now, why did nothing happen? Because to enforce the contempt finding, DOJ has to bring it. And you know what? Eric Holder was in charge of doj. And so magically, Eric Holder said, you know, when I think of things that I want to prosecute, the contempt finding against me is not one of them. I think the chances of Merrick Garland doing anything to enforce a contempt finding against Hunter Biden are very close to zero. And so, look, there's a chance Hunter shows up. He did publicly say he was willing to show up. It was in public. But. But either way, I do not expect him to be forthcoming. Whether if he shows up, he's not going to say much of substance. And if he doesn't show up, he feels he can defy the subpoena without meaningful consequence.
- [41:59]
Ben Ferguson
It's going to be a very, very, very interesting week. We're going to cover all of it for you. So make sure you hit that follow or subscribe or auto download button. Apple has changed algorithms recently, so make sure you, if you're listening on Apple right now, you hit that follow button so that you don't miss an episode. We do this Monday, Wednesday, Friday. We also have a weekend review on Saturdays as well. And download my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast, and I'll keep you up to date on those in between days as well with the latest breaking news. And the Senator and I will see you back here for the weekend review on Saturday.